Godzilla at 70: The Big Guy Is Still Going Strong
Godzilla, the mammoth monster who first burst onto the scene way back in 1954, is having his 70th birthday on October 29, and despite his old age, it’s clear the big guy is still going strong. He’s only just won his first Oscar in 2024 for ‘Godzilla Minus One’, and the beast is a hit with Kong in Legendary’s Monsterverse. It’s that word though, legendary, that best describes the radioactive beast from the depths of the sea, with Godzilla’s enduring appeal.
Godzillia’s first appearance, ‘Godzilla’ in 1954, introduced the monster to Japanese and then wider audiences. It’s overall theme was to capture the feeling of helplessness and fear that Japan felt because of the atomic bombs, captivated into a monster. The film became a huge hit, and over time audiences developed a huge amount of affection for it.
This affection was well realised by studio Toho. Overtime, more monsters came to challenge Godzilla’s dominance and fight with him/ developed more iconic monsters for Godzilla to fight with and against. King Ghidorah, Mothra, Mechagodzilla, Rodan and more. Each of these monsters have earned their place alongside Godzilla, helping take the city destruction to the next level.
Of course, Godzilla’s main rival, the one audiences associate most with him, is King Kong. It’s human nature that these two titans would eventually clash, as audiences will always want to know who would win in a fight between two roughly equally matched opponents. And this has ingrained Godzilla into popular culture even more, attracting more and more fans.
Godzilla’s legacy extends out of the world of the screen. In 2015, Hotel Gracery Shinjuku opened in Tokyo, with a Godzilla theme. Godzilla’s head roars from the top of the building, and throughout the hotel Godzilla’s presence can be felt. While it’s unknown how many people the hotel has attracted, it’s safe to say it’s been hugely popular thanks to the beast.
In the modern era, Godzilla is perhaps best represented by the ongoing Monsterverse, which is still expanding. CGI has vastly improved, and no longer does a man have to cosplay as the beast to get him onscreen. But despite this, his look is consistently recogniseable. This iteration of Godzilla does stray from its Japanese roots, and opens it to younger audiences, but it loses what Godzilla was in the first place.
Of course, this is where ‘Godzilla Minus One’ comes in. Released in 2023, this low budget film took the beast back to his more villainous roots, levelling Japanese cities and causing mass devastation. This sees the Japanese community come together to defeat the humongous sea monster, and rightfully won an Oscar for VFX that not only paid homage to the original film and looked just as good as its contemporaries while costing a fraction of the price.
His next appearance will be in 2027, a sequel to 2024’s ‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’. No doubt more Japanese interpretations will arise, reminding audiences of the monster’s roots. Godzilla’s continued box office strength proves that there is just as much demand for him as there was back in the 1950s, with audiences connecting to what Godzilla represents all these decades later.
