Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe
Running Time: 125 minutes
Synopsis: Towards the end of World War Two, Japanese kamikaze pilot Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) lands at a small base on Odo Island after failing to fulfill his suicide mission. Beset by guilt, he freezes when the Godzilla monster emerges from the sea and destroys the base. In Tokyo after the war, Shikishima meets fellow survivor Noriko (Minami Hamabe), who is looking after an orphaned baby thrust into her care. They forge a family, and their fortunes improve when Shikishima finds an ocean mine-clearing job. But fueled by radiation, Godzilla is now bigger, more powerful, and intent on destroying Tokyo.
Synopsis: Towards the end of World War Two, Japanese kamikaze pilot Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) lands at a small base on Odo Island after failing to fulfill his suicide mission. Beset by guilt, he freezes when the Godzilla monster emerges from the sea and destroys the base. In Tokyo after the war, Shikishima meets fellow survivor Noriko (Minami Hamabe), who is looking after an orphaned baby thrust into her care. They forge a family, and their fortunes improve when Shikishima finds an ocean mine-clearing job. But fueled by radiation, Godzilla is now bigger, more powerful, and intent on destroying Tokyo.
What Works Well: Despite working with a relatively meager budget, director Takashi Yamazaki delivers an astounding special effects extravaganza. Whether at sea or on land, the elaborate sequences of Godzilla wreaking (bloodless) havoc and destruction are marvelous achievements filled with monster fury and mayhem. The quieter moments explore themes emerging from a decimated national psyche and personal guilt awaiting retribution, the post-war forced redefinition of family, and a once-proud populace finding a new cause unshackled from governmental ineptitude.
What Does Not Work As Well: Godzilla's origins and motives, other than just being really angry and made more dangerous by radiation, are left to folkloric imagination. The emotional states of the key characters, including Shikishima, are established early and evolve slowly, not helped by melodramatic acting.
Key Quote:
Noriko (to Shikishima): Is your war finally over?
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