Godzilla 1954 is an incredible film. a landmark piece of horror fiction, groundbreaking in its technical prowess and political discourse, tapping into very recent real-life horrors to deliver at once a scathing indictment of USAmerican military aggression, and a cathartic glimmer of hope for the future of post-WWII Japan. in depicting man vs. nature (as a direct result of man corrupting nature in order to facilitate man vs. man), it tackles the subject of scientific progress being hijacked by warfare. it's the fear of the unforeseen consequences of this new global-scale war with nuclear technology. there's children with radiation sickness. poisoned food supplies. one of the themes is cultural annihilation. victory against an undefeatable threat is only narrowly achieved via the invention of another, even worse weapon of mass destruction than the one which created it in the first place. it's the hopelessness of mankind against foes larger than its ability to comprehend.
however it's very difficult now to take it fully seriously when all the close-up shots of Godzilla look like this:
