The Return of Godzilla
"Godzilla, huh? I was hoping to finish out my term without incident." - Cabinet Prime Minister
release year: 1984
genre: Godzilla
viewing setting: home Bluray 7/20/19 and home VHS 9/23/98
synopsis: Thirty years after his 1954 debut, Godzilla's back for another rampage of destruction.
impressions: This was the first Godzilla movie of the Heisei, or second, era (1984-1995) and the 16th overall. It had no other monsters, and was a direct sequel to the original 1954 movie. The American version was titled "Godzilla 1985" and heavily re-edited, but fortunately that's not what I watched here. Notable elements: a narrower 1.85:1 aspect ratio...some English subtitles right on top of the Japanese characters, making them hard to read in two ways...a missing ship that appeared to be destroyed by a giant monster...a huge sea louse...the newspaper editor and the government supressing a big story...a Russian submarine being destroyed...Japan playing greater role in world affairs...the reporter being an asshole just to get his story...Japan pretty quickly setting up a "Godzilla Emergency Countermeasures HQ"...the Super X, a "flying fortress" according to the military scientists...a much larger, 80 meter tall, and more serious looking Godzilla...the government's Godzilla viewing room...Godzilla absorbing nuclear reactor radiation to feed...Godzilla gets distracted by a flock of birds and wanders away to follow them...mass hysteria in Tokyo once they find out Godzilla's on the way...Godzilla's much-improved teeth and breath weapon...that one guy who just isn't taking Godzilla seriously...Godzilla picking up the train and eyeing its passengers before randomly flinging it aside...a homeless guy plundering a restaurant so he can have a nice dinner...a laser cannon (which doesn't even faze Godzilla)...the Super X finally appears (and has some quite rousing accompanying music)...the Super X tricking Godzilla into roaring and then firing its cadmium rounds into his open maw, which makes him drool and become drowsy...and it's also resistant to his breath...orbiting American and Russian satellites with nuclear warheads!...Godzilla falling asleep into the side of a skyscraper (here's a close-up of that)...a high-rise rescue by helicopter...an EMP blast...random lightning waking Godzilla up (better than an alarm clock if you ask me)...Godzilla pushing a building over onto the Super X...the homeless guy reappears and comes in handy...Godzilla falling for the old volcano trap.
number in Godzilla series: 16
previous Godzilla movie in series: Terror of Mechagodzilla
next Godzilla movie in series: Godzilla vs Biollante
other giant monsters appearing in this one: none
total giant monster battle time: none
acting: Main characters: Goro, intrepid journalist (played by Ken Tanaka)...Hiroshi, rescued young sailor who later helps with things like helicopter rescues (played by Shin Takuma)...Naoko, sister of Hiroshi (played by Yasuko Sawaguchi, who's only four years older than me!)...Professor Hayashida (played by Yosuke Natsuki, who was also the detective in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster)...Professor Minami, the other scientist (played by Hiroshi Koizumi, who had roes in Godzillas #2, 4, 5, and 14.)
final word: pretty good, entertaining sequel and fresh start
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