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Not only is that the kind of deliciously decadent, multilayered drama you don’t usually find in a monster movie, have you noticed I haven’t mentioned the actual monster for a while? Gojira is a slow burn, brimming with long stretches of expository dialogue. You want to hate the endless scientific debates and the convoluted love triangle subplot, until you realize what an integral part of the story it all really is. These are people whose lives have been interrupted by a national disaster of unprecedented scale, and the solution to the problem requires immense personal sacrifice of them all. The game has changed, mettle must be tested and terrible decisions must be made. If you believe the worth of your victory is defined by the way in which you won, where do you set your moral boundaries? If you save yourself by unleashing ruin upon humanity, is it an honorable victory? Could this whole story be a role reversal of sorts, referencing a certain historical event involving Japan and another much more powerful foe?

Nah.

What I can tell you is that when someone decided to release this film in America, all of this had to be cut out. In 1954, nobody in this country was interested in second guessing the way World War II ended. And obviously, the concept of sex before marriage is unknown in Western culture, so that part had to be minimized as well. So changes were made and the film was edited into a faux documentary, narrated by Raymond Burr and with new footage spliced in, allowing Burr to appear as though he was part of the original film. The effect is awkward as often as its effective. Sometimes I forget about it, and sometimes it's laughably obvious that Burr isn't even on the same planet as everyone else on screen. Still, it results in a very different film that's almost as good, but for different reasons. The original is a reflection on the vagaries of war, and the value of national sacrifice. The American version is the one that’s actually about the monster.

Godzilla's climactic rampage through Tokyo is the highlight of both films, and the effects - somewhat cut rate even then – still get the job done. Yes, it’s just a guy in a rubber suit, and in fact his first appearance on screen is rather unimpressive. It’s just an animatronic contraption that twitched and jerked like a. But I would argue that the more realistic movements of an actor as opposed to a stop motion miniature only add to the film’s intensity. For atmospheric reasons Gojira was intentionally shot in black and white, and the tiny model Tokyo is so well built, that while it’s obviously a miniature, there are occasional scenes where you forget about it entirely. The sound design on this movie is stellar, and as a whole the original film feels much more like a wartime drama than low budget monster movie.

Still, the American film does an effective job of combining the new and old footage, and of taking itself just as seriously as the original. It’s actually possible to watch both versions back to back, enjoy them and come away with independent impressions. The best thing is that whether you’re watching Gojira or Godzilla, you’re bound to enjoy it more than you thought you would. For me, hearing Godzilla’s theme song - as plodding and arthritic as the big guy himself - as he stomps buildings, eats trains and swats planes out of the air was as satisfying today as it was when I was six. Classic movies tend to hold up narratively, if not tonally, and they make it easy for you to suspend disbelief and accept what you see. Gojira/Godzilla does both - so before you check out the reboot, check out the original – a solid example of how to make two good movies out of one, should the need ever arise.

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