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Godzilla (re-release)
Rialto Pictures


9.1

based on 20 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 12 votes
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Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, Fuyuki Murakami, Sachio Sakai, Toranosuke Ogawa, and Ren Yamamoto

Never before released in the U.S., this is the original, uncut Japanese version of Godzilla directed by sci-fi master Ishiro Honda.

GENRE(S):	Classic \| Drama \| Horror \| Sci-fi
WRITTEN BY:	Ishirô Honda Takeo Murata Shigeru Kayama (story)
DIRECTED BY:	Ishirô Honda
RELEASE DATE:	Theatrical: May 7, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	98 minutes, B/W
ORIGIN:	Japan
LANGUAGE(S):	Japanese (with English subtitles)

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Not that Honda's original Godzilla is a message movie first and foremost. It's a horror flick, and an ingenious one at that, with visual effects so vivid that gimmicky spin-offs became an enduring staple of popular film.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Godzilla is still the most awesome of tacky movie monsters.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

In the annals of monster movies, one name stands above all the rest, way above: Godzilla.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

The original retains its dark tone and deadly serious anti-war message. For today's moviegoing audiences, this may not be your daddy's Godzilla movie, but chances are your granddaddy could teach you a thing or two about the context.

LA Weekly Robert Abele

Can now be appreciated not just as a minor classic of tragic destruction, but also as a somber exploration of conflicted postwar emotions.

Boston Globe Janice Page

A definitive, low-tech stomping of every sci-fi clone that has sprung up in the original's wake.

Slate David Edelstein

Gojira is no masterpiece, but it has the power of a masterpiece: It's the most emotionally authentic fake monster movie ever made.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Why it works is anyone's guess. It's fair to argue--and the film makes this argument itself, with no great subtlety--that Godzilla embodies Japan's nuclear anxieties in the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

It's a fascinating cultural artifact and a stomping good time.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The images are crisp. The story is restored. And there's no sign of Raymond Burr.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Its images of the destruction of the cities is far more powerful than in American films, where the cities are trashed for the pure pleasure of destruction, without any real sense of human loss.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

As crass as it is visionary, Godzilla belongs with--and might well trump--the art films "Hiroshima Mon Amour" and "Dr. Strangelove" as a daring attempt to fashion a terrible poetry from the mind-melting horror of atomic warfare.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Is it classic cinema? Perhaps not, but then again, American shores and citizens have never been lacerated by atomic weapons. What do we know?

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The new black-and-white print is gorgeous, the film plays well in this broader key and it sets the historical record straight.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The monster's mashing of Tokyo looks as Ed Wood-like as ever, but the film's humanity gives it depth.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A new restoration takes a flawed bit of monster camp and turns it back into a strong, serious-minded and occasionally moving science-fiction film.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Half a century after its release, Godzilla couldn't be more current.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The arrival of the uncut Godzilla is a great boon to monster movie fans, but will have limited appeal to others.

Film Threat Phil Hall

While the Raymond Burr sequences and the subsequent clumsy English dubbing of the remaining Japanese footage made the U.S. version an unintentionally funny movie, the complete Japanese version is an unfunny bore.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

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.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chade W. gave it a10:
After decades of countless criticisms, crappy less-than-b-quality movies(not to mention the UTTERLY horrible and unfaithful 1998 "remake"), im glad to see that the Gman (the true Gman, not the creepy, speech impetted guy from half-life) finally gets some of the pat on the back he deserves. Honda does(or did...) a VERY good job of getting it through to our little americanized brains that, Ahem, NUKES SUCK. Well so did James Cameron with Terminator and T2, but as good as he did it, nothing can beet the master. Godzillas trademark... Godzillaness is all here. Plus a little (if i may say so myself) Barney the dinasaur-like message to kids... then again, dont get your kids to see this, they might fall asleep or get really fricken insultive of your old-timey self, but if they ever did understand the message(unlikely with todays kids) they WILL have horrific nightmares of the BMFRCM( Big Mutha ****** Rubber Clad Monster) stomping on theyre homes and ruining their barbies and GI joes with the charring and scathing nuclear fires that Ishiro Honda likes to call American Payback. This is without a doubt, THE best foreign monster movie ever made, hands down.

Sam gave it a10:
Holy re-release Batman! Not only does this movie bring back the everything that made me jump with love and joy, but there's even more of it. Although I will say that the 1998 wasn't that bad, I thought it had good FX and pottential, and I loved the underated 2000, but this forever will be the best Godzilla movie. However, there is a good chance that the new one, with its rumor of being darker, grittier, and more intense, may overpower this, but until then, let's enjoy ourselves, and unleash the hardcore Godzilla fan everyone has inside them.

Robert P. gave it a 10:
After having "the wool over my face: due to the 1956 American verson, it was refreshing and ethical to see the "original version" The actors, writers, and the director, have a right to expression; something which was "cut out" by the American version. The original, also has a well written plot, with many explanations of the creature's presence;again the American dubbed version makes no "understandable rational" of Godzilla"s creation. A well written, directed, and acted film!

A G gave it a 10:
What is up with Ebert on this one? "Equally idiotic?" I thought he was a Godzilla fan - and no self-respecting Godzilla fan would ever say such tripe and utter nonsense. Perhaps he's so miffed over the childish slur from Devlin & Emmerich (the USA 'Godzilla' atrocity from 1998) against himself and the late Gene Siskel, that he can't stomach anything with the Big G in it, anymore? Ebert - get over it. You look like a fool when you attack the greatest of all the Godzilla films, a genre you yourself have professed to enjoy.

Bill S. gave it a 10:
Someone needs to slap the ReelViews and Film Threat critics around, because this was the grandfather of a wonderful age of monster films in Japan. Not for everyone? So what? Anyone can appreciate deep characters, strong irony and stunning imagery. GOJIRA has all of that and a dark, scary, giant monster that actually looks the part thanks to the gritty old B&W film stock and moody, deep-dark Nippon-Noir scene crafting. Fans of the genre can rejoice in it, newcomers can learn from it. This is the original, the best, GODZILLA as it was meant to be. Ishiro Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya produced a rubber-suited magnum opus 50 years ago with atomic horror fresh in their minds. It translates brilliantly to celluloid and will probably be revered as a socio-political-fantasy work of art in another 50.

Michael T. gave it a 10:
"Godzilla" is not just a great (!) monster movie, or just a powerful (!) anti-nuclear message. It's the point where many aspects of today's Japanese pop culture were born. See "Godzilla" NOW, and pray that a DVD release is coming down the road.

Skip P. gave it a 10:
The original uncut Japanese version of this film is a "must see" of world cinema. Unfortunately, few in the West have seen this version, but with this new release, that should change.

Godzilla (re-release) Rialto Pictures

Godzilla (re-release)
Rialto Pictures