Review by E.C. McMullen Jr.

After 70 Years GODZILLA WINS OSCAR!

On March 10, 2024, the Gojira franchise won its first Academy Award!

GODZILLA began in 1954 as GOJIRA. Hollywood studios saw its world-wide success and wanted it, but only if they could cripple the story first. That was the GODZILLA that came to America in 1956. 50 years later the original, true GOJIRA came to the United States of America uncut in its original form and audiences were astounded that it was not a kooky kaiju movie, but a genuine Science Fiction Horror movie with genuine human drama. Despite the insanity of the fantastic central figure, GOJIRA was made believable by the human heart that beat within it.

All would have been well when GOJIRA arrived to U.S. shores, but the '56 Hollywood butchered GODZILLA made more money in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world. Toho Studios took note, sold toys, and by 1959 reset GODZILLA to a money-making machine that circled the drain around toys. All future kaiju movies and TV shows from Japan would follow suit, even having Godzilla toy product placement in the movies!

I was born long after the release of the Americanized GODZILLA. As a child its the first Horror movie I remember seeing. I watched and enjoyed all the franchise GODZILLA movies as a child and I still see them through that filter.

It wasn't until 2004 when I saw the unedited 1954 GOJIRA that I realized what the movie was originally supposed to be. After that, no new bullshit could sway me. Like someone who saw the original Star Wars or read the original Laird and Eastman TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, I wanted the original GOJIRA that was not made for children.

Jump forward five years and in 2009 Hajime Isayama brought his tale, ATTACK ON TITAN to manga comics.

Kaiju returned.

A year later Writer, Director, Gareth Edwards brought us the ridiculously low budget MONSTERS. Like GOJIRA, a human heart beat at the center of MONSTERS despite its fantastic premise. It became a hit.

With or without GODZILLA, Kaiju was here to stay.

20th Century Fox suits were said to have fretted over not having taken account of the, quite active, kaiju audience by including Sentinels in its X-MEN franchise (Sentinels are canon in the X-MEN comics). And thus they are no more.

Meanwhile, ATTACK ON TITAN was quickly adapted for TV animation, where it became a hit. Then it became a hit video game, and in 2015 became a hit two-part live action movie!

Toho suddenly needed a serious GOJIRA again and hired Gareth Edwards.

Gareth did well, Actor Ken Watanabe ("Let them fight.") suggested they all go back to calling Godzilla "GOJIRA" and Edwards agreed. Upon first showing the wowed Toho suits adored it (as well as its success!), and Gareth moved on to demonstrate his uncanney prowess with other franchises, like creating the only Star Wars movie that fans considered second only to the original Star Wars (later dubbed A New Hope), STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE.

So the original Shōwa era (named after the Japanese Emperor of the time) GOJIRA, which dawdeled from 1950s serious to 1960s silly childishness, continued its fall in the following Heisei era (named after the Japanese emperor of that period).

It wasn't until the new millennium and the failure of several GODZILLA movies, starting with the Japanese GODZILLA FINAL WARS, that Toho knew they needed a new approach. They got that with Gareth Edwards and GODZILLA forked into the Millennium era (Heisei remains on the throne), but each subsequent, non-Gareth Edwards American release grew more Americanized (goofy).

The fact is nobody, not even the original and esteemed Ishiro Honda (first Director) ever took GODZILLA as seriously as Writer, Director, and Visual Effects Supervisor, Takashi Yamazaki (RETURNER). Also, probably no GODZILLA director had to work with a budget so low and expectations so high as Yamazaki did when he held the reigns on GODZILLA MINUS ONE.

Copyright 2024 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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