Continuity of the Showa Series: Part II

I’m continuing on with examining the continuity of the Showa series. At the end of King Kong vs Godzilla we find Godzilla going back to the ocean, although we never do see him swim away, what we see at the end of the movie Kong and Godzilla fall into the sea as they’re fighting…and we see Kong swim away. In the Japanese version of the movie we do hear Godzilla roar.

Mothra vs Godzilla (aka Godzilla vs the Thing), released in 1964, we see a typhoon that not only washes a giant Mothra egg onto the shore but Godzilla himself is washed ashore. Well, since the last we saw of Godzilla he was in the ocean after his fight with Kong, and if he is washed ashore in the next movie that means they are connected! Right? Sure, again that is plausible, however, for me the fact that this Godzilla is so very different looking than the Godzilla that appeared in King Kong vs Godzilla, it makes it very difficult for me to see them as a sequel to one another.

1964 was a banner year for Godzilla because we received two Godzilla movies! Late in 1964 we got Ghidrah the Three Headed Monster which introduces us to King Ghidorah , Godzilla’s ultimate enemy. Although Godzilla looks practically identical in this film, thanks to a repaired head that was damaged in the previous movie, the tone isn’t as serious and we see Godzilla’s continuing shift towards being the hero instead of the villain. For the first time Godzilla defends the earth against an alien threat.

In 1965 we see a new Godzilla suit and Godzilla fights Ghidorah once again in one of my favorite Showa era films, Invasion of the Astro-Monster (aka Godzilla vs Monster Zero). Now technically you can see this as a sequel to the previous two movies, Nick Adams an Akita Takarada’s characters do recognize Ghodirah, so he familiar, but with Godzilla, along with Rodan, now fighting other monsters and defending the earth Godzilla is very far removed from the serious and dark destroying monster he was in the 1954 Gojira. While this movie is a blast of fun Japanese Science-Fiction, it really works as a standalone movie.

From the 1965 film Invasion of the Astro-Monster to the 1975 film Terror of Mechagodzilla we see Godzilla turn into a superhero type character that defends the earth while each movies gets more child friendly. Although the last two movies, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, and the aforementioned Terror of Mechagodzilla, does pull back from the kiddy friendly type of Godzilla movie, they do not come near the seriousness of the original film.

From 1965 through 1975 we do see movies that are one-off Godzilla films. For example, the 1967 film, Son of Godzilla, has Godzilla training his new born son how to fight off other monsters. Next in 1968, Godzilla would appear as part of an ensemble cast of Monsters in Destroy all Monsters where Godzilla is once again fighting off King Ghodirah and aliens. That movie is actually set in 1999 further messing up continuity. In Godzilla’s Revenge Godzilla doesn’t even exist in their world, he is simply part of the imagination of a little boys mind (although there are arguments that Godzilla does exist in that world either as a real monster or as the fictional character in the movies we have been watching).

Although I have focused on the different looks of Godzilla, the conflicting events and shifting tones of the films, now I want to briefly mention that the actors in these films also make me see these films as standalone movies. Venerable actors such as, Hiroshi Koizumi, Akira Takarada, Kenji Sahara, Akira Kubo, Yoshifumi Tajima, and the vivacious Kumi Mizuno all played very different characters from movie to movie. To me, if Toho wanted to make all these movies one continuous series, they could have had these marvelous actors play the same characters.

Well, I am not going to belabor this point. I think I have been pretty successful in stating my case to why I personally see Godzilla movies in the Showa Era as stand-alone films that are only losely connected to one another. Don’t get me wrong, I love each and every one of these movies, yes, even Godzilla’s Revenge, which is considered the worst Godzilla movie ever made.

Continuity of the Godzilla Franchise

Before I speak of continuity of the Godzilla franchise, specifically the Showa Series, I want to mention that although I do plan on reviewing every Godzilla movie I’m not going to spend the next 30 plus weeks just reviewing Godzilla movies. I will also intersperse the reviews with other Godzilla related posts.

Before I commence with my reviews I want to talk about the continuity of the Godzilla franchise.

I’m a big Star Trek fan and if you’re a Trekkie or at all familiar with the franchise then you know, canon and continuity are king. We Trekkies can be very persnickety and downright anal about it! As a HUGE Godzilla fan also, however, I’m not so concerned about canon and continuity. I don’t think most Gfans are as obsessive about canon and continuity as Trekkies are. That’s my observation anyway.

So why aren’t Gfans canon and continuity obsessed? Well, except for the 7 Heisei Era films, continuity in the Godzilla franchise is pretty loose. The 1984/1985 “Return of Godzilla” is a movie that begins as a sequel to the 1954 original and from there until the last movie in the Heisei Series, 1995’s “Godzilla vs Destroyah” all the movies are connected to one another.

The 5 movies of the Millennium Series, from 1999 until 2004, are all standalone movies except the 2002 “Godzilla Against Mechgodzilla” and its direct sequel “Godzilla: Tokyo SOS.” These two movies are also loosely connected to the Showa Era of films as pervious Kaiju are referenced as well as the inclusion of actor Hiroshi Koizumi from “Tokyo SOS” who reprises his role as Dr. Shinichi Chujo from the 1961 movie “Mothra.” Despite having the same design/suit in “Godzilla 2000: Millennium ” and “Godzilla Against Megagurius” these movies are not connected.

This leaves us with the 15 Godzilla movies of the Showa Era (1954-1975) and it’s other Kaiju films. Technically speaking, all these movies are supposed to be connected to the 1954 movie. Now, I’m not trying to say they are not connected because arguments can be made they are. However, one the other hand, arguments can be made that not all of them are connected, though some clearly are. So, I think there is enough ambiguity to see them either way and it’s up to the fan to decide for themselves. For the rest of this entry I will demonstrate why I see the majority of Showa movies as standalone movies.

The original 1954 movie “Gojira” (1956 Godzilla, King of the Monsters in America) and the 1955 sequel “Godzilla Raids Again.” (1957 Gigantis, The Fire Monster the title in the US) are connected, seeing that “Godzilla Raids Again” references the events of first movie. The sequel ends with Godzilla being buried beneath the ice on the side of a mountain.

We would not see another Godzilla movie until 1962’s “King Kong vs Godzilla” seven years later! The first appearance of Godzilla in this movie is him busting out of an iceberg! So that means it’s a sequel to the other two movies right? Well, not so fast! Yes that seems to be the implication but there are other issues to examine. At the end of “Godzilla Raids” our stalwart hero isn’t buried in an iceberg, but under the ice on dry land and I think that is a distinction with a difference.

In the American version of the film (the only one I’ve ever seen) Godzilla is greeted by a helicopter pilot who seems to know who he is and this can be implied that this is the Godzilla from “”Raids Again.” However, a large part of the movie contains TV interviews with a scientist (reading from a children’s book no less) which implies very strongly that this is the first appearance of Godzilla and they are trying to account for his existence.

The reality is that this movie is more of a reintroduction of the character of Godzilla for those who might not have been as familiar with him at this point in the franchise, and may not have seen the two previous films. Also, another reason I see this movie as a standalone film is that Godzilla looks so different in this film compared to the the two previous releases where he looked very similar.

In “King Kong vs Godzilla” he looks much different. He’s at his most chunky state in this movie. Also his dorsal plates are more defined and larger. The most distinctive difference in the design for me is that Godzilla is given a more reptilian looking face in this film. That is the reason I call him “Frogzilla.” It is also a reason I see many Showa films as standalone movies. Godzilla looks so different in many of them! Now I’ve heard the argument that Godzilla looks different in these films because he is always mutating. Now, I’ll accept that as a very plausible view and I won’t argue against that. However since it is my personal preference to to see many of these films as standalone movies, I like to view their differences in the context of a standalone movie.

Well, I’ve rambled on enough and I want to keep each entry to a digestible level so I will Finns with the continuity of the Showa Era in my next entry,