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Talaura Cothran

Professor Beadle

ENG115: 8:00am-9:15am

30 October 2017

Whats Changed with That Monster Named Godzilla?

When I hear the name Godzilla, I immediately get chills down my spine. The monster

itself is extremely dangerous, and can cause serious danger and harm if he were to ever step foot

on land. When the original Godzilla film premiered, it was a huge hit and success. Sixty-two

years later, Shin Godzilla was created. Although it followed the same story line as the original,

there were some huge key differences that stood out. Many of these differences ranged from the

movie special effects, to the character Godzilla himself.

In 1952, the U.S. movie King Kong had been released in Japan. The people who lived in

Japan had grown very fond of this monster. Everyone had gone crazy over this movie, and it was

a huge hit. During Professor William M. Tsutsuis talk, he claims that the movie King Kong had

been a smash hit. This implanted the idea of giant monsters into the minds of Japanese film

studios, which have never been loath to steal a good idea from Hollywood. This was the

Japanese opportunity to create their own image of a giant monstrous character. Thus, Godzilla

was born. The movie Godzilla was not to be taken light hearted. Instead, the movie was seen to

be a very serious tone, and was intended to be a very serious fare (Tsutsui). Godzilla was to be

taken seriously. The monster had represented so much more to the creator than just another

average monster.

Although there have been many different versions of Godzilla since the original, the

closely related movie would be Shin Godzilla. It was not until the year 2016 that Shin Godzilla
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had been introduced to the movie screens. Both Godzilla and Shin Godzilla had closely followed

the same idea of who and what the monster Godzilla was to represent. In both movies, the

monster had represented the two bombs that had been dropped in Japan in Hiroshima and

Nagasaki. He had represented the state of mind that the Japanese had after the war. Godzilla was

the Japanese way of portraying their fear that they had felt during the time of the bombings. The

bombs had left many of the two cities destroyed and lifeless. The people all around the country

were terrified and appalled at the outcome and were afraid.

Although both movies served the same purpose, they both have major and minor

differences. One of the major differences between the two is that the original Godzilla is filmed

in black and white, while the new modern version is filmed in color. Because the original movie

was filmed in the 60s, they had no other choice than to film in black and white, and it was

cheaper to do so. In the modern version of Godzilla, there were a lot of special effects, CGI, and

many different locations that the movie had taken place. In todays society, there are a lot of

advanced modern technology, so it had made it easier for the modern-day Shin Godzilla to have

many of these special effects. The movie franchise has been able to make Godzilla more graphic

and more realistic with some of these special effects and graphics. In Shin Godzilla, they were

able to give the monster Godzilla a more realistic look. They were able to have blood gush out of

Godzillas cuts, and show the radioactive substance that would ooze out of this monster. Having

these effects in Shin Godzilla was a good way of striking fear in the everyones eyes. Looking at

the monster should make anyone be afraid to sleep at night.

Another key difference would be Godzillas physical appearance itself. In the original

movie, Godzilla had one unforgettable appearance. He had the same monstrous look, and same

qualities about him. The dinosaur that everyone had learned to love had gotten a little make over
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the years. In the modern version of Shin Godzilla, he comes out of the water with big googly

eyes and doesnt resemble the same appearance as the original Godzilla. The original had only

walked on two legs, whereas the modern Godzilla had walked on all fours. It wasnt until later in

Shin Godzilla that he had mutated into the same classical dinosaur as Godzilla. Shin Godzilla had

also gone through multiple stages that would later change his physical appearance. He had five

different stages, and each stage would make Shin Godzilla scarier and more realistic with each

passing stage. During Shin Godzillas fifth stage, he was genetically mutated to shoot laser

beams from his back and breathe fire, of which the original hadnt done either. The original

Godzilla had one distinctive look, and stayed that way the entire movie. But both movies had

kept that awful screeching roar that Godzilla would belch out at the top of his lungs.

Referring back to the original movie, as soon as Godzilla stepped foot onto land, he had

gone onto an island. He had destroyed everything on that tiny little island, and had then moved

into the city. In Shin Godzilla, he had gone straight into the city. He had caused a lot more

damage in the city than the original Godzilla had ever done. However, both forms of Godzilla

had been genetically mutated to have radiation ooze out of him, which seemed to cause danger

and harm to both locations. This later sent the people in both movies into a panic, resulting in

nothing but an uproar of confusion and fear.

Both movies also had very different tactics on how to stop Godzilla from creating more

destruction to the city or village. Both had wanted to figure out a way to either stop Godzilla for

a long term, or to kill him. Both movies had clung onto the thought of saving Godzilla, and to

keep him safe and learn on how to coexist with this monster who had destroyed their city.

Unfortunately, this led to the people in charge having difficulty in keeping the people in the

towns safe. In Shin Godzilla, the people in charge had a very successful evacuation plan in
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keeping the townspeople safe, and ensuring their safety. They had a very detailed plan for any

mayhem that Godzilla may have created. In the modern version, everyone had ideas on how to

stop Godzilla, and they all worked as a collaborative team. There were a lot of strategic planning

that went into stopping Godzilla from creating more destruction to the town. Shin Godzilla had

been able to use their military tactics in an attempt to stop Godzilla, while the original had a

scientist try to come up with a scientific reason and plan on how and why they should stop

Godzilla. Fortunately, both movies had realized that their methods that they were currently using

did not work in their favor. They both had realized that there was an actual science behind how

to stop Godzilla from destroying more of the city.

Although both movies share many differences, they also share a few similarities. One

similarity is that in the character Godzilla himself had stay true to who he was in both movies.

He is a monster that was awaken by a nuclear bomb testing who wanted to go out and seek for

revenge. A creature created by radiation with a very monstrous appearance that would haunt you

in your dreams. He had destroyed anything and everything that had gotten in his way the entire

time he was on land. He was a monster who was upset that the people had woken him up from

his sleep with the bomb testings. Since he was angry from being woken up, someone had to pay.

Unfortunately, it was the people in the cities, and that is where everything went downhill.

Although the monster had an unforgettable appearance, he had actually stood for something.

Godzilla is the resemblance of the bombs that had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He

had represented the loud bang and crashes that the bombs had made. The fear and destruction

that these bombs had on the people, how much they lost to the bombings. The hopelessness and

the fear of the unknown. The loud bangs and crashes that Godzilla would make while stomping

around the city were the echoes of the bombs that the Japanese had heard. That unforgettable
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sound that they had made had been recreated during the film. This was to show everyone what

they had gone through during that time. That same fear that someone may get while watching

Godzilla come towards them on a movie screen is the same fear that the people living in Japan

had living every day. The director had wanted his audience to experience that same fear.

After discussing the plot and some of the differences that both versions of Godzilla had,

some may argue that they both served a message. During an interview with the creator of

Godzilla himself, he claims that the first Godzilla film clearly had a strong anti-nuclear

message Yet it becomes increasingly hard to conclude that the films have had a consistent

message over time (Martin). Instead of most people portraying the movie Godzilla as another

Hollywood movie about a monster, it was to serve as a very important message. The director of

the original Godzilla wanted to get this message across with the filming of Godzilla.

Both movies had shared a common goal, and that was to stop Godzilla from creating more

destruction. They had both wanted to kill Godzilla, but had very different approaches on doing

so. Eventually, they were able to reach this goal in killing or stopping Godzilla, despite their

multiple failed attempts to do so. Both forms of Godzilla had also shared the same background.

He is a monster who was created after the bomb testing that lived in the sea, and was eventually

waken up. In both movies, Godzilla was this devious character that was able to stop Godzilla

from creating more destruction to the people and their homes. Both movies had different ways on

how to stop Godzilla, but in the end, were able to conquer this goal.
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Works Cited

Godzilla. Dir. Jun Fukunda. Toho, 1952.

Gojira. Dir. Inoshiro Honda. Toho, 2016.

Martin, J.J. "The Thunder Lizard Speaks!." Cineaste, vol. 23, no. 3, Mar. 1998, p. 24.

EBSCOhost,libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=t

rue&db=aph&AN=587922&site=ehost-live.

Tsutsui, William M. Godzilla and Postwar Japan. University of Kansas. www.international.

ucla.edu/asia/article/24850.b