For a number of Monster Kids I'm sure that when this film was released it had to be their first time to see a Godzilla movie. For me, since KING KONG had never been run in this area, it was also my first Kong film. It had also been 3 years since the last Godzilla movie and this was the first in color and Tohoscope.

Even to my ten year-old senses there seemed to be a tremendous buzz and aura of excitement surrounding this film. I know that my friends and I were nearly driven to distraction. The film seemed to play in various theaters all through the year. I managed to see it several times in different theaters and cities all through the summer. For at least a couple of decades this film was the highest grossing Godzilla movie for Toho.

I could be wrong, but I think it may have been this film that set the tone for all the following films in the series, pitting Godzilla against outside foes and basically reducing the movies to a juvenile level.

However, the Japanese language version, while featuring comic relief, seems, overall, slightly more serious than its U.S. domestic release. Frequently, it did seem that the Japanese versions of these films were striving to say something but whatever that something was often didn't translate or was altered through dubbing and editing.

While I still enjoy the U.S. version -- despite the ridiculous American footage -- I prefer the original Japanese film.