, 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. While it was the last film produced during Japan's Shōwa era, it is officially recognized as the first entry in the franchise's Heisei series. The film serves as both a sequel to the original 1954 film and a reboot of the franchise that ignores the events that followed the first film. The Return of Godzilla stars Ken Tanaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Yosuke Natsuki, and Keiju Kobayashi, with Kenpachiro Satsuma as Godzilla.
After the commercial underperformance of Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), Toho placed the franchise on hiatus. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, the character's creator, was determined to revive the series with a more serious tone that returned closer to the spirit of the original 1954 film. He conceived the story for what would become The Return of Godzilla. Progress began in 1977 but languished for years in development hell, delayed in part by American studios unsuccessfully pitching their own Godzilla projects. The film went through multiple working titles and several screenwriters before wrote the final screenplay in early 1984. Ishiro Honda, director of the original Godzilla, was initially expected to return but declined the offer. The project was instead assigned to Hashimoto, who had just made his directorial debut with the science fiction film Bye Bye Jupiter (1984). Principal photography ran from July to September 1984, with special effects photography continuing into October. It was the second Japanese film ever to use computer-generated imagery for visual effects, after Bye-Bye Jupiter.
The film was released theatrically in Japan on December 15, 1984, to lukewarm or mixed reviews from critics. It was the second-highest-grossing Japanese film of 1985, earning () in distributor rentals against its budget. 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).
The film was followed by Godzilla vs. Biollante, released on December 16, 1989.
Plot In 1984, the crew of the Japanese fishing vessel Yahata Maru witness a giant monster emerging from the erupting volcano of Daikoku Island. A few days later, reporter Goro Maki finds the vessel intact, discovering that all the crew are dead except for Hiroshi Okumura, who has been badly wounded. He is attacked by a giant Shockirus sea louse, but is saved by Okumura.
In Tokyo, Okumura realizes that the monster he saw was a new Godzilla and writes an article on the subject. Bowing to government pressure, Maki's editor withholds the article in order to prevent mass panic. Maki visits Professor Hayashida, whose parents were lost in the 1954 Godzilla attack. Hayashida describes Godzilla as a living, invincible nuclear weapon able to cause mass destruction. At Hayashida's laboratory, Maki meets Okumura's sister, Naoko, and informs her that her brother is alive and at the police hospital.
A Soviet submarine is destroyed in the Pacific, with the Kremlin blaming the Americans for the attack. Nuclear war between the two superpowers is averted when the Japanese reveal that Godzilla was behind the incident. The Japanese cabinet meets to discuss national defense and unveils the Super X, a specially-armored flying fortress armed with cadmium shells capable of counteracting the radiation fuelling Godzilla's body.
The Japanese military is put on high alert, but Godzilla evades detection and attacks the Mihama nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture. While feeding off the reactor, he is distracted by a flock of birds and leaves the facility. Hayashida believes that Godzilla was attracted by a homing signal from the birds. Hayashida, together with geologist Minami, propose using a similar signal to lure Godzilla back to Mount Mihara on Ōshima Island, where he could be trapped by triggering a volcanic eruption.
Prime Minister Mitamura meets with Soviet and American envoys and refuses to allow them to use nuclear weapons on Godzilla, even if the monster were to attack the Japanese mainland. The Soviets, fearful of Godzilla eventually reaching their Pacific Fleet bases in Vladivostok, send a disguised control ship into Tokyo Harbor, intending to use it to launch a nuclear missile at Godzilla from one of their orbiting satellites should the monster attack Soviet territory.
Godzilla is sighted at dawn in Tokyo Bay heading towards Tokyo, causing mass evacuations. The JASDF attacks Godzilla but fails to stop his advance on the city. Godzilla soon emerges and makes short work of the JSDF stationed there. The battle damages the Soviet ship and triggers a missile launch countdown. The captain dies as he attempts to prevent the launch. Godzilla proceeds towards Shinjuku, where he is confronted by four laser-armed trucks and the Super X, which knocks Godzilla unconscious by firing cadmium shells into his mouth.
The countdown ends and the Soviet missile is launched, but an American counter-missile intercepts it. Hayashida and Okumura are extracted from Tokyo via helicopter and taken to Mt. Mihara to set up the homing device before the two missiles collide above Tokyo. The resulting airburst produces an electrical storm and an EMP, which revives Godzilla once more and temporarily disables the Super X.
Godzilla bears down on the Super X just as it manages to get airborne again. With its cadmium shells depleted, the Super X is forced to engage Godzilla with conventional weapons, which prove ineffective, and is ultimately destroyed after Godzilla pushes a skyscraper on top of it. Godzilla continues his rampage until Hayashida uses the homing device to distract him. Godzilla leaves Tokyo and swims across Tokyo Bay, following the homing device to Mt. Mihara, where he is lured into the mouth of the volcano. Okumura activates detonators at the volcano, creating a controlled eruption that traps Godzilla inside.
Cast
Godzilla is portrayed by suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma, in the first of eight appearances as the character. Extras in the Shinjuku crowd included franchise creators Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball, Yuji Horii of Dragon Quest, and Akira Sakuma of Momotaro Dentetsu.
Production Early development After the commercial failure of Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), Toho placed the Godzilla franchise on hiatus and relied on re-releases of earlier films. Godzilla creator and longtime producer Tomoyuki Tanaka led efforts to revive the series. He wanted to return Godzilla to its serious, anti-nuclear origins, inspired by the Three Mile Island accident and the success of adult-oriented science fiction films such as King Kong (1976), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Alien (1979) and The Thing (1982).
The 1977 success of Star Wars sparked a science-fiction boom in Japan. Toho responded with The War in Space, helmed by eight-time Godzilla director Jun Fukuda and released December 1977. In parallel, Tanaka (under the pen name Hachiro Jinguji) commissioned an early screenplay titled Resurrection of Godzilla, completed on June 22, 1977, by Ryūzō Nakanishi and Akira Murao. The story featured Godzilla awakening at Bikini Atoll, revived by nuclear incidents, and rampaging through Japan. It included elements such as giant bloodsucking ticks and Godzilla seeking nuclear energy—ideas that would later appear in the finished film. Fukuda was initially considered as director, and the project appeared on Toho's early 1978 production lineup.
On February 4, 1978, Tanaka held a meeting with media and industry professionals to discuss the revival. In August 1979, the Associated Press reported that the film—now titled The Return of Godzilla—was planned for a 1980 release with Ishirō Honda (director of the 1954 original) at the helm. Tanaka described it as a return to the dark tone of the 1954 original. Later drafts included a version featuring Godzilla fighting the shape-shifting monster Bagan (also called Bakan), but most projects stalled, including a 1983 revised script by Murao and Hideichi Nagahara due to budget issues.
Multiple proposed drafts from Hollywood and other companies also emerged but did not materialize. Producer Henry G. Saperstein pursued Japan–U.S. co-productions such as Godzilla vs. Gargantua and Godzilla vs. the Devil, and other studios and Toho like Star Godzilla, Godzilla: God's Angry Messenger, and Godzilla vs the Asuka Fortress. In 1983, American director Steve Miner developed Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 3D, but the project failed due to its high costs and technical demands. In a 1983 interview, Tanaka stated he would resolve any co-production talks before moving forward with a Japanese production. Reportedly Tanaka also decided to helm a Japanese film for "strictly domestic consumption" to be released jointly alongside Miner's movie.
Public nostalgia surged, and interest grew steadily during this period. In mid-1978, Asahi Sonorama published Fantastic Collection No. 5: Godzilla, sparking books, LPs, and videos. In August 1979 (Godzilla's 25th anniversary), Toho held a 21-day film festival in Tokyo featuring multiple kaiju films, including the Raymond Burr version. A grassroots Godzilla Revival Committee formed, publishing fanzines, organizing events, and collecting signatures (reportedly up to 40,000 or more demanding a new film). Tanaka met with fans across Japan, lecturing and promoting screenings. From 1981–1983, the committee helped run the Japan SFX Convention with guests like Honda and displays of props. In 1983, Toho organized a Godzilla film festival and participated in the "A Night of Special Effects Music" concert (August 5, 1983), premiering Akira Ifukube's Symphonic Fantasia, hosted by Tanaka with appearances by Ifukube, Honda, and Akihiko Hirata. Yuji Kaida's painting for which was used for a concert art poster for the film.
Revival On December 26, 1983, Toho formed the Godzilla Revival Preparation Committee (G Committee), a company-wide effort led by senior executives with Tanaka as vice-chairman. Kōichi Kawakita noted urgency to attract a new generation before interest waned. Nagahara completed the first draft, titled Godzilla: The Resurrection, on February 17, 1984. The title became just Godzilla by the second draft. The third, and what was pressumed to be finalized screenplay, was finished on May 30. However, a fourth version was made shortly after filming began.
In an effort to disavow Godzilla's increasingly heroic and anthropomorphic depiction in previous films, Tanaka insisted on making a direct sequel to the original 1954 movie. Nagahara wrote a screenplay combining elements of Resurrection of Godzilla and Miner's still unproduced film, including an intensification of hostilities during the Cold War and a flying fortress which fires missiles into Godzilla's mouth. Honda ultimately declined an offer from Tanaka to direct, believing the character had become its own entity, and saying he was happy working with Akira Kurosawa instead. Koji Hashimoto was chosen to direct, having recently co-directed the special-effects-heavy Bye-Bye Jupiter as his debut feature.
Composer Akira Ifukube was offered to score the film but respectfully declined. At the time, it was rumored that Ifukube refused to participate in the film due to the changes made to Godzilla, stating, "I do not write music for 80-meter monsters". However, this quote was later clarified, by Ifukube's biographer Erik Homenick and Japanese Giants editor Ed Godziszewski, as a joke spread by fans which was later misinterpreted as fact. Ifukube declined to score the film due to his priorities, at the time, teaching composition at the Tokyo College of Music.