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(The title shows "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" and Godzilla roars)The Nerd: It was in 1954, just less than a decade after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki in World War II. The first Godzilla film is very serious in tone and Godzilla himself was a symbol of nuclear destruction. After all, this is a movie made by people who actually experienced such a threat firsthand.

The Nerd: The suggested origin is that he was created from nuclear radiation. His species has been debated for years, but most agree that he is a cross between a Tyrannosaurus Rex and Stegosaurus because of the dorsal spines on his back.

The Nerd: As for the name in Japan, he's called Gojira, which is a combination of Japanese words gorilla and whale. Gorilla and whale, huh? Well, that's kind of different than a T-Rex and Stegosaur. What were they tripping on acid? But no, the real reason he's got his name because there's a big tough guy working at the studio and his nickname was Gojira. So, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka decided to use the name. So, how would you feel if a giant fire-breathing monster was named after you? I don't know, but I think it would be pretty awesome.

The Nerd: Now, it's probably know mystery that this monster is a guy in a rubber suit, but what most people don't know is how horrible and infamous it was to be the guy inside. First of all, you couldn't see anything. Second, it was hard to move and so hot inside that the actor actually passed out. Now, about Godzilla's trademark roar. (Godzilla roars) It never guessed. It was a sound of a leather glove being rubbed against a stringed instrument. A basis some sort I think.

The Nerd: So, overall, this is a pretty good monster movie, Godzilla looks scary in black and white, and the music and the gritty cinematography create a foreboding move. Shots of people crushed under rubble and dying in the hospital and the choir of girls singing in despair kind of bothers me. They don't treat it like a B-movie, they treat it like it's a real disaster.

The Nerd: Now because Americans tend to dislike foreign films, when it came out here in the US, they chopped the movie and filmed new scenes with Steve Martin. (shows a picture of Steve Martin) No, not that Steve Martin, but a character, a journalist named Steve Martin played by Raymond Burr. Burr had recently played a villain in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window and would later be famous as Perry Mason. Now, he does a good job in this flick, but the way they use him is to have him narrate over most of the film describing what's happening.

Raymond Burr as Steve Martin: I can hardly believe what has just happened. Now it seems Tokyo has no defense.

The Nerd: It just seems like an obvious attempt to digest it all for us dumbass American audiences. Now, I could probably talk about this movie for another hour, but we got 28 more to go, so it's time to move on. In the words of Joe Bob, four stars, check it out!

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