Mothra

If you know little about kaiju movies, you probably know the name Mothra. She's the Queen of the Monsters, and this is her first appearance. Not just a support character in Godzilla flicks, this establishes Mothra as a force in the wider Kaiju-verse before she gets subsumed into Godzilla movies. Directed by (the OG) Ishirō Honda like Rodan before it, I think it's intended to see what kind of legs Mothra had on its own before deciding what to do with the character in the future. Let's talk giant flying insects.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A Japanese ship is caught in a typhoon and sinks near Infant Island. Impossibly, none of the survivors have died of radiation poisoning.

- An expedition led by fictional nation Rolisican businessman Clark Nelson is set in place to investigate the secrets of Infant Island with just a few reporters in tow.

- While being attacked by a blood sucking planet one of the reporters is rescued by a pair of tiny, identical women, no more than a foot tall.

- Returning back to Japan, the expedition is considered a success.

- Clark Nelson returns to Infant Island separately and kidnaps the women, killing a bunch of the natives in the process. With his dying breaths, one of the natives calls out to Mothra to help them.

- Exploiting the tiny twins for commercial purposes, Clark Nelson has them performing on stage against their will, calling them the Secret Fairies.

- Mothra is revealed to be a protector of the island who will be coming to Japan to rescue the Fairies. They warn that innocent people will be hurt until they are returned to the island and there's nothing they can do to stop it.

- Mothra begins a rampage in a beeline toward the Fairies. The newspaper blames Clark Nelson even as he sues them for libel.

- The military attempts to stop Mothra, to no avail. Even her larval form is too strong to even be slowed by human weapons.

- Despite all this, Clark Nelson refuses to give up the Fairies and the Rolisican government protects his right to maintain possession of the kidnapped women.

- Mothra builds a cocoon which and begins her metamorphosis. In the meantime, the Rolisican government agrees to loan Japan their newest weapon: Atomic Heat Cannons. These set the cocoon on fire but Mothra emerges from it in her new badass moth form unharmed.

- When civilians surround Clark Nelson to insist he return the Fairies before Mothra arrives to kill them all, he whips out a gun and begins to threaten people. He is shot by the police and the Fairies are returned to Mothra as safely as possible, though with some significant collateral damage being done in the process.

- Mothra returns to Infant Island as soon as the Fairies are secured, the threat she poses to those who threaten her Fairies now over.

Kaiju Notes

- Larval mothra is equally gross and cute. Not slimy or otherwise unpleasant like a bug, but definitely an unpleasant creature.

- Mothra's powers are similar to Rodan, mostly powerful winds caused by wings. It's the only thing about Mothra that's not an improvement over the previous flying monster.

- Mothra as a flying creature is a huge improvement over Rodan in a small amount of time. Perhaps because she doesn't use her legs to do a lot of standing or towering, Mothra is a lot more believably moved around then the previous flying kaiju. The wings in particular are much more wing-like, actually flapping.

- Mothra's design really can't be argued against, it's one of the most inspired ones in all of kaiju. Mothra's colors and features reflect that she's less aggressive than her Godzilla counterpart, nothing about her stands out as aggressive or even a weapon as opposed to Godzilla's claws, size, large dorsal fins, and Atomic Breath.

- Mothra's (dope) design is also the first to truly utilize color: the design simply wouldn't work as well in black and white, whereas Godzilla and Rodan are perfectly suitable for the limitations of black and white picture.

This movie is actually quite good. It has more purpose than Godzilla Raids Again, is more coherent than Rodan, and is the best directed movie we've seen so far besides Godzilla (and the argument could be made that Mothra is better). Obviously some of the effects are quite dated by now, but the tiny Twins actually mesh relatively well with the rest of the actors and Mothra herself is a true feat of puppetry. On a pure technical level the first Mothra outing may be what earned her the place as Queen.

Mothra as a creature is distinguished from all other kaiju we've seen so far by being relatively non-violent. While she definitely causes collateral damage, most notably the civilian ship which just happened to cross her path, for the most part Mothra only does damage to people and structures either in her way or trying to stop her. Sequences of civilians falling prey to her are limited to the ship (mostly bad luck) and no one else, every other person targeted by Mothra is someone trying to stop her. Granted, the buildings that are destroyed definitely have people in them as well so it's not as though her kill count is low, but the (relative) pacifism is reflected in everything Mothra does. It's an interesting choice, especially so early in kaiju history.

The Twins are an interesting element to add to the movie, both the driving force of the film because Mothra pursues them relentlessly but also as helpless as anyone else in the movie because they do not control of even truly influence Mothra despite their obvious importance to her. When the other natives of Infant Island are slaughtered by Clark Nelson Mothra remains idle, but once the Twins are taken she awakens and wrecks havoc to get them back. The Twins performances themselves also serve as a really useful backdrop of the storytelling, allowing us to see Mothra move toward her goals while we listen to the forced performances of the Twins. I'm not sure if these scenes are part of the message, but I have to think it is.

Onto that message: this seems pretty obviously a warning against unfettered capitalism. Clark Nelson is described explicitly as a capitalist and nothing else. We don't know if he's an oil baron, businessman, banker, or treasure hunter, but he's a capitalist all the way. He funds an expedition to an uncharted island with the express purpose of exploiting it, and once he captures the twins her forces them to perform so he can profit off of the spectacle. The scenes of Mothra destroying things to rescue them while they seem to perform happily can definitely be read as an allusion to the pain and suffering that is truly in the background of many capitalistic endeavors. As every disingenuous person who reads anything critiquing anything capitalistic will point out: this is often done these days on computers or iPhones, products made by people in some pretty brutal conditions. The performance of the Twins also causes carnage by Mothra, just as the convenience of modern technology causes the exploitation and brutalization of people all over the world. Clark Nelson is even protected by his countries government and uses the legal system against anyone who correctly pins some blame on him, which seems a pretty simply transference. 

The most significant difference between the two examples is that Clark Nelson actually does suffer the consequences in this movie, whereas real world exploiters are almost never punished in any way (let alone meeting a fate similar to Clark Nelson). While his country's government was finally prepared to force him to return the Twins once Mothra had set her sights on Rolisca, he would likely have gotten off scot-free had he not overreacted. The only mistake Clark made was using the same tactics he does around the world on people in his own country, drawing a weapon at home rather than only abroad. Another reason to appreciate Mothra: she makes capitalist face consequences.

Next: King Kong vs Godzilla!

Rodan

The first non-Godzilla movie on our list! Rodan was released in December of 1956 and the first movie in color. We're watching progress happen as we watch kaiju flicks, folks! Directed by familiar name Ishirō Honda and with the titular kaiju played by famed Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima, this is a movie definitely made in the same vein of any other Godzilla movie, just with no appearance by the Big G. Let's get to the point.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Miners doing miner shit. A series of murders begins to happen, all the men sliced with an "incredibly sharp" object.

- Initially falsely thought to be the work of a particularly ornery miner, the true culprit is revealed to be a giant ancient dragonfly larvae named Meganulon.

-  An earthquake follows. Some time later, a fighter jet pilot sees an "unknown aircraft" doing loops in the sky, faster than his state of the art machine. As he approaches it he's unable to do anything but shout that it's huge before his plane is cut in half and he dies.

- While passing by and killing a couple in the mountains, presumably by accident, the new creature is identified as a giant Pteranodon: the titular Rodan.

- Rodan is hunted down by the military and attacked, in full view of civilians. They are able to slow but not stop Rodan as bridges, buildings, trains, and planes get destroyed.

- Eventually pinned down by tanks and other artillery, Rodan appears to be losing before a 2nd Rodan appears and rescues the 1st. They escape and the military regroups.

- Hunted down to a volcano, the military devises a plan to bury them underneath the fire, rock, and ash of the volcano. 

- In the conclusion, the plan succeeds and one of the Rodan's is set into the volcano and catches fie. Presumably not wanted to be alone, the 2nd Rodan joins its mate in the flames and they die together.

Kaiju Notes

- Rodan's powers are the ability to cause sonic booms by flapping its wings and also causing great damage by flying past things. In its first few appearances people are killed and vehicles destroyed just by the force of the giant creature flying past.

- As far as the creature itself, I honestly found it didn't make much of an impression at all. Besides the difficulty and clunkiness of having a flying creature onscreen in the 50's, Rodan leaves no major impressions.

- Meganulon is a much more interesting suit: claws and clearly a complex creation, if I had to choose one creature to have featured more (or even had as the main character) it would have been the much more interesting Meganulon.

To put it bluntly, Rodan is a very bad movie. It builds up a premise that has a lot of potential and wastes almost all of it. Meganulon is a demon from the gates of hell in the beginning of the movie, but when the earthquake happens and we shift focus to Rodan the movie begins to suffer. Making some initial good moves to establish Rodan as a danger to everyone around it despite not even being violent or angry, the major loss here was writing Meganulon out of the story entirely. Following Godzilla Raids Again I would assume that the idea of featuring two monsters fighting each other took hold here, but they squander it in a much bigger way than they did there. When we find out where Rodan came from (a giant egg), we also find out that in order to grow so large baby Rodan(s) just ate all of the Meganulons! What the actual fuck is that? There's not even a scene showing the swarm of Meganulon trying to fight Rodan off, just an off-screen explanation and with no more mention of Meganulon at all.

Now, I'm no kaiju movie writer (yet!) but I simply don't understand why you'd spend the first third of a movie focusing around a ferocious murderous bug monster only to have your giant flying dinosaur creature to simply eat them all offscreen. It makes no sense at all. When you factor in all of the additional work that had to be done to establish the new threat of Rodan (and earthquake, a plane, killing a couple, stealing cows, then there's a second one) it just makes the entire endeavor clunky. Especially when you had the great opportunity to have the larval Meganulon as a threat that could have evolved into the giant angry dragonfly monster that it was clearly conceived as. Everything else can function very similar, you just have a giant dragonfly instead of a flying dinosaur. You could even include the loss of the swarm of Meganulon, as maybe one eats all the others as they vie for being the Mega-Meganulon for the finale.

Speaking of failures, I have no idea what this movie is about. I read somewhere that Rodan was supposed to represent the threat that the Soviet Union posed to neighboring nations, but I don't see it. The only scene that comes remotely close to reflecting that is the scene of the fighter pilot encountering Rodan for the first time, initially thinking the dinosaur was some advanced new aircraft. But at no other point is anything even resembling arms race or invasion concerns even touched on. Rodan is a force of nature that mostly seems to accidentally harm people, so the military hunts it down and eventually succeeds in killing them. I could be missing something but I don't see how that serves as a metaphor for anything except possibly other natural disasters? Even if we take it as that, the military can't exactly shoot down a tsunami or a tornado so it still doesn't work.

Quite simply, Rodan is a mess. It's unnecessarily complicated, truly baffling narrative choices are made over and over, and it doesn't seem to be going for anything like an idea. Perhaps the kaiju genre is still truly finding its feet with releases like this and Godzilla Raids Again, but for me this film in particular just seems like an unforced error that failed to realize the potential of its own premise. I fully believe that in some alternate dimension there's a version of Rodan, probably called Meganulon instead, that is actually pretty awesome. A man can dream, at least. This will not be the last time we see the Main Man Rodan, so stay tuned for that. Hopefully his next appearance will be little more cohesive.

Next: Mothra!

Godzilla Raids Again

 

Now we speak of the first sequel to Godzilla, and truly the spawning of the franchise, Godzilla Raids Again. Going from what was (I would argue) clearly intended to be a one-off film about the perils of the arms race to a series of movies about giant monsters, the evolution of the kaiju genre truly starts here. Released in 1955 and directed by Motoyoshi Oda, both Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka return as suit actors this time, with Tezuka as the actor for new monster Anguirus. Get used to Nakajima as the Godzilla actor, he plays Godzilla for 12 films straight so is the true original Godzilla actor. Original, but is he the best? That's a question we will explore as we go.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Two pilots discover ANOTHER Godzilla, apparently woken up at the same time as the first Godzilla. 

- This Godzilla gets attacked by Anguirus, a giant anklyosaurus and an ancient rival of Godzillas.

- With no Oxygen Destroyer to destroy Godzilla (or Anguirus), things look hopeless.

- Godzilla appears on land and destroys some stuff after being attacked by humans. Anguirus attacks and the two kaiju have an epic battle, Godzilla ultimately the victor.

- Godzilla leaves the city after killing Anguirus.

- Weeks later, Godzilla is trying to chill and is attacked by humans on an icy island. He kills one of the main human characters but is ultimately frozen underneath snow and ice.

Kaiju Notes

- I still don't like Godzilla's eyes in some shots.

- Atomic Breath is improved somewhat, apparently by creating a puppet with an actual stream that can be expelled from it.

- The monsters are much more mobile this time around, going at it a bit like MMA fighters, including some grappling and ground-n-pound action

There is a lot of focus on human characters in this movie, but without a lot of substance behind it. An entire sequence of escaped criminals being hunted by police ultimately ends up being a very long road to get to the point of causing an explosion which attracts Godzilla and Anguirus to the city. It makes a degree of sense but takes up a lot of time and could've been resolved much more effectively. While the romance between two characters being interrupted by Godzilla and Anguirus' appearance could be an interesting story to explore, most of the human stories fall pretty flat if for no other reason than they're not really related to the main tale being told: Godzilla and Anguirus punching each other. The death of the pilot near the end that gives humans to idea to freeze Godzilla under snow and ice is the closest things to any human actions which relates to the kaiju story here, ultimately making it a movie about one fight between monsters and a bunch of boring shit otherwise.

Anguirus is very aggressive, it's kind of cute. Dude bites the neck a lot, where Godzilla always seems to be holding back somewhat. Godzilla does learn from his example and eventually chow down on the back of Anguirus' neck in return, but it did seem to be a learned response. For good measure Godzilla does then Atomic Breath Anguirus until he's fully dead, so he was only holding back in the beginning part apparently to annihilate his foe later. False sense of security, a classic move. That Godzilla is a crafty one!

One interesting change in this film from the first is that much of the emphasis of surviving Godzilla is just that: survival. While military forces always attempt to damage/kill him, this is ultimately futile. Two plans have worked to stop/deter Godzilla: turning off all electricity when he approaches so that he is not reminded of the nuclear bombs that caused all of this and freezing him under a massive pile of snow and ice. The first plan is ultimately undone by an exploding building and Anguirus attacking shortly thereafter, but Godzilla simply returns to the ocean afterward. The "freeze Godzilla" plan is successful, but is important to emphasize does very little actual harm to the Big Guy. It stops him in his track and allows him to go back to sleep, but that doesn't even seem like something Godzilla would be opposed to. The only reason either one has been upset was because they were woken up by human activity, so being encased in ice and allowed to chill seems a bit like a dream come true.

There's not much to say about this movie, honestly. It lacks any of the substance of the previous one and even the action sequence between Anguirus and Godzilla is one scene in the middle of the movie which is never matched by anything else that happens. The ice-shattering finale is well-done but by the time we get there it has just been such a boring ride. Godzilla versus military is always a fun concept though, and he really does do some damage in this one after they start several fights with him. Outside of a few interesting action sequences there's nothing to sink your teeth into with this one, and I find myself surprised that anyone was clamoring for more Godzilla if this was the result of the first sequel.

Next: Rodan!

Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

Now we talk about the first American release of a Godzilla movie: Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Released in 1956, this film is essentially an edited version of the original Gojira with segments of Raymond Burr inserted, presumably to appeal to western audiences and sensibilities (more on this bit later). If you want to know the original story they are editing down, see the post on that one. This will review most of the big differences between the two versions, with a little more detail on the plot to make up for the lack of overall substance.

We start in media res, finding our ever present narrator and reporter Steve Martin waking up underneath rubble, saying he was in Tokyo for a "social call." You know that that means: my boy Steve Martin was tryna fuck. We move to the sequences from the last movie, the aftermath of Godzilla attacking Tokyo, so they can frontload the terror of Godzilla. We also find out that Steve Martin is friends with almost every main character from the previous movie, including hero and scientist Serizawa and best girl Emiko. He does not seem to know Emiko's fiancé or father. Which doesn't matter much because they don't matter in this version almost at all. He also mentions that Serizawa is well-known for his revolutionary experiments.

Cutting back in time, we see Steve Martin investigating the mysterious incidents which portend Godzilla's arrival, and as a foreign reporter he is apparently immediately accepted into conversations with high-ranking Japanese intelligence officials. We also get several scenes of the original character being insert into scenes with Steve, and it's honestly sometimes very funny.

Onto the Oxygen Destroyer, the reveal is just unusual. Emiko is here to tell him that she will not be marrying him but instead her new fiancé, but can't muster up the courage. While she attempts to do so he says he has something to show her and they haul off to his lab. Given the "on a lark" approach to Serizawa's reveal and the reason Emiko is here, the whole scene where he shows her this terrible weapon reads a bit like a threat. Which is funnier, sure, but does some real damage to the "weight of the world" approach they took with Serizawa in the original.

Another important (and bad) note: the violence and carnage of Godzilla is somewhat sanitized in this version, with most of the action happening with Steve Martin and his entourage all watching the horribleness from a safe distance. Some are attempting (and failing) to look deeply affected by it all, but there's only so much tension and terror you can feel while your main character is simply watching from afar and never in any real danger. Raymond Burr's entirely stoneface performance doesn't really help. Can't tell if he just doesn't care because it's only Japanese people being murdered or if it's just how he reacts to general terribleness, but either way it becomes a lot harder to take the horror of it all seriously when every scene is intercut with Stoneface Steve Martin. Worse yet, most of the sequences of Steve Martin interrupting the action is for him to dryly explain what is happening onscreen, and that's just dreadful filmmaking. The closest Steve Martin goes to showing a human emotion throughout this film is when he believes he's about to die, as Godzilla Atomic Breathes all over his newsroom and we are thrust back to the first scene of the movie, Steven Martin crushed beneath rubble. Let's be clear, this is the closest he's gotten to appearing human, it is not actually close at all.

My favorite part of this movie is when a car is exploded by Godzilla and I SWEAR TO GOD that they've added an absolutely hilarious scream. It cannot have been in the original cut because I WOULD REMEMBER. Definitely a "so bad it's good" moment.

Wound from the attack from Godzilla we experience the aftermath of the attack from Steve Martin's perspective, focused on the suffering of this single American rather than the community pain that was emphasized in the original. He is told by Emiko the secret of the Oxygen Destroyer and convinces Emiko to go to Serizawa and insist he use the new weapon. She seemed inclined to do so anyway, it's why she mentioned it in the first place, but now she's had TWO MEN (and one WHITE) tell her to do it so obviously she's on board now.

The ending plays out largely the same, Serizawa is convinced because it's the right thing to do and eventually dies along with Godzilla. While the original plot here includes him lamenting over creating such a weapon and speaking of the horrors of nuclear war and the arms race, they barely mention it here (probably not to rustle any American jimmies) and instead focus on it being "the right thing to do". There's a certain undeniable grotesque character to an American version of a Japanese movie which warns against the dread of nuclear war instead focusing on a message that a horrific weapon has to be used for the greater good barely ten years after being the only country to actually use nuclear weapons against that same population. While the Japanese were making a movie to protest and warn against the proliferation of nuclear (and potentially worse) weaponry, American producers decided to subtly throw in that such weapons are sometimes just necessary sometimes okaaaaaay. Serizawa does still die in this version to prevent the secret of the Oxygen Destroyer from getting out, but without the foundation set up on his motivations it could potentially be read almost as an accident.

Funnily, at the end of the movie, Serizawa harkens back to my joke that he showed Emiko the Oxygen Destroyer to threaten her. He wishes her and her new fiancé luck in their future relationship as he cuts his lifelines, a conversation that has apparently never happened so he definitely knew she was moving on when he decided to show her his new and fearsome weapon. Serizawa really didn't want to lose her!

Anyway, to conclude: Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is a significantly worse version of the original with some added hideous messaging that runs nearly counter to the message of the original. Basically take a horror-monster movie allegory and remove all of the tension, intelligence, depth, and social relevance and you've got Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

This ain't it, Chief.

Next: Godzilla Raids Again!

Gojira

Gojira: the original film, the one that started it all. I am referring to it here as Gojira to help distinguish it from both the American re-release/edit called Godzilla, King of the Monsters and two American releases decades later also named simply Godzilla. We'll get to that.

Gojira was released in 1954, directed by Ishirō Honda with both Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla.

If You Haven't Seen It Before

- Godzilla has been woken up by hydrogen bomb testing.

- He's pissed.

- Godzilla destroys lots of shit and can't be killed despite numerous attempts.

- Reluctantly, a scientist named Serizawa develops an incredible weapon which can presumably kill Godzilla by causing the hydrogen bonds of oxygen molecules to separate: The Oxygen Destroyer.

- Not wanting the world to get its hands on yet another super-weapon after nuclear power, Serizawa destroys his research and swears that he won't be the cause of more human suffering.

- While deploying his one and only Oxygen Destroyer against Godzilla, Serizawa allows himself to be a victim to it as well, so that his weapon will never fall into the hands of humanity.

Kaiju Notes

- Godzilla's famous Atomic Breath appears to have a fire-like effect in its first appearance, melting metal and setting building ablaze. Big G also uses it directly on scrambling civilians, which should be an interesting thing to keep track of.

- Godzilla's eyes are definitely the weakest part of this suit. They look pretty goofy compared to the relative badassness of the rest. It's an inconsistent problem though, apparently caused by the use of a full suit and a smaller puppet used for other shots.

- Even when it's clear the dorsal fins/spinal are made of rubber, the dorsal spikes themselves look dope and are, for me, one of Godzilla's better design choices. Lighting them up when he uses Atomic Breath is an inspired choice which only looks better as the films transition from black and white to color.

Gojira has an extremely dark, almost bleak, tone. The only respite we get from Godzilla wreaking absolute havoc is watching a couple have difficulty finally becoming engaged because the woman's father is a top scientist and is too distracted by the impending doom of Godzilla to have a conversation about whether marriage would be appropriate. Civilian death is emphasized quite a bit in this first outing, making it clear that Godzilla is not simply here to destroy electrical lines, buildings, and bridges but will explicitly and intentionally target scrambling human beings as well. I think the typical pop culture perspective of Godzilla is somewhat similar to The Incredible Hulk: he will leave you be if you leave him, only destroying tanks and planes when they attack first. But his first major attack on Tokyo is repeatedly punctuated by unnecessarily choosing to kill people who are simply trying to get out of his way. In fact, when the military engages him with airplanes during the attack on Tokyo Godzilla retreats with no military casualties. Combined with the emphasis on the consequences of Godzilla's appearances, showing orphaned children, a full-scale mobilization to repair buildings and help the injured, Gojira has a certain unmistakable grimness at its heart.

The central message of this film seems to be focused on the scientist and hero of the story, Serizawa. Reflecting the somewhat despondent undertone of the whole film, Serizawa is pained to have discovered a weapon capable of destroying Godzilla. He directly compares his Oxygen Destroyer to the H-Bomb, which not only created Godzilla but is a constant preoccupation of the characters of the film, with nearly every mention being negative and/or fearful. Seemingly accepted as the next evolution of nuclear weaponry, the concern that the Japanese characters have that the H-Bomb spells the end of humanity can't be taken as anything other than a condemnation of the entire concept of an arms race. When Serizawa reveals to one character his creation of the Oxygen Destroyer, a weapon which destroys oxygen on a molecular level, he swears her to secrecy until he can find a purpose for it other than destruction. Perhaps understandably, Godzilla's existence and attacks drive her to break her promise in the hopes that something can be done to stop the destruction of Japan. When confronted with its existence by her and her well-meaning fiancee, Serizawa immediately moves to destroy his research rather than allow its existence become widely known. In regards to his invention, even as a tool to use against the destructive force of Godzilla, Serizawa speaks only of how it will inevitably be used and abused by politicians. "A-bombs again A-bombs, H-bombs against H-bombs... as a human being, adding another terrifying weapon to humanity's arsenal is something I can't allow."

While discussing the usage of the Oxygen Destroyer just once to end Godzilla's threat, Serizawa also points out that humans are weak creatures. Even if he destroys his own research and refuses to create another, he acknowledges that there is no guarantee that he can't be coerced into using it again. He clearly struggles with his decision, knowing that it is their best hope against Godzilla but also believing that he will be releasing pure chaos into the world by revealing the existence of a such a device. In this moment we are also treated to several images which mirror the impact of the nuclear weapon attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, clearly setting a dichotomy between what Serizawa can help to prevent but also the assumed result should his weapon be made public knowledge. In his mind, these images are nothing compared to what might happen should be allow politicians to get their hands on his new Oxygen Destroyer. Unable to face the television screen any longer, he has a moment of reflect and declares that this will be the first and last time that the Oxygen Destroyer. He immediately destroys his notes, watching carefully to ensure that no information survives.

On the day of reckoning, Serizawa asks to be given a diving suit so that he can ensure that their one chance will be successful, as this is the only Oxygen Destroyer in existence and they cannot afford to miss. Finding Godzilla resting in the depths of the ocean, Serizawa releases the Oxygen Destroyer before sending his partner back to the surface without him. Literally cutting off his own method to return, Serizawa dies with Godzilla, and the Oxygen Destroyer dies with him. The movie ends with a clear message: Godzilla was the last of his kind, but if nuclear testing continues then another can and will appear (so obviously stop nuclear testing).

In the grand scheme of kaiju movies, Gojira is a strong start. While one might argue the metaphor is ridiculous and on the nose, it would be hard to argue that the points they are hoping to make are entirely untrue. When it comes to clarity, I would argue that the current state of culture has made it clear that sometimes one cannot afford for interpretation, so the over the top nature of the film truly just future-proofs the message. With later kaiju movies embracing the fun aspects of giant monsters, it can be difficult to decipher exactly how that trend began if you start here. Gojira is joyless and bleak, clearly intended to send a message and not necessarily to start an enduring and kid-friendly franchise (and genre). Given this starting point, tracing the evolution of Kaiju movies will be an interesting endeavor. Stay tuned!

Next: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

Photos

This is just a gallery so I can store photos in a place I know they won't move or be changed from. Ignore this page unless you want to look at kaiju faces.

Gorosaurus, King Kong Escapes

Mechani-Kong, King Kong Escapes

Minilla, Son of Godzilla

King Kong, King Kong Escapes

Kamacuras, Son of Godzilla

Kumonga, Son of Godzilla

Godzilla, Son of Godzilla

Gorgo, Gorgo

Gamera, Gamera vs. Gyaos

Gyaos, Gamera vs. Gyaos

King Kong, King Kong

Daimajin, Daimajin

Sanda and Gaira, War of the Gargantuas

Gaira, War of the Gargantuas

Sanda, War of the Gargantuas

Anguirus biting King Ghidorah, Destroy All Monsters

All Monsters, Destroy All Monsters

 

Gabara, All Monsters Attack

Hedorah, Godzilla vs. Hedorah

Gigan, Godzilla vs. Gigan

Gigan, profile

Megalon, Godzilla vs. Megalon

Jet Jaguar, Godzilla vs. Megalon

Everyone, Godzilla vs. Megalon

MechaGodzilla, Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla

King Caesar, Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla

Titanosaurus, Terror of MechaGodzilla

Everyone, Terror of MechaGodzilla

Baby Pulgasari, Pulgasari

Pulgasari, Pulgasari

Godzilla, Return of Godzilla

Rose Biollante, Godzilla vs. Biollante

Biollante, Godzilla vs. Biollante

King Ghidorah, Godvilla vs. King Ghidorah

Mecha-King Ghidorah, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

Larvel Battra, Godzilla vs. Mothra

Larval Mothra, Godzilla vs. Mothra

Mothra, Godzilla vs. Mothra

Battra, Godzilla vs. Mothra

MechaGodzilla II, Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II

Baby Godzilla, Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II

Fire Rodan, Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II

Moguera, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

Baby Godzilla, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

SpaceGodzilla, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

Baby Destoroyah, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

Destoroyah and Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

Destoroyah and Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

Amano Shiratori, Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon

Kumasogami, Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon

Kaishin Muba, Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon

Orochi, Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon

Utsuno Ikusagami, Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon

Utsuno Ikusagami, Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon

Gamera, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

Super Gyaos, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

Legion, Gamera 2

Baby Irys, Gamera 3

Irys, Gamera 3

Belvera, Rebirth of Mothra

Desghidorah, Rebirth of Mothra

Larva Mothra Leo, Rebirth of Mothra

Imago Mothra Leo, Rebirth of Mothra

Zilla, Godzilla (1998)

Yonggary, Yonggary

Yonggary, Yonggary

Cykor, Yonggary

Godzilla, Godzilla 2000

Orga, Godzilla 2000

Meganulon, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus

Megaguirus, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus

Baragon, GMK

Mothra, GMK

King Ghidorah, GMK

Kiryu, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

Kiryu, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

Mothra, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

Mothra, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

Kiryu, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

Kamacuras, Godzilla: Final Wars

Kumonga, Godzilla: Final Wars

Gigan, Godzilla: Final Wars

Monster X, Godzilla: Final Wars

Buraki, D-War

Bulco, D-War

Dawdler, D-War

Celestial Dragon, D-War

Clover, Cloverfield

Clover - Full shot, Cloverfield

Clover Parasite, Cloverfield

Kappa, Death Kappa

Toto-Gamera, Gamera the Brave

Zedus, Gamera the Brave

Cherno Alpha, Pacific Rim

Gispy Danger, Pacific Rim

Striker Eureka, Pacific Rim

Crimson Typhoon, Pacific Rim

Godzilla, Godzilla (2014)

MUTO, Godzilla (2014)

Both MUTOs, Godzilla (2014)

Various Titans, Attack on Titan

Godzilla, Shin Godzilla

Godzilla, Shin Godzilla

Gloria's kaiju, Colossal

Mike's kaiju, Colossal

Kong, Kong Island

Skull Crawler, Kong Island

Godzilla, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters

King Ghidorah, Godzilla: The Planet Eater

George, Rampage

Ralph, Rampage

Lizzie, Rampage

Larval Mothra, Godzilla: King of the Monsters

King Ghidorah, Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Rodan, Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Mothra, Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Let Them Fight, Godzilla vs. Kong

MechaGodzilla, Godzilla vs. Kong

Diablos, Monster Hunter

Nerscylla, Monster Hunter

Rathalos, Monster Hunter