The Return of Godzilla, released as in Japan and edited into
Godzilla 1985 in America, is a
1984-Events:* The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name.*Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film....
daikaijuis a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster." Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
film. The sixteenth film in
Tohois a Japanese film and theatre production/distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
's
Godzillais a daikaijū, a fictional Japanese giant monster. His first film was Ishiro Honda's 1954 film Gojira, and since then, he has made many more appearances, and has become a pop-culture icon. In total, Godzilla has appeared in 28 films, all of which were produced by Toho Company Ltd...
series, it was produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and directed by
Koji HashimotoKoji Hashimoto , was a Japanese film assistant director and director, most noted for his work on the Godzilla movies and other monster series. He died of coronary disease at age 64 while mountain climbing....
with special effects by
Teruyoshi NakanoTeruyoshi Nakano , is a Japanese special effects director, most notable for his contributions to the Godzilla film series and other tokusatsu movies...
.
This was the first in the
Heisei SeriesIn the context of Japanese monster cinema the Heisei Era refers not to the current era in Japan but to all daikaiju eiga made between 1984 and 1999...
of
Godzilla films. It was Tanaka's intent to restore the darker themes and mood of the early films in the series.
The Return of Godzilla is a reboot to all Godzilla films except 1954's
Godzillais a successful landmark 1954 Japanese science fiction film directed and co-written by Ishiro Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, produced and distributed by Toho Company Ltd. In 1956, a heavily edited version was released in the U.S. as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. The original...
, to which it is a direct sequel.
Plot
This film picks up in 1984, 30 years after the original
Godzillais a daikaijū, a fictional Japanese giant monster. His first film was Ishiro Honda's 1954 film Gojira, and since then, he has made many more appearances, and has become a pop-culture icon. In total, Godzilla has appeared in 28 films, all of which were produced by Toho Company Ltd...
was killed. A fishing vessel caught in a terrible storm encounters a new Godzilla, much larger than his predecessor from the 1950s. Days later, reporter Goro Maki is sailing in the oceans and discovers the wrecked fishing vessel. He investigates and finds only one survivor, Hiroshi Okumura. The other crew members were killed by a giant sea louse, a parasite which had been mutated due to contact with Godzilla. Japanese Prime Minister Mitamura, confronted with this information, decides to keep it a secret to avoid nationwide panic and orders a
media blackoutMedia blackout refers to the censorship of news related to a certain topic, for any number of reasons. A media blackout may be voluntary, or may in some countries be enforced by the government or state. The latter case is controversial, as some regard it as a human rights violation and repression...
. Unfortunately, Godzilla destroys a Soviet submarine carrying nuclear missiles. Faced with an escalating situation between the Soviets, who believe their sub was sunk by the Americans, and the Americans, who fear an unwarranted counter strike from the Soviets, the Japanese Government is forced to go public with the news of Godzilla. Meanwhile, Godzilla attacks a nuclear power plant. During the attack, it is discovered that Godzilla uses a homing signal similar to that of birds who fly south for winter. Goro and his friends decide to use this to their advantage and develop a method to lure Godzilla away from major cities utilizing a high frequency homing signal.
Godzilla is later sighted at Tokyo Bay causing most of the civilians in Tokyo to flee. The military attacks Godzilla with guns, jets and missiles with little or no effect. Godzilla then proceeds to Tokyo. He destroys a missile control system on a Soviet freighter in Tokyo Bay and continues walking through the city, causing massive destruction. In another scene shortly afterwards, the last dying crewmember of the Soviet freighter docked in Tokyo Bay tries to abort the failsafe launch of a nuclear missile from a satellite in space in order to kill Godzilla. However, the crewmember is killed in the process. The SDF launches their newest weapon the
Super XThe is a fictional Japanese military aircraft featured in the 1984 Heisei Godzilla film The Return of Godzilla. The concept and basic design were reused for the Super X-II in 1989's Godzilla vs. Biollante and the Super X-III in 1995's Godzilla vs...
to combat Godzilla. During the initial confrontation, Godzilla has an allergic reaction to the cadmium shells and is poisoned. Godzilla then begins to die from the reaction. Meanwhile, the Japanese government finds out about the Soviet nuclear missile and asks the Americans to shoot it down. The Americans agree and are successful but the missile collision in the stratosphere causes a massive EMP, and then a radioactive lighting storm that revives Godzilla. Godzilla has a final battle with the Super X and manages to destroy it by knocking it to the ground and toppling a building down on it. Scientists at
Mt. Miharais an active volcano on the Japanese isle of Izu Ōshima. Although the volcano is predominantly basaltic, major eruptions have occurred at intervals of 100-150 years....
manage to get their lure working, which calls out to Godzilla from across the
Sea of JapanThe Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Russia. It is referred to in North Korea as the Korea East Sea and in South Korea as the East Sea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure...
. Attracted by magnetic waves transmitted from their satellite dish on Mt. Mihara on Oshima Island, Godzilla walks to it and realizes he has been tricked. Godzilla falls into Mt. Mihara as he investigates the satellite dish. The SDF detonates a number of powerful bombs, causing an artificial eruption.
Falling debris traps Godzilla in the mountain with no way out.
Production
The screenplay was first written in 1980, but as an entirely different film. Godzilla was to fight a shape-shifting kaiju named Bagan, and the
Super XThe is a fictional Japanese military aircraft featured in the 1984 Heisei Godzilla film The Return of Godzilla. The concept and basic design were reused for the Super X-II in 1989's Godzilla vs. Biollante and the Super X-III in 1995's Godzilla vs...
played a much smaller role. Among the SDF weapons in this script that made it to the big screen were the Water Beetle (an underwater mech) and the Giant Basu (which is equipped with a giant arm to capture submarines).
Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka offered
Ishiro HondaIshirō Honda , sometimes miscredited in foreign releases as "Inoshiro Honda", was a Japanese film director...
a chance to direct this film, but he strongly rejected the offer, because of what came of Godzilla in the 1970s, and his belief that Godzilla should have been permanently laid to rest after
Eiji Tsuburayawas the Japanese special effects director responsible for many Japanese science-fiction movies, including the Godzilla series.- Early life :...
's death. Also at around the same time, he was busy helping his friend
Akira Kurosawawas a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. In a career that spanned 50 years, Kurosawa directed 30 films. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in film history...
on some of the films he was directing such as
Kagemushais a 1980 film by Akira Kurosawa. The title is a term used for an impersonator. It is set in the Warring States era of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class criminal who is taught to impersonate a dying warlord in order to dissuade opposing lords from attacking the newly vulnerable...
and
Ranis a 1985 film written and directed by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. It is a jidaigeki depicting the fall of Hidetora Ichimonji , an aging Sengoku-era warlord who decides to abdicate as ruler in favor of his three sons...
.
Veteran
Godzilla actor
Akihiko Hiratawas a Japanese film actor. While the actor starred in many movies , he is most well known for his work in the kaiju genre, including such films as King Kong vs. Godzilla, The Mysterians, and his most famous role of Dr...
, who appeared in several past Godzilla films (best known of his role of Professor Serizawa from
Godzillais a successful landmark 1954 Japanese science fiction film directed and co-written by Ishiro Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, produced and distributed by Toho Company Ltd. In 1956, a heavily edited version was released in the U.S. as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. The original...
) was slated to play Professor Hayashida, but he had died from
throat cancerEsophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma. Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus. Adenocarcinoma arises from glandular cells that are present at the junction of the...
before production began. Yosuke Natsuki, another veteran, took the role instead. Stuntman
Kenpachiro Satsumais a Japanese actor. He is probably best known for playing Godzilla in the Heisei series of Godzilla films.-Films:* Godzilla vs. Hedorah as Hedorah* Godzilla vs. Gigan as Gigan...
(who previously played
Hedorah, also known as the Smog Monster, is a fictional creature from the 1971 film Godzilla vs. Hedorah. The monster was named for , the Japanese word for sludge, vomit, slime or chemical ooze.-Description:...
and
Giganis a kaiju from the Godzilla series, introduced in the 1972 film Godzilla vs. Gigan. Gigan is a cybernetic monster sporting a buzzsaw weapon in its frontal abdominal region and large metallic hooks for hands...
in the original
Godzilla films) played Godzilla for the first time, as a replacement for another stuntman who backed out at the last minute.
Aside from being heavy, the suit was very dangerous (it was not only built from the outside in, but not made to fit him), and Satsuma lost a lot of weight during filming. This mildly mirrored what
Haruo Nakajimais a famous Japanese actor. Nakajima is best known for playing Godzilla and is considered by many to be the best monster suit actor...
went through when he played Godzilla in the original 1954 film. Subsequent Godzilla suits worn by Satsuma were much safer and more comfortable, as they were custom made to fit him (even though the suits still had some dangers of their own).
The life-like animatronic Godzilla prop used in close-up shots is the 20-foot "Cybot Godzilla." It was heavily touted in the publicity department at the time, even though it was not used in the film as extensively as promoted. A full-size replica of Godzilla's foot was also built, but all of the scenes in which it is used were removed from the American version (the sole exception being a shot of the foot crushing a row of parked cars during the attack on the nuclear power plant).
Box office
The Return of Godzilla was a reasonable success in Japan, with attendance figures at approximately 3,200,000 and the box office gross being approximately $11 million (the film's budget was $6.25 million). In terms of total attendance, it was the most popular Godzilla film since 1966's
Godzilla vs. the Sea MonsterGodzilla vs. the Sea Monster, released in Japan as , is a 1966 kaiju/tokusatsu film directed by Jun Fukuda and written by Shinichi Sekizawa. The special effects were directed by Eiji Tsuburaya. It is the seventh film in the original Godzilla series....
.
U.S. version
After acquiring
The Return of Godzilla for distribution in North America, New World Pictures changed the title to
Godzilla 1985 and radically re-edited the film. Originally, New World reportedly planned to re-write the dialogue in order to turn the film into a tongue-in-cheek comedy (à la
What's Up, Tiger Lily?What's Up Tiger Lily?, a comedy film, is the first film directed by Woody Allen, who also wrote and appeared in it. Allen took International Secret Police: A Barrel of Gunpowder and International Secret Police: Key of Keys, two in a series of Japanese spy films and overdubbed them with completely...
), but this plan was reportedly scrapped because
Raymond BurrRaymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside and his lead role as Steve Martin in Godzilla, King of the Monsters and Godzilla 1985.-Early life:He was born Raymond William Stacey Burr in New Westminster, British...
expressed displeasure at the idea, taking the idea of Godzilla as a nuclear metaphor seriously. The only dialogue left over from that script was "
That's quite an urban renewal program they've got going on over there", said by Major McDonahue.
New World's biggest change was in adding around ten minutes of new footage, most of it at the Pentagon, with Raymond Burr reprising his role as
Steve MartinSteve Martin is a fictional American reporter played by actor Raymond Burr. The journalist first appears in the 1956 Godzilla film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, the English version of the original Japanese Godzilla....
from
Godzilla, King of the Monsters!Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is a 1956 American black-and-white science fiction film. The majority of the film's footage is taken from the 1954 Japanese film Gojira, which had previously been shown subtitled in the United States in Japanese community theaters only, and was not known in Europe...
.
The poster image was the same as for the Japanese version, but a green tinting was added to Godzilla's charcoal gray skin.
New World's changes were not limited to these scenes. Much of the original version was deleted or altered.
A partial list of the changes:
- Shortened and altered: Godzilla roars and the crew fell whereas the audience sees Steve Martin after Godzilla roars.
- Shortened: Goro's fight with the giant sea louse; the louse's voice was also changed.
- Deleted: Goro calling his editor from an island.
- Deleted: Professor Hayashida showing Okumura photographs of Godzilla's 1954 attack and later discussing the mutant sea louse with an aide at the police hospital.
- Shortened: The scene where Naoko learns her brother is alive; Goro snaps pictures of them reunited, which angers Naoko because she realizes he only helped her in order to get the scoop.
- Shortened: The meeting between the Japanese prime minister and the Russian and American ambassadors. Also deleted was a scene after the meeting in which the prime minister explains to his aides how he was able to reach a consensus with both sides. Furthermore, this scene appears before Godzilla's attack on the nuclear power plant in the American version, whereas in the Japanese version it appears afterwards.
- Deleted: Hayashada and Naoko making a wave generator.
- Altered: Godzilla's first attack on the nuclear power plant.
- Added: Part of Christopher Young
Christopher Young is an award-winning American music composer for film and television. Many of his works were for horror movies, including Hellraiser, Tales from the Hood, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge Urban Legend and Drag Me to Hell...
's score from Def Con 4 in several scenes (including Godzilla's attack on the Soviet submarine, the scene where the SDF armored division arrives in Tokyo Bay, and Okumura's near-death experience during the helicopter extraction in Tokyo).
- Deleted: A shot of an American nuclear missile satellite in space (probably done in order to make America appear less aggressive).
- Altered: The scene in which the vagabond helps himself to the food in a deserted restaurant (due to Godzilla's arrival in Tokyo) was edited. In this scene, the distant sound of Godzilla's footsteps was added to the US version.
- Altered: Almost all of Godzilla's rampage through Tokyo. Scenes of a crowd fleeing Godzilla that appeared later in the Japanese print were moved to an earlier point in the movie (and corresponding footage of them gathering around Godzilla after he is knocked out by the Super X was removed), the Super X fight was re-arranged (in the Japanese version, Godzilla fires his atomic ray at the Super X after being hit with cadmium missiles, not before), and various other scenes of destruction were either placed in a different order or deleted completely. Some fans were particularly upset by the removal of a shot showing Godzilla reflected in the windows of the Yurakucho Mullion Building during the scene in which he attacks the Bullet Train.
- Deleted: All shots which employed a life-size replica of Godzilla's foot (mostly seen near the end); only one shot of the big foot crushing parked cars during the nuclear power plant scene was kept.
The most controversial change was the scene where the Russian freighter officer Colonel Kashirin valiantly attempts to stop the launch of a nuclear weapon. New World edited the scene (and added a brief shot of Kashirin pressing the launch button) so that now Kashirin deliberately launches the nuclear weapon. This change is widely believed to be for
propagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
purposes.
In addition, the theatrical release (and most home video versions) was accompanied by
Marv NewlandMarv Newland is a filmmaker who specializes in animation.Newland began a career making animated motion pictures in Los Angeles with the creation of the short Bambi Meets Godzilla...
's short cartoon,
Bambi Meets GodzillaBambi Meets Godzilla is the title of a humorous 1969 cartoon created entirely by Marv Newland. Less than two minutes long, the film is regarded as a classic of animation, and in 1994 was voted #38 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.Newland was originally...
.
The American version, with the added
Raymond BurrRaymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside and his lead role as Steve Martin in Godzilla, King of the Monsters and Godzilla 1985.-Early life:He was born Raymond William Stacey Burr in New Westminster, British...
footage, runs 87 minutes, 16 minutes shorter than the Japanese print.
Apart from the end credits (where he is listed as Steven Martin), Raymond Burr's character is never referred to by his full name, only as "Mr. Martin" or simply "Martin", for the entirety of the U.S. version. This was to avoid association with comedian
Steve MartinStephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician, and composer. He was raised in Southern California in a Baptist family, where his early influences were working at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm and working magic and comedy acts at these and...
.
The closing narration (spoken by Raymond Burr) is as follows:
- Nature has a way sometimes of reminding man of just how small he is. She occasionally throws up the terrible offspring of our pride and carelessness to remind us of how puny we really are in the face of a tornado, an earthquake or a Godzilla. The reckless ambitions of man are often dwarfed by their dangerous consequences. For now, Godzilla, that strangely innocent and tragic monster, has gone to earth. Whether he returns or not or is never again seen by human eyes, the things he has taught us remain.
Critical reception
The New World version of the film was almost universally criticized by North American critics.
Roger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter.He is known for his film review column and for two television programs Sneak Previews and Siskel & Ebert at the Movies, which he co-hosted for a combined 23 years with Gene Siskel...
, who gave the film a mere one star in the
Chicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is owned by the Sun-Times Media Group, which filed for bankruptcy protection on March 31, 2009.-History:...
, wrote:
"The filmmakers must have known that the original Godzilla (1956) had many loyal fans all over the world who treasured the absurd dialogue, the bad lip-synching, the unbelievable special effects, the phony profundity. So they have deliberately gone after the same inept feeling in Godzilla 1985. Examples: Dialogue: Is so consistently bad that the entire screenplay could be submitted as an example. My favorite moment occurs when the hero and heroine are clutching each other on a top floor of a skyscraper being torn apart by Godzilla and the professor leaps into the shot, says "What has happened here?" and leaps out again without waiting for an answer. Lip-synching: Especially in the opening shots, there seems to be a subtle effort to exaggerate the bad coordination between what we see and what we hear. All lip-synch is a little off, of course, but this movie seems to be going for condescending laughs from knowledgable filmgoers. Special effects: When Godzilla marches on Tokyo, the buildings are the usual fake miniature models, made out of paint and cardboard. The tipoff is when he rips a wall off a high-rise, and nothing falls out. That's because there is nothing inside."
Ebert kept a copy of the poster in his office for many years and it was clearly visible in the opening of his television program.
Vincent CanbyVincent Canby was an American film critic.Canby was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Katharine Anne and Lloyd Canby. He became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there...
of the
New York Times (who had given a positive review to
Godzilla vs. Megalonis a 1973 Japanese tokusatsu kaiju film directed and co-written by Jun Fukuda with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. It was the thirteenth film to be released in the Godzilla franchise...
nine years earlier, a film that was critically hated) was similarly unimpressed:
"Though special-effects experts in Japan and around the world have vastly improved their craft in the last 30 years, you wouldn't know it from this film. Godzilla, who is supposed to be about 240 feet tall, still looks like a wind-up toy, one that moves like an arthritic toddler with a fondness for walking through teeny-tiny skyscrapers instead of mud puddles.
Godzilla 1985 was shot in color but its sensibility is that of the black-and-white Godzilla films of the 1950s. What small story there is contains a chaste romance and lots of references to the lessons to be learned from "this strangely innocent but tragic creature." The point seems to be that Godzilla, being a "living nuclear bomb", something that cannot be destroyed, must rise up from time to time to remind us of the precariousness of our existence. One can learn the same lesson almost any day on almost any New York street corner."
One of the few positive reviews came from
Joel SiegelJoel Siegel was an American film critic for the ABC morning news show Good Morning America for over 25 years. Born to a Jewish family, and raised in Los Angeles, California, he graduated cum laude from UCLA. During college, he worked to register black voters in Georgia, and he spoke frequently of...
of
Good Morning AmericaGood Morning America is an American news Morning show and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network, debuting on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour, available exclusively on ABC News Now, was introduced in 2007...
, who is quoted on New World's newspaper ads as saying, "Hysterical fun...the best Godzilla in thirty years!"
Among
kaijuis a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster." Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....
-related websites, reaction to the New World Version has been more positive. Ed Godziszewski of Monster Zero said, "All in all,
Godzilla 1985 is a welcome if somewhat uneven return for the King of the Monsters." Miles Imhoff of Toho Kingdom called the film "an excellent classic that holds up even today" and "one of the crowning achievements of the Godzilla series." Mike Bogue of American Kaiju said the film is "entertaining if flawed" and "worth any giant monster fan's time."
Box office and business
Godzilla 1985 was not a box office success. Opening on August 23, 1985, in 235 North American theaters, the film grossed $509,502 USD ($2,168 per screen) in its opening weekend, on its way to a lackluster $4,116,395 total gross.
New World's budget breakdown for
Godzilla 1985 is as follows: $500,000 to lease the film from
Tohois a Japanese film and theatre production/distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
, $200,000 for filming the new scenes and other revisions, and $2,500,000 for prints and advertising, adding up to a grand total of approximately $3,200,000. Over time,
Godzilla 1985, though not a hit, was partially profitable for New World only with the addition of home video and television syndication (the film debuted on television on May 16, 1986).
When
Godzilla 1985 failed at the box office, it was the last Godzilla film produced by Toho to receive any major release in American theaters until
Godzilla 2000is a 1999 kaiju film directed by Takao Okawara and written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru Mimura. It was the twenty-third film released in the Godzilla series. It is the only film to feature Orga. Toho released the film in Japan in 1999, a year after the release of TriStar's Godzilla...
fifteen years later.
Home video and DVD releases
Godzilla 1985 has been released on home video several times, but later home video releases don't include
Bambi Meets GodzillaBambi Meets Godzilla is the title of a humorous 1969 cartoon created entirely by Marv Newland. Less than two minutes long, the film is regarded as a classic of animation, and in 1994 was voted #38 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.Newland was originally...
after New World Video's home video release.
This film is able to be purchased on DVD but only in Japanese from Japan. It is recorded in Japanese dialogue but has English subtitles if needed. This also applies to
Godzilla vs. Biollanteis a 1989 kaiju film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori. It was the seventeenth film to be released in the Godzilla franchise and the second in terms of the franchise's Heisei period. The film is set after the events of The Return of Godzilla...
.
In 2006, Universe Laser & Video Co. released a Region 3 DVD release of the film, titled
The Return of Godzilla. It was the original Japanese release, with Japanese audio and selectable English/Chinese subtitles. The DVD features a main menu, scene selections, and a featured trailer of
Godzilla vs. Biollante in Chinese.
Even though the uncut version of
Godzilla 1985 has never been released in the United States on DVD, internet sellers have been able to burn both versions of
The Return of Godzilla (Japanese and U.S. versions) on region free DVDs and sell them to anybody on the Internet for various prices.
External links