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Project Text Revised
Project Text Revised
Khatchig Nalbandian
Professor J. Beadle
English 115
7 November 2017
Evolution of Godzilla
Japan learned from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that the tragedy wrought
by nuclear weapons must never be repeated and that humanity and nuclear weapons cannot
coexist (Ikeda). It is a belief to many that Godzilla was first created to put fear into the peoples
eyes as a representation of radiation and the potential long-term effects of the atomic bombing.
Godzillas first appearance was in the 1954 film Gojira, directed by Ishiro Honda. Godzilla
became such a hit movie, not only to Japanese audiences but also all around the world even
peaking interest to American audiences. Until today, sequels of Godzilla are created all around
the world. Godzilla ranks as one of the most sequelled film franchises in movie history, edging
out James Bond (Alt, 3). From Gojira (1954) all the way to Shin Godzilla (2016), Godzilla as a
monster has changed drastically, and an important reason for that change can be due to time.
Time can have one of the strongest and long-lasting affects, it can take something and
completely change how its perceived and looked at, but no matter what the originality is still
there no matter how little of it remains. Even though its unfair to compare two movies with a
62-year gap in between, from the meaning of the movies all the way to the minor details of the
movie, the two Godzilla movies Gojira and Shin Godzilla drastically changed from one another
From the film Gojira (1954) to Shin Godzilla (2016) it can be argued that the purpose of
Godzillas creation has changed. But their touchstones are no longer incendiary and nuclear
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bombs. Instead they are the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which killed close to twenty thousand
people and introduced Japan to a new form of nuclear horror caused by out of control nuclear
reactors (Alt, 4). Even though nuclear power is stated in both movies as the cause of Godzilla it
seems to be treated less seriously and more of as a joke. Over time the movies of Godzilla were
taken less serious and was just a movie for entertainment reasons. The original film Gojira was
practically an insult to America and their horrible treatment of nuclear power, but surprisingly
American audiences became very fond of Godzilla. Godzilla, King of Monsters! Was a hit
among American audiences hungry for atomic scare fare. Japan had found an unlikely
international superstar in Godzilla (Alt, 5). Even though the original film Gojira (1954) was
created to insult and degrade America, Americans became very fond of the Godzilla series. By
the latest movie Shin Godzilla (2016) it became so popular that very well-known Rotten
Tomatos gave the movie satisfaction rating of 84% and audiences gave it 73%. Which is rather
surprising since the movie was created to insult Americans not amuse them.
It can be argued the monster has not changed drastically from Gojira to Shin Godzilla.
One very important quality that both movies have is that the main role was given to a female.
Well the main role obviously goes to Godzilla, but in both movies a female was the one to either
figure out why the monster came to exist or a way to kill the monster. In the movie Gojira Emiko
Yamane, remembered that Dr. Serizawa had a machine (oxygen destroyer) capable to kill
Godzilla. In Shin Godzilla actress Kayoko, figures out before all the male government members
that the monster was created due to nuclear energy. Both movies represent a dominant female
There is no doubt that both Gojira and Shin Godzilla share some similarities, whether it
be the setting, the plot, or the various characters. But after watching both movies one can see that
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the differences between the two movies outweigh the similarities. Even though both movies end
with the well-anticipated death of Godzilla, they are portrayed very differently. In the movie
Gojira the ending has the scientist (Dr. Serizawa) creating a bomb, or oxygen destroyer that
when dropped into water will kill Godzilla once and for all. But at the end of Gojira a point is
made, how people only want power to destroy other people. Of course, theyll want to use it as
a weapon. Bombs versus bombs, missiles versus missiles, and now a super weapon to throw
upon us all. (Gojira, Dr. Serizawa) in this line Dr. Serizawa tries to explain to the audience how
all humans care about is the destruction of other humans. For this reason, at the end of the film
Serizawa destroys all the information on the oxygen destroyer and proceeds to jump into the
water with the bomb and kill himself while killing Godzilla at the same time. So not only was
Godzilla destroyed but also, he made sure that humans would not get their hands on the oxygen
destroyer and cause harm to other humans. In the movie Gojira, Dr. Serizawa tries to show the
audience that all mankind truly wants is more power to destroy each other with.
On the other hand, the ending of Shin Godzilla was different: In the movie Shin Godzilla,
the ending is much different from Gojira, it ends with the last few remaining alive government
members of Tokyo finding a way to freeze Godzilla to death. In Shin Godzilla, the government
tries so many different methods to destroy Godzilla but find the task practically impossible. They
use tanks, missiles, and bombs to destroy Godzilla but it doesnt work, unlike in Gojira where
after one attempt of using a bomb they kill Godzilla. It takes the army of Japan many times in
Shin Godzilla before they freeze Godzilla to eternal hibernation or death. It can be argued that
over time the ending of Godzilla has changed as a representation of how mankind has changed. I
believe in Shin Godzilla so much weaponry is used to destroy Godzilla to show the audience how
in todays world countries, armies, and people just destroy and kill each other without thinking
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about the consequences. Unlike in the (1954) film Gojira where they used very little weaponry
until they had no choice but to use an oxygen destroyer once to kill Godzilla.
One other simple and agreeable reason that the two Godzilla movies are different from
one another is due to how many years of a difference there is from when they were created. In
Gojira since it was made in 1954 its a black and white film, also due to a lack of technology
there are few scenes with dialogue, and the visual effects arent too good. On the other hand,
Shin Godzilla was made in 2016 so the visual effects are much better, Godzilla changes forms
throughout the movie which back in 1954 would have been much more difficult and expensive to
accomplish, hence explaining why Godzilla stayed as only one form throughout the film. After
changing forms in Shin Godzilla, the monster Godzilla stood at its tallest height to ever be
portrayed in any Godzilla movie at 387 feet. Whereas in Gojira, the monster Godzilla only stood
at 164 feet. These are all examples showing how in a span of 62 years the film industry became
Even though it would be expected that the two movies would have different directors, the
directors of both movies had different ideas when creating their respected movies. The director
of Gojira (1954) Ishiro Hondas purpose of making the film was to show Japans post WWII real
life anxieties. Honda being a solider himself witnessing Hiroshima, saw the aftermath of nuclear
power and wanted to show the world how dangerous nuclear power is through his own first-hand
experiences. Honda came up with the idea of showing his viewpoint through a monster that he
created, Godzilla there were several prominent factors that led to Honda creating Gojira.
First, and most influential, was the fear of radiation and the potential long-term effects of the
Now fast forward 62 years, Shin Godzilla (2016) directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi
(co directed), the directors had no personal viewpoints to the meaning of Godzilla. Instead they
looked at Godzilla through the eyes of a franchise. From the eyes of the audience it can be
thought that there only goal was to appeal as big as an audience as they possibly could, they
wanted to turn a movie which should have stayed a film to teach the world the consequences of
nuclear war, into a hit movie. Legendary Godzillas 108.2-meter height (Dan, 1). They even
made Godzilla 387 feet in Shin Godzilla the largest Godzilla ever so they could have a 387-foot
long red carpet at their premiere for the movie. This change between movies shows how now
movies are created more for the purpose of pleasing the audience rather than portraying a
message. This can be a reason why some argue that Shin Godzilla has lost some of its original
After watching both Godzilla movies Gojira 1954 and Shin Godzilla 2016 I strongly
believe that the movies have drastically changed from one another. I believe that the director of
Gojira created the movie for a purpose to serve and open the publics eyes on how evil and
destructive nuclear power is. While on the other hand the only purpose for Shin Godzilla was for
the entertainment of the audience. It can be argued that Shin Godzilla still keeps the original
meaning of Gojira by the means of nuclear power, but there are still too many differences. Even
though I like to believe every movie has a story to tell Godzilla became such a repeated sequel
that people forgot about its actual meaning. Even though its unfair to compare two movies that
have a 62-year gap in between them because there will obviously be differences between the
movies. I believe that there are many differences from the movies and they have all been caused
Works Cited