Godzilla crashes into his golden years | THE BAINBRIDGE BLAB
Published 3:10 pm Wednesday, November 4, 2015
It was 61 years ago yesterday (Nov. 3) that Ishirō Honda unleashed Godzilla onto an unsuspecting Japanese cinema audience, and the “King of the Monsters” has been rampaging across the silver screen to, admittedly, great and lesser – sometimes much, much lesser – degrees of awe ever since.
From the creature’s cinematic debut through the early ’70s, he was portrayed by one man: Haruo Nakajima, who reportedly based the monster’s now infamous lumbering, city-destroying gait on the style of classic Japanese sumo wrestlers.
Nakajima’s final turn in the suit was 1972’s “Godzilla vs. Gigan,” after which he was cycled out of the studio’s regular contract actor system and was reportedly employed for a short time at the studio lot bowling alley.
In the ensuing years, Godzilla has become all things to all people.
He is a metaphor for war, nuclear weapons, natural disaster; but also at times he’s been a defender of the human race against those and other such impossible threats. He is even the official cultural ambassador of the central Shinjuku ward of Tokyo, where he’s immortalized by a bust at Toho Studios headquarters.
He’s been a spokesmonster in various ads. He’s become a part of the common lexicon – just add “zilla” to anything and we know it means business. He’s been a father. He’s been a mother – but only if you count that awful ’98 initial American attempt by Roland Emmerich (Possible alternative title? “Godzilla vs. Ferris Bueller?” It couldn’t have ended up any worse than it actually did).
Below, Review staffer (and avowed Godzilla fanboy) Luciano Marano has chosen his three favorite installments (other than the original, of course) in the franchise.
Happy birthday, Big G.
1. 1962’s “King Kong vs. Godzilla”
Though the wrong terrifying titan got top billing here, if you ask me, this is still a must-see installment in the cannon. I especially enjoy the moment when King Kong swings Godzilla around by his tail and throws him, only to realize all-too-quickly what a horrible mistake he’s made.
2. 1974’s “Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla”
This one, the 14th film in the series, introduced audiences to a robotic version of Godzilla, who is actually some kind of alien super weapon sent down by a maniacal race intent on conquering earth. These would-rulers looked around and based their weapon the scariest thing the universe, but just couldn’t make one as tough as the real thing. Big G is really more of the hero in this one, a nice change of pace.
3. 2014’s “Godzilla”
Wait a second. Let me explain.
Though, obviously, not without its own faults, this movie, I felt, redeemed the American movie-making system and made good after the awful things we did to Japan’s most infamous export back in ’98. Godzilla looked great, the action was awesome and it even featured Bryan “Walter White” Cranston. Who doesn’t love all that? Yes, the other monsters were a little lame, but this one still stands as one of my favorites in the entire series, and I hope it means more and even better things to come.
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