A giant monster stomps across the skyline, causing destruction in its wake. Bridges, skyscrapers, and electrical towers are no match for its unstoppable force. With each step, a shock wave is produced, and every breath becomes a firestorm. The monster swats away missiles and artillery shells with ease, while civilians race through the streets in terror. Godzilla is recognized as the king of movie monsters, appearing in almost 40 feature films and becoming a heroic savior or inscrutable menace.
Ishiro Honda’s “Gojira” which came out in 1954, calls to mind the annihilation of cityscapes Japanese audiences would have been familiar with. The destruction caused by firebombing and atomic bombs killed and impoverished many Japanese civilians. Honda’s film portrayed Godzilla as a prehistoric dinosaur awoken by underwater hydrogen-bomb testing, with the monster acting as a natural disaster-like force. The film also depicted the gradual regeneration and destruction of Godzilla caused by nuclear testing. However, unlike Hollywood blockbusters, the film depicted the real terror and damage caused by war and destruction.