Oh hell yeah.
Hello again, Arb here reviewing yet another classic movie!
And once again much like my Gran Torino review i will be grading based on 4 things : Characters, Plot, Flow, Ending.
Characters
Godzilla.
The primary atagonist of our film , a monster created by mans experiments with nuclear weapons. Basically the original Giant Movie Monster that just basically kills and fucks Tokyo up pretty bad.
Steve Martin
Yes i said the American movie review as finding a subbed version of the original is actually quite difficult nowadays. This is our reporter who was on his way to another place entirely and somehow winds up taking a detour in Japan, damn i bet he wishes he hadnt after this..
Emiko Yamane
This is the female in story and is slightly pure of heart it appears to me. She cries over alot of shit and quite frankly its pretty annoying but shes pretty good looking for someone whos probably like 80 by now..I like her in the movie though she does play her part verry well.
Dr. Serizawa
The doctor in this movie, is madly inlove with our character above, however she doesnt love him even though they were arranged to be married at birth. Sadly i don't think who she loves has a very large roll in this movie at all, so im not going to include him. ANYWAY, the doctor is an incredibly smart main whom she doesnt admire in a lover sort of way, however admires his science and all of that, personally he is one of my favorite characters of any movie.
The Plot
The movie opens up with the ruins of Tokyo after something had happened to it(at this point we have no idea) and we find our hero Steve Martin buried under some building or something and he's hurt pretty bad. He basically just narrates this part as he gets to the hospital where Emiko states she will try to find him a doctor. At this point we go into a flashback to a while before while he was still on a plane going to Cairo, however he's leaving from Chicago so wouldnt it have been easier to go the other way ??? Anyway, he decides to take a detour to meet Dr Serizawa an old college friend of his, but while on the plane it goes to a Japanese fishing boat below, which after hearing some strange sounds from the ocean suddenly explodes into fire, after getting out an SOS. Next Steve arrives in the airport to be taken in for questioning by security he even asks "am I under arrest" which the cop is like "lol no" and he is taken in for questioning. Basically they ask if he saw anything and he's like nah why do you ask? they tell him about the boat exploding etc etc. After some more talking they decide to go to an Island in which alot of the natives have been watching the ships explode so they can bring some of them back to describe what they see. Upon arriving to the village they partake in some kind of ritual to keep "Gojira" away, Martin quickly dismisses this as bullshit and they go to sleep. That night however Gojira decides to prove he isnt a lie and during a storm comes on shore and destroys a house i believe, at which point Emikos father ( a leading palentologist) finds a living trilobyte(yes these are exctinct!) alive in one of the creatures footprints. A villager begins ringing the bell which signals everyone to panic and run up a hill at which point we catch our first viewing of Gojira.
Thats as far as im going with the plot, want to know what happens go watch it!
The Flow
Personally i thought it went alot better in the Japanese version since anyone who's done a bit of research knows this was made 2 years AFTER Gojira(1954) was released, with Raymond Burr basically being put in while some of the original movie was deleted. However i still think it flows fairly well in the movie, even though some of the dubs are..quite bad
The Ending
The ending of this movie for me as a child was quite shocking and sad, however as i grew up and watched it again i finally was able to admire it for all its glory.
+ Show Spoiler +
After discovering Serizawa had been experimenting with Oxygen he finds a way to create a bomb which will basically strip everything in water down to bone. Emiko convinces him to use this to destroy Godzilla, however he doesnt want anyone to ever use this weapon again and destroys the plans for it so that he is the only one who will know how to create it should it be needed. After depth charging they finally find Godzilla asleep at the bottom of Tokyo bay at which point Serizawa and Ogata both descend down in order to plant the "Oxygen Destroyer" to kill Godzilla. It is planted and activated at which point Ogata surfaces however, Serizawa doesnt want anyone to know how to create this weapon or anyone to force him to make it again and cuts his air line, telling Ogata to be happy with Emiko. We see godzilla standing up at this point iirc, then Oxygen destroyer opens up and in a giant flash all that remains are the bones of Godzilla.
When i was a kid this was the saddest thing i had ever seen, being a huge fan of Godzilla. However now that I am older i can appreciate just what this was suposed to mean for mankind, and i no longer feel sad just for Godzilla.
The Rating
Characters : 10/10(Jpn) 8/10(USA)
I enjoyed the originals characters alot better after seeing it, however, I dont mind the American version.
Plot : 10/10(both)
This movie is about the horror of nuclear warfare, and i absolutely love it.
Flow : 10/10(Jpn)6/10(USA)
It was easier to follow in the original version as the USA version cut out alot of scenes.
Ending : 10/10
Fantastic in both of them
Overall, 10/10(JPN) 8/10(USA)
Go watch this now. While i must admit i might be slightly biased as this is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME, i feel like i did a fair review for it.
Feel free to leave comments as to what is hould review next!