TALKBACK #1.5: Godzilla King of the Monsters!

[lhb412]

How cool would it have been if they had remembered to put a crescent-shaped scar on Raymond Burr's face in Godzilla 1985?

[Giganfan]

I tend to gravitate towards this version of the first Godzilla movie, partly out of nostalgia, but also because it is actually very good, for being an Americanization. Raymond Burr sold the tension and seriousness of Godzilla's threat with a stern, anchoring performance, and they cleverly edit him into the story in an almost seamless effort. When I think of the hallowed, vaunted, "cinematic work-of-art' that is the original "Gojira", I consider Godzilla King of the Monsters! as being an essential part of that statement. Joseph E. Levine and company added to the mythology.

When people ask me which version of the film do I mean when I refer to "Godzilla '54", I usually say "both", but the Raymond Burr cut will easily suffice.

[H-Man]

I think this has been talked about elsewhere but it's worth mentioning again here.

Comet TV recently showed the Criterion version of this movie with a little seen/known "Godzilla" title, as opposed to the "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" title we've all seen on official releases for decades. Apparently "Godzilla" was the title on the print Criterion scanned for its release and the KOTM title came from an alternate 16mm source. It's thought that different regions of the country might have seen the film with either title in 1956.

The first 16mm versions of KOTM for television cut the end credits and instead inserted this very minimal credit after the main title. That credit has been missing from official versions since about the early 1980s, and as we all know the end credits were only reinstated with the 2006 Classic Media release. That version incorrectly put the credits *after* the end title.



This seems to be the same version that Toho re-worked into an anamorphic release in 1957 as "Kaiju-O Gojira". What's left of the main title and end credits of that version can be seen . Neat, huh?