Changes in Godzilla movies

On November 3, 1954, a staff member who was eager to make a special-effects movie was inspired by the nuclear test of Bikini Atoll , which was a social problem at the time, and produced the first "water bomb giant monster movie" " Godzilla ". Will be released. Height 50m monster and at the same time Godzilla is a subject of fear for the human beings, like tilt phrase " **nuclear Spawn of the** " " **symbol of human beings has created fear** was depicted as". In addition, it became a work that expressed the selfishness of a human being that a monster that appeared due to a human weapon called a nuclear weapon was buried by the human hand. Film critic Naofumi Higuchi , in his interview with Inshiro Honda , the director of this film , took the statement that he wanted to create a Japanese King Kong that would destroy the dark society after the war and throw it into disorder. there  . Rei Harryhausen special effects monster movie " Atomic Monster Appears " (1953) that a monster revived in a hydrogen bomb test destroys the city of New York is greatly influenced  . The number of spectators mobilized is 9.61 million. Following this success, a sequel was prepared immediately , and the second work released in 1955 the following year ``" Godzilla's Counterattack " was the first time that " **a confrontation between monsters** " was drawn. After this, Toho was making monsters / special effects movies other than Godzilla, and there were no plans for a new Godzilla series. The third series, King Kong vs. Godzilla , released in 1962, seven years later, was originally planned by Willis O'Brien of King Kong (1933) in the United States as a new King Kong movie `` King Kong vs Frankenstein. It was planned as ". However, this project could not be financed in the United States, and O'Brien's unplanned one went around and was sold to Toho. Until then, there were no plans for a new Godzilla movie in Toho, but Toho side contracted this, saying that "If you can fight King Kong and the monster, your opponent will be Godzilla only". It became "King Kong vs. Godzilla". This will be the first monster confrontation movie in Japan. "King Kong vs. Godzilla" mobilized 12.55 million people, which was the second largest record of mobilization of Japanese painting spectators at that time. It was screened outside of Japan, such as the United States, and was a huge hit. Since then, the Showa Godzilla series, which has enjoyed strong sales outside Japan, was produced as quickly as possible in the 1960s as a means of acquiring foreign currency.

Since Godzilla showed the battle as an ally of humankind in the 5th work "The Three Great Monsters: The Greatest Battle of the Earth ", Godzilla has become a scary target for its role. Gradually, the shift to entertainment works will progress, and the original theme of science fiction will change from serious to entertainment-oriented. After the twelfth work " Earth Attack Command Godzilla vs. Geigan ", it came to be depicted as a hero of complete justice.

The number of spectators mobilized each time a new work was lower than the previous work, due to the severe performance slump due to the "Japanese picture of the sun" and the spread of television in the home. Since this period is the peak period of TV animation, it will be treated as a work in a mixed program of 5 to 6 mixed TV works with the title " Toho Champion Festival ", shortening the screening time and reducing the production cost It was Therefore, diversion films from past works are often used in many special effects scenes. And in the 15th film " Mechagodzilla's Counterattack " released in 1975, the number of spectators was 970,000 and the worst number one in history. In response, Toho decided to seal a huge budget monster movie, and the series will enter a long pause until 1984.

### Second period, Heisei Godzilla series (vs series)

#### History of the series (vs series)

In 1983, in order to resume the Godzilla series, the "Godzilla Revival Festival" was held, which screened past movie works in the Kansai, Kanto, and Kyushu regions  . In 1984, in the 16th series " Godzilla " produced for the first time in 9 years since "Mechagodzilla's Counterattack" , based on the first work, no monsters other than Godzilla appeared, and Godzilla was drawn again as a target of fear .. In this work Godzilla is considered a monster that hit Japan only once in 1954, taking the form of a direct sequel to the first work, and resetting all the works after the second work. Also, unlike the first movie, there are many skyscrapers higher than the Godzilla set size of 50 meters, and the size of Godzilla is set to 80 meters accordingly. After the 18th series " Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah ", the size became 100 meters. Five years later, in 1989, the 17th series " Godzilla vs. Violante ", which is a direct sequel to the 16th series, will be released, but the number of mobilization will not change and the charging period will start again for several years. After that, like the "Showa Godzilla series" , it was made into a series as a **confrontation** , and after the 18th series "Godzilla vs King Ghidora" released in 1991, every year until the 22nd work "Godzilla vs Destroia" released as a New Year movie in 1995. Made at one pace.

In the early stage of the second period (" Godzilla " " Godzilla vs. Biollante "), the story was also aimed at enthusiasts because it was targeting Godzilla fans at the time of aging. However, since the actual audience was mostly parent-child, it gradually shifted to family-oriented entertainment movies, and the content also became stronger with fantasy elements and science fiction elements. Also, because "Godzilla vs. Biollante" was not evaluated, it will be the re-appearance route of the popular monster of Showa  . Since "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah", the number of mobilizations has greatly improved, and along with Studio Ghibli works, it has become established as a dollar box series competing for the 1st and 2nd place of the annual Japanese movie entertainment rank.

After that, the production decision for the Hollywood version " GODZILLA " was triggered, and the series 22nd work " Godzilla vs. Destroyer " was once decided to end the series  . Godzilla's "death" was drawn in the "~ Destroyer" play, and the story of Godzilla was separated.

#### Features of the series (vs series)

"Heisei Godzilla series" is, series 22 installment " Godzilla vs Destoroyah has become a consistent view of the world until all the 7 installment of", " Godzilla vs Biollante " in first appearance was ESP girl, Miki Saegusa (Starring: Kodaka Emi ) has continued to appear as the cornerstone of the series. Godzilla has been consistently portrayed as a threat to humanity, with opponents being either human weapons or allies (Mecha King Ghidra, Mothra, Mechagodzilla, Mogella) or a three-way battle. In the latter half, from " Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla ", a new anti-Godzilla organization, G Force, and a new monster Baby Godzilla (later Little Godzilla) that replaces the SDF appeared. The "VS Series" and "Millennium Series" (other than "FINAL WARS") are set in the story following the year after the movie was made and released. The climax battlefield is often selected from the famous spots at the time of its release (Shinjuku Metropolitan Government, Minatomirai, Makuhari Messe, etc.).

At that time, " Friday Road Show " (vs Mothra), " Wednesday Road Show " (vs Violante), " Golden Western Movie Theater " (vs King Ghidora, vs Space Godzilla, vs Destroia) , mainly in time for the release of new works. Even in the golden frame, etc., the work has been televised nationwide, marking a high audience rating.

According to Masato Ushio , who was in charge of public relations at the Public Relations Division of the Defense Agency at this time, the cooperation system for the Godzilla movie began in earnest around 1992  .

There is a numbering title with " Godzilla " as "Godzilla 1" as an alias for each work (Example: "Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla" = " **Godzilla 5** ", "Godzilla vs Space Godzilla" = " **Godzilla 6** ", "Godzilla vs." "Destroyer" = " **Godzilla 7** ") It can be seen in special information after the main part of the movie version.

Koichi Kawakita ( Akinori Nakano only for " Godzilla " ) is a special technology in this series, and the suit actor of Godzilla is Satsuma Kenhachiro, who was in charge of Hedra and Gigan in the Showa series . In 1997, during the rest period, Tomoyuki Tanaka, who had been making Godzilla movies since the first film, died, and "Godzilla vs. Destroyer" was the last participation in the Godzilla series.

#### Rest period

The Heisei Mothra trilogy was released at the time of this Godzilla rest.