Your favorite fire-breathing monster... Like you've never seen him before!

The Legend Is Reborn.

Nearly ten years after his last screen appearance (in 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla), the Tokyo Terror stomps again -- albeit awkwardly -- in Toho Studios' highly publicized bid to reestablish the Green Guy's popularity in Japan and overseas. More a remake of the 1956 classic Godzilla, King of the Monsters than a continuation of the series, Godzilla 1985 represents an attempt to revamp the Big G with Star Wars movie technology and a more "serious" approach. Unfortunately, Toho's efforts may have gone astray, since the film resorts to exactly the same cheesy conventions that had endeared the series to bad-movie buffs around the world: flimsy cardboard buildings, inconsistencies in the monster's size from one scene to the next, and the same mock-profound commentary from Raymond Burr. The only notable additions consist of some interference from those evil superpowers, America and the Soviet Union, who both want to nuke Godzilla before he decides to direct his rage somewhere other than Japan. Though the film did manage to jump-start the franchise, spawning several high-tech sequels (continuing with Godzilla vs. Biollante and 1995's Godzilla vs. The Destroyer), its cheesiness spelled certain doom for the series in overseas markets, with minimal legitimate U.S. distribution until their arrival on video amid advance hype for Sony-TriStar's mega-budgeted 1998 version.

Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira?), (the films Japanese release title), is a Japanese science fiction kaiju film produced by Toho. Directed by Koji Hashimoto, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano, the film starred Ken Tanaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi, and Yosuke Natsuki. The film was released in Japan simply as Godzilla however Toho uses the English title The Return of Godzilla for English-language markets.[1]
The sixteenth film in Toho's Godzilla series, it marked the beginning of a rebooted series of Godzilla films that ignores all the films from 1955's Godzilla Raids Again through 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla. The film acts as a direct sequel to the original 1954 film Godzilla. Produced as part of Godzilla's 30th anniversary, the film returned the series to the darker themes and mood of some of the early films and returned Godzilla to his destructive antagonistic roots.
The film was released theatrically in the United States in the Summer of 1985 by New World Pictures as Godzilla 1985. The American version of the film featured Hollywood actor Raymond Burr reprising his character Steve Martin, from the film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!.

The Return of Godzilla was a reasonable success in Japan, with attendance figures at approximately 3,200,000 and the box office gross being approximately $11 million (the film's budget was $6.25 million).
Godzilla 1985 was not a box office success. Opening on August 23, 1985, in 235 North American theaters, the film grossed $509,502 USD ($2,168 per screen) in its opening weekend, on its way to a lackluster $4,116,395 total gross.[3]
New World's budget breakdown for Godzilla 1985 is as follows: $500,000 to lease the film from Toho, $200,000 for filming the new scenes and other revisions, and $2,500,000 for prints and advertising, adding up to a grand total of approximately $3,200,000.[4] Over time, Godzilla 1985, though not a hit, was partially profitable for New World only with the addition of home video and television syndication (the film debuted on television on May 16, 1986).
When Godzilla 1985 failed at the box office, it was the last Godzilla film produced by Toho to receive any major release in North American theaters until Godzilla 2000 fifteen years later.

e New World version of the film was almost universally criticized by North American critics. Roger Ebert, who gave the film a mere one star in the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote:
"The filmmakers must have known that the original Godzilla (1956) had many loyal fans all over the world who treasured the absurd dialogue, the bad lip-synching, the unbelievable special effects, the phony profundity. So they have deliberately gone after the same inept feeling in Godzilla 1985. Examples: Dialogue: It is so consistently bad that the entire screenplay could be submitted as an example. My favorite moment occurs when the hero and heroine are clutching each other on a top floor of a skyscraper being torn apart by Godzilla and the professor leaps into the shot, says "What has happened here?" and leaps out again without waiting for an answer. Lip-synching: Especially in the opening shots, there seems to be a subtle effort to exaggerate the bad coordination between what we see and what we hear. All lip-synch is a little off, of course, but this movie seems to be going for condescending laughs from knowledgable filmgoers. Special effects: When Godzilla marches on Tokyo, the buildings are the usual fake miniature models, made out of paint and cardboard. The tipoff is when he rips a wall off a high-rise, and nothing falls out. That's because there is nothing inside."[5]
Ebert kept a copy of the poster in his office for many years and it was clearly visible in the opening of his television program.
Vincent Canby of the New York Times was similarly unimpressed:
"Though special-effects experts in Japan and around the world have vastly improved their craft in the last 30 years, you wouldn't know it from this film. Godzilla, who is supposed to be about 240 feet tall, still looks like a wind-up toy, one that moves like an arthritic toddler with a fondness for walking through teeny-tiny skyscrapers instead of mud puddles. Godzilla 1985 was shot in color but its sensibility is that of the black-and-white Godzilla films of the 1950s. What small story there is contains a chaste romance and lots of references to the lessons to be learned from "this strangely innocent but tragic creature." The point seems to be that Godzilla, being a "living nuclear bomb", something that cannot be destroyed, must rise up from time to time to remind us of the precariousness of our existence. One can learn the same lesson almost any day on almost any New York street corner."[6]
One of the few positive reviews came from Joel Siegel of Good Morning America, who is quoted on New World's newspaper ads as saying, "Hysterical fun...the best Godzilla in thirty years!". However, the Japanese version was received better, mainly by fans.

Godzilla 1985 has been released on home video several times in the U.S. The first release was by New World in the mid '80s, another by Starmaker video (who had acquired some of New World's library) in the 1992, and again by Anchor Bay in 1997 All home video releases include the Bambi Meets Godzilla animated short with the exception of the Starmaker release.
The international version was released on VHS (dubbed in English) in the UK in 1998. The running time matches that of the Japanese version, and the only notable difference is the English text and dubbing. This version of the film has remained unreleased in both the USA and Canada.
This film was distributed to DVD in Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Thailand, Spain, Italy and France, but never legitimately in the United States and Canada due to legal issues. Since the release of Godzilla vs. Biollante in 2012, Godzilla 1985 remains the only Godzilla film to not have been legitimately released on DVD in the United States.

Release Date: August 23, 1985

Distrib: New World


Boxoffice:
$4,116,395 2014: $9,682,200

Trailer (beginning):
Bambi Meets Godzilla (Short film)

Trailer (end):
Transylvania 6-5000 (1985) (TV Spot)