The Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, will hold a Godzilla movie marathon and related events on Sunday, Nov. 3.
To celebrate the anniversary of the first “Gojira” film, which was released in theaters in Japan exactly 70 years ago, the Academy Museum presents its first-ever all-day marathon, featuring five classic and contemporary Godzilla films.
From his origin as a symbol of the atomic menace, through his years as a colossal defender of the Earth, to modern incarnations that continue to reimagine his identity, Godzilla has proven to be a remarkably malleable cinematic icon, his image as indestructible as the monster himself. Throughout the day, be on the look-out for the famous kaijuon the move around the museum.
For information and tickets: www.academymuseum.org/en/programs/series/godzillathon
The schedule is as follows. Note: Start times for each screening are estimated; plan accordingly.
11 a.m.: “Gojira”in 35mm. The mysterious destruction of several ships off the Japanese coast leads to the horrifying discovery that hydrogen bomb tests have released an enormous, dinosaur-like creature from the bottom of the sea. The first of Japan’s kaiju features and still one of its finest, “Gojira” brought together some of the key artists of the genre, including writer-director Ishirō Honda, visual effects master Eiji Tsuburaya, and composer Akira Ifukube, whose somber themes are inextricably linked with the colossal monster.
For decades, only a dubbed, recut version titled “Godzilla – King of the Monsters” was available in the U.S. — incorporating added footage with Raymond Burr as an American journalist — but in 2004, the original “Gojira” was finally screened for American audiences.
The cast includes Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata, and Takashi Shimura.
1 p.m.: “Destroy All Monsters”(1968). In the far-off future year of 1999, the world’s monsters are safely confined to an island known as “Monsterland,” but the intervention of the alien Kilaaks threatens that fragile peace when they set the monsters free to menace the world once more.
“Destroy All Monsters” marks the ninth big-screen appearance of Godzilla, supported by the largest monster assembly to date — iconic kaijulike Rodan, Mothra, Ghidorah, and Godzilla’s son Minilla are joined by Gorosaurus, Anguiris, Kumonga, and Varan—with London, Moscow, Paris, and even New York City coming under attack in this epic sci-fi spectacle.
Directed by Ishirō Honda. Featuring Akira Kubo, Jun Tazaki, Yukiko Kobayashi, and Yoshio Tsuchiya.
2:45 p.m.: “Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster”(1971). An alien creature, transformed by our planet’s atmosphere, becomes a colossal beast that sprays acid over its helpless victims, and only Godzilla can save the Earth from its toxic power.
One of the first Toho monster movies produced after the 1970 death of visual effects master Eiji Tsuburaya — and the only one in the series written and directed by Yoshimitsu Banno — “Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster” is a lively kaijufilm that brings the genre fully into the 1970s, with its focus on environmental dangers and a pop-flavored score by Riichirō Manabe (“Cruel Story of Youth”).
Featuring Akira Yamanouchi, Toshie Kimura, Hiroyuki Kawase, and Toshio Shiba.
5:15 p.m: “Shin Godzilla”(2016) in 4K (North American restoration premiere). An evolving creature menaces the people of Japan as it develops into a terrifying shape familiar to a half-century of film fans — Godzilla.
“Neon Genesis Evangelion” creator Hideaki Anno wrote and co-directed this witty and spectacular reboot of the beloved kaijufranchise, which incorporates bureaucratic satire as well as imagery invoking recent real-life Japanese disasters. The result is one of the series’s most exciting and original entries.
Featuring Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, and Ren Osugi.
7:30 p.m: “Godzilla Minus One”(2023). A kamikaze pilot barely survives an attack from a terrifying monster in the last days of World War II, but years later, must help save post-war Japan from the creature’s destructive return in this epic reboot of the Godzilla series.
Writer-director-visual effects supervisor Takashi Yamazaki helmed this global box office smash, which managed to be a moving romantic drama about survivor’s guilt while providing a classic kaijuspectacle. Not merely the first Godzilla film to receive an Oscar nomination in any category, it was also the first non-English language film to win the Visual Effects Oscar, for Yamazaki and visual effects teammates Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima.
Featuring Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Sakura Andо, and Munetaka Aoki.
Programming and notes by Robert Reneau. Special thanks to Toho International. Community partnership support provided by Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), Gold House, Japan Foundation Los Angeles, Japan House L.A., Japan Society, Little Tokyo Historical Society, UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, and Visual Communications. Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.
Related events:
Godzilla Meet-and-Greet,11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Meet Godzilla suit fabricator Krystopher Baioa in his fusion Godzilla suit. Baioa’s suit is inspired by iterations of the King of the Monsters mixed together. Join him for a special photo opportunity. General Admission ticket not required.
Godzilla Workshop,12:30 to 4:30 p.m. What miniature cities will Godzilla invade next? Create your own stop-motion animation using Godzilla figures and Lego. And since it’s Godzilla’s birthday, let’s build him a large pi?ata. Free with a general admission ticket. Museum admission is free for youths ages 17 and under with advance reservation.