Gojira (aka Godzilla) (1954)

When a Japanese freighter vanishes near the island of Odo, another ship is sent to investigate only to meet the same fate. It isn't long before a giant dinosaur emerges from the sea and causes death and havoc along the Japanese coast. Directed and co-written by Ishiro Honda (RODAN), this is the first and the best of those Japanese creature features. It began a franchise that is still going today. Its sequels have had bigger budgets and better special effects but there's an underlying seriousness to the original which looks at the effects of nuclear testing on the environment. GOJIRA's crude special effects including the rubber monster stomping over a miniature Tokyo lend the film a charm that has resonated over the ensuing decades. Like KING KONG, Gojira's giant monster elicits an element of sympathy. After all, he was minding his own business until nuclear testing made him radioactive and angry! There's a romance subplot in the film that doesn't upend the movie but works rather nicely. Two years later, the film was recut with some added English language footage featuring Raymond Burr and released in the U.S. as GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS and that was the version most of my generation grew up with. With Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata and Takashi Shimura.