Released in Japan titled as Gojira, this 1984 entry into the Godzilla series has come to be known as The Return of Godzilla to avoid confusion with the original 1954 Gojira. (It was released in the United States in 1985 as Godzilla 1985 and was heavily re-edited.)
Unfortunately, the unedited Japanese version has never been officially released in the United States on DVD. However, the movie has been available on the bootleg and import market for quite some time. Twenty-five years after the film’s American release, I was finally able to see The Return of Godzilla as it was originally intended by the filmmakers.
In the Cold War era of the mid-1980s, the Yahata-maru, a small fishing boat, becomes lost in a storm. The crew find themselves being pushed by the storm toward a volcanic island which happens to erupt as the boat approaches. The ship is believed to be lost at sea until a small sailboat finds it a few days later. The sailboat’s owner, Goro Naki (Ken Tanaka), boards the ship and believes the crew to be dead. That is, until he finds Hiroshi Okamura (Shin Takuma) alive but unconscious and hidden in a locker. Before he can revive Okamura, Naki is attacked by mutated sea-louse. Thankfully, he is saved from certain death by Okamura.
Okamura is dazed and in shock but tells Naki that he saw a monster in the erupting volcano. Once the pair are rescued, Naki, who is a reporter, brings the story of the giant monster’s attack on the fishing boat to his editor but is angered when the story is not printed.
Meanwhile, Okamura is resting in the hospital when he is visited by Professor Hayashida (Yosuke Natsuki), who shows him pictures from the first Godzilla attack in 1954. When Okamura positively identifies the monster, the Japanese Prime Minister is notified that Godzilla has returned. In an effort to quell public uproar, the government places a news blackout into effect.
When a Russian nuclear submarine is destroyed in the North Pacific, the Russians place blame on the Americans. With the threat of a nuclear strike on the U.S. in the air, the Japanese prime minister is forced to come forward with evidence that Godzilla was responsible for the attack.
Almost on cue, Godzilla, the newly acknowledged threat to world peace, appears onshore to attack a Japanese nuclear power plant. Professor Hayashida, Naki, and Okamura witness the attack and notice that Godzilla is distracted by, and then follows, a flock of birds. Professor Hayashida theorizes that Godzilla is attracted to the sound of migrating birds and comes up with a plan to broadcast bird calls in an effort to lure Godzilla to a volcano on Mount Mihara, which will be lined with explosives to trigger an eruption, thus trapping Godzilla once again. The Japanese Self Defense Force has also devised a new weapon to fight Godzilla: The Super X, an armored hoverjet that is armed with cadmium shells that can pierce Godzilla’s skin.
The Return of Godzilla was released nearly a decade after Terror of Mechagodzilla, which was the last of the Godzilla films of the 1970s. The film’s story returned the monster to his original role as a reminder of the dangers of nuclear weapons. The Cold War, of course, provided an appropriate atmosphere for Godzilla’s return to the same menacing creature he was in his first film, 1954’s Gojira. In fact, this film is a direct sequel to Gojira and the fourteen sequels that had preceded it are dropped from the timeline of events as depicted here. The Cold War elements are played to the hilt with much Russian and American saber-rattling and an unintentional launch of a nuclear missile at Godzilla.
Unfortunately, the Godzilla scenes, which feature some exceptional (for their time) special effects, are dulled by poor direction and bad pacing. The climactic battle between Godzilla and the Super X feels nearly static in nature rather than providing any real excitement. It’s a shame because it’s obvious some effort went into the creation of the miniature sets and the newly redesigned Godzilla suit. A 16 foot “cybot” Godzilla was created for some of the expressive scenes of Godzilla’s face. Sadly, the design of the cybot monster doesn’t match the suit and the scenes featuring the robot look strangely mechanical and awkward.
Had the direction been stronger, The Return of Godzilla could have been one of the best entries in the series. As it stands, the movie is notable mainly as the first entry in the Heisei series of films and the prequel to the far superior Godzilla vs. Biollante.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
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