Criterion Collection Edition #594
GODZILLA (a.k.a. GOJIRA) is the roaring granddaddy of all monster movies. It’s also a remarkably humane and melancholy drama, made in Japan at a time when the country was reeling from nuclear attack and H-bomb testing in the Pacific. Its rampaging radioactive beast, the poignant embodiment of an entire population’s fears, became a beloved international icon of destruction, spawning almost thirty sequels.
Directed by Ishiro Honda • 1954 • Japan
Starring Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata
GODZILLA (a.k.a. GOJIRA) is the roaring granddaddy of all monster movies. It’s also a remarkably humane and melancholy drama, made in Japan at a time when the country was reeling from nuclear attack and...
Recorded in 2011, this audio commentary features critic David Kalat, author of “A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series.”
Directed by Ishiro Honda and Terry O. Morse • 1956 • United States
Starring Raymond Burr, Frank Iwanaga, Akira Takarada
This 1956 feature film, codirected and edited by Terry Morse, is the famous American reworking of the original GODZILLA. It combines footage from the original 1954 production w...
Recorded in 2011, this audio commentary features critic David Kalat, author of “A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series.”
In this 2011 interview, actor Akira Takarada recalls his experience starring as Ogata in GODZILLA.
In this 2011 interview, GODZILLA performer Haruo Nakajima reflects on the challenges and highlights of portraying the iconic creature.
This 2011 conversation features effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai discussing their work on GODZILLA.
This 2000 interview features composer Akira Ifukube talking about his career and his unforgettable score for GODZILLA.
Filmed on VHS-C and edited in 2019, this 1999 program by Jim Cirronella is one of the last known on-camera interviews with the renowned composer Akira Ifubuke.
Produced by the Criterion Collection in 2019, this new program with Alex Cox features the filmmaker discussing his admiration for the Showa-era GODZILLA films.
This featurette, introduced by effects director Koichi Kawakita and effects photographer Motoyoshi Tomioka, reveals the visual tricks behind certain sequences in GODZILLA.
In this video interview, conducted in 2011, renowned Japanese-film critic Tadao Sato looks at GODZILLA in terms of Japanese culture.
This 2011 illustrated audio essay, featuring Greg Pflugfelder of Columbia University, details the tragedy that befell the fishing vessel “Daigo Fukuryu Maru” (Lucky Dragon No. 5), an event that inspired parts of the GODZILLA story.
