To celebrate the anniversary of the first Gojira film, which was released in theaters in Japan exactly 70 years ago, the Academy Museum presents its first-ever all-day marathon, featuring five classic and contemporary Godzilla films. From his origin as a symbol of the atomic menace, through his years as a colossal defender of the Earth, to modern incarnations that continue to reimagine his identity, Godzilla has proven to be a remarkably malleable cinematic icon, his image as indestructible as the monster himself. Throughout the day, be on the lookout for the famous kaiju on the move around the museum!

Discover all Godzilla-related programming.

Sunday, November 3, 2024 | David Geffen Theater

SCHEDULE

Please note: start times for each screening are estimated. Please plan accordingly.

11am: Gojira in 35mm

The mysterious destruction of several ships off the Japanese coast leads to the horrifying discovery that hydrogen bomb tests have released an enormous, dinosaur-like creature from the bottom of the sea. The first of Japan’s kaiju features and still one of its finest, Gojira brought together some of the key artists of the genre, including writer-director Ishirō Honda, visual effects master Eiji Tsuburaya, and composer Akira Ifukube, whose somber themes are inextricably linked with the colossal monster. For decades, only a dubbed, recut version titled Godzilla – King of the Monsters was available in the US—incorporating added footage with Raymond Burr as an American journalist—but in 2004, the original Gojira was finally screened for American audiences.

1pm: Destroy All Monsters

In the far-off future year of 1999, the world’s monsters are safely confined to an island known as “Monsterland,” but the intervention of the alien Kilaaks threatens that fragile peace when they set the monsters free to menace the world once more. Destroy All Monsters marks the ninth big screen appearance of Godzilla, supported by the largest monster assembly to date—iconic kaiju like Rodan, Mothra, Ghidorah, and Godzilla’s son Minilla are joined by Gorosaurus, Anguiris, Kumonga, and Varan—with London, Moscow, Paris, and even New York City coming under attack in this epic sci-fi spectacle.

2:45pm: Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster

An alien creature, transformed by our planet’s atmosphere, becomes a colossal beast that sprays acid over its helpless victims, and only Godzilla can save the Earth from its toxic power. One of the first Toho monster movies produced after the 1970 death of visual effects master Eiji Tsuburaya—and the only one in the series written and directed by Yoshimitsu Banno—Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster is a lively kaiju film that brings the genre fully into the 1970s, with its focus on environmental dangers and a pop-flavored score by Riichirō Manabe (Cruel Story of Youth).

5:15pm: Shin Godzilla

An evolving creature menaces the people of Japan as it develops into a terrifying shape familiar to a half-century of film fans—Godzilla. Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno wrote and co-directed this witty and spectacular reboot of the beloved kaiju franchise, which incorporates bureaucratic satire as well as imagery invoking recent real-life Japanese disasters. The result is one of the series’s most exciting and original entries.

7:30pm: Godzilla Minus One

A kamikaze pilot barely survives an attack from a terrifying monster in the last days of World War II, but years later, must help save post-war Japan from the creature’s destructive return in this epic reboot of the Godzilla series. Writer-director-visual effects supervisor Takashi Yamazaki helmed this global box office smash, which managed to be a moving romantic drama about survivor’s guilt while providing a classic kaiju spectacle. Not merely the first Godzilla film to receive an Oscar nomination in any category, it was also the first non-English language film to win the Visual Effects Oscar, for Yamazaki and visual effects teammates Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima.