History Film / Gojira

* MightyGlacier: Just look at that suit. In production, it's the most heaviest and stiffest suit ever made (the prototype suit is ''200 pounds''). This works well with the plot, as Godzilla's attack in the second act serves as a rolling nuclear explosion slowly killing everything in his path. Future suits would be made for Godzilla to become a LightningBruiser in later sequels.

The film also has an ensemble cast of characters, Ogata (Akira Takarada), Emiko Yamane (Momoko Koichi), Dr. Yamane (Takashi Shimura), and Dr. Daisuke Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata). A summary of the film's story can be found on the franchise's [[Synosis/{{Gojira}} main page]].

* {{Leitmotif}}: Interestingly enough, the theme in the opening credits was ''not'' meant for Godzilla, but for the military. In this film, both Godzilla and the military have 2 themes each in the film.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Treated directional and in-universe. In case you don't know, it's Serizawa's and the ''director's'' point of the film. Since Honda's experience in the World War II and haunted by experience of Hiroshima's destruction by the first atomic bomb, Serizawa's line tells us humans can be and are destructive to the point we would use any kind of weapon and most likely to use it in a war. If someone has accidentally make a superweapon of some sort, it's ''your'' responsibility to never reveal its existence.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler: Godzilla and Dr. Daisuke Serizawa being dissolved by the Oxygen Destroyer.]]

* AbilityOverAppearance: During the casting production, Akihiko Hirata (twenty-six at the time) played Serizawa, who was meant to be someone in his mid-thirties. However, his commitment to the role earns him much recognition from fans to this day.

* MilestoneCelebration: Because 2014 is this film's 60th anniversary, this film is being released in selected theaters.

* NoExportForYou: The film was sent to America in 1955 catering Japanese-Americans. However, it was picked up later and Americanized as [[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters Godzilla, King of the Monsters!]]. In 2004, the original version was viewed (finally) in it's original form. The fans rejoiced when it was released in 2006 by Classic Media and Criterion Collection recently.

The film also has an ensemble cast of characters, Ogata (Akira Takarada), Emiko Yamane (Momoko Koichi), Dr. Yamane (Takashi Shimura), and Dr. Daisuke Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata). A summary of the film's story can be found on the franchise's [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} main page]].

* AdultFear: A woman holding her children, telling them they will see their father soon... wow...

* ApocalypseWow: And we see what happened in the second act and the aftermath of the third.
* AntagonistTitle

* BerserkButton: Shine lights in Godzilla's face, he [[IllKillYou will absolutely kill you]]. Dr. Yamane even suggests not to use lights on Godzilla during the monster's short rampage.
** Explained away in the second film when Yamane says Godzilla doesn't like bright lights because they remind him of the glare of the atomic bomb which turned him into what he is today.
* BadassNormal: Daisuke Serizawa

* CurbStompBattle: Godzilla vs. the army.

* EyePatchOfPower: Again, Serizawa.

* ForeignRemake: Has 2 under its belt by US. The much-maligned ''Film/{{Godzilla 1998}}'' and the [[Film/{{Godzilla2014}} 2014 remake]] for its [[MilestoneCelebration 60th anniversary]].

* GiantEqualsInvincible: Godzilla. The big guy pretty much set the stage for this trope.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: As the DVD commentary says, the crux of the film is its moral ambiguity that Serizawa is wrestling with. If he does nothing, Godzilla will surely destroy his people, putting his inaction as culpable to the extinction of the Japanese. However if he uses the Oxygen Destroyer, it creates the danger of a new arms race, one that has the power to cause ''the utter destruction of all mankind''. It's because there is no third option in this film that Serizawa is so tortured by the decision he has to make.

* TheHeroDies: Daisuke Serizawa, who is the closest thing to an actual hero in the film, makes a HeroicSacrifice in the climax.
* HeroicBSOD: Serizawa has one after realizing the full weight that rests on his shoulders. One must wonder how Akihiko Hirata felt when playing the guy. Mentioned in the BittersweetEnding entry, Yamane laments that Godzilla was the last of his kind. But if nuclear tests are continued to be conducted, another Godzilla will appear again in the world. Cue FridgeHorror for that part.

* LastOfHisKind: Dr. Yamane believes Godzilla is the last of his kind. Subverted in that he believes another one will appear again, in which, unfortunately, he was right.

* MightyGlacier: Just look at that suit. In production, it's the most heaviest and stiff suit ever made (the prototype suit is ''200 pounds''). This works well with the plot, as Godzilla's attack in the second act serves as a rolling nuclear explosion slowly killing everything in his path. Future suits would be made for Godzilla to become a LightningBruiser in later sequels.

* NoExportForYou: The film was sent to America in 1955 catering Japanese-Americans. However, it was picked up later and Americanized as [[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters Godzilla, King of the Monsters!]]. In 2004, the original version was viewed (finally) in it's original form. And the fans rejoiced when it was released in 2006 by Classic Media and Criterion Collection recently.
* NoHuggingNoKissing: Even though Emiko and Ogata is the film's OfficialCouple (in the eyes of the audience), they don't try to both in this film.
** Ogata ''does'' indicate that he intends to ask Dr. Yamane for Emiko's hand, but this is quickly forgotten.

* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: The whole point of this movie is that not only nuclear weapons, but weapons of mass destruction in general. Dr. Yamane stated using said nuclear weapons could bring another Godzilla

* PlayedForDrama: ''Everything'' in this film is played for drama. Including the climax, where you'd expect the film to end on a high note. [[BittersweetEnding it]] [[TearJerker doesn't]].

* SympatheticMurderer: Monster example. You know that 50-metered giant radioactive monster that is hell-bent on attacking humanity and looks like he has a SlasherSmile? Not only he is a main villain, but the climax disturbingly treated him in a sympathetic light, compared to his JerkassWoobie successors.

* TooDumbToLive: The army anyone else that tried to kill Godzilla. They tried, then [[CurbStompBattle they got blasted by the thing]].

* {{Tragedy}}: Aside {{Horror}}, this fits the bill as well.

* VillainProtagonist: Godzilla, who is rather a ''tragic'' example.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: ''Godzilla and Daisuke Serizawa''. There's already enough scenes to show how much of a woobie Serizawa is, and he literally ''is'' a destoryer of worlds (accidentally). He's a ShellShockedVeteran, he's horrified by the creation of his Oxygen Destroyer, and he never intended its use as a weapon. Yet, he created a weapon by accident which severely damaged Tokyo Bay's ecosystem when he used it in the climax. Godzilla's as much as a woobie as well, but he actually does fit the trope. He survived a nuke, he is horribly disfigured (yes, some of Godzilla's facial close-ups look like radiation burns), hates lights, and really wants to be left alone. The footnote on the 2006 Classic Media book even calls them "innocent victims of the nuclear age".

* ActionGirl: Subverted, as Emiko's temporary role as a protagonist is short-handed. She decides to [[spoiler: reveal the Oxygen Destroyer to Ogata after Godzilla blew up most of Tokyo]]. Well, you can't blame her since many people suffered from radiation poisoning from Godzilla

* DeadlineNews: A radio crew reporting the attack on Tokyo realize they have no way out. Accepting it, they announce this fact to their listeners and continue reporting until Godzilla destroys the tower from which they're broadcasting. By the way, good job using the flash on the cameras on Godzilla, idiots.

* IgnoredExpert: And how. Guess how Tokyo ended up when Dr. Yamane told them to never use lights on Godzilla? In ''Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain'', the military were wise enough to listen to him.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Daisuke Serizawa, one of the scientists involved in the story, is actually aware that Emiko Yamane is with Ogata the whole time. Even he knows she's inseparable with the man. During the climax, [[spoiler: he willingly sacrifices himself so that Emiko and Ogata would be together. (Well, that, and to prevent his knowledge of the Oxygen Destroyer from falling into the wrong hands)]].

* SympatheticMurderer: Monster example. You know that 50-metered giant radioactive monster that is hell-bent on attacking humanity and looks like he has a SlasherSmile? Well, not only he is a main villain, but the climax disturbingly treated him in a sympathetic light, compared to his JerkassWoobie successors.

* TooDumbToLive: The army. Or anyone that tried to kill Godzilla. Well, they tried, then [[CurbStompBattle they got blasted by the thing]].

Despite debuting to poor reception in Japan, ([[VindicatedByHistory in subsequent years, Japanese film scholars and fans of the series have come to consider it one of the best Japanese films ever made]]), ''Gojira'' (or ''Godzilla'', take your pick), was praised by American viewers after the original film was made available outside of Japan with two DVD releases, by Classic Media and Creator/TheCriterionCollection. The English version, ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters'' was edited to add American reporter Steve Martin ([[Franchise/PerryMason Raymond]] [[Series/{{Ironside}} Burr]]), and remove some of the slower scenes. (Despite the edits, it still has merit.) There is also the Italian version, ''Film/ItalianGodzillaKingOfTheMonsters'', a much stranger recut that includes colorization and StockFootage from WorldWarII.

* NextSundayAD: The film takes place in summer 1955 (specifically August) according to the original English sales brochure.

* MonumentalDamage: The first film of its kind, with the destruction of the Wako Clocktower and the Diet Building. Later films will do this a lot. Interestingly though, the Diet Building scene was filmed first. However, the damage to the building did not crumble correctly, so it had to be reshot.

The story is written by Shigeru Koyama. The film is roughly based on Honda's wartime experience as well as seeing the wasteland of Hiroshima caused by the atomic bombing. It had a profound effect on his outlook, leading to a strong dislike of nuclear weapons. Thus, the film is a metaphor for their destructive power. The opening scene is a direct reference to the Castle Bravo test, and Godzilla's rampage in the second act symbolizes the atomic bombings.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: As noted above, this isn't one of the fun rubber monster flicks that the later Godzilla films became known for--it's a straight monster horror flick and it treats its anti-nuclear message and the consequences of nuclear warfare (and Godzilla's rampage) with utter conviction.

* [[MarthDebutedInSmashBros Godzilla Debuted in 1956]]: Averted in an interesting way. This film was made in 1954, and sent to America in 1955 to the Japanese-Americans of that era to see the film, where it was later on picked up and dubbed as ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters''. It wasn't until 2004 where it was shown theatically in the US, along with two DVD and Blu-Ray releases.

''Gojira'' (or Godzilla for English-speaking viewers), is a black and white {{kaiju}} {{tokusatsu}} film directed by Creator/IshiroHonda in 1954 and the first film of the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise.

**The Eiko Maru blowing up in the beginning is a direct reference to the nuclear accident that occurred earlier in the year, when the US "Castle Bravo" test detonated a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific and the ''Lucky Dragon 5'' fishing boat got caught in the radiation burst (by ''accident'').

* DarkerAndEdgier: It's a very dark film of its time. Before its ReverseCerberusSyndrome and LighterAndSofter sequels (barring its first direct sequel ''Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain''), it is much darker than the radioactive monsters of the 50's and this is the ''first film'' of the film's overall chronology.

* DarkerAndEdgier: After the fact. Fans expecting something in the tongue-in-cheek spirit of later films may be shocked by the film's grim tone and frank depictions of the human toll of mass destruction. And speaking of the trope, it is much darker than your typical "giant monster created/awaken by a nuclear explosion" made in the same year with much emphasis on tragedy.