Godzilla can be regarded as the most famous monster image in Japan, and its popularity is probably equal to that of King Kong in the United States (in fact, in 1962, Japan had filmed "King Kong vs. Godzilla" belonging to the Godzilla universe), of course The most familiar film and television work is probably the American version of "Godzilla" that turned Godzilla into an ordinary dinosaur in 1998.
Or the "Godzilla" series that Legendary Pictures has restarted in recent years
The Godzilla version infused with American culture is naturally willing to spend money on special effects, but compared to its internal content, it is far inferior to the original Japanese version.
Of course, Japan has almost never given up on the development of this theme since the original "Godzilla" in 1954. At the beginning, it still focused on the confrontation between Godzilla and humans. Soon the Godzilla universe was expanded and more monsters were introduced into this theme. The special movie universe, Raton, Mothra, Ibira, Gidola and other monsters all appeared in turn to fight against Godzilla, but it is a pity that the Godzilla series has gradually lost its original theme and moved more and more. Sub-supply, funny style, of course, the Japanese "New Godzilla" in recent years, or the animated series "Godzilla" have provided more angles or completely different settings for this theme.
However, I still want to talk about the story of the first Godzilla here.
"King Kong vs. Godzilla" (1962) film review
Spoiler alert
The plot of the 1954 version of "Godzilla" is not complicated. In the waters of Tokyo Bay, a ship lost contact, and there was no word from the rescued ship. The fishermen by the sea rescued a shipwreck survivor, he Speaking of meeting a huge dinosaur, this creature is called "Godzilla" in the mouths of local old people.
The existence of Godzilla aroused the government’s curiosity. After the coastal city was hit by a hurricane, paleontologist Professor Yamane came to the place to investigate. It was also at this time that Godzilla appeared in the camera for the first time. It also caused certain damage to the house, and after investigating the scene, it was found that there were remnants of nuclear radiation in the place where Godzilla damaged.
The Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the navy cleared Godzilla. I thought everything was over. I didn’t expect that Godzilla was not defeated by a few shells. Instead, Godzilla landed on Japanese cities and caused a lot of damage, in order to prevent Godzilla. The Japanese military formulated a "high-voltage electric shock" combat plan, and cooperated with tanks and other heavy weapons to fight, but the electric shock did not play an imaginary role. This time Godzilla ravaged the city even more, and the entire city was trapped. Sea of fire.
Professor Yamane’s daughter Emiko once had a fiancé, Professor Serizawa. Because she saw too many cruel scenes during World War II, she decided to devote herself to the study. She also let go of the relationship with Emiko, and Professor Serizawa accidentally discovered during her research. A weapon "oxygen destroyer" that has great destructive effects on all creatures in the water.
He wanted to hide this invention forever, but in the face of Godzilla’s threat and Emiko’s request, Professor Serizawa finally agreed to use the weapon only once. After burning all relevant materials, Professor Serizawa and Emiko’s husband They dived underwater and used the "oxygen saboteur", but in order to prevent this terrifying weapon from being abused, he also chose to die with Godzilla and bury all relevant information about this weapon.
And whether Godzilla was wiped out, people looked at the sparkling sea, and no one dared to make rash claims.
"Godzilla" in 1954 was not the first monster movie, not to mention the many monsters in the global dark universe from the 1930s to 1940s, nor to mention the "King Kong" filmed with stop motion animation in the United States in 1933. It was 1953 alone. , Hollywood produced a very similar theme "Atomic Monster". A nuclear test in the Arctic Circle brought the ancient monster to the sky and ravaged the city. The government finally had to use a nuclear bomb to destroy the monster.
So, how can the Japanese "Godzilla" make its limelight far surpass that of the monster movies of the same era, and even last forever?
This starts with the origin of the 1954 version of "Godzilla" and the reflection expressed in it.
In 1954, the United States conducted a hydrogen bomb test code-named "BRA-VO" near the Bikini Islands at the northern end of the Marshall Islands. Because of the sudden change in wind direction, radioactive fallout fell on islands and reefs with residents, and as many as 290 people were killed. Contaminated with radioactive materials, and at that time, a Japanese fishing boat, the Fifth Fulong Maru, was also fishing nearby. This nuclear test eventually caused the deaths of several crew members.
Against the background of the Japanese people's rising anti-nuclear awareness, "Godzilla" came into being.
From the movie, we can easily see the "nuclear" attributes represented by Godzilla, not only its huge body, but also the damage to the city, let the sea of flames ravage the city and leave radioactive ruins. The reaction of the Japanese people in the movie can see the shadow of "nuclear" in their hearts.
As for the threat of such almost force majeure creatures, we can also see the helplessness of "manpower" in the movie. No matter it is bullets, tanks, ships, or planes, they cannot cause real damage to them, and they are carefully arranged. High voltage has no obvious effect on it. When the countries of the industrialized system have exhausted their efforts and cannot stop the monsters from coming, the sense of despair arises spontaneously, which is matched by the image of Godzilla standing in the flame city. , This kind of fear and powerlessness about the materialized "nuclear threat" is almost a simile in the movie.
There is a very interesting scene in the movie. The huge head of Godzilla is in the distance, and the birdcage is in the distance. The existence of "nuclear" that many people think will be imprisoned in the cage is actually so unstable. Negligence will break out of the cage and cause a huge threat.
However, what really makes the movie sublimate is how to solve Godzilla's threat. In Hollywood's "Atomic Monster", humans pressed the button of the nuclear bomb, and in "King Kong", humans shot down this wild behemoth with a plane that King Kong couldn't reach. American movies all carry a sense of " "Man can conquer the sky" thinking, but in contrast to this Japanese version of "Godzilla", they also have an excellent weapon. However, their choice or idea is not to use this weapon to destroy the enemy immediately, but to Consider whether this weapon cannot be recovered once it is used, causing more damage.
Therefore, even if they still used this weapon in the end, Professor Serizawa chose to burn all the documents and sacrifice himself to ensure that the "oxygen destroyer" would not be used by mistake in a future day.
I think this kind of reflection on the nuclear threat is worth mentioning, because many Japanese works discuss nuclear trauma, but the whole article clamors about their own pain, without doing more reflection, and "Godzilla" Although there is no deep digging on the level of war, the element of "nuclear" reflects on the rules for the use of uncontrollable forces. Just as "Akira" shows decades later, mankind should deal with these dangers. And powerful forces are in awe, not abused.
Of course, it is a pity that many series after "Godzilla" have gradually moved towards a multi-monster fighting routine. Although occasionally there will be some discussions on human greed and other human nature, but compared with the deep anti-nuclear consciousness of the first edition, it is already Far from enough.
On the other hand, the first version of Godzilla in Japan has a very high degree of completion. Special shots and miniatures are used to complete the shooting of some large scenes. At the same time, the first half of the film is also very restrained to depict the huge Godzilla. And human suffering.
The famous "Godzilla March" is also from this film. In this work, it was played when the human army attacked Godzilla, but it gradually evolved into Godzilla's exclusive soundtrack, including the "Brother" in the previous two years. In Sra: King of Monsters, Godzilla and the human army landed against Gidola in this song.
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