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Clifford Ramos

Professor Beadle

English 115

30, November 2017

The Evolution in Time (My Revised and Polished Essay)

Have you ever seen an animal or a person develop? When talking about evolving in

monster movies, one monster sticks out the most. That monster is called Godzilla. Godzilla has

been a figure of terror since the time of World War II. Many movies and books have been made

about Godzilla to show audiences, of all ages, the cool power and fantasy Godzilla brings. As we

continue on having Godzilla as one of the most well-known monsters, there have been many

changes towards the Godzilla, as a monster, from the years of 1954 to 2016. Improvement in

technology and with cinema helped bring a reflection towards how much Godzilla has changed

through its size, types of power it controlled, and the storyline of the Godzilla. Although many

changes occur, there are also similarities over how Godzillas origin in nuclear testing and its

first appearance from the ocean generally originates. Technology with cinema recreated the

appearance of Godzilla through its effort in changing the size, abilities, and storyline of the

Godzilla. With the improvement in technology, directors such as Ishir Honda, in Godzilla 1954,

and Shinji Higuchi, in Shin Godzilla 2016, show their Godzilla film to the best of their ability

and skills towards the audience.

In the film making process, the advancement in technology enabled Godzilla to change in

size. When discussing about the measurements of the two Godzillas, credible website for I09

and staff writer James Whitbrook in the article called The Original Godzilla Would Have a

Very Hard Time Trying to Stomp Around Modern Tokyo states, Clocking in at 118.5 meters

tall, the latest incarnation of the king of kaiju seen in Shin Godzilla is the largest version ever
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seen on screeneven coming in above legendarys monstrous take on Big G in 2014. But the

very first Godzilla was less than half that size... and that wouldnt help him much in modern

Japan (Whitbrook). In the first scene of Shin Godzilla, phase one of the Godzilla turned to be a

gigantic googly-eyed monster popping out from the ocean. As the movie progressed, phase one

evolved into two, then three, and so forth. The more Godzilla evolved, the bigger it would get.

Through the film making process of visual effects, many audiences were fascinated in how real

the Godzilla looked on screen. The huge size of the Godzilla caused destruction in cities like no

other, such as multiple colossal building collisions, trampling ground destructions, air raid

explosions, and other similar destruction. With showing the damage and impact Godzillas size

had done to the city, clearly showed how much power Godzilla had compared to all the other

Godzilla sequels.

Many innovations in cinematography and technology have changed from the time the

original Godzilla film was created. In the focus of the powers both Godzilla films had, many

audiences would see the huge upgraded technology in motion pictures playing a major role in the

powers from 1954s fire to 2016s laser beams and purple atomic breath. When talking about the

change in power of both Godzillas, credible website for Variety and film critic Joe Leydon in

the article called Film Review: Shin Godzilla states, The Original Gangsta Lizard gets a

largely satisfying reboot in Shin Godzilla, working from Annos genre-respectful yet

realpolitik-savvy screenplay, draw basic elements from Ishir Hondas original 1954 Gojira

and its many follow-ups the sudden appearance of an immense, fire-breathing reptile in Japan

can generate all sorts of inter-agency political wrangling, revive terribly unpleasant memories of

the countrys militaristic past, and really, really wreak havoc on the value of the yen in global

monetary markets (Leydon). Leydon describes how the 1954 Godzilla influenced all the other
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Godzilla film versions all the way up to Shin Godzilla. The evolution of the power Godzilla

unleashed on Japan in the Shin Godzilla, shows how much, in the movie industry, they have

progressed. Having realistic powers of a laser beam and showing its destructive effects impacts

how much the Godzilla has changed character wise. Showing more of the graphics and physical

deformities than the Original Godzilla, which in that movie, the scenes are far less shocking and

graphic and the concentration was on the suffering of the individuals, not their physical

deformities, clearly shows the misunderstanding of the Godzilla story society has interpreted

today.

Through the films directing, a change in the Godzilla film storyline took place. With

Ishir Hondas original message of how horrific nuclear warfare is and the terror of nuclear

annihilation, much of Hondas true core message has been diminished due to the progress of

directors making the idea of the Godzilla film famous and notable to everyone around the world.

With technology and visual effects improving, created many directors to have the ability to show

audiences their own perspective of the Godzilla, thus creating whats now, a series of Godzilla

sequels. Sequels made, such as director Takao Okawaras Godzilla Millenium, where Godzilla

has razor sharp teeth and a new body shape, and director Jun Fukudas Son of Godzilla, where

Godzilla has a newborn baby, both reflect a version of Godzilla in a new perspective. Through

the improved technology and visual effects, credible website for AVClub and website author Joe

Blevins in the article called How American audiences ruined the power of the

original Godzilla states, 1954 Japanese film called Gojira, directed by Ishir Honda. In a

video essay entitled Godzilla - The Soul Of Japan, filmmaker Kristian Williams compares the

original Gojira to its American counterpoint and shows how the story lost most of its true

meaning on its way to becoming an international pop-culture phenomenon (Blevins). Losing the
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meaning of the Godzilla story from Ishir Hondas message of what happens when people

tamper with science, shows how much the original story of the Godzilla has changed. By

portraying a silly sci-fi movie about a giant, lizard-like creature rampaging through Tokyo in the

video essay, shows how different the story of the Godzilla is today, compared to the original

story of the Godzilla. Since 1954, many people saw the benefits with the idea of having the

Godzilla into their movies. Up to the year of 2016, the storyline in Shin Godzilla, not the same

storyline as in the 1954 Godzilla, portrays, as realistically as possible, Godzilla wreaking havoc

in Japan as we know it today. Shin Godzilla reflected Ishir Hondas loss message through its

weakness in the story, such as showing more action and destruction of the city as a whole, rather

than what Ishir Honda wanted, which was to show the suffering of the individuals and to show

the audiences not to ever mess with science and radiation, and characters, such as showing

multiple people in the government, public, army, and other countries, providing a weak sense of

intimacy of who the main character is. Benefits such as money and fame through the childrens

industry of toys, cartoons, and other similar ideas, the public opinion and what they want to see

for the next Godzilla film, social media and books, film critics, political response, and other

related reasons caused the blindness to the overall message that Ishir Honda wanted to bring out

towards the audiences. As a result of the public influence on the Godzilla, a change in the

storyline began to take place through its sequels.

Although the distinction of both the original 1954 Godzilla and the modern day 2016

Shin Godzilla are very wide-ranging, others may see that both Godzillas have some similarities

between each other. Many may seem plausible that both Godzillas relate to each other in regards

to how it was created and its first appearance from the ocean. In responding to the resemblances

of how both are related to each other, credible website for the Boston Hassle and journalist
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Anders Croft in the article called Review: Shin Godzilla (2016) Dir. Hideaki Anno & Shinji

Higuchi states, In its earliest moments, Shin Godzilla reminds us of the allegorical qualities of

its original predecessor If the 1954 Godzilla was a representation of nuclear warfare, then

2016s Shin Godzilla is a statement of nuclears creeping threat upon society. In other words, this

is a film which near slaps the viewer in the face asking, Why would we put so much faith in a

power so dangerous? and Have we forgotten about the threat of nuclear energy? (Croft). In

the original Godzilla, the first scene took place in middle of the ocean with ships in motion. As

Godzilla emerges out, it destroys the ships out at sea. Similar for Shin Godzilla, it makes its first

entrance causing a disturbance under the water, which than alerts security breaches on land. In

both films, radiation from nuclear testings caused both Godzillas to form. Through viewing the

relationship between the 1954 Godzilla and the 2016 Shin Godzilla, Croft emphasizes on the

focus of the nuclear testing and radiation towards the Godzillas. Through these similarities, the

movie and technology industry reveals an influence they got, all the way from the original

Godzilla. Furthermore, the similarities between both Godzillas included both movie directors to

have the same approach in how they want to have the Godzilla appear in the film.

Through the advancement in the various parts of technology, the original Godzilla 1954

to the Shin Godzilla 2016 changes in its size, powers, and storyline. The overall size between the

two films changes dramatically as measurements between the two were calculated. The abilities

had been very different as the original Godzilla had only a few powers and the Shin Godzilla had

many powers. With the storyline, director of the first Godzilla film, Ishir Honda, has a deep

message playing into the original Godzilla. As for the other films, Hondas message is fading in

each Godzilla sequel. Slowly losing the Honda message in each sequel, shows an impact on how

having an advanced technological society can really effect the types of things people now value
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in life and in making a movie. With technology on the rise, many people such as the directors of

the Godzilla sequels, are losing their sense of knowledge on why certain movies, such as the

original 1954 Godzilla, were made. Having smart and advanced technology, leads many people

to depend on it. As a result, many people use it to tell their stories for them, rather than having

themselves tell it. Through showing exotic powers of Takao Okawaras Godzilla Millenium,

where Godzilla has razor sharp teeth and a new body shape, and director Jun Fukudas Son of

Godzilla, where Godzilla has a newborn baby, are just a few that show Godzillas story driven by

strong visual technological graphics. Ishir Hondas movie of the 1954 Godzilla shows not much

technological graphics, but with an underlying message driving the story. With these significant

changes from the original Godzilla film, clearly shows how moral messages from original films

starts to break apart due to how society views the movie, public influences, money, and other

related impacts.
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Works Cited

Anno, Hideaki and Shinji Higuchi, directors. Shin Godzilla. Toho, 2016.

Blevins, Joe. How American audiences ruined the power of the original Godzilla. News,

News.avclub.com, 5 Dec. 2016, news.avclub.com/how-american-audiences-ruined-the

power-of-the-original-1798255035.

Croft, Anders. REVIEW: Shin Godzilla (2016) dir. Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi // BOSTON

HASSLE. BOSTON HASSLE, 15 Oct. 2016, bostonhassle.com/review-shin-godzilla

2016-dir-hideaki-anno-shinji-higuchi/.

Honda, Ishir, director. Godzilla. Toho, 1954.

Leydon, Joe. Film Review: Shin Godzilla. Variety, 30 Sept. 2016,

variety.com/2016/film/festivals/shin-godzilla-film-review-1201872105/.

Whitbrook, James. The Original Godzilla Would Have a Very Hard Time Trying to Stomp

Around Modern Tokyo. io9, io9.Gizmodo.com, 3 Aug. 2016, io9.gizmodo.com/the

original-godzilla-would-have-a-very-hard-time-tryin-1784788817.