The
first Japanese Godzilla film in 12 years
since Godzilla:
Final Wars (in 2004)
Original Japanese Title:
SHIN GODZILLA
and SHIN GOJIRA
and GODZILLA RESURGENCE
also known as TRUE GODZILLA and GOD
GODZILLA and NEW
GODZILLA 2016
director: Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi
starring: Hiroki Hasegawa · Yutaka Takenouchi · Satomi
Ishihara · Ren Osugi · Akira Emoto · Kengo Kora
Even though
this is Godzilla's 31st motion picture (including the two Hollywood versions),
this is not a sequel. Nor is it a retelling of any previous venture. This
is a totally new revisioning of the legend, including a rather
surprising birth of the monster in the streets of Tokyo.
Directors Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno are longtime friends and collaborators.
They are known for their work on the popular anime series Neon Genesis
Evangelion (1995) and its numerous sequels. This is the first Japanese
Godzilla movie to be a full reboot (i.e., it shows what
would happen if Godzilla attacked for the first time in modern day with
no previous previous records of his existence). Although Toho Studios
has "rebooted" Godzilla a few times previously, they
always acknowledged the original 1954 movie and ignored other sequels.
This Godzilla
is also the LARGEST to ever appear on film (at a
whopping 390 feet!). The film also has the largest cast, with 328 credited
cast members, including six film directors Kazuo Hara, Isshin Inudô,
Suzuki Matsuo, Akira Ogata, Shin'ya Tsukamoto, and the late Kihachi Okamoto.
Actress Satomi Ishihara, playing a Japanese-American diplomat here, said
the hardest part of her performance was learning English. She discovered
that she was playing an American after being cast, and was shocked by
the amount of the English dialogue she had to speak.
A Japanese
Film with English subtitles (please note: while the subtitles are good
sized and accurate, they are sometimes difficult to read against a light
segment); widescreen format (16:9), uncut (101 minutes), DVD encoded for
ALL REGION NTSC WORLD FORMAT; extras include original theatrical trailer.
