Everything You Need to Know About Godzilla

Not too many of us can hit age 60 and claim to look as young as ever—maybe even improved. But that's certainly the case for Godzilla.

This Friday, the giant, nuclear-powered saurian gets what some might call his fourth makeover. After reboots in 1985 and 1999 in Japan, not to mention the unspeakable thing that happened in the United States in 1998—it's time for the kaiju king to surface again. This time, it's in a film from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, the same studio that brought us the Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, and last year's other big monster movie, Pacific Rim. There's also plenty of input from Toho, the original Godzilla movie owners in Japan.

In fact, it was 10 years ago, during Godzilla's 50th anniversary, that Toho put out the last of its films in the series—the off-the-wall monster mash called Godzilla: Final Wars, where in just about every monster from the studio's faults makes an appearance. Plus there's some Matrix-y like action for the humans as well. After that, Toho proclaimed a 10-year moratorium on making further films with Godzilla.

In 2012, the rumors exploded. Gojira (as those in the know call him) would be back. The monster would be a mix of CGI and suit-mation. He'd destroy San Diego (or at least make a splash at the Comic Con International). There would be multiple monsters. Joseph Gordon-Levitt would star. An unknown was going to direct. On and on it went, until the 2013 Comic Con did indeed show the goods of an unfinished and perhaps very serious film, with actor Bryan Cranston in the lead.

It all culminates this weekend. After years of waiting, kaiju fans get to see the King of the Monsters back where he belongs, on the big screen and wrecking stuff. New rumors say that the 123-minute film doesn't actually show the lead creature until the end—but that's a tradition with Godzilla movies. This one promises a bang-up story with some amazing actors to get us there. Then sit back and enjoy the carnage.

Meanwhile, if you're somehow on the fence about going to see it, here's some fun facts and background about the Big G. And once you're all caught up, you can take our quiz to find out which Godzilla you are.

Who the Hell is Gojira?

That's the Japanese name for Godzilla, and also the name of the original film from 1954, directed by Ishirô Honda, who went on to direct many later monster excursions in the 60s and 70s. The film says the name "Gojira" is a legendary reptile that lives beneath the seas. In reality, the word is a portmanteau of the Japanese terms for "whale" and "gorilla." Even the original script apparently called Gojira a "gorilla-whale."

You can rent the original Gojira on DVD from Netflix with subtitles, or stream the edited-for-the-U.S. version that added Raymond Burr. (Image)

What's a Kaiju?

Kaiju is Japanese for "strange creature" but has been co-opted to mean "giant monster" (and even that is wrong: it should be daikaiju). But the kaiju eiga (monster movie) has become a staple of Japanese film since Godzilla's appearance, featuring monsters like Mothra, Rodan, and Gamera (pictured). Even the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters is a kaiju! The term kaiju was used extensively in the last big U.S. movie about giant monsters, Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim. (Image)

But Didn't Pacific Rim Tank?

Shut up. It was a great film, and had more than just kaiju—it had GIANT ROBOTS fighting kaiju. If you can't see the wonder in that, you can't feel joy. The only way to make that movie better would have been to have Godzilla in it. (Image)

What Exactly is Godzilla, Anyway?

He wasn't ever really a "gorilla-whale," nor is Godzilla a transformed T-rex—he's much, much bigger, with worse breath. Gareth Edwards, director of the new 2014 version, has said the goal of the current design was to stay close to the original Toho Studios version of Godzilla, but with changes inspired by real life animals like komodo dragons and bears. Godzilla's head in particular is a mix of bear, dogs, and eagles. I'd say he now looks a lot like my Labrador. That said, what is Godzilla really? He's King of the Monsters. (Image )

Gareth Edwards and Monsters

You've never heard of director Gareth Edwards? How did a giant tent-pole blockbuster film end up with a director no one knows? Well, you need to go stream his first and only film, 2010's Monsters, immediately. It's a very effecting look at two people moving across a destroyed region of Mexico, trying to get home to the U.S. The reason it's destroyed: giant monsters from space. Not only did Edwards write it, storyboard it, and direct it—he also created all of the visual effects. In his bedroom. With commercial software on a PC.

Who Writes This Stuff?

Well, in this case Gareth Edwards didn't write the movie. But how about three-time Academy Award nominee Frank Darabont? He wrote and directed such amazing films at The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. He's a master of horror—and responsible for how great the first season of The Walking Dead was compared to all the rest. He doctored the final shooting script of Godzilla (which is credited to David Callaham and Max Borenstein). Early reviews have the new film rated 84 percent fresh at Rotten Tomatoes. (Image)

So This is the First Real Godzilla in CGI?

We have to say "real" because of what happened in 1998 (shudder). But, no—the 2007 Japanese comedy Tsuneni: zoku san-chôme no yûhi (AKA Always 2) opens with a pretty spectacular recreation of a 1950s-set Godzilla attack, culminating in a few seconds worth of CGI Gojira that looked pretty spectacular seven years ago. You can watch the clip above.

Is Godzilla a Good Guy?

Godzilla began as a metaphor for nuclear weapons and devastation, something the Japanese knew very well. By the time the 1960s rolled around, after he'd fought a version of King Kong and was obviously the villain, something changed. Godzilla did become the hero (or maybe anti-hero, since he still destroys a lot of stuff), frequently being called upon by humanity to save them from something much worse, like giant robot versions of Godzilla, or three-headed space dragons.

Can we expect the new 2014 Godzilla to help mankind? [POSSIBLE SPOILER] The latest trailer, where in Ken Watanbe says, "Let them fight," would indicate that there is some monster-on-monster action and the people need the Big G to win against something worse. Edwards has said that his Godzilla is certainly an "anti-hero." All will be revealed tonight!

Image: Still from Godzilla vs. Megalon, featuring robot Jet Jaguar!

Can I Dress Up like Godzilla?

When I was a kid, I made a Godzilla costume out of stapled-together paper plates. These days, you can build the full rubber outfit for a few grand...or buy something like this come Halloween. The "hoodie" is particularly weird. Can the "Sexy Godzilla" costume be far behind? (Image)

Can I Sound Like Godzilla?

Download the ringtone of his trademarked roar on SoundCloud in MP3, M4A, WMA, and OGG formats. Makes an excellent alarm.

What happened in 1998?

We don't talk about what happened in 1998. But if you must know, watch this. (Image: Tristar Pictures)

About Our Expert

Eric Griffith

Senior Editor, Features

My Experience

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally since 1992, more than half of that time with PCMag. I arrived at the end of the print era of PC Magazine as a senior writer. I served for a time as managing editor of business coverage before settling back into the features team for the last decade and a half. I write features on all tech topics, plus I handle several special projects, including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys and yearly coverage of the Best ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, Best Products of the Year, and Best Brands (plus the Best Brands for Tech Support, Longevity, and Reliability).

I started in tech publishing right out of college, writing and editing stories about hardware and development tools. I migrated to software and hardware coverage for families, and I spent several years exclusively writing about the then-burgeoning technology called Wi-Fi. I was on the founding staff of several magazines, including Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine. All of which are now defunct, and it's not my fault. I have freelanced for publications as diverse as Sony Style, Playboy.com, and Flux. I got my degree at Ithaca College in, of all things, television/radio. But I minored in writing so I'd have a future.

In my long-lost free time, I wrote some novels, a couple of which are not just on my hard drive: BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale," according to Publishers' Weekly) and a YA book called KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. Go get them on Kindle.

I work from my home in Ithaca, NY, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.

The Technology I Use

My first computer was a Laser 128, an Apple II-compatible clone with an integrated keyboard, matched with an eye-straining monochrome green monitor. I used it to type papers in college for other people for money...until I discovered the Mac SE in the college computer room. That changed my life. My first cellphone was a Samsung Uproar—the silver one with the built-in MP3 player from the Napster days (the pre-iPod era).

I use an iPhone 15 Pro hourly and an iPad Air infrequently (but I'm always in the market for a cheap Android tablet). I have a PlayStation 5 just to play Spider-Man, and several Windows machines, including a work-issued Lenovo ThinkPad. I talk to Alexa and Siri all day long. I do the majority of my computing on a 15-inch LG Gram laptop attached to a Thunderbolt hub to run a multi-monitor setup—I overdid it on the power needed to simply work from home.

I'm most at home in Microsoft Word after decades of writing there. More and more, I turn to services like Google Docs, using tools like Grammarly. I use Google's Chrome browser due to an addiction to several extensions I think I can't live without, but probably could. I use Excel extensively on data-intensive stories, but for chart creation, we've switched over entirely to using Infogram for interactive features that are hard to find elsewhere. I do a lot of graphics work for my stories, but limit myself to the free and amazing Paint.NET software to edit images.

I'm a firm evangelist for using the cloud for backup and syncing of files; I'm primarily using Dropbox, which has never failed me, but I also have redundant setups on Microsoft OneDrive, plus extra picture backups on Amazon Photos and iCloud. Why take chances? For entertainment, mine is a streaming-only household—my kid has never seen network TV and barely been exposed to commercials, thanks to Roku and Amazon Music. The house is peppered with smart speakers from Amazon for instant gratification and control of smart home devices like multiple Wyze cameras and Nest Protect smoke detectors. I've got accounts on all the major social networks, to my horror. I have a robot vacuum for each floor of the house. I want a 3D printer, but not sure what I'd use it for.

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