Green Scales and Hot Breath: Godzilla! Again! (2002)

In 1954, when Toho Studios in Japan released Gojira, a film featuring a giant prehistoric beast who rose from the Pacific Ocean as the result of a nuclear explosion, no one could have foreseen either the fictional or the real outcomes that are still being viewed and studied today. The idea that so many permutations would be sparked by this film would surely have astounded anyone playing a role in the original creation. The world in the 1950's was living in the shadow of the horrors of World War II, particularly the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We were also immersed in the Cold War, a time of lurking awareness of the threat of global annihilation. There was the dark image of a future beyond the control of ordinary mortals. The resulting sense of international and personal insecurity provided the atmosphere and a stimulus for the rising popularity of films featuring larger-than-life creatures and monsters with incredible might and power, beings which could act in proxy for the fragile and vulnerable human race. Many of the science fiction works of the 1950's involved some sort of menace, either from alien beings or monsters born from atomic energy. Gojira may have been at least partially inspired by the U.S. testing of hydrogen bombs in the Marshall Islands during the mid-1950's. During one such explosion, Japanese fishermen were exposed to radiation, resulting in a further escalation of concerns about unknown or unforeseen ramifications of pitting man-made forces against nature. Japan was the only nation to have directly encountered the devastating effects of atomic destruction, and it is here that Gojira, or Godzilla, as the creature is known in English speaking countries, and most of its many renditions, variations, monstrous foes, and graphic battles have been created and filmed. The film's producer, Tomoyuki Tanaka, described the birth of Godzilla as stemming from his peering down at the ocean from an airplane window, wondering what could be below the waves. He was somehow struck with the idea of making a movie about a gigantic monster, at least partly in answer to the popular American movie of 1953, the Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. At first, he thought of a giant octopus. He wanted the monster to be frightening, yet he sought a likable quality for it, as well. He thought if it was based on a dinosaur, it would be less horrible for Children. The idea was to portray a monster awakened, not appearing on its own, and one which primarily just moved about as a huge lumbering creature. Godzilla was to be seen as much as a victim as a villain (Sony). Ishiro Honda, the film's director, set out to establish a realistic, documentary-like feeling for the film. He described the dark tone of Godzilla as a result of his own wartime experience: I heard about the two atomic bombs which ended the war while I was still a prisoner in China. It was unforgettable. Godzilla was made by hydrogen bombs even more powerful than those atomic bombs. Nothing, no weapon, can beat Godzilla. The science of man never produces just happiness, it also produces the antithesis, like Godzilla .... When I make a monster movie, I never think that it will be just for children (Sony). Godzilla is a towering prehistoric reptile from the age of dinosaurs (Glut, 374). Resembling a lizard or dinosaur walking-upright on his relatively short hind legs, the creature is characterized by a line of elaborate spikes or plates down his back and a long muscular tail capable of sweeping aside any unfortunate opponents, vehicles, or even entire buildings. His huge mouth is loaded with a multitude of intimidating teeth and his primary weapon, other than his gigantic bulk and crushingly destructive feet, is his radioactive breath. His skin is armed with scales tough enough to ward off just about any form of assault imaginable, including guided missiles. Special effects artisan Eiji Tsuburaya was asked by Tanaka to make several clay model versions of Godzilla. …