Godzilla

Godzilla refers to a series of monster films made in Japan. Godzilla was originally a radioactively mutated and revived dinosaur. It died at the end of the original 1954 film. Subsequent fims in the series retconned the first movie by assuming that Godzilla wasn't killed, and that the body of the monster was never found.

The series was revamped in 1985 with "Godzilla 1985"; this movie was created as a direct sequel to the 1954 film, and ignores the continuity of the previous sequels. Known as the "Heisei" series (for the ruling emporer of the time), the continuity ended in 1995's Godzilla vs. Destroyah after a run of seven films. The reason for the continuity shift was based on a realization that the marketing of the movies had removed the reason it was so loved. When it was discovered that Godzilla was popular with children, sequels were toned down in obvious screen violence, and Godzilla was made out to be a good guy instead of an indestructible abomination of the mistakes of Man. Characters such as "son of Godzilla" (a dimunitive chubby replica that blew smoke rings) were introduced. However, the further Godzilla was taken away from his roots, the less popular he became. Hence, "Gozilla 1985" brought the series back to form.

Godzilla was originally an allegory for the effects of the atomic bomb, and the unintended consequences that such weapons might have on our world.

Films have been made over the last 5 decades, each reflecting the social and political climate in Japan. All but 1 of the 20 films were produced by Toho, the (second to) last was made and set in the United States by the makers of Independence Day (ID4) and is widley disregarded by most Godzilla fans. Toho immediately followed it with Godzilla 2000.

Filmography