Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ishirō Honda directs. Guy Roe behind the camera. Akira Ifukube scores. Kazuji Taira cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Japan, United States of America. Dialogue in Japanese, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 181 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Shot for just $0.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 3Grossed $2M — a 80.0× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
• 470 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 5Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Japanese, English.
• 6International production across 2 countries: Japan, United States of America.
• 7Part of the "Americanized Godzilla Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 8Directed by Ishirō Honda, shot by Guy Roe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 9Original score by Akira Ifukube. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 10Editor Kazuji Taira shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 11Raymond Burr and Takashi Shimura and Momoko Kôchi carry the top of the cast.
• 12Marketing tagline: "Incredible, unstoppable titan of terror!".
• 13IMDB entry: tt0197521 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 14Classified under 10 themes, including "giant monster", "reporter", "tokyo, japan", "dinosaur".
• 15Released under 19 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Guy Roe

Original score

Akira Ifukube

Editing

Kazuji Taira

Production design

Satoru Chūko

Runtime

81 min · 1h 21m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$25,000

Box office

$2,000,000

Return

8000% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) ↗

Part of

Americanized Godzilla Collection

Because of the Godzilla franchise success in Japan, heavily re-edited "Americanized" versions of some films were made for a theatrical release more suitable for the American audience.

• 
  Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

  1956 · this one
• 
  Gigantis, the Fire Monster

  1959
• 
  King Kong vs. Godzilla

  1963
• 
  Godzilla 1985

  1985

Also by

Ishirō Honda

• 
  Night School

  1956 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Adolescence Part II

  1953 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Man Who Came to Port

  1952 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Song for a Bride

  1958 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Godzilla Fantasia

  1984 · ★ 9.7
• 
  People of Tokyo, Goodbye

  1956 · ★ 9.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Quentin Tarantino on Japanese Monster Movies

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) - U.S. Radio Spots

  Teaser
• 

  ▶
  Guillermo del Toro on Godzilla

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Godzilla King of The Monsters Movie Trailer

  Trailer

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  TOHO

  JP

• JE

  Jewell Enterprises

  US

Key crew

• Executive ProducerJoseph E. Levine
• Art DirectionSatoru Chūko
• ProducerHarry Rybnick
• Art DirectionTakeo Kita
• ProducerRichard Kay
• Visual EffectsHiroshi Mukoyama
• ProducerEdward B. Barison
• Visual EffectsSadao Iizuka
• Lighting TechnicianKuichiro Kishida
• Costume DesignerKanju Yagi
• Production ManagerTeruo Maki
• Lighting TechnicianChōshirō Ishii
• Assistant Costume DesignerMasao Yagi
• Property MasterKyuzo Yamamoto
• Visual Effects CameraHajime Tsuburaya
• Visual EffectsShuzaburo Araki
• Costume DesignerYasuei Yagi
• Special EffectsYôichi Manoda
• Visual Effects Art DirectorAkira Watanabe
• Visual Effects CameraYôichi Manoda
• Assistant Costume DesignerYoshio Suzuki
• Special EffectsMotoyoshi Tomioka
• Additional MusicSei Ikeno
• SculptorTeizô Toshimitsu

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• giant monster
• reporter
• tokyo, japan
• dinosaur
• alternate version
• kaiju
• animal horror
• godzilla
• egotistical
• tokusatsu

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)1956-04-27NR· Loew's State Theatre, New York City, New York
• Theatrical1956-05-18NR
• Physical2024-11-05· The Criterion Collection 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
• Physical2001-03-01NR· Goodtimes Entertainment DVD
• Physical2012-01-24· The Criterion Collection DVD / Blu-ray Digipack
• Physical2014-05-13NR· Classic Media DVD. Reissue of the 2006 set with the same features, but in a standard DVD keep case and excluding the booklet.
• Physical2002-09-17· Classic Media/Sony Music Entertainment/Sony Wonder DVD
• Physical2019-10-29· as part of Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975 Blu-ray set
• Physical1999-02-23· as part of Godzilla: 5 Rampaging Movies DVD set
• Physical2006-09-05NR· Classic Media Collector's Edition DVD Digipack

Also known as

International titles

• 怪獣王ゴジラ(海外版)JP
• Godzilla: O Rei dos MonstrosBR
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters!US
• Kaijû-ô GojiraJP
• O Monstro do Oceano PacíficoPT
• Γκοτζίλα: Το Τέρας του ΑιώνοςGR
• Ґодзілла, король монстрів!UA
• Γκοτζίλα: Ο Βασιλιάς των Τεράτων!GR
• GodzillaIT
• Godzilla: King of the MonstersAU
• Godzilla 3 - Godzilla, King of the Monsters!US
• 怪獣王ゴジラJP
• Monster King GodzillaJP
• GodzillaUS
• GodzillaFR