Since his big movie debut in the 1950’s, Godzilla has become an iconic franchise. The Lizard King has starred in over 28 Japanese films, four American remakes, four television shows, a book series, and countless merchandise products. With the newest reboot of ‘Godzilla’ set to wreak havoc in theaters across America tonight, we are taking a look back at history’s most ferocious monster.
GOJIRA (1954)
Gorjira, or Godzilla, first hit Japanese theaters on November 3, 1954. The creators of the film originally wanted to make the film stop motion, but when a Godzilla suit was made, they hired actor Haruo Nakajima to fill the role. He later went on to play Godzilla 11 more times. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka stated that “The theme of the film, from the beginning, was the terror of the bomb. Mankind had created the bomb, and now nature was going to take revenge on mankind.”
The film was remade two years for American audiences under the title ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters!’ with a few added scenes cut into the original footage.
GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN (1955)
So what do studios do when they have a hit movie on their hands? A sequel of course! Only a year later in 1955, audiences were treated to a second Godzilla film titled ‘Godzilla Raids Again’. This was the first film to feature the “monster vs monster” premise that would follow for the remainder of the Japanese franchise’s life and spawn hits like ‘King Kong vs. Godzilla’ (1962), ‘Godzilla vs Gigan’ (1972) and ‘Godzilla vs. Biollante’ (1989).
And in true Hollywood fashion, the sequel was remade in America with horrible results. Warner Bros. renamed the film ‘Gigantis, the Fire Monster’ and tried to pass ‘Gigantis’ off as a new character. He even received a new background story and roar. The film was a commercial failure and Warner Bros. went back to using Godzilla. Thank god.
Check out some battle scenes from the monster vs. monster series below.
KING KONG VS. GODZILLA (1962)
GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH (1971)
GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORA (1991)
GODZILLA: TV SERIES (1978)
Godzilla found a new platform in 1978 when he took over television. The series was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and added a new character, Godzooky, the cowardly cousin of Godzilla with flying capabilities. Hanna-Barbera Productions was unable to use the trademark roar of the monster so they hired voice actor Ted Cassidy to voice the role. Each episode ran for 30 minutes until 1981 when it was ultimately cancelled. Twenty-six episodes were produced in total and it aired on NBC in the United States and TV Tokyo in Japan.
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA (1984)
Godzilla took a long needed break and went on a nine year hiatus starting in 1975 after ‘Terror of MechaGodzilla’. He returned to the big screen in 1984 with ‘The Return of Godzilla’. The movie was a sequel to the 1954 original with no mention that Godzilla had just spent the last 20 years battling other massive monsters and space aliens all around Japan.
American Hollywood tried to remake this film as well using the same process as ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters!’ by cutting original footage from the Japanese version with newly filmed scenes with American actors. It was released a year later as ‘Godzilla 1985’ and was panned by critics. Godzilla did get a new make over for the film including a more gruesome face and darker skin color. Probably the best thing to come from this film.
GODZILLA (1998)
It took over 40 years for it to happen, but America finally got its own remake on Godzilla starring Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno and Hank Azaria. It proved to be a box office smash when it hit theaters Memorial Day weekend 1998. It grossed $379 million worldwide against a $130 million budget and currently is the franchise’s highest grossing film yet. Godzilla also got a more sleek look in the American version by becoming elongated and slimmer. Although it was considered a success, critics and fans of the Japanese version criticized the film which led it to be recognized as unrelated to the Japanese Godzilla and received the nickname ‘Zilla’.
GODZILLA: THE SERIES (1998)
Following the success of ‘Godzilla’ (1998), a new animated television series was produced to follow up the events from the movie. The series aired on September 12, 1998 with many actors reprising their characters from the film including Kevin Dunn, Michael Lerner and Malcom Danare. The show followed the last remaining baby Godzilla that survived at the end of the film as he battled several monsters across the globe while hiding from the US military. It ran for two season on Fox in the US and produced 40 episodes each running 30 minutes with commercials. The show was ultimately canceled in April of 2000.
GODZILLA: FINAL WARS (2004)
To celebrate Godzilla’s 50th anniversary, the franchise’s original studios Toho produced ‘Godzilla: Final Wars’. The film features dozens of cameos of previous actors from the Godzilla films as well as various reappearances of monsters Godzilla has taken down. The movie was a box office letdown as it grossed $12 million at the Japanese box office against a $19.5 million budget. The Lizard King was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame before the films world premiere. He is one of 18 fictional characters to receive a star including Kermit the Frog, Mickey Mouse, and Shrek.
GODZILLA (2014)
Sixty years since the release of the original, ‘Godzilla’ is back and he is bigger than ever. Literally. The monster made for the 2014 reboot is twice the size of the 1954 version height and length wise. The film also boasts an all star cast with Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche and CJ Adams taking on Godzilla. With a budget of $160 million, it is easily the most expensive rendition yet. Expect to see plenty of destruction when America falls to the wrath of Godzilla.
