1984 film by Kōji Hashimoto
The Return of Godzilla, or simply Godzilla (ゴジラ, Gojira), is a 1984 Japanese kaiju film directed by Koji Hashimoto, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 16th film in the Godzilla franchise, the last film produced in the Shōwa era, and the first film in the Heisei series.
The Return of Godzilla stars Ken Tanaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Yosuke Natsuki, and Keiju Kobayashi, with Kenpachiro Satsuma as Godzilla. The film serves as both a sequel to the original 1954 film and a reboot of the franchise that ignores the events of every Shōwa era film aside from the original Godzilla, placing itself in line with the darker tone and themes of the original film and returning Godzilla to his destructive, antagonistic roots.
The film was released theatrically in Japan on December 15, 1984. Critics praised Godzilla's return, Koroku's score, themes, special effects and darker tone. The following year, a heavily re-edited localized version, Godzilla 1985, was released in the United States by New World Pictures, changing the film's political leaning. It features new footage, with Raymond Burr reprising his inserted role from Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), itself an American localization of Godzilla (1954).
In Japan, the film was followed by Godzilla vs. Biollante in 1989.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.