Gojira

Gojira is a Japanese film of the science fiction and horror genres, as well as the daikaiju ("giant monster") subgenre. It is the first film in the Godzilla film series and is part of the Shōwa period. It was written and directed by Ishirô Honda based on a story treatment by Shigeru Kayama. The movie was produced by Toho Company, Ltd. and premiered in Japan on November 3rd, 1954.

Notes & Trivia

 * Copyright holder: © 1954 Toho Company, Ltd./Tôhô Kabushiki Kaisha.


 * The Japanese translation for Gojira is ゴジラ.


 * Gojira was filmed at Toho Studios in Tokyo, Japan. Exterior scenes, such as the shots filmed of the fictional Oto Island were filmed in Toba, Mie in Mie Prefecture.


 * Gojira premiered in the United States in New York City, New York on April 27th, 1956. It was released under the American title Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. This version of the film included additional scenes filmed by U.S. studios, which included actor Raymond Burr in the role of American reporter Steve Martin.


 * Gojira had an attendance of 9,610,000 viewers in Japan. The film was re-released theatrically in the United States in 2004 to limited engagement where it grossed $412,520. It was screened from May until December. It grossed $38,030 over it's opening weekend on May 9th, 2004.


 * Marketing for Gojira in Japan cost ¥37,000,000.
 * Gojira is included on disc two of the Gojira DVD set by Classic Media, which was released on September 5th, 2006.


 * Godzilla: The Criterion Collection was released on Blu-ray on January 24th, 2012.


 * Four different actors portrayed Godzilla in this film: Katsumi Tezuka, Haruo Nakajima, Jiro Suzuki and Ryosaku Takasugi. Of all of them, Haruo Nakajima is the actor who will go on to play Godzilla, as well as other celebrated Toho monsters in the remainder of the Showa series.


 * Director Ishirô Honda makes a cameo appearance in the film as a power station worker. He is the man whose hand is seen throwing a switch.


 * Editor Kazuji Taira is credited as Taichin Taira in this film.


 * Gojira was voted #31 in Empire Magazine's The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema.


 * The star of the film, Gojira (or Godzilla) won a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996 and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004. The only other fictional green reptile to make his mark in the Hollywood pavement is Kermit the Frog.


 * Gojira is the first Japanese film to use storyboards. This was required to help construct the scale of the monster in relation to the set pieces.


 * There are some rumors that director Ishirô Honda makes a cameo appearance in the film as a power station worker, but this has never been substantiated by any official source.