Gojira 1954: A 70th Anniversary Retrospective

by Peter H Brothers

Seventy years after its November 3rd, 1954 Japanese premiere, Toho Studio's Gojira (aka Godzilla) continues to stir controversy, provoke passion, and demand debate, allowing for academic study of a film beyond bold in its concept and amazing in its execution, initiating the longest-running movie series in history. In the author's follow-up to his 2015 book detailing the origins of the first Godzilla film, he delves deeper into the mystique surrounding it making and cinematic legacy, including interviews with those who were there, bios of the entire cast, a detailed evaluation of Akira Ifukube's stunning score, and dozens of fascinating facts and figures regarding a film with its moving metaphor on the horrors of war, rampant radiation, nuclear proliferation, and a nation seeking to reestablish its national identity on the global stage while still in the shadow of the mushroom cloud. To further mark the movie's 70th Anniversary no less than 16 noted Godzilla authors, scholars and aficionados have offered their unique insights and appreciations on the film, including Bob Eggleton, Bradford Grant Boyle, Fabien Mauro, Lee Crawford, Marc Cerasini, and Stephen Mark Rainey.

257 pages, Paperback

Published August 9, 2025