The ocean's surface boils white-hot and a Japanese freighter mysteriously vanishes in the Pacific. Rescue boats meets the same fate, and the superstitious villagers of Odo Island fear an ancient legend has come true: the legend of Godzilla! Reawakened from eons-long sleep by an H-bomb test, the behemoth seeks revenge on the civilized world, turning Tokyo into a wasteland of atomic fire and rubble. Caught in the monster's path of destruction are young lovers Emiko and Ogata, who must betray their friend Dr. Serizawa, a brilliant but tormented scientist, in order to save the world.
Classic Media presents the original and uncut Japanese-language version of Ishiro Honda's Gojira (1954), critically acclaimed as a bold anti-nuclear allegory and one of the greatest monster movies of all time. Also included is Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956), the popular "Americanized" version starring Raymond Burr as a reporter covering Godzilla's rampage.
I HAVE TO CORRECT AMAZON'S DESCRIPTION OF THIS PRODUCT 1st. THE DESCRIPTION STATES " THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE VERSION OF GODZILLA WITHOUT THE AMERICANIZED ADDITION OF RAYMOND BURR" ....WELL THIS IS WRONG IT IS THE AMERICANIZED VERSION WITH RAYMOND BURR AND THE DVD CASING SHOWS BURR'S PICTURE....ALL WELL THIS IS THE VERSION I WANTED ANYWAY.
THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE CLASSIC WAS ACTUALLY FIRST SHOWN IN 1954 AND WAS IN JAPANESE AND BECAME SUCH A HUGE HIT, THEY DECIDED TO REVISE THE FILM FOR THE AMERICANIZED AUDIENCE. THUS THEY INTRODUCED A RELATIVELY UNKNOWN AMERICAN ACTOR AT THE TIME BY THE NAME OF RAYMOND BURR WHO WAS TO BE THE FILMS NARRATOR AS THE AMERICAN REPORTER STEVE MARTIN. ( OF COURSE BURR IS NOW WELL KNOWN FOR HIS ROLES IN DETECTIVE TV SHOWS OF "PERRY MASON" and "IRONSIDES" )
THE PREMISE OF AN AMERICAN REPORTER "STEVE MARTIN" IS KIND OF FAR FETCHED AT THE TIME, TO THINK THAT THE JAPANESE WOULD ACTUALLY LET A AMERICAN REPORTER FOLLOW THEIR TOP JAPANESE SCIENTISTS AND THEIR MILITARY BRASS AROUND IN A JAPANESE CRISIS WOULD HAVE BEEN UNTHINKABLE AT THE TIME. STILL THE PREMISE WORKED, AS BURR IN HIS ROLE, NARRATED TO THE AMERICAN AUDIENCE AS GODZILLA TORE APART JAPAN.
SPECIAL EFFECTS WERE THE 1st IN THE MAKING, I MEAN NOBODY HAD MADE A FILM OF SUCH A GIGANTIC CREATURE DESTROYING CITIES TO CORRECT SCALE. IT'S LIKE WATCHING HISTORY IN THE MAKING . OF COURSE MUCH OF THE DESTRUCTION WAS DONE AT NIGHT IN A BLACK AND WHITE FILM, WHICH WAS SMART BECAUSE YOU COULD HIDE A LOT OF STUFF, BUT THE SCALE IN WHICH THEY WERE WORKING HAD NEVER BEEN ATTEMPTED BEFORE. SURE YOU CAN SOMETIMES TELL IT IS A PERSON IN A RUBBER SUIT WALKING ON MINATURES , AND SOME OF THE BUILDINGS LOOK LIKE CARDBOARD, BUT THIS FILM WAS THE 1st OF ITS KIND AND IT PAVED THE WAY FOR MORE JAPANESE BIG MONSTER FILMS.
OF COURSE IF THE FILM FOLLOWED THE ENDING WHICH SHOWS GODZILLA BEING DISSOLVED IN THE SEA AND ONLY HIS BONES BEING INTACT , THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO MORE GODZILLA MOVIES. DEMAND FOR MORE GODZILLA BROUGHT HIM BACK FROM HIS UNTIMELY DEATH AND ALSO CREATED RODAN, MOTHRA...... ETC. ETC.
VERY ENJOYABLE MOVIE, WORTH EVERY CENT THAT I PAID WHICH WAS LESS THAN .00. I DON'T RENT THESE CLASSICS I BUY THEM.
poor effort - Mark C. - Seattle, WA United States
i have read that TOHO has just remastered (sept 2009) this in 4K HD 1080p and it is pristine-it is also pillarboxed-so you see more than the DVD at YESASIA
all region no subs-but we all know the story by heart dont we?
Don't buy it! - Rich B - Meriden, CT USA
No matter how much you may want to see this film, DON'T BUY IT. This transfer was made from a beat up, soft, poor-contrast 16mm print, and to release it on Blu-ray was nothing short of thievery on the part of Toho or whoever was responsible. The film is worthwhile, but unless they issue a new Blu-ray transfer from good 35mm source material save your money.
Quality of DVD not good - Pamela S. Thrasher -
Tried this disc in two different DVD players and there is a point in the movie which will not play.
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