Details

Release year: 1991

Storyline

Time travelers use Godzilla in their scheme to destroy Japan to prevent the country's future economic reign.

Top credits

Directors

Writers

Kazuki Ômori

Cast

Kôsuke Toyohara — Kenichiro Terasawa
Anna Nakagawa — Emmy Kano
Megumi Odaka — Miki Saegusa
Katsuhiko Sasaki — Professor Mazaki

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Did you know

• This became one of the most controversial Godzilla movies. Shortly after the film's release in Japan, CNN ran a lengthy story about the film being anti-American, showing the scenes of the US soldiers being killed and the plot featuring Westerners antagonists being debated. The original Godzilla director, Ishirô Honda, was also critical of Kazuki Ômori's choices, stating he had gone too far. Omori, defended his artistic decision on camera, arguing that the film was not meant to be anti-American stating," "The movie is not especially anti-U.S., I just thought I'd try to picture the identity of the Japanese people." Economic tensions between East and West were high at this time, and the negative publicity was very much a sign of the times.

• The meaning of the famous scene in which Shindo has an emotional face-off with Godzilla inside his business tower, only for Godzilla to destroy the building and kill him, has been a matter of debate among fans and critics. Some suggest Shindo thought Godzilla would spare him, due to the shared respect the two have had during World War II, before Godzilla was mutated from a dinosaur into a monster. Others suggest that Shindo was aware of what Godzilla was about to do, and gave him his approval. One of the film's main themes is the Japanese bubble economy and the ambivalence the country's people have felt towards their economic progress and leaving behind their traditional moral values. Film historians like David Kalat argue that Shindo, once a honorable soldier and now an unscrupulous businessman, realized the downsides of aggressive economic growth, and accepted his death and the destruction of his business empire as a way to return balance to Japan's morality. Even Godzilla seems to "tear up" in the scene for a moment, affirming he has had conflicting feelings toward Shindo (and by extension, the Japanese people and their progress since WW II) as well.

• When asked if he would like to play the part of Shindo, the morally troubled business mogul who has a secret history with Godzilla, Yoshio Tsuchiya responded "I've been waiting my whole life for this role."