Godzilla, King of the Monsters! 1956

Reviews (44)

1. J

   Josh Lewis 8 月 26, 2026

   Yeah, let’s just take a cathartic work of national grief and guilt and re-edit/dub it so none of that pain or soul registers, remove any and all mention of nuclear fallout and instead include an American protagonist bumbling around because I guess treating the Japanese characters as people we should care about is asking too much. Americans are so dumb. Few know this.

   839 13
2. B

   Branson Reese 8 月 26, 2026

   Watching this I realized something alarming: I had never seen 1954’s Godzilla before last night. This was the version I saw as a little kid that got me so excited I had to go outside and run around in the street. It’s a testament to Honda’s original film that the somber, mournful tone and stark, haunting visuals were able to sprout out from under Raymond Burr’s sweat soaked face like grass through concrete. I’m being glib and sort of shitty though. Obviously this American version -which cuts large swathes from the original and adds unconvincing footage of Raymond Burr as American reporter Steve Martin- is a step down from Godzilla. But it’s not nearly as big a step down as…

   207
3. R

   Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine 8 月 26, 2026

   KAIJULY: GOJI RAAWRS! I don’t even know how to rate this. It’s like a watered-down, Americanized version of the original film with Perry Mason (only people of a certain age will understand that reference) himself, Raymond Burr, doing a decent job as a guy called Steven Martin (despite him looking more like a Ricky) doing more broadcasting and in-person narration while we get some new footage and other existent footage is dubbed (?) and/or recontextualized for this version. It’s not as terrible as it could be, but not bueno either. Also, I could be wrong but there is slightly more action with air fighters and probably it’s me, but some of the effects look slightly better. I mean, if anything, I guess we should be thankful this helped introduce the icon to a wider audience. TODAY SCHEDULE Godzilla, King of the Monsters! The Son of Kong Gamera vs Barugon 20 Millions Miles to Earth

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4. A

   Aberrant Ghoul 8 月 26, 2026

   I wasn’t really happy about watching this one again, but it’s on the Criterion Blu-ray for Gojira and it’s different enough that it counts as a seperate film. I’m not very fond of Hollywood remaking foreign films. I’m even less fond of the practice of chopping up Japanese films or shows and repurposing them into something new, that’s more palatable to American audiences. And, I flat out despise dubbing of any foreign media. The voice actors used are almost never up to the task of capturing the nuance of the original performance. People need to get used to reading subtitles or start learning new languages. Fortunately, we live in a time when we have access to the original film, on…

   211 28
5. J

   joecamel 8 月 26, 2026

   Why the hell does this ‘movie’ even fucking exist!? I mean, I get why it exists, but, ugh, I hate it!! Godzilla: King of the Monsters! is essentially just the original 1954 Godzilla but they edited it to hell and shoehorned in a white lead actor. I do get it, to be completely honest. They were rightfully worried that the western markets of 1956 would largely reject a ‘foreign film’ and they were probably right. I mean they entirely neglected to try releasing Godzilla as is so I guess we can’t know for sure. Regardless, as much as I hate this film the Godzilla franchise would not be half as popular in the west if didn’t exist. So, a double…

   90
6. S

   Stephen Gillespie 8 月 26, 2026

   A cinematic insult. One of the greatest films of all time mutilated into something boring, irritating and soulless. Rather than just presenting the classic original to an American audience, or giving a straight dub, the people’ of the 50s got this. It’s a confusing re-edit of key scenes – with so many missing – that is framed by new footage of Raymond Burr as an American journalist. He just talks over the film and trashes the original narrative. He is deeply dull and his insights bring nothing. We occasionally get some Japanese speech, only for him to declare that he didn’t understand it – and we, the viewer, wait without subtitles for some kind of translation. Outside of this, there…

   154 4
7. R

   Realkinoshit 8 月 26, 2026

   Taiwan still doesn’t have the release date of Godzilla Minus One 🥲 so I had to come back and watch the older Godzilla movies 😩 But this version really has no value in existence imo… the original version is fantastic, this “English” version just feels forced. While I believe they might be aiming for better international sales, I still find it hard to accept this approach… Please make sure you watch the original 1954 Godzilla, not this one. Unless you have extra time or want to watch all Godzilla movies like me…

   68
8. M

   Max Ahoy 8 月 26, 2026

   The Multifarious Monster of Monster’s, The King of Kaiju, the Atomic Admonitory: GODZILLER! Well it’s bloated, tired and rather laughable. More inept than ever thought possible. Gone. Wiped away is any semblance of practically anything relating towards that of nuanced, subtle, creative, sincere, dramatic, horrific, tragic, macabre, philosophical, metaphorical, historical, moral, ethical, allegorical, and especially entertaining. Everything which aided in making the first such a monumental mile stone in both its respective genre and film as a whole is cut open, gutted entirely, torn apart and dulled down to the bone completely and warped into some sort of freakish frankensteined piece of shlock the equivalent to that of chowing down on some day old gas station sushi with the cheapest…

   75 8
9. J

   James 8 月 26, 2026

   The whole time I couldn’t help but think how much better this would have been if the character of Steve Martin was actually Steve Martin. Godzilla: ROOOOAAARRRR *stomp* *smash* ROOOOOAAAAAAAARRR Steve Martin: Well excUUUUuuuuUUUUUse meeee! Random thought: I suddenly have the urge to watch Kung Pow: Enter The Fist…

   315 7
10. W

    Will Sloan 8 月 26, 2026

    This is the American re-edit of Godzilla (1954), which jettisoned huge chunks of Ishiro Honda’s original footage and added huge chunks of new, American-shot footage. The new American footage features Raymond Burr as reporter “Steve Martin,” who comes to Tokyo to visit his good friend Dr. Serizawa, with whom he never shares the same frame. The first 40-or-so minutes of the original film are seen in quick fragments, like a highlight reel, with Raymond Burr always off to the side asking his translator what’s going on. There are a few unconvincing over-the-shoulder shots where he talks to characters from the original film. There’s a hilarious scene at the beginning where we see the devastating aftermath of Godzilla’s reign of terror,…

    142
11. A

    ashwi1liams 8 月 24, 2026

    isn’t it crazy how they turned a nuclear bomb metaphor struck with grief into a fun cheesy monster movie of the 1950s with adding a couple of scenes?

12. E

    em 🧡 8 月 19, 2026

    “They are so wrong. Godzilla should not be destroyed. He should be studied.”

13. M

    MoEyyyyy 8 月 19, 2026

    5/10 It added a lot to the first Godzilla movie and I loved steve.

14. P

    PHigg 8 月 19, 2026

    Cash-grab butchering of a massively significant film. Yuck.

15. R

    Ryan M 8 月 18, 2026

    Only worth the watch to see how embarrassing this cultural self insert was. Yes it most likely played a huge part in bringing the big guy to the States and making it as popular as it is today but it’s equally upsetting that you couldn’t trust American audiences with a foreign film and subtitles.

    2
16. T

    Travis V 8 月 18, 2026

    Audio commentary from 2011 featuring film historian David Kalat

17. Y

    yokos 8 月 18, 2026

    I need colour

18. B

    borns 8 月 18, 2026

    Raymond Burr just has the one facial expression then

    2
19. J

    JAMALEVANS 8 月 17, 2026

    Ass compared to the real shit.

20. D

    D4n24 8 月 17, 2026

    Basicamente, esse filme aqui é o mesmo que o de 1954 so que feito pra americanos. Literalmente ele é feito reutilizando as cenas do original, mas ele remove a alma do filme e a mensagem dele. Todo o arco do Dr Serizawa e o tema do medo e trauma nuclear é removido incluindo as menções a Hiroshima e a radioatividade, então o filme vira outro. A história agora é complementada com cenas novas sobre um jornalista americano que estava em…

21. N

    ntaylor1 8 月 16, 2026

    This is equivalent of some guy you know heard a really interesting story about something that happened across the world and he starts retelling the story like he was there. 100 out of 100 times I’d pick the OG Japanese cut over this.

22. T

    TheRealKaisser 8 月 15, 2026

    (Spies and Kaiju Marathon: Part 6 of 79) (2019 Criterion Showa Collection Blu-Ray) “I’m afraid my Japanese is a little rusty.” Going into the American version of Godzilla 1954, I figured that it would be rather rough in a lot of areas, but I don’t think it would be exactly terrible considering this is still based on a movie I’ve given a lot of praise for. Oh god, how I underestimated just how much they would BUTCHER and dumb down…

    1
23. G

    Gwen Sterling 8 月 15, 2026

    They just added a white guy who reacts to everything with the same face and cut godzillas screen time not a worthy trade off. It cracks me up that there are people who either watched this version first or think this is what the real godzilla was.

24. P

    Pablo Rodríguez 8 月 15, 2026

    me quedé dormido. hay una parte en la que un viejo se muere y pega un grito como el tom de tom y jerry kdkskd

25. I

    ionagreen 8 月 14, 2026

    Wow, first Godzilla experience, turns out we probably watched the worst one lol! Not sure if I even liked it enough to watch one of the good ones. Some parts were cool like all the scenes where he’s destroying stuff. He’s kind of cute. And I do love a good black and white. Really shifts the focus to movement/composition/lighting.

    1
26. M

    Matthew 8 月 13, 2026

    They gave me a chance to witness a rare ceremony Fuck this isn’t good its not the monsterverse mocie its the American recut of the origanal.

    4
27. K

    Kevin 8 月 13, 2026

    Can someone tell Steve Martin to shut up!

    1
28. G

    Ghost_Lady 8 月 13, 2026

    They said let’s run it back but Americanized

29. I

    Ian 8 月 12, 2026

    Important to spreading the love I guess With the success of Godzilla 1954, there had to be an American version, this dubbed over version rewrites the classic film, adding a random American guy who also falls in love with one of the main characters for some reason, its not a good movie and basically butchers the original. There is not much else more to say. Its just a poor man’s Godzilla 1954

30. J

    Jord 8 月 12, 2026

    Where it started

31. B

    Bong Man 8 月 11, 2026

    the one random american actor is being asked to do a lot in this film to make it work

    1
32. M

    McKenna “Mack” 8 月 11, 2026

    This one changed the monster genre as much as as it established it. (I can’t tell if this is the original or the American cut, but let’s all just assume I mean the original Japanese Toho Studios cut). The main reason I placed this in my favorites as opposed to Minus One is the difficult nature of the original technical effects. While all things disintegrate over time with the advancement of newer technology-from a model making standpoint-the miniature work, illusions,…

    1 1
33. I

    iancraig28 8 月 10, 2026

    A masterclass in turning a really good movie into a really bad one

34. W

    Watson41 8 月 10, 2026

    When I heard about this movie I thought it was an American remake, but they just took the original movie and edited a white guy in it. Holy shit this movie is dated

35. D

    Diego 8 月 8, 2026

    ¿por qué?

36. A

    Andrew Murphy 8 月 8, 2026

    Just the original movie but with some American chud in it now

37. R

    reno 8 月 7, 2026

    Me llevé una decepción al verla, es la primera peli que veo de godzilla y no me gustó. El personaje principal es el PEOR personaje escrito que he visto en mi vida, no hace NADA en todo el filme, la actuación del actor es peor que mediocre es directamente una mierda, el nivel de actuaciones de todos está en diferentes niveles y parece una obra de teatro amateur hecha por un niño de 12 años. En fin, todo mal aquí,…

    1
38. L

    Lyn 𖦤 8 月 7, 2026

    Una maqueta y un sueño

39. X

    xqmeiw 8 月 7, 2026

    I love how Steve became an extra after the first half of the movie

40. B

    Brunella 8 月 7, 2026

    Falopeada de la buena loco. Los efectos especiales me parecen cuestionables pero me pareció muy entretenida.

41. I

    isimiau 8 月 7, 2026

    Godzilla solo estaba jugando a ser profe de arquitectura 😭

    2
42. G

    gael 8 月 7, 2026

    Usualmente me tomo mis días para digerir y comentar lo que una película me hizo sentir, pero el efecto de esta película fue inmediato. Tremendo bodrio XDDDD no me he visto Gojira (la japonesa original) y hace poco me metí al universo de lo que es Godzilla, pero esta wea se siente como una mala regurgitación de un clásico… Reitero que no sé NADA sobre Gojira pero se nota el esfuerzo por desplazar al cast japones por este protagonista/narrador hombre…

    1
43. G

    GHOSTK9X 1 月 7, 2025

    Voltou dnv mas agora pra tomar choque

44. T

    Thegamingblue 8 月 10, 2017

    Ce film est probablement un des plus grand chef d’œuvre du cinéma japonais, j’en frissonne encore aujourd’hui la musique, l’écriture des personnages comme Martin, Serisawa, Emiko etc.., on ressent vraiment le travail incroyable des équipes du film sans parler des scènes de Godzilla en ville une véritable prouesse.