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Godzilla (from the Japanese: Gojira meaning, approximately, gorilla-whale), is a fictional creature (kaiju) featured in a number of popular Japanese films made by Toho Studios since 1954. Its backstory was that it was a prehistoric sea creature that ended up significantly mutated as a result of underwater hydrogen bomb testing, and proceeding to lash out as a result of being irradiated before ultimately being destroyed by the Oxygen Destroyer.

A 300-foot high, 20,000 ton, fire-breathing dinosaur, he typically emerges from hibernation to demolish major cities, especially Tokyo, and fight hand-to-hand with a selection of monstrous foes, notable amongst whom are Mothra (a gigantic moth), King Ghidorah (a three-headed golden space dragon), and Rodan (a huge pterodactyl). In the original 1954 film and many subsequent films, Godzilla has been portrayed as a menace to humanity, while in others he acts as a savior and guardian. In Son of Godzilla, he is shown to be a stern but conscientious father.

Being traditionally portrayed by a man in a suit, in contrast to the stop-motion animation techniques used for films such as King Kong, allows Godzilla an almost human range of dramatic expression, at the expense of entirely convincing special effects. Though the versions commonly available in the West are often badly edited and cheaply dubbed, production values for Godzilla films are surprisingly high.

In addition to city-trampling and monster fights, science fiction themes such as robotics, mind control, and alien invasion are commonly featured. Leading human characters typically exhibit extreme devotion to duty and a readiness to make heroic self-sacrifices.

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Godzilla (1998)[edit]

In 1998, German/American director Roland Emmerich remade the original film Godzilla using CGI and a whole new setting and story. This film switches the action from Tokyo to New York City and uses state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery (CGI) to represent the titular monster. The film garnered heavy criticism by fans of the original as well as the production company responsible for the films Toho Studios, who criticized the fact that the film did not contain the anti-nuclear message present in the original and had redesigned the creature as being a mutated Marine Iguana. The 1998 film could be considered a revamp rather than a remake, mostly due to the different appearance of "Godzilla", who, rather than a mutated dinosaur was changed to an iguana mutated by nuclear fallout. An animated series taking place after the film was made, with the Godzilla of that series, while being based in design of, and the offspring of, the one from the film, was depicted closer to the original Godzilla, and was well received.

Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)[edit]

In 2004, Toho produced Godzilla: Final Wars in which they showed their disapproval of the 1998 version. In this film, an organization called the EDF (Earth Defense Force), which is composed of humans called "mutants", has been formed to counter the monster attacks that take place periodically. However, an alien race known as the Xilians takes control of many of the monsters on earth (one of which is the Roland Emmerich version of Godzilla, now called "Zilla") and directs them to attack many of Earth's major cities. Then they capture them, appearing to mankind as benevolent. However, when their true intentions of eating humans is revealed, they release the monsters on the cities to continue their destruction. Eventually, Godzilla (who was imprisoned in the ice) is freed, and proceeds to defeat each and every one of the monsters. He starts with "Zilla", who he defeats in 45 seconds (to show how much "better" the original Godzilla is). He then goes on to destroy the rest of them, ending the Xilian threat.

Godzilla (2014)[edit]

In 2014, another remake was released, directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, and Ken Watanabe. The film garnered mostly positive reviews, as the Godzilla in this film resembled the original design of the character, as opposed to the 1998 film. However, some were critical as Godzilla does not get much screentime in the film. This version of Godzilla later reappeared with more screentime in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (where he fought against several hyperfauna from the other Japanese films and ultimately against King Ghidorah), and later in the crossover film Godzilla vs. Kong (crossing over with character Kong from Kong: Skull Island).

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