Godzilla! I was hoping I'd never hear that name again, laments one of the cast of characters, in apparent innocence of the creature's frequent return visits in the company of Megalon, the Thing, the Smog Monsters, among others. The creature looks in better shape here than in some of those interim appearances, and he has developed the amusing habit of shouldering into nearby Tokyo skyscrapers when he momentarily loses his balance. But by 1980s standards in special effects, he still looks a bit primitive (not to say prehistoric). It was a splendid idea, for the American version, to enlist Raymond Burr to reprise the same character who witnessed Godzilla's original depredations thirty years earlier (there again, only in the American version). But apart from Burr's somber countenance, the spliced-in footage shot by R.J. Kizer plays up the Camp element, together with a couple of blatant plugs for Dr. Pepper soda pop. This tends to blunt the double-edged sword -- not just the horror edge, but, by a hideous and obvious irony, the comedy edge as well. Directed by Koji Hashimoto. (1984) — Duncan Shepherd
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