Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
1956 1h 21m movie Film Japan

Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

“Incredible, unstoppable titan of terror!”

Godzilla, King of the Monsters! returned 80.0× its production cost, earning $2.0M against a $25K budget — one of the highest-return Japan films in our catalog.

Synopsis

“Incredible, unstoppable titan of terror!”

During an assignment, foreign correspondent Steve Martin spends a layover in Tokyo and is caught amid the rampage of an unstoppable prehistoric monster the Japanese call 'Godzilla'. The only hope for both Japan and the world lies on a secret weapon, which may prove more destructive than the monster itself.

The 1955–1957 Japan Window

28 Japan films released in this three-year window, ranked here by audience rating. Godzilla, King of the Monsters! sits at position #19.

  1. Throne of Blood
    #1

    Throne of Blood

    ★ 7.9 · 1957

  2. The Burmese Harp
    #2

    The Burmese Harp

    ★ 7.9 · 1956

  3. Floating Clouds
    #3

    Floating Clouds

    ★ 7.8 · 1955

  4. Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji
    #4

    Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji

    ★ 7.4 · 1955

  5. A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era
    #5

    A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era

    ★ 7.4 · 1957

  6. I Live in Fear
    #6

    I Live in Fear

    ★ 7.3 · 1955

  7. Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
    #7

    Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island

    ★ 7.3 · 1956

  8. Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
    #8

    Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple

    ★ 7.2 · 1955

Titles With Overlapping Themes

Films and series that share thematic tags with Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.

Other Titles From TOHO

The 1950s Japan Landscape

Catalog density by release year in the 1950s. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Godzilla, King of the Monsters! premiered. 76 total titles in this decade from Japan.

'503'514'526'537'546'559'569'5710'5812'5910

Budget & Box Office Efficiency

$25K
Budget
$2.0M
Revenue
$2.0M
Net Profit
80.0×
Return Ratio

At a 1h 21m runtime, production spent $308 per minute on screen and earned $25K per minute back.

Reception Benchmarks

6.6
TMDB Rating
213
Audience Reviews
Well Received
Critical Tier

Ranked #2,913 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (36th percentile by TMDB audience score).

Rating is -0.3 points below the Japan average of 6.9/10.

Among Japan Science Fiction productions specifically: #273 of 566 (top 48%).

Production Details

Primary Country Japan
All Production Countries Japan, United States of America
Original Language En
Spoken Languages English, Japanese
Production Companies TOHO, Jewell Enterprises Inc., Embassy Pictures Corporation
Runtime 1h 21m
Release Date April 27, 1956
IMDb tt0197521

Themes & Motifs

  • giant monster
  • reporter
  • tokyo
  • japan
  • dinosaur
  • kaiju
  • animal horror

External Catalogs