Godzilla
Distributors Corporation of America (DCA) | Release Date: May 7, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
1
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Not that Honda's original Godzilla is a message movie first and foremost. It's a horror flick, and an ingenious one at that, with visual effects so vivid that gimmicky spin-offs became an enduring staple of popular film. Read full review
100
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
The original retains its dark tone and deadly serious anti-war message. For today's moviegoing audiences, this may not be your daddy's Godzilla movie, but chances are your granddaddy could teach you a thing or two about the context. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Godzilla is still the most awesome of tacky movie monsters. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
In the annals of monster movies, one name stands above all the rest, way above: Godzilla. Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Can now be appreciated not just as a minor classic of tragic destruction, but also as a somber exploration of conflicted postwar emotions. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeJanice Page
A definitive, low-tech stomping of every sci-fi clone that has sprung up in the original's wake. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
As crass as it is visionary, Godzilla belongs with--and might well trump--the art films "Hiroshima Mon Amour" and "Dr. Strangelove" as a daring attempt to fashion a terrible poetry from the mind-melting horror of atomic warfare. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The images are crisp. The story is restored. And there's no sign of Raymond Burr. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Its images of the destruction of the cities is far more powerful than in American films, where the cities are trashed for the pure pleasure of destruction, without any real sense of human loss. Read full review
80
SlateDavid Edelstein
Gojira is no masterpiece, but it has the power of a masterpiece: It's the most emotionally authentic fake monster movie ever made. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Why it works is anyone's guess. It's fair to argue--and the film makes this argument itself, with no great subtlety--that Godzilla embodies Japan's nuclear anxieties in the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
It's a fascinating cultural artifact and a stomping good time. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Is it classic cinema? Perhaps not, but then again, American shores and citizens have never been lacerated by atomic weapons. What do we know? Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The monster's mashing of Tokyo looks as Ed Wood-like as ever, but the film's humanity gives it depth. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A new restoration takes a flawed bit of monster camp and turns it back into a strong, serious-minded and occasionally moving science-fiction film. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Half a century after its release, Godzilla couldn't be more current. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The new black-and-white print is gorgeous, the film plays well in this broader key and it sets the historical record straight. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The arrival of the uncut Godzilla is a great boon to monster movie fans, but will have limited appeal to others. Read full review
50
Film ThreatPhil Hall
While the Raymond Burr sequences and the subsequent clumsy English dubbing of the remaining Japanese footage made the U.S. version an unintentionally funny movie, the complete Japanese version is an unfunny bore. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Regaled for 50 years by the stupendous idiocy of the American version of Godzilla, audiences can now see the original Japanese version, which is equally idiotic. Read full review
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