Godzilla: The Japanese Original Movie Cast, Plot and Everything to Know

Feb. 20, 2014

Godzilla: The Japanese Original

Release Date: Friday, April 27, 1956 New York Friday, April 18, 2014 New York

Akira Takarada, Fuyuki Murakami, Ren Yamamoto, Momoko Kochi, Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Ishirô Honda, Takeo Murata, Kokuten Kodo, Sachio Sakai, Toranosuke Ogawa, Takeo Oikawa, Miki Hayashi, Tadashi Okabe, Kin Sugai, Toyoaki Suzuki, Seijiro Onda

N/A Action N/A

4.4

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Plot

What's the story about?

A 400-foot monster reptile with radioactive breath is revived, thanks to nuclear testing. It goes on a mad rampage, destroying Tokyo - how will they kill it?

Action Adventure Drama Fantasy Horror Sci-Fi

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Top Cast

The lead cast starring in Godzilla: The Japanese Original.

Crew Behind the Film

The Godzilla: The Japanese Original behind-the-scenes crew and production team.

Director: —
Screenwriters: Ishirô Honda
Takeo Murata

Studios: —
Production Companies: —

Additional Information

MPA Rating: N/A Not available
Runtime: N/A
Tagline: Not available
Also known as: Gojira, Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Language: English

All Trailers

Official Godzilla: The Japanese Original movie trailers and clips.

No trailers available.

Production Details

What we know about the Godzilla: The Japanese Original movie production.

Key Facts

Godzilla was originally released here in 1956 as Godzilla: King of the Monsters, an atrociously cut, dubbed and re-edited version that inserted American actor Raymond Burr into the action; only an hour was used of the original's 98 minute running time. Burr does not appear in the original, uncut version, which has an all-Japanese cast including Kurosawa regular Takashi Shimura, who the very same year appeared as leader of the Seven Samurai.

As directed by Ishirô Honda, with special effects by the legendary Eiji Tsuburaya, Godzilla: The Japanese Original is much darker in tone than the dumbed-down U.S. release version, which entirely eliminated the original's underlying theme: in the Japanese version, the monster is clearly a metaphor for the nuclear menace and the film itself a cry for world peace and disarmament. The American version also cut out all of the original's astonishing Strangelove-like black humor.
A new restoration of Godzilla: The Japanese Original, the monster classic that has spawned six decades of sequels, imitations, and remakes, will debut April 12 at the fifth TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, followed by a national release beginning at New York's Film Forum, April 18-24.

Production Updates