Godzilla (1954 film)

Directed byIshirō HondaScreenplay byStory byProduced byTomoyuki TanakaStarringCinematographyEdited byMusic byAkira IfukubeDistributed byToho96 minutesCountryJapanLanguageJapaneseBudget¥62.9 million
($900,000)Box office$2.25 million

Godzilla (Japanese: ゴジラ, Hepburn: Gojira) is a 1954 Japanese epickaiju film directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho, it is the first film in the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla. In the film, Japanese authorities deal with the sudden appearance of a gigantic monster, mutated from nuclear bomb testing.

Godzilla entered production after a Japanese-Indonesian co-production collapsed. Tsuburaya originally proposed a giant octopus before the filmmakers decided on a dinosaur-inspired creature. Godzilla pioneered a form of special effects called suitmation in which a stunt performer wearing a suit interacts with miniature sets. Principal photography ran 51 days, and special effects photography ran 71 days.

Godzilla premiered in Nagoya on October 27, 1954, and received a wide release in Japan on November 3. It was met with mixed reviews upon release but was a box-office success, winning the Japanese Movie Association Award for Best Special Effects. The film earned ¥183 million in distributor rentals, making it the eighth-highest-grossing Japanese film of that year. In 1956, Trans World Releasing Corp. released the film in the United States as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, a heavily re-edited "Americanized" version that toned down many of the film's political themes and integrated new footage of Raymond Burr as the lead. Body doubles, trick photography, and careful editing were utilized to make Burr seem as if he was part of the original Japanese production.

Godzilla spawned a multimedia franchise that was recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest-running film franchise in history; the film and Tsuburaya have also been largely credited for establishing the template for tokusatsu media. The film received reappraisal in later years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest monster films ever made, while its title character is recognised as an icon of international popular culture. The film was followed by the sequel Godzilla Raids Again.