Gojira (1954)

Godzilla (Gojira) is a 1954 Japanese Science fiction kaiju film produced by Toho. Directed by Ishiro Honda and featuring special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, the film starred Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata and Takashi Shimura. The plot tells the story of Godzilla, a giant monster mutated by nuclear radiation who ravages Japan, bringing back the horrors of nuclear devastation to a country that experienced it first hand. It was the first of many Kaiju films released in Japan, paving the way and setting the standard for the genre and future kaiju films, many of which feature Godzilla.

In the spring of 1956, TransWorld Releasing Corp. released an edited version of the film theatrically in the United States titled Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. This version featured newly shot scenes of Hollywood actor Raymond Burr interspliced with the original Japanese footage. In the spring of 2004, Rialto pictures gave the original Japanese-language version of the film a limited theatrical release (with English subtitles) in the United States to coincide with Godzilla's 50th anniversary.

Plot
American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable, dinosaur- like beast.

Cast
Akira Takarada as Hideto Ogata

Momoko Kochi as Emiko Yamane

Akihiko Hirata as Serizawa

Takashi Shimura as Kyohei Yamane-hakase

Fuyuki Murakami as Professor Tanabe

Sachio Sakai as Reporter Hagiwara

Toranosuke Ogawa as Company Manager

Ren Yamamoto as Masaji

Hiroshi Hayashi as Chairman of Diet Committee

Takeo Oikawa as Chief of emergency Headquarters

Seijiro Onda as Oyama

Tsuruko Mano as Mrs. Sieji

Toyoaki Suzuki as Sinckichi Sieji

Kokuten Kodo as the Old Fisherman

Kin Sugai as Ozawa-San