Godzilla, Japanese Gojira, Japanese horror film, released in 1954, that was directed and cowritten by Honda Ishirō and features innovative special effects by Tsuburaya Eiji. The landmark film was a sensation at the box office and sparked a spate of “giant monster” movies. Godzilla, a giant monster spawned from the waste of nuclear tests, is discovered in the sea and rises to threaten Japan. The only hope of stopping Godzilla is the oxygen destroyer, a weapon as deadly and as morally troubling as the atomic bombs that created the monster. Godzilla was a clear embodiment of Japanese fears about nuclear weapons in the wake of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Also, early in 1954 the crew of a Japanese fishing boat had suffered radiation sickness after exposure to fallout from an American nuclear test on Bikini atoll; this incident was directly alluded to in Godzilla with a fishing boat being the target of the monster’s first attack. The American version of the film, Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), was severely cut, and extra scenes starring Raymond Burr were added to appeal to American audiences. The original version is widely considered superior, and the special effects were ingenious for their day. Godzilla was played by actor Nakajima Haru, who wore a monster suit weighing 200 pounds (90 kg). Godzilla was followed by numerous sequels and was remade in the United States in 1998. The original film was released in North America in 2004, winning praise from critics who had never seen Godzilla in its original form.

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