The Return of Godzilla story
The film serves as both a sequel to the original 1954 film and a reboot of the franchise that ignores the events of every Shōwa era film aside from the original Godzilla, placing itself in line with the darker tone and themes of the original film and returning Godzilla to his destructive, antagonistic roots. It is the 16th film in the Godzilla franchise, and is the first film in the franchise's Heisei period.
11 total · 1 choice · 5 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| nuclear weapons | choice | The film explored a diplomatic conflict between the Japanese Prime Minister and his cabinet and the Soviets and the Americans. The Soviets and the Americans insisted on launching a nuclear attack on Godzilla, but the Japanese Prime Minister opposed such a drastic measure. In the end, we saw how things can get out of control with nuclear weapons, when the Soviets accidentally shot a nuclear warhead from orbit at the center of Tokyo. |
| brother and sister | major | Hiroshi Okumura and his younger sister Naoko. |
| diplomacy | major | The story turned on the Japanese Prime Minister walking a diplomatic tightrope when the Soviet and American envoys and declared that nuclear weapons must be used on Godzilla, even if it were to attack the Japanese mainland. |
| giant monster | major | Godzilla returned to terrorize Japan following a 30 year absence. |
| human vs. monster | major | Godzilla rampaged through Tokyo. |
| orbital weapons | major | The Soviets accidentally shot a nuclear warhead from a satellite in orbit around Earth at Tokyo. It was revealed that both the Soviet Union and the United States maintained nuclear warheads stationed in orbit around Earth. |
| fear for one's life | minor | Naoko expressed her fear that she was going to die in the nuclear blast to Maki. |
| government secrecy | minor | The Prime Minister initially put a gag order to prevent news of Godzilla reappearance from reaching to public out of concern that a mass panic would ensue. |
| journalism | minor | Goro Maki put himself in peril to report on Godzilla, and he objected to the government initially putting a gag order on publishing reports about the monster. |
| mass hysteria | minor | The Prime Minister initially put a gag order to prevent news of Godzilla reappearance from reaching to public out of concern that a mass panic would ensue. Later we saw the people of Tokyo panic to flee the city before the arrival of Godzilla. |