Ishiro Honda’s creature film kicked off the kaiju genre and gave the world one of its most recognisable monsters in Godzilla, one of the few fictitious characters to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Born out of post-Second World War nuclear fears, the film examines the idea of mass destruction as the result of technological interference with nature. Even as Godzilla crushes buildings and entire villages under his feet, there’s a feeling that humans brought on their own destruction, so no matter how high the body count, it’s always a little sad when he’s defeated. – Kelly Robinson
Gojira (Godzilla) (Japan: Ishirô Honda, 1954: 96 mins)
Brigden, Charles and James Hancock. "Exploring the Sound of Fear." Wrong Reel #252 (April 2017)
Ebiri, Bilge. "Mothra, Jigoku, Godzilla: A Postwar Japanese Horror Primer." Vulture (October 29, 2018)
Hoberman, J. "Godzilla: Poetry After the A-Bomb." Current (January 24, 2012)
Hollings, Ken. "Tokyo Must Be Destroyed: Dreams of Tall Buildings and Monsters -- Images of Cities and Monuments." CTheory (originally published in Digital Delirium. ed. Arthur Kroker and Marilouise Kroker. NY: St. Martin's Press, 1997.)
"Ishiro Honda's Godzilla." CriterionCast #120 (March 25, 2012)
Koski, Genevieve, et al. "King of Monster Movies, Pt, 1 - Godzilla (1954)." The Next Picture Show (June 11, 2019) ["The new CGI spectacle GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS further extends the longest running film franchise in history, but it’s a far cry (roar?) from the 1954 film that first set this fire-breathing, city-flattening phenomenon in motion. So this week we’re looking back at Ishiro Honda’s originating film to speculate how and why its central nuclear metaphor shifted over the decades, to discuss how the film and its effects—don’t call them dated or Keith will be sad!—benefit from Godzilla’s literal and figurative weight, and debate what, if anything, the central love triangle adds to this story."]
---. "King of Monster Movies, Pt. 2 - Godzilla: King of the Monsters." The Next Picture Show (June 18, 2020) ["The new GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS looks and acts a lot more like one of the other recent entries in Warner Bros’ “Monsterverse” than it does the classic creature features inspired by the original GODZILLA, but it also consciously echoes Ishiro Honda’s 1954 film in some key ways. After airing our grievances with the frustratingly incoherent KING OF THE MONSTERS, we dig into what links this newest film to its very different predecessor, from its city-flattening monster effects to its shaky attempts to inject human drama amid the kaiju destruction."]
Liang, Sean, Chris Stachiw and Zach Wickwire. "Godzilla (1954)." Kulturekast (September 1, 2016) ["Chris and Sean are joined by writer Zach Wickwire to kick-off Kaiju Movie Month with the progenitor of all Kaiju movies, Godzilla (1954). The film follows the titular monster as he wrecks havoc on the innocent people of Japan after being created by the US during the second World War."]
Noriega, Chon. "Godzilla and the Japanese Nightmare: When Them! is U.S." Aisan Cinemas ed. Dimitris Eleftheriotis and Gary Needham. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2006: 41-55.
Powers, John. "Movie Monsters, Monster Movies And Why 'Godzilla' Endures." Fresh Air (May 2, 2014)
Tsui, Curtis. "10 Things I Learned: Godzilla." Current (February 24, 2012)
Ebiri, Bilge. "Mothra, Jigoku, Godzilla: A Postwar Japanese Horror Primer." Vulture (October 29, 2018)
Hoberman, J. "Godzilla: Poetry After the A-Bomb." Current (January 24, 2012)
Hollings, Ken. "Tokyo Must Be Destroyed: Dreams of Tall Buildings and Monsters -- Images of Cities and Monuments." CTheory (originally published in Digital Delirium. ed. Arthur Kroker and Marilouise Kroker. NY: St. Martin's Press, 1997.)
"Ishiro Honda's Godzilla." CriterionCast #120 (March 25, 2012)
Koski, Genevieve, et al. "King of Monster Movies, Pt, 1 - Godzilla (1954)." The Next Picture Show (June 11, 2019) ["The new CGI spectacle GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS further extends the longest running film franchise in history, but it’s a far cry (roar?) from the 1954 film that first set this fire-breathing, city-flattening phenomenon in motion. So this week we’re looking back at Ishiro Honda’s originating film to speculate how and why its central nuclear metaphor shifted over the decades, to discuss how the film and its effects—don’t call them dated or Keith will be sad!—benefit from Godzilla’s literal and figurative weight, and debate what, if anything, the central love triangle adds to this story."]
---. "King of Monster Movies, Pt. 2 - Godzilla: King of the Monsters." The Next Picture Show (June 18, 2020) ["The new GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS looks and acts a lot more like one of the other recent entries in Warner Bros’ “Monsterverse” than it does the classic creature features inspired by the original GODZILLA, but it also consciously echoes Ishiro Honda’s 1954 film in some key ways. After airing our grievances with the frustratingly incoherent KING OF THE MONSTERS, we dig into what links this newest film to its very different predecessor, from its city-flattening monster effects to its shaky attempts to inject human drama amid the kaiju destruction."]
Liang, Sean, Chris Stachiw and Zach Wickwire. "Godzilla (1954)." Kulturekast (September 1, 2016) ["Chris and Sean are joined by writer Zach Wickwire to kick-off Kaiju Movie Month with the progenitor of all Kaiju movies, Godzilla (1954). The film follows the titular monster as he wrecks havoc on the innocent people of Japan after being created by the US during the second World War."]
Powers, John. "Movie Monsters, Monster Movies And Why 'Godzilla' Endures." Fresh Air (May 2, 2014)
Tsui, Curtis. "10 Things I Learned: Godzilla." Current (February 24, 2012)
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