New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther disparaged Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, dismissing it as "an incredibly awful film". After complaining about the dubbing, the special effects ("a miniature of a dinosaur") and the similarity to King Kong, he concluded, "The whole thing is in the category of cheap cinematic horror-stuff, and it is too bad that a respectable theater has to lure children and gullible grown-ups with such fare".[32] On the film's alterations, critic Danny Peary accused the producers of making "deletions that arouse suspicions regarding the cover up of references to damage done by the A-bomb".[33] Film critic Tim Lucas noted, "Much has been done to Americanize the Godzilla series over the decades, much of it inane and destructive, but the craft and cleverness that went into Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is immediately apparent".[34] Over the years, original director Ishirō Honda was asked by film historians if the alterations made by the American version without his permission had offended him. Honda found the alterations amusing, stating that his film was "trying to imitate American monster movies".[35]
Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka were chosen to perform in the Godzilla suit because of their strength and endurance.[40] At the first costume fitting, Nakajima fell down inside the suit[44] since it had been created by using heavy latex and inflexible materials.[40] This first version of the suit was cut into two and used for scenes requiring only partial shots of Godzilla or close-ups, with the lower half fitted with rope suspenders for Nakajima to wear.[44][43] For full-body shots, a second identical suit was created, which was made lighter than the first suit, but Nakajima could still be inside for only three minutes before passing out.[44] Nakajima lost 20 pounds during the production of the film.[45] Nakajima would go on to portray Godzilla and other monsters until his retirement in 1972.[46] Tezuka filmed scenes in the Godzilla suit, but his older body made him unable to fully commit to the physical demands required by the role. As a result, few of his scenes made it to the final cut, as very few scenes were considered usable.[47] Tezuka filled in for Nakajima when he was unavailable or needed relief from the physically-demanding role.[43]
Godzilla Full Movie English Version
The typhoon waves were created by stagehands who overturned barrels of water into a water tank where the miniature Odo Island shoreline was built.[57] Multiple composition shots were used for the Odo Island scenes.[58] Most of the Odo Island scenes were filmed near rice fields.[59] Toho hired en masse part-time employees to work on the film's optical effects.[60] Half of the 400 hired staff were mostly part-timers with little to no experience.[61] An early version of Godzilla's full reveal was filmed that featured Godzilla, via hand-operated puppet, devouring a cow. Sadamasa Arikawa thought the scene was too gruesome and convinced Tsuburaya to refilm it.[62] Optical effects were utilized for Godzilla's footprints on the beach by painting them onto glass and inserting it onto an area of the live-action footage.[63] Special effects photography lasted for 71 days.[56]
Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four and stated that "regaled for 50 years by the stupendous idiocy of the American version of Godzilla, audiences can now see the original Japanese version, which is equally idiotic, but, properly decoded, was the Fahrenheit 9/11 of its time." Ebert criticized the effects as looking "crude," felt the effects of the 1933 film King Kong to be "more convincing," and concluded, "This is a bad movie, but it has earned its place in history."[114]
The Millennium era of Godzilla movies goes in the opposite direction of the Heisei era, with virtually no film in this period sharing any continuity with each other (Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. being the only exceptions). Its tone is a mix of the previous two eras, but the primarily villainous characterization of Godzilla is closer to the Heisei period.
The colonists regroup after their disastrous attack on Godzilla at the end of the first movie and learn of a mysterious facility containing nanometal that was used to create Mechagodzilla. The nanometal can apparently be revived and used against Godzilla - the only catch is, the nanometal needs to assimilate living hosts (willing or otherwise) in order to work. The nanometal predictably turns out to be a bigger treat to the planet than even Godzilla, resulting in a real Empire Strikes Back downer of a climax that teases the next film.
The film has been remade or received sequels an astounding thirty times, offering alternative projections of Godzilla and even alternative plot lines. Some of these include the edited, English version of Gojira, known as Godzilla, King of the Monsters, 1956, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (alternatively known as Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, 1966) and Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (1974). Each remake brought audiences a new twist on the original city-devastating lizard that we have welcomed so warmly into our hearts, offering a scaley science fiction revolution.
Godzilla, the monster, first attacked America in 1968's Destroy All Monsters, when he blasted the UN headquarters with his atomic breath while under alien mind-control. Godzilla, the franchise, however, came to the States just two years after the radioactive lizard debuted in Japan. Godzilla, (Gojira, in Japanese) premiered in 1954, while the U.S. version, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, opened in 1956. King of the Monsters is more than just an English-dubbed version of the original. The American re-edit of the movie changes some dialogue, cuts some of the runtime, and adds an entirely new main character.
King of the Monsters cuts some parts of the movie out and rearranges other parts. Notably, the American version starts with Burr lying injured in the rubble after Godzilla's second attack on Tokyo. The bulk of the film in this version is a flashback, while the original is told in strict chronological order. Even with the addition of Burr's new scenes, the American cut is more than 10 minutes shorter than the original. The Japanese characters are the ones who sacrifice screentime and development, which is admittedly a shame.
Still, it's largely respectful in a way that most other American releases of Godzilla movies weren't. Often they would just do a wholesale language swap, which isn't inherently bad but a full, unexplained English dub can make those movies feel nationless in a way that King of the Monsters doesn't. Two other Godzilla movies got substantial re-edits with additional scenes in the way the first one did: 1962's King Kong vs. Godzilla and 1984's Godzilla Returns (renamed Godzilla 1985 when it came out in the U.S. a year later). The former is a borderline travesty that adds a patronizing framing device and throws out the film's intentional comedy. The latter is largely just cheap-looking and adds some unneeded American jingoism. It also brings back Burr as Steve, though he doesn't do much but comment on what's happening from afar in between some newly added and very obvious Dr. Pepper product placement. He's also exclusively referred to as "Steve" or "Mr. Martin" because by this time the real-life comedian Steve Martin had become popular, but we digress.
Hey guys! Im new to this site, but figured this is a good place to start. I recently got the godzilla boxset from classic media containing Gojira, Godzilla king of the monsters, Godzilla raids again, Mothra vs Godzilla, Ghidorah the three headed momster, Invasion of the astro monster, All monsters attack, and Terror of Mechagodzilla. With films like these I tend to view the films in the dubbed format. However, I know many of the early Godzilla movies are almost unwatchable in their english dubs. Are their certain films that the dub and sub are almost identical, or should I just stick with watching the subtitled versions. Thanks for your help ahead of time! I can't wait to start using this forum regularly.
The only one of those dubs that is truly unwatchable is Godzilla Raids Again, simply because they call Godzilla "Gigantis", plus they replace Godzilla's trademark roar with Anguirus' roar. The dub in All Monsters Attack is pretty awful, but then again so is the movie. The American cut of Terror of Mechagodzilla also cuts out most of the human violence and a great deal of the climax of the movie, which really hurts the story and makes the ending pretty confusing. I would stick to the subtitled original versions if you want to see the full uncut versions of the movies with facts not changed in the dubbing, but the dubs aren't all horrible.
Godzilla Raids Again - The English version is pretty much one giant middle finger to the original film. Almost every line is rewritten to say something different. Godzilla is called "Gigantis" throughout the film and Dr. Yamane's presentation with footage from Gojira is replaced with cheap footage from other science fiction movies. This altered presentation gives Godzilla, or Gigantis in this case, alternate origins as "Volcano Monsters". And if I recall both Godzilla and Anguirus have their roars switched in the English version
Mothra vs. Godzilla - This is generally considered the best dub of the entire Godzilla series. Asian accents are applied to the characters in the movie and the dialogue more or less matches the Japanese version. The English version also includes a scene that was not in the Japanese theatrical version: An American attack on Godzilla. It's kind of cool that this movie has an exclusive scene for the English version. Usually scenes get taken out.
Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster - The dubbing for this movie is passable and adds humor in some places. The Japanese version has some editing issues that the English version actually fixes; it rearranges some scenes so things are a bit more consistent. The problem is the English version also replaces 30% of Akira Ifukube's musical score which just doesn't sit well with me. 2ff7e9595c
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