Gojira 1954

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: Godzilla remains one of the most potent mythic structures of the 50s, and you get him here in full foot-stomping glory. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: Rialto ... has done a commendable job of putting the picture back together, while adding fresh subtitles that occasionally mystify. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: The most emotionally authentic fake monster movie ever made. Read more

Bob Longino, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Maybe it's 50 years late, but we're finally getting to see Godzilla as it was meant to be seen. Read more

Janice Page, Boston Globe: Godzilla has never looked as good as in Honda's original conception, and few sci-fi creatures have equaled the size or impact of its first footsteps. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: It's a terse, lean terror with a big, swinging tail. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: The rampaging reptile is back to remind us that monsters have meaning. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Godzilla is now more 'serious,' yet its tone just veers closer to that of solemn American B-horror cheese like Them! Read more

Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News: It's less of a monster movie and more of a morality play about the dangers of nuclear experimentation. Read more

Robert Abele, L.A. Weekly: Can now be appreciated not just as a minor classic of tragic destruction, but also as a somber exploration of conflicted postwar emotions. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: An interesting exercise in nostalgia as well as an informative look at the origins of a sci-fi giant who's stamped through nearly 30 films. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A great boon to monster movie fans, but will have limited appeal to others. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This is a bad movie, but it has earned its place in history, and the enduring popularity of Godzilla and other monsters shows that it struck a chord. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: While the acting is hit-and-miss and the story jumps around somewhat confusingly, Honda's film is a one-of-a-kind experience all the way through, one that stands the test of time better than I had expected. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: A collective metaphor and a collective nightmare, a message film that says more than its message, that captures, with a horrified poetry, the terrors that stomped through the minds of people 50 years ago. Read more

Wally Hammond, Time Out: Seen afresh in this cut, with Honda's pulp poetry restored, this ballad of destruction reveals itself as one of the most exciting, enjoyable and moving of them all. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Honda's satire is cutting, with several characters resigned to living with the threat of constant cataclysm. Read more

Zachary Wigon, Village Voice: Clever storytelling manages to confront tragedy from any number of angles, and sometimes swinging at it from the side can be the most affecting. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: As crass as it is visionary, Godzilla belongs with -- and might well trump -- the art films Hiroshima Mon Amour and Dr. Strangelove as a daring attempt to fashion a terrible poetry from the mind-melting horror of atomic warfare. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: There's a surprisingly powerful thrust to this film. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: Its images of the destruction of the cities is far more powerful than in American films, where the cities are trashed for the pure pleasure of destruction, without any real sense of human loss. Read more