Godzilla Minus One (2023)
Director : Takashi Yamazaki.
Writers : Takashi YamazakiIshirô HondaTakeo Murata.
Stars : Minami Hamabe, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Sakura Andô.
Godzilla Minus One (
Japanese: ゴジラ-1.0マイナスワン,
Hepburn: Gojira Mainasu Wan) is a 2023 Japanese
epic[i] kaiju film written, directed, and with visual effects by
Takashi Yamazaki. It is the 37th film in the
Godzilla franchise,
Toho's 33rd Godzilla film, and the fifth installment of the
Reiwa era.
[b] Set in
postwar Japan, the film stars
Ryunosuke Kamiki as a former
kamikaze pilot suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder after encountering a giant monster known as "
Godzilla". The supporting cast includes
Minami Hamabe,
Yuki Yamada,
Munetaka Aoki,
Hidetaka Yoshioka,
Sakura Ando, and
Kuranosuke Sasaki.
Following
Shin Godzilla (2016), Toho was unable to produce another live-action Godzilla film until 2020, owing to a contract with
Legendary Entertainment. Producer
Minami Ichikawa appointed Yamazaki to create the movie upon the completion of
The Great War of Archimedes (2019).
Principal photography was postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, leaving Yamazaki three years to work on the script, taking inspiration from previous Godzilla movies and the works of
Hayao Miyazaki and
Steven Spielberg. In February 2022,
Robot Communications publicized that Yamazaki would soon direct an untitled kaiju movie. Filming occurred in
Chūbu and
Kantō from March to June 2022 on a reputed $10–15 million budget.
Shirogumi's
Chōfu studio spent eight months creating the visual effects. The film was revealed to be an installment in the Godzilla series in November 2022, and its title was announced in July 2023.
Godzilla Minus One premiered at the
Shinjuku Toho Building on October 18, 2023, and was released in Japan on November 3, to celebrate the franchise's 70th anniversary.
[c] Toho International later released the film in North America on December 1. Many Western critics praised it as one of the best films of 2023 and among the greatest in the Godzilla franchise. The film has grossed $113–116 million worldwide, becoming the
third-highest-grossing Japanese film of 2023 and surpassing Shin Godzilla as the most successful Japanese Godzilla film. It also attained
numerous accolades, including a leading 12 nominations at the
47th Japan Academy Film Prize (winning eight) and winning
Best Visual Effects at the
96th Academy Awards. Another Yamazaki-helmed Godzilla film is in development.
Plot[
edit]
In 1945, near the end of
World War II,
kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima lands his
Mitsubishi A6M Zero for repairs at the Japanese base on
Odo Island. Lead mechanic Sōsaku Tachibana deduces that Shikishima is feigning technical issues to flee from his duty. That night,
Godzilla, a large dinosaur-like creature, attacks the garrison. Tachibana tells Shikishima to fire at the monster from his plane, but he panics, fails to shoot, and is knocked unconscious. When he awakes the following day, he finds Tachibana is the only other survivor, who is furious at him for failing to act.
Shikishima returns home to find his parents were killed in the
bombing of Tokyo. Plagued by
survivor's guilt, he begins supporting a woman, Noriko Ōishi, whose parents also died in the bombing, and an orphaned baby, Akiko, whom Noriko rescued. He finds employment aboard a
minesweeper tasked with disposing of
naval mines from World War II. Meanwhile, Godzilla is mutated and empowered by the United States'
nuclear tests at
Bikini Atoll; it sinks the
USS Redfish and destroys several other ships en route to Japan. Owing to
tensions with the
Soviet Union, the U.S. offers no help save for a few decommissioned
Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) vessels approved by
General Douglas MacArthur. The Japanese government, concerned about inducing panic, does not notify the public about the danger.
In May 1947, Shikishima and his minesweeper crew travel to the
Ogasawara Islands and are tasked with stalling Godzilla's approach to Japan. They release a mine into Godzilla's mouth and detonate it, causing significant damage, but it quickly regenerates. The
heavy cruiser Takao then engages Godzilla, but is destroyed when the monster unleashes its heat ray. After returning to Tokyo, Shikishima opens up to Noriko about his encounters with Godzilla. Days later, Godzilla makes landfall in Japan and attacks
Ginza, where Noriko works. She narrowly survives the initial attack and reunites with Shikishima. Enraged by tank fire, Godzilla obliterates much of the district with its heat ray, killing tens of thousands. Noriko pushes Shikishima to safety, but is caught in the blast and presumed dead. Devastated by the loss, Shikishima vows revenge.
Former naval engineer Kenji Noda, one of the minesweeper's crew, becomes frustrated by the government's inaction. He devises a plan to destroy Godzilla by luring it out to
Sagami Bay before surrounding it with
Freon tanks and rupturing them, sinking the monster, and letting the resultant water pressure crush it. Should the plan fail, balloons will be inflated under Godzilla to force it back up, killing it through
explosive decompression. To enact his plan, Noda has recruited navy veterans to crew disarmed IJN
destroyers. Shikishima recruits Tachibana to repair a broken-down
Kyushu J7W Shinden fighter. He plans to kill Godzilla in a suicide attack by flying into its mouth and detonating explosive charges on board. He leaves Akiko in the care of his neighbor Sumiko before Godzilla resurfaces.
As Shikishima lures Godzilla to the trap set by two destroyers, Sumiko receives a telegram intended for Shikishima. Godzilla survives the initial plunge and then breaks free before being forced back up, sustaining serious injuries from the resultant
decompression-induced
barotrauma. With the help of a fleet of
tugboats organized by Mizushima, another crewmate from the minesweeper, the ships haul Godzilla to the surface. Enraged, Godzilla prepares to destroy all the vessels with its heat ray, but Shikishima crashes the plane into Godzilla's mouth and destroys its head, causing the energy of the heat ray to tear its body apart. The crew celebrates as Shikishima ejects before the explosion and parachutes to safety, using an
ejection seat that Tachibana installed in the Shinden, imploring him to let go of his guilt and continue living.
Upon returning home, Sumiko gives Shikishima the telegram, which leads him to a hospital where he reunites with Noriko, who survived the destruction but has a black bruise creeping up her neck.
[d] Meanwhile, a chunk of Godzilla's flesh begins to regenerate as it sinks deeper into the ocean.
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