But this was not the same Gojira that most western audiences remember. Director Honda, a former soldier of World War II who had passed through the devastation of the atom bomb in Hiroshima, closely referenced his experience in real photos of the ruins in post-war Japan to bring a sense of realism to the destruction left by the creature. A majority of the movies are nothing more than the reactions of people helpless as they watch the destruction unfold. Gojira unleashed brutality in a way that hadn't been captured in cinema before: unflinching, senseless, and indiscriminatory.
#Godzilla enemies weapons skin
Godzilla was a symbol of thermonuclear weapons as well as a victim, an intentional directorial decision by director Ishiro Honda, who explained, "I took the characteristics of an atomic bomb and applied them to Gojira." Its skin texture was modeled to closely resemble the keloid scars of the Hiroshima-bombing survivors, and its signature weapon, an atomic heat beam, was generated by the nuclear energy inside the creature and unleashed through its jaw to bring destruction to the cities of Japan. The original "Gojira" was not meant to be a fantasy blockbuster but a horror movie, especially in the eyes of the Japanese people who had already witnessed a similar destruction.
5 sparked a national antinuclear movement.Īnd at the height of fear and panic just eight months after the incident, the 1954 original "Gojira" arrived at the theaters with an opening scene that hit close to home. All 23 fishermen had fallen ill to acute radiation syndrome, and their story quickly became a sensation, gripping the nation in fear and panic. They immediately returned to Yaizu, but by then, it was too late. Within hours of testing, the ship was engulfed in the fine ashes of radioactive fallout, or what the fishermen called shi no hai, the death ash. The test proved to be more than twice as powerful as the initial prediction, and changes in weather patterns blew the nuclear fallout far outside the danger zone, where the Lucky Dragon No. But what they were not able to predict in advance was the sheer power of Castle Bravo. The US government had already declared in advance a 57,000-square-mile danger zone that could potentially be affected by the fallout. The Castle Bravo was scheduled for testing on March 1, 1954, the same day that Lucky Dragon No. Just 80 miles west of its destination lay the Bikini Atoll, an island famous for America's testing of various nuclear weapons, including Castle Bravo, which is to this day the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the United States. But soon after, the boat altered its course south toward the Marshall Islands. 5 set off fishing in the Midway Sea, near the Midway Atoll. With a crew of 23 men, the Lucky Dragon No. 5, the small Japanese tuna-fishing boat, departed the harbors of Yaizu for a routine fishing job. Even after the occupation came to an end in 1952, several Japanese activists and journalists began dealing more directly with the effects of the atom bomb, but they weren't able to gain much traction.Īnd it all seemed as though it would be forgotten until January 22, 1954, when Lucky Dragon No. This meant the rise in radiation-related illnesses, birth defects, and the long-term effects on the surrounding regions were effectively silenced to help the US maintain its authority.
During the next years of occupation, the US strictly prohibited any news coverage that dealt with the aftermath of the atomic bombings. The US forces quickly moved in to launch Operation Blacklist, a mission to demilitarize and democratize Japan. After suffering more than 220,000 casualties, the Empire of Japan announced its surrender, leading to the end of World War II. The history of the world was forever changed by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What happened there was a catastrophic disaster that shook the nation of Japan to its core and contributed to the creation of one of the most iconic monsters in cinema history. Shortly after this picture was taken, it would carry a crew of 23 men and set sail to the Marshall Islands. This is the last picture taken of Daigo Fukuryū Maru, or the Lucky Dragon No. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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