Godzilla (film, 1954)

The film tells the story of the eponymous giant prehistoric reptile, Godzilla. Godzilla spent millions of years in a state of anabiosis at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, but in 1954 he awakened.

Ships are beginning to sink in the Sea of ​​Japan . Then in the village on the island of Odo there are incidents in which the locals blame the mythological creature, which they call "Godzilla." A group of scientists headed by Dr. Kyohei Yamane arrives on the island. They discover a live trilobite , and then face Godzilla. In Tokyo, Yamane suggests that Godzilla is a distant descendant of reptiles that lived 200 million years ago. Godzilla emits strong radiation. Apparently, he was able to resurrect because of the American tests of the hydrogen bomb. Godzilla trying to kill bombs. Until Godzilla appears, everyone thinks he is dead. However, it turned out that Godzilla is still alive. Rising from the ocean, he attacks Tokyo . Japanese armed forces are not able to resist this giant predator. People hope for a defensive high-voltage power line, built on the way to Tokyo, but Godzilla breaks through it. Godzilla can be killed only by the power of science: a Japanese scientist, Dr. Serizawa, invents a substance that can destroy living tissue in water (the so-called oxygen destroyer ). He does not want to use his invention against Godzilla, but in the end, after seeing the torments of people affected by Godzilla, the crying of his relatives for the dead, agrees. He destroys all the materials related to the terrible invention, then in a diving suit lowers to the bottom of the sea near the place where Godzilla is lying. Seridzawa opens a cylinder with an oxygen destroyer and cuts a diving hose, thus carrying his secret to the grave. The oxygen destroyer burns Godzilla entirely, including the skeleton.

Godzilla was first released in Nagoya on October 27, 1954 ^[8] , and a week later, it was released throughout the country on November 3, 1954 ^[9] . It sold about 9,610,000 tickets, and it was the eighth best film in Japan this year. He remains the second most popular film "Godzilla" in Japan after the movie " King Kong vs Godzilla " ^[10] . The film gathered 183 million yen during its first theatrical show in Japan ^[4] .

In 1957, the film was released in France, where he received 835,511 box office ^[11] . Limited reprints of the film in North America at the beginning of the 21st century brought $ 562,711, and a reprint in 2004 collected $ 412,520 in America ^[5] and a reprint in 2014 collected $ 150.191 ^[6] .

North America

In 1955 and in the 1960s, serving Japanese-Americans played Godzilla in mostly Japanese quarters in the United States. The English version with subtitles was shown at film festivals in New York, Chicago and other cities in 1982 ^[12] .

In connection with the 50th anniversary of Godzilla on May 7, 2004, the distributor of art-house Rialto Pictures presented the film with a limited edition in tour operator style, from coast to coast, in the United States with subtitles until December 19, 2004 ^[13] . Starting in only two cinemas, the film earned $ 38.030 the first weekend. By the end of 2004, the film earned $ 412,520. ^[5]

The film was popular all over the world. A huge number of sequels were filmed, the American version from director Roland Emmerich, and the new American remake released by Gareth Edwards later, more similar to the original. To the amusement of the spectators, this creature fought with the giant pterosaur Rodan , with the huge butterfly Motra , with its antipode - Battra, with the mud monster Hedora, with the giant shrimp Ebira, with the serpent Gorynycha dragon King Hydora, the monolithic Biolante, and my satan shrimp, and my satan Gorynycha, King Hydrora, the monolithic Biolante, and my satan shrimp, and my satan Gorynycha. . Several times against Godzilla were his mechanical counterparts - Mehagodzilla.

To satisfy the needs of the public, a sequel appeared next year - “ Godzilla attacks again ”. In this film, it turns out that another monster survived ... Attempts were made to kill him, but in the film " King Kong vs Godzilla " (1962) he returns, and thus begins one of the most famous film series in the world.

In all subsequent Godzilla films, the events of this first film are always mentioned. Most directly related to him is “ Godzilla vs. the Destroyer ” ( 1995 ), in which the oxygen destroyer, invented by the scientist Serizawa in the first film, is reborn in a terrible monster that lived on our planet billions of years ago.

In 2002, the film “ Godzilla vs. Mehagodzilla 3 ” (or “Godzilla vs. Kiryu”) was released. According to the plot of the film, the skeleton of Godzilla is preserved, it is lifted from the ocean floor, and on its basis, Kiryu’s biomechanical robot is created (in Japanese, “Kiryu” means “mechanical dragon”). He, as it turns out, has the energy memory of the events of 1954, and therefore he sometimes gets out of control.

In 1956, the Americans rewrote the original version of the film, cutting out some episodes and adding their own storyline. Here, journalist Steve Martin ( Raymond Burr ) is reporting on Godzilla right from the scene - from the streets of Tokyo - and he almost dies at the same time. It was in this form that the film, released under the title “Godzilla, King of Monsters!”, Became known to the whole world ^[14] .

The film entered the list of the hundred best films of world cinema magazine Empire and took 31st place. In 2007 he was awarded the prize "Saturn".

• Godzilla (English) on the Internet Movie Database