FilmPGMonster & Creature Sci-Fi Horror Survival

Godzilla 19851985

Name: Godzilla 1985
Genre: Monster & Creature, Sci-Fi Horror, Survival
Released: 1985-08-23
Rating: 5.7

“Prepare yourself: the greatest star of all has returned.”

Directed by R.J. Kizer, Koji Hashimoto

5.7

Crypt Score

Blended from 4 sources

IMDb 6.1Rotten Tomatoes 27%Metacritic 31TMDB 6.8

✍ Review

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Year

1985

Runtime

87 min

Box Office

Budget

$200,000

Revenue (worldwide)

$4,116,395

Domestic

$4,116,395

🏆 2 wins & 3 nominations

The premise

Originally released in Japan as "The Return of Godzilla" in 1984, this is the heavily re-edited, re-titled "Godzilla 1985". Adding in new footage of Raymond Burr, this 16th Godzilla film ignores all previous sequels and serves as a direct follow-up to the 1956 "Godzilla King of the Monsters", which also featured scenes with Burr edited into 1954's "Godzilla". This film restores the darker tone of the original, as we witness the nuclear destruction of giant lizard terrorizing Japan.

Horror Vault's take

A colossus reawakened by nuclear energy descends upon Japan, reducing the country's defenses to rubble and its cities to ruin. Stripping away the campy sequels that followed, this American-edited reimagining of the 1984 Japanese film returns Godzilla to his roots as a force of atomic terror rather than a hero. Raymond Burr reprises his role as reporter Steve Martin, lending Western audiences a familiar anchor amid the chaos. Darker and more somber than most entries in the franchise, this is kaiju filmmaking with genuine stakes.

Content: Large-Scale Destruction, Mass Casualty Imagery, Scenes Of Military Combat