The first view the world ever had of Gojira (Godzilla) 59 years ago.
A week ago I had the opportunity
to watch Gojira, the 1954 movie now
more commonly referred to as Godzilla.
It was a great treat for me because, having grown up in the United States, I
had not had the opportunity to watch the original film; instead, only having
access to the 1956 Americanized version, with scenes featuring Raymond Burr
spliced into the original film. Well, I must admit that it was quite a treat to watch the original version of Gojira and to at last hear those iconic words spoken for the first
time in their original context...well, actually written in English subtitles along
with the original Japanese dialogue. Those words? “RUN! IT'S GODZILLA!”
For 59 years, since its
release on November 3, 1954, those words have been uttered, screamed,
screeched, not just in that movie or even in every one of the Godilla films
that followed; however not only in the movies of the franchise, but by kids,
Showa kids in Japan and American kids in San Francisco for example, during
their playtime fantasies, and in every possible parody of the original film
imaginable; parodies that including the cartoon series South Park and Austin Powers' Goldmember
— without a doubt one of the few worthwhile scenes in that entire movie...no I
didn't like it much but this scene still makes me chuckle aloud.
