The Terror of Godzilla/Fun Facts

From The Grindhouse Cinema Database

< The Terror of Godzilla

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  • Titanosaurus was originally supposed to be two smaller creatures called the Titans which would fuse together into Titanosaurus.
  • This, the 15th Godzilla film, was the last one in the original series (and the last for nine years), due to the energy (oil) crisis of the '70s, which had affected film and TV productions. After almost a decade of failed film proposals by Toho to revive the character, the next film, Gojira (1984), was the first of a new series of films (called the "Versus Series" in Japan, or, alternatively, the "Heisei Series"), which returned Godzilla to his destructive roots.
  • This is not only the last Godzilla film directed by Ishirô Honda, it also marks the last time Godzilla is portrayed as a hero.
  • This was Akihiko Hirata's final appearance in the series. However, he was scheduled to appear in first film in the Versus/Heisei series, but died from cancer just before production began.
  • The original U.S. release was quite faithful to the original Japanese version. Broadcasters requested that the film be edited due to scenes involving the suicide of a character. This was at a time when there were a rash of teen suicides in the United States. Broadcasters began requesting that story elements involving suicide be removed from motion pictures, television programs and even cartoons.
  • One of the only Godzilla films with nudity. The scene occurs when Katsura is being operated on, at which point Katsura's breasts are exposed (although the body is actually a mannequin). This scene was cut from the US, both the theatrical and TV, version of the film.
  • Final film of Ikio Sawamura. He died shortly before the film's release.
  • This was Kenji Sahara's last appearance in the series until Gojira VS Mekagojira (1993).
  • In the original script, the final battle was supposed to take place entirely in Tokyo (which would be devastated by the end of the film), but Toho deemed this too expensive, so the entire battle (after ending up out of Tokyo) was placed in the cost-effective countryside.
  • While filming the scene where a revived Godzilla vengefully charges towards Mechagodzilla (who unleashes his entire arsenal of weapons on him), the back of the Godzilla suit accidentally caught fire in one shot. This shot nonetheless remained in the final film.
  • This was the last Godzilla film shot in the CinemaScope aspect ratio (2.35:1) before Gojira ni-sen mireniamu (1999). Before then, all films in the second series (the VS Series) would be shot in the VistaVision ratio (1.85:1).
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