So, I took my son to see the original "Godzilla" today, (Spoilers?)

[Pale Blue Dot]

and it was quite a sobering experience. It's been re released in the theaters in the original Japanese version, with 20 extra minutes and sans the stupid Raymond Burr footage. It was not what I expected at all.

First of all, it was not dubbed. I have seen a hundred foreign films, so I didn't have a problem with it, but I was worried that my nine-year-old son would want to leave. Turns out, he handled it like a champ.

Even more striking was the difference between this film and later Godzilla films. I have shown my son a number of these, with names like "Godzilla vs. Mothra", "Godzilla vs. King Kong", "Godzilla vs. Ann Coulter", etc. Those films are, in essence, the precursor to the WWF: Two monsters battle it out for 90 minutes.

The original, however, is a serious anti-nuclear weapon parable. During the famous destruction of Tokyo scene, a mother says to her children "We will be with your father soon", and the clear implication is that the father died in the nuclear bomb blasts. After the attack, a scientist takes a Geiger Counter reading of a child, turns to one of the main characters, and shakes his head. The climax of the film is not a major battle, but a scientist committing suicide because he doesn't want the device he created, to kill Godzilla, to be used in the future as a WMD.

After the movie, I tried to explain these themes to my son. I didn't want to go overboard, because he is only nine, and he doesn't need to know quite yet how shitty the world can be. But I was still surprisingly impressed by the film.

[flamingyouth]

1. I wish I had been there with you guys!

Sounds like fun! I would love to see it undubbed like that. I wonder if it will be playing here? :loveya:

[Tom Kitten]

2. Pretty amazing, huh?

First off, the Raymond Burr footage is so out of place in the American version...different film stock, sets,lighting...They attempted to tie him into the original story by having him reply to characters whose faces you never see, obviously doubles!
Plus they moved whole pieces of the film around sequentially...in order to make it more palatable to an American audience, I guess!
It's weird the original version seems "revisionist" in this day and age when in fact it is the original version and what a few generations of fans grew up with was the actual "revised edition"...downplaying the reasons for the scientist's suicide (he just wanted his secret to die with the monster?) and the effects of the atomic bomb on Japan...
The original movie is quite a piece of filmmaking...quite effective in evoking a sense of dread with masterful photography and a classic score...Of course ALL the sequels do not compare.