Parents' Guide to

Godzilla: King of the Monsters!

By Charles Cassady Jr., Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Giant-monster drama is stiff, dated but still a classic.

Movie NR 1956 80 minutes
Godzilla: King of the Monsters! Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 12+

Based on 6 parent reviews

age 2+

Stupid

Super stupid
age 10+

One of my favorite Godzilla movies

It is dark but however this movie is it really scary it is based on the nuclear bomb themes that's what Godzilla's based on nuclear themes it is a good movie is a classic I love this movie as a Godzilla fan this is the one you should watch I see is more for children 10 and older

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Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6):
Kids say (8):

Seen today, this film is plainly primitive in its special effects but still powerful in the way things are presented in stone-serious fashion without any humor. (Unless one counts the repetition of the name "Steve Martin" in the 80-minute version.) Though plenty of giant-radioactive-mutant monster movies emanated from Hollywood in the 1950s, the iconic Japan import Godzilla uranium-mined a particularly rich path through the minds of young moviegoers then and since, with seemingly endless sequels and campy follow-ups that evolved into city-destroying Japanese monster tag-team wrestling matches.

Though it's art blasphemy, the 1956 Raymond Burr version of Godzilla: King of the Monsters! might be better than the lengthier, talkier original 1954 Japanese cut. Burr is very skillfully inserted into the narrative after the fact and anchors the film's tone with the sober narration and delivery of a broadcast war correspondent. Those who jeered the American Godzilla remake of 1998 often forget that the Japanese did a color rehash themselves, sort of, in 1985, with Burr repeating his role.

Movie Details

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