The Return of Godzilla

"Breaking 30 years of silence comes the anticipated-worldwide latest "Godzilla" work!"

1984 1h 43m JA

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 354

Science FictionActionHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After a fishing boat is attacked, the sole surviving crew member realizes it is none other than a resurrected Godzilla. However, efforts to bring the story to light are suppressed by the Japanese government amid growing political tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, who are both willing to bomb Japan to stop the monster.

“Breaking 30 years of silence comes the anticipated-worldwide latest "Godzilla" work!”

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Cast

Keiju Kobayashi
Prime Minister Seiki Mitamura
Ken Tanaka
Goro Maki
Yasuko Sawaguchi
Naoko Okumura
Shin Takuma
Hiroshi Okumura
Yōsuke Natsuki
Professor Makoto Hayashida
Eitarō Ozawa
Minister of Finance Kanzaki
Taketoshi Naitō
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takegami
Nobuo Kaneko
Home Affairs Minister Isomura

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Koji Hashimoto
Writers: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Hideichi Nagahara
Languages: English, Japanese, Russian
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

42 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Japanese, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Godzilla (Heisei) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Koji Hashimoto, shot by Kazutami Hara. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Reijirō Koroku. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Yoshitami Kuroiwa shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Keiju Kobayashi and Ken Tanaka and Yasuko Sawaguchi carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Breaking 30 years of silence comes the anticipated-worldwide latest "Godzilla" work!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Koji Hashimoto directs. Kazutami Hara behind the camera. Reijirō Koroku scores. Yoshitami Kuroiwa cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in English, Japanese, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

142 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Japanese, Russian.
3Part of the "Godzilla (Heisei) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Koji Hashimoto, shot by Kazutami Hara. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Reijirō Koroku. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Yoshitami Kuroiwa shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Keiju Kobayashi and Ken Tanaka and Yasuko Sawaguchi carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Breaking 30 years of silence comes the anticipated-worldwide latest "Godzilla" work!".
9IMDB entry: tt9015178 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "brother", "cold war", "soviet union", "giant monster".
11Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Kazutami Hara
Original score: Reijirō Koroku
Editing: Yoshitami Kuroiwa
Production design: Akira Sakuragi
Costume design: Kenji Kawasaki
Makeup / hair: Fumiko Umezawa
Sound: Nobuyuki Tanaka
Runtime: 103 min · 1h 43m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,000,000
Box office: $11,000,000
Return: 183% of budget
Original language: JA
IMDB: The Return of Godzilla (1984)

Part of

Godzilla (Heisei) Collection

Film series featuring Godzilla from the Heisei era.

Also by

Koji Hashimoto

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-06-07
★ 7/10
It's good to have the moody atomic beast back! After an extended break, Godzilla as a movie force made its comeback with this the 16th Godzilla film and the first of what would be the Heisei series. It's a reboot that basically follows on from the original Gojira film of 1954. Plot has Godzilla back as a destroyer of mankind, setting its eyes on stomping Tokyo into oblivion. As Zilla goes about its destructive way, and Tokyo attempts to repel the onslaught, there's a backdrop of a diplomatic crisis reaching boiling point as the Soviets and the Americans get ready for nuclear war. Thankfully the Japanese are able to convince the sane politicians that it is in fact Godzilla at the crux of things. Can the world powers join together to defeat the mightiest of lizards? If a Godzilla fan you could be forgiven for going into this one fearing the worst, and yet it ticks many of the boxes for those who prefer Zilla as the destroyer of mankind as opposed to the saviour of mankind that the Showa period ended up as. There's the standard amount of miniatures and sets destruction, splendidly constructed as usual, nifty effects work and a whole bunch of iconic images to take from the experience (Zilla atomic breath destruction, stomping through the city, nuclear reinvigoration, back from the dead with awesome carnage following). There's good sci-fi within as well, such as the Japanese scientists having created a super fortress known as Super X, while sometimes all you need is to hear that brilliant roar followed by lizard devastation. This was a return to the dark roots of Godzilla, complete with anti-nuclear sentiments. It didn't reinvent the wheel, but it did restart it successfully. 7/10
Jstewart20072026-01-14
★ 7/10
After the campier films of the 1960s and 1970s, this was a great return to form for the Godzilla franchise.