Godzilla 1985
Short description
Godzilla 1985 is an American re-edit of the Japanese film The Return of Godzilla, released the previous year. After years without sightings, the creature resurfaces in Japanese waters, sinking a fishing vessel and then attacking a Soviet nuclear submarine. Tokyo's authorities try to keep the truth quiet, but the incidents become impossible to conceal once the Soviet Union and the United States take notice. As Godzilla comes ashore in Tokyo Bay, the Japanese government and military throw everything they have at it, including the flying Super-X craft. When that fails, they attempt to lure the creature away using electrical signals that mimic the flight path of birds. Meanwhile, American journalist Steven Martin follows the crisis. The film ignores the earlier sequels and continues directly from the 1954 original and its American version with Raymond Burr, restoring a darker tone to the series.
R.J. Kizer and Koji Hashimoto directed; Hashimoto had made the 1984 Japanese version and Kizer went on to direct Hell Comes to Frogtown in 1988. The screenplay is credited to Hideichi Nagahara, Lisa Tomei and Straw Weisman, and the cast includes Raymond Burr, Keiju Kobayashi, Ken Tanaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Shin Takuma and Warren J. Kemmerling, with 35 credited cast members and 97 credited crew. Produced by New World Pictures with Toho Pictures and Toho Eizo, it took roughly 4 million dollars worldwide. On TMDB it holds 6.8 out of 10 from about 200 votes, while a much smaller group of critics rated it 3.2 out of 10.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film opens the second kaiju era – Heisei, which disregards the events of all previous films except the very first.
- In 1985, the Americans released their own version of the film, in which some scenes were cut and the title was "Godzilla 1985".
- The film was released in Hong Kong as “Return of Godzilla.” This version of the film was purchased by the United Kingdom and became the international cut.
- This is the sixteenth film in the Godzilla franchise, the first and only one featuring Shockiras, and the first not directed by Ishiro Honda.
- The film's script was written in 1980. Originally, according to the creators' vision, Godzilla was to fight the mega-monster Bagan and the powerful weapon Super X, which was to play a significantly smaller role. Ishiro Honda was initially intended to direct, and Akihiko Hirata was to play one of the main roles. However, the actor died a few years later, and Honda was removed from working on the film. Bagan and Super X were removed from the script to reduce financial contributions. Ultimately, in addition to Godzilla, the film only features the small marine flea Shockilas, which mutated alongside Godzilla. Super X did appear, but received little attention.
- The scene with the sinking ship is very similar to one in Roland Emmerich's "Godzilla" (1998).
- Unlike the later Showa films, Godzilla is portrayed as an antagonist here.
- Soviet actors appeared in supporting roles in the film, and their roles were not dubbed, so Russian speech can be heard in the film.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
