If You Haven't Seen it Before
- A ship goes missing nearby a volcanic eruption right after reporting seeing something great and terrible. Days later, the ship is found by a reporter, but nearly everyone on board has been mummified by a gigantic sea louse.
- The last survivor is shown pictures of Godzilla and realizes that the creature they saw before the ship went missing was in fact Godzilla, back from the dead. The giant sea louse that killed the crew was a mutated creature resulting from the radiation Godzilla gives off.
- Though the reporter Writes an article on the return of Godzilla, the information is held back from the public. He begins to investigate further, meeting a professor who is an expert on Godzilla.
- A Soviet nuclear submarine is destroyed off the coast of Japan after putting up a valiant fight. The Soviets blame America. The threat of nuclear war looms over the world (hey, how horrifically fitting!).
- To prevent a nuclear war from starting which would affect Japan as well as the rest of the world, the Japanese government finally reveals that Godzilla has returned for the first time since 1954.
- To fight back against Godzilla, the military has developed a weapon called the Super X. It's a "flying fortress" equipped with cadmium cannons designed to fight against Godzilla's radiation empowerment.
- Godzilla attacks, making a beeline for a nuclear reactor and ripping it out so he can feast on its delicious radiation. He is eventually distracted by a flock of passing birds and returns to the ocean.
- Godzilla's affection of the migratory patterns of birds gives the humans an idea, to use a similar magnetic field as birds as a lure for Godzilla, to keep him away from larger cities and potentially confine (or kill) him using a volcano.
- American and Soviet forces have a different plan: blow up Godzilla with a nuke. The Japanese prime minister rejects their plan due to Japan's "Three Non-Nuclear Principles."
- The good news: work on the lure for Godzilla begins, with the hope of throwing him in a volcano. The bad news: the Soviet Union have a backup plan to nuke Godzilla from space.
- Godzilla goes on another rampage, causing significant military and civilian casualties, before the plan to lure him away and/or distract him is tested. It works!
- The military attacks again, using lasers and the Super X. They manage to hit Godzilla with enough cadmium to knock him unconscious.
- More bad news: as Godzilla attacked, he destroyed some important piece of equipment and the Soviet space nuke launches unprompted. The captain of the ship valiantly tries to stop the launch but dies in the process as he ship explodes.
- The American military saves the day by countering the Soviet missile with one of their own, destroying both before it can make it to the Japanese mainland and kill everyone.
- The missiles striking each other creates an EMP-like effect and a lightning storm, temporarily disabling the Super X (and all other power sources) and reviving Godzilla when he is struck by lightning.
- Out of cadmium, the Super X tries to fend off Godzilla but is now hopelessly outclassed. He rampages through the city, chasing it, before he managed to smash it with a skyscraper.
- The professor activates the lure to make Godzilla head toward the volcano, bringing Godzilla's rampage to an end (for now).
- Drawn to a volcano, Godzilla can't help but walk forward and falls into the lava pit. Not dumb enough to step into the mouth of the volcano itself, the military sets off preset bombs to destroy Godzilla's footing and send him directly into the volcano.
Kaiju Notes
- Godzilla looks scarier to me than he ever has before. While the 1954 version was portrayed just as violently, the eyes were a weakness of the suit that made him look a bit more doofy. The more advanced version of his eyes (and longer, more jagged teeth) used for this film makes Godzilla's return his most intimidating look yet. This extends to the direction, as Godzilla is only ever seen at night, thus making him a proper nightmare.
- New Godzilla is also much larger than the previous, 80 meters compared to the previous 50. This is primarily so Godzilla wouldn't look small compared to the Tokyo skyline, but also contributes to making Godzilla seem like a "larger" threat. A 50,000 ton monster just hits different.
- Perhaps because this is going back to the scary roots of Godzilla, it is important to note that this version of Godzilla is zero percent heroic or fun. Satsuma performs Godzilla as an animal running purely on instinct, and it is a very different (and awesome) version of the character that hasn't been seen in nearly 30 years.
- I respect the original Godzilla roar. It's a feat of sound engineering and impressive in its own right, especially for the time. That said, the new roar is significantly better. Sorry not sorry.
This movie features a return to form: Godzilla straight merc'ing dudes. He explicitly kills several people. At first this is primarily focused on military who are attacking him, though the collateral damage is still extreme. Once he lifts a passenger train off it's track only to simply drop it to the ground again before destroying the rest of the train (and track) it's clear that Godzilla is back to do destruction, not save the day. This is also an homage to the original film, a visual example connecting the two films as connected and perhaps even implying that this Godzilla is the same one as the first.
Besides the horror of Godzilla, the true villain of this film is the conflict between the Soviet Union and the US. The threat of nuclear war between the two drives much of the films human plot, and a Soviet nuclear missile turns out to be a larger threat than the monstrous Godzilla. It harkens back to the original Gojira: the only thing more horrific than a giant pissed off lizard who wants to kill you is nuclear weaponry. This is emphasized further when the missile manages to be destroyed without any human casualties and creates an EMP that literally turns the sky red and knocks out all power in the region. It's a scene right out of a post-apocalyptic story, inserted here as a natural consequence of nuclear bombs.
Outside of the horrors of both kaiju and nuclear weaponry, I think I may have cracked the code on the moral of the story: anti-meddling. The Japanese actually have this figured out from the start, but meddling from foreign forces complicates things significantly and almost kills millions of people. Had the Japanese been left to their devices and plans, this would have been a much simpler affair. Not without casualties, of course, but without an EMP being set off and screwing everyone over. Hell, the Super X itself managed to take out Godzilla at least temporarily, and the trouble only started after the Super X lost power and Godzilla was hit by a lightning storm (both caused by nuclear weapon use). While the nuclear strike was an accident, the simplest way to prevent an accidental nuclear strike is to not point it anywhere (fun fact: this actually works with most weapons!). Furthering the point, the missile was only pointed because the Soviet Union thought it knew better than the people most directly affected. Were it a situation where the Japanese had no plan it might be reasonable to point the biggest weapon you have at the creature, but this is a situation where the Japanese people actually have a clear and effective strategy which is nearly ruined by the meddling of foreign powers. I'm on board for cooperation, but undercutting and cooperation are... opposite.
The Return of Godzilla is... great. Bringing Godzilla back to the roots and letting him serve as the antagonist reminds us of the metaphor and menace the character was created to be. It is a little bit overly long than is needed but excellent suit acting, a coherent (and relatively simple) plot, and the true commitment to the tone of the film make this one worth seeing for sure. Godzilla actually being scary again is a sight for sore eyes, and this is coming from someone who appreciates the versus movies as much or even more than the "Godzilla fucks up Japan" films. Because Godzilla moved from villain to hero over ten years during the Showa era I assume the same will happen here, but I am curious what that progression will look like with a new generation of filmmakers (and audience). If you want a jumping on point for Godzilla movies, this is an excellent one. It doesn't look or feel as dated as the original and you get to experience a version of Godzilla much more in line with the original.
Next: Godzilla vs. Biollante!
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