Review: Ishiro Honda's original "Godzilla" powerfully endures, 60 years later
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To put the achievement of Ishiro Honda’s original 1954 Godzilla in perspective, one must consider the horrors from which it was born. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki occurred only nine years prior to the film’s creation, and even with such a relatively small amount of historical hindsight, Honda and company were able to create a movie that tackled nuclear devastation head on, summoning the myriad mournful and terrified emotions of one of the most destructive events in human history and channeling them into a profound and visceral work of commercial art. How could such a coherent and impactful response to the bombings come so soon after the attacks, and in the confines of a major studio release, no less? It would be like a Hollywood studio releasing a tentpole feature that directly confronted 9/11 – and was a legitimately great film, rather than a dull and manipulative throwaway – by the year 2010 (needless to say, such a film has not yet been made).
Review: Ishiro Honda's original "Godzilla" powerfully endures, 60 years later
Review: Ishiro Honda's original "Godzilla…
Review: Ishiro Honda's original "Godzilla" powerfully endures, 60 years later
To put the achievement of Ishiro Honda’s original 1954 Godzilla in perspective, one must consider the horrors from which it was born. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki occurred only nine years prior to the film’s creation, and even with such a relatively small amount of historical hindsight, Honda and company were able to create a movie that tackled nuclear devastation head on, summoning the myriad mournful and terrified emotions of one of the most destructive events in human history and channeling them into a profound and visceral work of commercial art. How could such a coherent and impactful response to the bombings come so soon after the attacks, and in the confines of a major studio release, no less? It would be like a Hollywood studio releasing a tentpole feature that directly confronted 9/11 – and was a legitimately great film, rather than a dull and manipulative throwaway – by the year 2010 (needless to say, such a film has not yet been made).