Atomic Breath Through the Years
Starting the new year with another addendum to my Godzilla film watch. Here are my thoughts on Godzilla's Atomic Breath, how it's changed over time, and its use within the narrative. Credit to Wikizilla and Toho Kingdom for images, and to the Universo Godzilla Youtube channel: their atomic breath compilations were a major help in refreshing my memory.
Fire Unextinguisher (1954-1964) Godzilla's breath weapon starts out fairly modestly. This unfocused blast of white/blue hot radiation lacks the explosive punch of later variations, but its intense heat can still melt steel structures and set buildings and forest ablaze. In the original film this is more than sufficient to lay waste to Tokyo, but against other monsters it's rarely more than an annoyance. Its most bizarre feat was deflating several rock formations shielding the Mothra Larva: I don't even want to contemplate the power required to do that.
Angry Blue Cloud (1965-1975) Atomic Breath underwent a lot of minor changes through the Showa era, but I've landed on Invasion of the Astro Monster as a key turning point: absent the practical mist sprayer, the heat ray is animated directly striking its targets rather than washing over them, providing some actual impact. It still remains a relatively weak incendiary weapon in Astro Monster: the licks of fire it produces in the woods aren't even as impressive as the big gouts of flame in King Kong vs Godzilla. However, it becomes more effective against other monsters in Fukuda's island duology, even getting a few kills. From Destroy All Monsters on it becomes much more kinetic, blowing buildings to smithereens and connecting with kaiju in a satisfying spray of sparks. It still remains only one of Godzillas tools though: it can hurt other monsters, but rarely delivers the finishing blow. It does have a lot of versatility, ranging from a narrow stream to a thick spray, flying straight or curving upward, activating electrodes and of course, lifting Godzilla off the ground.
Concentric Cones (1984) Return of Godzilla is the first atomic breath I would describe as an actual "heat ray". Even late in the Showa era, it was still more reminiscent of radioactive dragonfire, with frayed boundaries and somewhat limited range. Here the breath has become a highly concentrated beam of energy, with smooth edges flanked by an even glow. Its effects on the environment remain quite explosive, but it is now capable of punching through softer targets instead of immediately dumping all its energy. More gruesomely, it is one of the few times we see its direct effects on humans. Like the Godzilla that fires it, it's a bit of an outlier compared to the rest of the Heisei series. It retains a bit of an upward curve from the Showa series, and has much less detail than in following films. The latter often results in an underwhelming appearance, particularly when the white core is particularly narrow. It arguably fails to match some of the more intricate Showa examples, with their complex, fiery forms.
Spark Dispenser (1989-1995) Kawakita's team brought back much needed dynamic complexity to the heat ray effects by replacing the uniform beam with a rougher conglomeration of linear bolts. There's something satisfyingly chaotic about the choppy frame by frame animation and the way Godzilla walks the beam onto target. This chaos is then grounded by the practical light up dorsal plates, and the impressive explosive squibs used to demonstrate its impact on target environment (even if those squibs are increasingly composed of sparks). It's a good thing the beam is so aesthetically pleasing, because you'll see it countless times by the end of the series. Heisei Godzilla is a primarily ranged fighter, but with only slightly improved damage against other kaiju, his battles end up a bit sloggy. It's likely a big part of the introduction of the Red Spiral Ray, to give Godzilla a more dramatic means of finishing fights than chipping away with repetitive blue beams. The spiral ray itself is an interesting addition: it's ironic that the more powerful beam has a colder burning hue, but alongside the nuclear pulse adds a bit of variety to the abilities of this less athletic Godzilla, and its good shorthand for how powerful he has become when it becomes the standard in his burning form.
Bad Breath (1998) Its funny how this glorified burp was made flammable as last ditch effort to appeal to fans; they shouldn't have bothered considering the film's more severe issues. Ironically the effects aren't too far removed from the earliest versions of the attack: a misty spray that causes things to catch fire.
Sunny D (1999-2000) The first proper CGI heat ray set the pattern for the rest of the Millenium Series, both in aesthetic and in usage. For the first time we see the breath build up in Godzilla's mouth, while the still coherent beam now has dynamic, fiery borders. The orange color of this iteration remains unique; it works well enough within the films, but I think it's a bit too reminiscent of more mundane fire breath. Narratively, this beam is a bit closer to the similarly colored spiral ray: Godzilla uses it less frequently, but when he does, the opposing monster is heavily maimed or even outright killed. Were it not for Orga's rapid regeneration or Megaguirus's energy absorption and massive speed advantage, their respective fights would have ended far sooner.
Thunderball (2001) Unfortunately this atomic breath never quite lives up to its explosive introduction, settling for destroyed buildings and cliff faces for the rest of the film. I'm not sure if it's the simpler charge effects, the less detailed beam, or even just the narrower width, but GMK's atomic breath never felt as satisfying as the other Millenium incarnations. It at least retains their dramatic power vs other kaiju: every time Godzilla tags a Guardian Monster they are out for the count. I think it fits here: Godzilla is an all powerful antagonist who must be defeated by the combined efforts of the plucky underdogs.
Final Form (2002-2003) The visual peak of the "bulky beam" style of atomic breath established in the Heisei series. I love how it begins with random dorsal plate flickers like an ignition start, as well as the expanding bubble of energy in the mouth that bursts just as the ray is released. The beam itself combines the ragged yet substantial form of MireGoji with the classic blue hue, better distinguishing it from ordinary flame. It strikes a balance against other Kaiju, remaining narratively significant upon impact, while refraining from the all powerful finisher status of other Millenium examples. It's telling that the modern entries have taken the breath weapon in different directions: it's hard to improve on perfection.
Super Cyan (2004) This beam barely distinguishes itself visually from the prior example, switching to a slightly greener hue and more uniform dorsal flicker. Unfortunately its narrative role is closer to an Ultraman beam (or Shonen energy wave), switching between superficial damage and obliteration of foes depending on the enemy's nebulous power level and proximity to the end of the fight. The physical effects are equally arbitrary—another element borrowed from Shonen battle manga. The environmental destruction is generally the same as before, but the attack will randomly launch massive kaiju high into the air, or generate a massive explosion during a brief beam lock. The brief return of the Red Spiral Ray is little more than fanservice: the basic blue beam is already plenty overpowered. Like the Godzilla that breaths it, I just don't think this suits the character in a protagonist role.
Blue Flame (2014-2019) Seeing that first buildup in theaters was sublime in theaters. Gareth Edwards holds off for long enough that you've almost forgotten, then promptly reminds you by bathing the frame in blue. The glow steadily creeping up the dorsal plates is such an inspired choice for building anticipation, and I like the more subtle way the light seeps from cracks in the plates. I have to admit I was underwhelmed by the actual atomic breath. I appreciate the organic, naturalistic feel, and enjoy the throwback to the Showa beams' fiery nature, but the visual appearance feels a tad underpowered for such a big, burly Godzilla. I think the more substantial flame introduced in King of the Monsters was a good compromise, though I wish they had stuck with the naturalistic dorsal glow instead of adding more light to the eyes and neck. It takes further inspiration from the Showa era's narrative use. Legendary Godzilla is more of a brawler, rarely using his ranged weapon. When it is fired, the blast rarely does more than knocking other kaiju off their feet, but can be deadly in circumstances like the iconic Kiss of Death.
Cabinet Resignation Beam (2016) Keeping the audience in the shoes of the protagonists, Shin Godzilla debuts a whole new form of atomic breath. Anno plays with expectations by having Godzilla breath actual fire, before narrowing the massive conflagration down to a thin, violet scalpel that slices through all obstacles with no noticeable delay. I love all the little touches—the way the red patches shift to purple, the unnerving split jaw, the mirrored protective eyelids, and the way the beam only becomes visible past the focal point. The color is a bold choice: this heat ray is no longer just hot, it is emitting high energy photons that are creeping off the visible light spectrum. Anno also massively expands Godzilla's versatility of ranged attacks, giving it the ability fire the same beams from its back and tail. I really appreciate that it does the most damage with the fire breath, setting the whole city ablaze in a way calls back to both the original film, and the Tokyo firebombing that influenced it.
Nose Ray (2017-2018) What AniGoji's design cribbed from 2014, its beam cribbed from Shin. The conceit of the heat ray being an extension of an electromagnetic field rather than an actual breath weapon is interesting in theory, but as Godzilla only fires it from the head area it's not taken advantage of. I also have some misgivings about the beam being purely electric instead of radioactive: I feel like Godzilla should aways retain a nuclear nature to some degree. Godzilla Earth's other additions are pretty mixed: the Super Oscillatory Wave is just a weaker breath weapon, while the Plasma Cutter seems weirdly overpowered compared to the stated output of the other weapons.
Having Your Yellowcake and Eating It (2021-2024) For Godzilla vs Kong, Wingard claimed to use versions of the titular characters familiar to audiences, but that certainly didn't apply to the top biller's breath weapon. Godzilla's fiery hammer somehow serves as an even more precise scalpel than Shin Godzilla: it slices clean through buildings while leaving adjacent comic relief unscathed, and tunnels into the Hollow Earth with barely a whiff of the miles of molten rock it would have to displace. The energy required for that little trick would make the following entry look like a firecracker, yet the following fight with Kong leaves Hong Kong largely intact beyond some neatly trimmed skyscrapers and baffling blue explosions. I personally feel the power of kaiju should be consistently apparent in their battles, but Wingard's primary decision process seems to revolve around "wouldn't it be cool if...". This chafes against the naturalistic tone of the early Monsterverse films, as do the visual choices. The extra glow from King of the Monsters has crept all over Godzilla's body, and he spams the beam so much that he ends up a gaudy neon mess for a good chunk of the fights. I'm also heavily against the implication that the "atomic" breath is some mystical Hollow Earth energy, or "quantum states" as in the novelization: it sanitizes the character by fictionalizing his power source into something safely detached from real world context or commentary.
Never Say Never Again (2023) This is the most powerful that Godzilla's Atomic Breath has ever appeared. You can cherry pick higher numbers for certain incarnations, but none are as consistently devastating as MaiGoji's nuclear fire. The cooldown period keeps the beam's usage in check, while the buildup is a wonderful twist on the Monsterverse formula, combining the gradual upwards creep with the rising dorsal plates, which slam down like control rods upon firing. The result is a repeatable GMK seen from the ground level; all the destruction of Shin Godzilla is unleashed in a single instant; for the first time, Godzilla truly embodies his origin. The moment that shocked me the most in theaters was before the fireball, when the surrounding buildings were pulverized without being hit: all the energy of an atomic bomb has been spewed in a general direction, interacting with its surroundings without constraint.
Color Out of Place (2024) All the problems under Wingard continue in Godzilla's evolved form. The unnatural neon glow is even more amplified. The wispy pink beam lightsabers through a 200 meter thick mountain of limestone, while the neon lightshow gets even further exaggerated. My biggest issue is with the new color though. Pink/magenta hues do not correspond to actual spectral wavelengths, they require a mixture of red and violet light to occur. Many films use these composite colors in artificial lighting to create an uncanny atmosphere. While a pinkish glow may work well for mystical or otherworldly kaiju, I would argue it is a poor fit for the grounded guardian of nature the Monsterverse Godzilla was originally established as. It doesn't help that it contrasts poorly with many of the environments it is used in, often coming across as garish. Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity occurs during the Hollow Earth scuffle though. Despite the Zero-G environment, the hypothetical increase in power, and the sillier tone, at no point does Godzilla use his atomic breath to maneuver in microgravity. What is the point of throwing realism out the window if you don't get creative with it?
