THE RETURN OF GODZILLA comes to London Barbican Centre for a special outdoor screening in August. Photo courtesy of Barbican. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
Source: The Barbican Centre
Special Thanks to Steven Sloss
Ahead of their All Kaiju Attack: Earth SOS season beginning in September, the Barbican Centre in London is hosting an outdoor showing of Koji Hashimoto’s THE RETURN OF GODZILLA (ゴジラ, Gojira, 1984). The screening represents the UK theatrical debut of Toho’s unedited Japanese cut. Tickets are now on sale here.
Read on for details...
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA + Recorded Intro by Kaiju Expert Steven Sloss (PG)
Outdoor Cinema 2025
Sat 23 Aug 2025
Barbican Centre<
Silk St, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DS, United Kingdom
Tickets and more information are available at: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/the-return-of-godzilla
Thirty years after the original GODZILLA, the King of the Monsters was resurrected in this thrilling 1984 reboot, which successfully inaugurated a new era in the franchise’s history.
Nine years after the last of the Showa-era Godzilla films, the iconic kaiju made a triumphant movie return in 1984. Ignoring all of the previous films save the 1954 original, Koji Hashimoto’s reboot returned to the dark roots of the first film, updating the film’s sociopolitical commentary for the late Cold War era. Here, the radioactive monster returns to wreak destruction on Japan and subsequently inflames tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The imaginative special effects and 1980s aesthetics update Godzilla for a new era, while the thunderous sound effects, from the monster’s chilling roar to Reijiro Koroku’s stirring score, make for an intense and exciting cinema experience. While Godzilla was the hero of most of his films, Hashimoto’s film shows him at his villainous best.
Steven Sloss is a lifelong fan and scholar of kaiju cinema who has written and presented on the subject for the BFI, BBC, Arrow Films, Glasgow Film Festival, and more. He is the former co-host of the AV Club-featured Kaijusaurus Podcast and is currently writing a book on the original Godzilla (1954) for Bloomsbury Publishing and the BFI.
Photo courtesy of Barbican. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
About the Barbican
The Barbican is a catalyst for creativity, sparking possibilities for artists, audiences, and communities. We showcase the most exciting art from around the world, pushing traditional artistic boundaries to entertain and inspire millions of people, create connections, provoke debate, and reflect the world we live in.
We are an international arts and events centre rooted firmly in our own neighbourhood, collaborating with local communities and putting the City of London on the map as a destination for everybody. Central to our purpose is supporting emerging talent and shaping opportunities that will accelerate the next generation of creatives. As a not-for-profit, we rely on the generosity of individuals and organisations, including our principal funder the City of London Corporation. Every ticket purchased, donation made, and pound earned supports our arts and learning programme and enables the widest possible range of people to experience the joy of the arts.
Opened in 1982, the Barbican is a unique and audacious building, recognised globally as an architectural icon. As well as our theatres, galleries, concert halls and cinemas, we have a large conservatory with over 1,500 species of plants and trees, a library, conference facilities, public and community spaces, restaurants, bars, and a picturesque lakeside oasis.
We’re proud to be the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, and a London base of the Royal Shakespeare Company. We regularly co-commission, produce and showcase the work of our other associates and partners including the Academy of Ancient Music, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Boy Blue, Darbar, Doc'n Roll Film Festival, Drum Works, EFG London Jazz Festival, London Palestine Film Festival, Serious, and Trafalgar Theatre Productions.
About Barbican Cinema
We connect audiences with a curated programme of international cinema; from celebrated filmmakers to ground-breaking and under-heard voices from past and present. Our programmes are presented in Cinemas 1 in the main centre and Cinemas 2&3 on Beech Street. Our programme ranges from thematic seasons that respond to today’s world, to new releases, ScreenTalks, cross-artform collaborations, family events, access screenings and event cinema that presents the performing artson screen.
We showcase the work of emerging filmmakers, as well as less familiar work of exceptional filmmakers from the UK and around the world. We champion the work of Barbican Young Programmers and give stage to emerging musicians in our ongoing film & live music series which includes our flagship collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
As part of a cross-arts centre, our cinemas are a cultural space for people to share the viewing experience. We strive to be inclusive in everything we do; providing platforms for the widest possible range of filmmakers and ensuring we are an open, welcoming and accessible venue for all our audiences.