Alright time to review Godzilla 1985, even though it was originally released in 1984, made it to America in 1985, and has not been allowed to be released on DVD until September of this year in America. Confused yet? Good, let's move on.
For this particular review, I watched the original Japanese version instead of the American version although either version is still great to watch. Godzilla has returned to Japan after 30 years of dormancy to raise terror and destruction yet again. Grade A entertainment. Time for backstory! Godzilla first appeared in 1954 and appeared in several sequels for 20 years evolving from a destructive allegory for a nuclear bomb to a savior of the Earth, ending the what is known as the Showa era in 1974. Ten years later...he was resurrected as a destructive force, ignoring all other movies except the original in 1984 beginning the Heisei era. And this film truly updates the look with excellent special effects, sophisticated and ambitous models, coupled with new military weapons. Of course since this was made in the mid 80s the Cold War was still heavy in the air, so Russian and American forces suggest to use nuclear weapons against Godzilla. Of course Japan is against nuclear weapons of any sort, Japan never forgets their history and Hiroshima is explicitly mentioned in this movie, Japan is a hero in my eyes for prohibiting any nuclear weapons in real life. The atmosphere has an almost apocalyptic feel to it, with a doomy and epic theme for the King Of The Monsters. Add in some nifty editing and framing, and a decent human story, and you have one of the best Godzilla movies ever made. Top 10 for me easily. Get your hands on it now if you are a fan of the Big G, or if you want a good monster mash.
Tomorrow we look at the beginning of the Millenium era.
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