Godzilla Article: San Francisco Chronicle 9/6/2006

[Robert Saint John]

(Although prompted by today's DVD release, this is really more of a general article on the Godzilla phenom, and I wanted to pass it on --Robert)

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... KU2GQ1.DTL

Godzilla's revenge -- the real reptile is back in town
Peter Hartlaub
Tuesday, September 5, 2006



Tanks, jet fighters and even Mothra could never put Godzilla down for the count, so Americans found a less conventional way to kill off the classic movie monster: ritual humiliation.

For five decades, the creature has been bombarded with every embarrassment that this nation's entertainment industry could muster, from Raymond Burr and the Blue Oyster Cult to something called "The Godzilla Power Hour." The Japanese viewed Godzilla as both a fearsome killing machine and an important metaphor about the dangers of nuclear testing and not thinking about the future. Americans saw him as another trendy character to slap on children's lunch boxes.

An uncut version of "Gojira," the Japan-made 1954 debut of Godzilla, gets released today for the first time on DVD. Consider it pop culture reparations for generations of embarrassment, starting in 1956, when "Gojira" was sliced and diced into "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" -- which added scenes with Burr and all but eliminated the important political messages in the film.

The first thing you'll notice in the subtitled "Gojira" is a pervasive feeling of sadness, which is much closer in tone to "The Day After" than "Jurassic Park." At the core is a strong environmental message -- Godzilla was just minding his own business, eating deep-sea creatures, when nuclear testing removed him from his surroundings. His most destructive power, radiation breath, was given to him by man. ("Gojira" and "An Inconvenient Truth" are a much more appropriate double feature than you might imagine.)

Godzilla over the years suffered many horrible slights at the hands of Hollywood, but the disregard of Japanese culture by Americans can best be summed up in one word.

Godzooky.

This annoying reptilian imbecile from "The Godzilla Power Hour" is perhaps our greatest argument that the 1970s was the suckiest decade ever. Godzooky could fly around using tiny wings, which was ridiculous to begin with because his body looked as if he dined on nothing but the Burger King dollar menu.

Godzooky was the nephew of Godzilla. His deal with scientists on board the ship the Calico was almost identical to Moe Greene's agreement with Michael Corleone regarding Fredo in "The Godfather": The scientists tried to ignore the fact that Godzooky kept getting everyone into trouble, and in return Godzilla would bail the humans out every time the fat little idiot screwed up.

(Even as an innocent 8-year-old, I spent each week hoping that whatever crazy seaweed monster or giant electric eel the Calico stumbled upon would kill Godzooky before his uncle arrived. It never happened.)

Much like Bigfoot, who battled "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Incredible Hulk" on television, Godzilla became a caricature in the 1970s and 1980s. Blue Oyster Cult followed the cowbell-laden 1976 hit "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" with a song called "Godzilla." The character became green in American versions and developed ridiculous powers (laser vision and fire breath?) that had nothing to do with his radioactive origins. Even Burr returned, infecting the series again in "Godzilla 1985."

The man in the suit is the genius of "Gojira," and also the character's downfall. Watched in its proper context, the emotional impact of the movie is in the same league with that of the 1933 "King Kong." The special effects were excellent for the time, with model work that still looks impressive. Best of all, unlike current blockbuster movies with special effects so seamless that they force the brain to take a two-hour vacation, "Gojira" forced kids to use their imaginations.

To be fair, Toho Studios, which created Godzilla, released its own substandard sequels -- making the character an even easier target for American smart-asses in the entertainment industry. The man in the suit, now a synonym for "cheesy movie," became a much less effective tool as the Japan-made films were shot in color, the model-making got worse and the writing got more ridiculous.

When satirists such as the creators of "South Park" and "Arrested Development" poke fun at Godzilla movies, their reference point is almost always the lesser Japanese Godzilla films from the 1970s and 1980s -- in part because "Gojira" hasn't been available. Imagine if the original "Rocky" didn't exist in Japan, and the Japanese people's only contact with the character was "Rocky IV," "Rocky V" and that Saturday morning cartoon starring Mr. T.

The home video release of "Gojira," which had a limited run in theaters two years ago, should do a lot to resuscitate respect for the character. (The two-disc DVD contains both "Gojira" and "Godzilla, King of the Monsters," making comparisons even easier.)

The American version is a typical starring vehicle for Burr, who is spliced into the older footage in ridiculous ways, and gives "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" a know-it-all narration that ignores the point of the original film. The difference between the films is highlighted by the final soliloquies -- one by a Japanese scientist named Dr. Kyohei Yamane and another by Burr's Steve Martin character.

Dr. Yamane: "If we keep conducting nuclear tests, it's possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world, again."

Martin: "The menace was gone (and) so was a great man. But the whole world could wake up and live again!"

"Gojira" will be a revelation for people who have never seen the more serious side of "Godzilla." In fact, you may feel a moral duty to buy three copies of the film: one to watch, one to keep for your grandchildren and one with which to pelt studio types responsible for that horrible Matthew Broderick "Godzilla" movie that came out in 1998.

As stupid as "The Godzilla Power Hour" was, I can only imagine what it was like to be a 12-year-old whose first experience with the creature was the Dean Devlin/Roland Emmerich "Godzilla" movie. The character looks more like an iguana than the classic Godzilla, has the ability to lay eggs like a chicken and (gasp!) was made with Hollywood special effects instead of a man in a suit.

That movie tanked at the box office, which turned out to be a huge blessing because it saved us from the sequels -- other than a slightly less hideous Saturday morning cartoon that ran for a few years and is mostly forgotten now.

The spectacular failure of Hollywood's "Godzilla" has worked as kind of a palate cleanser, keeping Godzilla products out of the commerce stream for a few years. Now the man in the suit is back, and it couldn't come at a better time.

[TerranigmaFreak]

[kiryugoji04]

[Gfan54]

[Decimator]

[Gfan54]

[MouthForWar]

[TheMaster]

[Moonlight SY-3]

[Tokage]

[Andrew Nguyen]

[TheMaster]

[OtiGoji]

[SciFi Geek]

[SciFi Geek]

[Benjamin Haines]

[kidnicky]

[TheMaster]

[Robert Saint John]

[TheMaster]

[Robert Saint John]

[kidnicky]

[TheMaster]

[Tokage]

[kidnicky]