Godzilla Minus One

Godzilla Minus One (Japanese: ゴジラ-1.0（マイナスワン）, Hepburn: Gojira Mainasu Wan) is a 2023 Japanese epic kaiju film written, directed, and with visual effects by Takashi Yamazaki. It is the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise, the 33rd film produced by Toho, and the fifth installment in the franchise's Reiwa era. 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. 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 best in the Godzilla franchise. The film grossed $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. A sequel, Godzilla Minus Zero, is set to be released in 2026.

Plot

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 with his plane's cannons, but he panics, fails to shoot, and is knocked unconscious. When he awakes the following day, he finds that the only other survivor is Tachibana, who is furious at him for failing to act.

The war now over, Shikishima returns home to find that 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 wartime naval mines. 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 so soon after the war's end, 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 Godzilla 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 herself. A devastated Shikishima mourns her along with his fellow crewmates, vowing revenge.

Former naval engineer Kenji Noda, a crewmate, 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 but nonfatal 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. Having worried about his suicidal inclinations, the crew celebrates as Shikishima ejects before the explosion and parachutes to safety, using an ejection seat that Tachibana installed in the Shinden; despite agreeing to work on the Shinden on the understanding that Shikishima would kill himself to atone for his failure on Odo Island, Tachibana eventually implored 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. Meanwhile, a chunk of Godzilla's flesh begins to regenerate as it sinks deeper into the ocean.

Cast

English dub

The cast listing for the English dub is sourced from Anime News Network.

Production

Development

According to Godzilla Minus One producer Kenji Yamada, the successful Japanese release of Shin Godzilla (2016) led to the proposal of numerous live-action Godzilla follow-ups, but Toho executives rejected all of these. In 2017, Shin Godzilla co-director Shinji Higuchi stated that the company would not be able to produce another Godzilla film until after 2020. This is attributed to their contract with Legendary Pictures—who were producing the MonsterVerse—forbidding them from releasing their potential Godzilla films in the same year as Legendary's films. The ensuing year, Toho executive Keiji Ōta imparted that Shin Godzilla would not receive a sequel and expressed interest in a potential shared universe Godzilla series akin to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In 2019, Toho began a "Godzilla Room" division, devoted to planning new Godzilla projects. Following the completion of his film The Great War of Archimedes that same year, producer Minami Ichikawa appointed renowned filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki to make Toho's next Godzilla film. Godzilla Minus One ultimately became Yamazaki's third time working on a production utilizing Godzilla. His 2007 film Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 features the monster in a dream-like opening sequence, and he created the motion simulator attraction Godzilla the Ride: Giant Monsters Ultimate Battle (2021) for Seibu-en during pre-production.

On February 18, 2022, Robot Communications announced the film under the working title Blockbuster Monster Movie (超大作怪獣映画, Chōtaisaku Kaijū Eiga), via a casting call on its official website. Robot stated Yamazaki would direct and that Toho would present the film. The next day, HuffPost writer Kenji Ando mentioned that fans on social media were conjecturing that it would be a remake of the original Godzilla film, and cited Yamazaki's comments from an interview regarding his depiction of Godzilla in Always: Sunset on Third Street 2: "You can't have Godzilla unless it's [set in] the Shōwa era".