It was late at night (at least 8 p.m.) and I had climbed the stairs into our third floor attic to get a better view. Even though Manhattan was about 12 miles away, I knew the danger would come from that direction so I looked to the east. I nervously scanned the horizon above the rooftops for the tell tale power line explosions but they never occurred. Godzilla did not emerge from the Hudson River that night and our neighborhood was safe – for now. How a black and white movie about a radioactive dinosaur could keep me on guard duty escapes me now but logic isn’t needed with little kid fears. There was no monster in my closet as a kid - just a 164’ reptile trouncing across New Jersey.
The next day I sat in school occasionally glancing out the window to ensure that Godzilla wasn’t clearing traffic on the Garden State Parkway. I even devised a backup plan in case the monster destroyed the neighborhood between the school and my house. We would all stay in the school’s fallout shelter with the nuns until the sirens sounded.
Over the years Godzilla has become more of a camp joke but for a kid with an active imagination, Godzilla was a movie monster to be feared. The 1954 movie Gojira was the first and probably best Godzilla movie but the version most often seen by American kids was the 1956 classic Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Raymond Burr starred in the movie as Steve Martin, an ambitious reporter who comes face to face with beast who was awakened by nuclear testing. The big guy (Godzilla, not Burr) rises from Tokyo Bay to destroy the city with his radioactive breath.
Like many classic monster stories, Godzilla is meant to serve as a warning to humans to change their behavior or forces beyond their control will do it for them. The first movie was made less than ten years after Hiroshima so the theme of worldwide nuclear disaster wasn’t much of stretch.
It wasn’t power lines or secret weapons that killed the terrifying Godzilla, it was fame. The early movies were so popular in Japan that the Toho Movie Studios would crank out 15 more over the next twenty years. English versions were usually released about five years later with titles that frequently changed when released for U.S. television or video.
Each movie through the 1960’s made Godzilla more likeable and cartoonish. He morphed into a tree hugging, monster hating dinosaur. The world owes a great deal of gratitude to Godzilla for defeating Gidorah ( a genetically altered three-headed monster from the future), Mothra (a psychic caterpillar turned psychedelic moth) and Hedorah (a monster formed from the earth’s smog). He even fought King Kong and a robotic version of himself called MechaGodzilla.
Toho Studios celebrated Godzilla’s 30th anniversary with a sequel in 1984 which led to six more films through the 1990’s. I stumbled upon the 1992 Godzilla vs. Mothra movie on Showtime last week, which prompted me to write this column. The plot, which includes twin fairies from a lost civilization, has Godzilla killing Mothra’s ancient enemy Battra with his atomic breath blast. A grateful Mothra then flies to space to save the earth from an approaching meteor.
I cannot explain the entertainment value of watching a bad monster movie late at night but shortly after it ended I stepped outside and looked to the south. The power lines in Plano were intact and Allen was safe – for now.
A Guide to Godzilla Movies
1954 — Godzilla (Japan) / Godzilla, King of the Monsters (U.S.A., 1956)
1955 — Godzilla Raids Again
1962 — King Kong vs. Godzilla
1964 — Mothra vs. Godzilla
1964 — Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
1965 — Invasion of Astro-Monster
1966 — Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster
1967 — Son of Godzilla
1968 — Destroy All Monsters
1969 — All Monsters Attack
1971 — Godzilla vs. Hedorah
1972 — Godzilla vs. Gigan
1973 — Godzilla vs. Megalon
1974 — Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
1975 — Terror of Mechagodzilla
1984 — The Return of Godzilla
1989 — Godzilla vs. Biollante
1991 — Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
1992 — Godzilla vs. Mothra
1993 — Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
1994 — Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla
1995 — Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
1999 — Godzilla 2000
2000 — Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
2001 — Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
2002 — Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
2003 — Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
2004 — Godzilla: Final Wars
