Written & Directed by Takashi Yamazaki
Based on the character by Tomoyuki Tanaka, Eiji Tsuburaya, & Ishirō Honda
Starring Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, & Kuranosuke Sasaki
Release Date: November 3, 2023
Running Time: 2hr 4min
Rating: PG13
AKA: ゴジラ-1.0, Gojira Mainasu Wan
Failed kamikaze pilot, Kōichi Shikishima (Kamiki), who suffers severe guilt and PSTD, tries to start his life over during post war Japan with his makeshift family and colleagues. But the Land of the Rising Sun soon faces another threat, in the form of a dinosaur-like creature known as Godzilla, who’s size and strength has been mutated by the United States’ nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll. [In this version of the story, Godzilla already just existed, like cryptid. When he first appears, he’s around 50 feet (15 meters) tall, but then grows to around 164 feet (50 meters) tall.]
The film premiered at the Shinjuku Toho Building on October 18, 2023, and was the closing film at the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival on November 1. Toho distributed it theatrically in Japan on November 3, the same date as the first Godzilla film’s release in 1954, to celebrate the franchise’s 70th anniversary. Toho’s subsidiary Toho International later released it in North America on December 1. The film has grossed over $74 million worldwide against an under $15 million budget and received critical acclaim. Western critics praised its visual effects, direction, story, characters, musical score, and social commentary, and compared it favorably to recent Hollywood films.
Godzilla is one of the biggest (no pun intended) pop culture icons of all time. Love him or hate him, you all know who he is. He is the King of the Monsters! He’s been in dozens of films (official or otherwise), numerous comic books, TV series, video games, and countless other merchandise. I myself haven’t currently seen every single entry (looking to fix that), but I’ve seen a good few (Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) being the first I ever saw in theaters). So while this entry would be the second I’ve seen in theaters, it is the first proper entry (ie made by Toho) I’ve seen on the big screen.
So glad I saw this one in theaters! This will definitely appear in most (if not all) Top 5 Best Godzilla Films of All Time! It does what few entries in this long running franchise manages to accomplish (to me at least), it makes you care about the characters! The human drama is perfectly balanced with the Kaiju action you want from these. This entry turns Godzilla into both an allegory for nuclear destruction and PTSD. I love all the nods to previous entires (some I did admittedly have to look up), and I especially love how they depict Godzilla revving up his atomic breath, with his dorsal fins popping out and then sinking back in as he releases all his fury! Chills!
So yeah, see this one!
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