If you like the Warner Bros. Godzilla movies, you may love the versions that originate in Japan.  Godzilla is the longest running continuous film franchise in the world, going back to the original movie Godzilla, which premiered in 1954.  You haven’t really watched a Godzilla movie until you’ve seen the kaiju–giant monsters–produced with that unique style only Japanese filmmakers have captured.  We haven’t seen a live-action Japanese Godzilla movie since the 2016 film Shin Godzilla (which we previewed here at borg), a gritty film with some of the best scenes yet designed to look like “found footage.”  Shin Godzilla was part reboot, part homage to classic Japanese productions.  The next Japanese Godzilla movie is coming to the U.S. in time for Christmas from the same studio as the original–Toho Co. Ltd.–and it adds even darker themes to the catalog of 32 Japanese-language films that came before.  Takashi Yamazaki is the writer, director, and creator of special effects for the movie.

The teaser and trailer for Godzilla Minus One adds another layer to the nostalgic, retro sci-fi kaiju look of the past, setting the movie after World War II.  In a strange twist, Godzilla wreaks his havoc on Japan as payback for the nuclear devastation leveled on the country by the Allies.  The title is a play on the “rubbing salt into the wound” saying.  With the atomic bombs Japan had already been reset to zer0; Godzilla ratchets Japan’s efforts to reboot itself back even further.

Here is the teaser and full trailer for Godzilla Minus One:

It’s a bit of a wait for this one.  Look for Godzilla Minus One in theaters in the U.S. beginning December 1, 2023.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg