Background and Trivia |
- On April 13th, 1985, both Toho International and New World Pictures registered the film under the title "Godzilla is Alive", with The Return of Godzilla listed as an alternate title. It's possible this was considered for the US title before Godzilla 1985 was settled on. The first instance of Godzilla 1985 being registered was months later on July 28th, 1985, when Lisa Tomei's screenplay for the US version was copyrighted. The "Godzilla is Alive" record (document number V2115P473) and the Godzilla 1985 screenplay copyright (document number V2129P150) are found in the U.S. Copyright Office.
- This is the first film in the Heisei Godzilla series, which ran for 11 years up until Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). Despite being the first movie in the series, The Return of Godzilla was actually filmed in the Showa era. The Heisei era didn't start until January of 1989, with Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) being the first entry in the Godzilla franchise to be filmed during this era.
- The movie is a reboot of the continuity, ignoring all previous Godzilla films with the exception of Godzilla (1954).
- 800,000 people saw the film on opening day in Japan. This information is found in the 1997 book Age of the Gods (self-published).
- Actor Akhiko Hirata was the one to announce the movie to the press. During the briefing, the actor wore an eyepatch in nod to his role as Serizawa from Godzilla (1954). Noted in Age of the Gods (self-published).
- Director Koji Hashimoto had worked as an assistant director on several of director Ishiro Honda's lighter-tone Godzilla movies such as Ghidorah, the Three-headed Monster (1964) and All Monsters Attack (1969) but was excited to make this film because it allowed him to make Godzilla scary, which he felt was more interesting. This fact is stated in The Making of Godzilla 1985 (ISBN: 409103151X).
- Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka asked Reijiro Koroku to write a score which captured the feel of Akira Ifukube's music while simultaneously creating something new. Koroku felt this wasn't possible, so he wrote a score according to his own senses. Noted in The Making of Godzilla 1985 (ISBN: 409103151X).
- In crafting the score, Reijiro Koroku used acoustic instruments such as strings and brass instead of synthesizers, because he felt acoustics better complemented Godzilla as a living, breathing creature. The "thumps" in the score's main theme were also intended as a musical image for Godzilla's footsteps. Account found in The Making of Godzilla 1985 (ISBN: 409103151X).
- Composer Reijiro Koroku says he wrote the score in about four days. Noted in The Making of Godzilla 1985 (ISBN: 409103151X).
- Assistant director Koji Matsumoto objected to the Super-X, feeling it was too outlandish. He felt real-life weapons, such as missiles or F-15s or F-1s, would've been more suitable. The account is contained in The Making of Godzilla 1985 (ISBN: 409103151X).
- Director Koji Hashimoto stated shooting was great fun every day, the only difficulty coming from newcomer Yasuko Sawaguchi, who was playing the part of Naoko Okumura and was very inexperienced. Part of the difficulty was teaching her to mask her Kansai accent. Hashimoto, however, did appreciate Sawaguchi putting her heart into the role and was kind enough to let her see the rushes and pick out any scenes she wanted to reshoot. This information comes from The Making of Godzilla 1985 (ISBN: 409103151X).
- Actor Akihiko Hirata was originally planned to appear in the movie. Unfortunately, the actor passed away in the summer of 1984 and had to be replaced by Yosuke Natsuki in that role. Noted in Age of the Gods (self-published).
- As mentioned by actor Dennis Falt in an interview, the actors who portrayed Russians during the sub attack sequence were actually Spanish, Australian, English and American. As a result, a Ukrainian Russian dialogue coach was brought in and visited the set every day to work on their lines.
- Special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano has stated that his favorite three films from his work, in terms of execution of the special effects, are: Submersion of Japan (1973), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) and The Return of Godzilla (1984). Account found in Age of the Gods (self-published).
- Special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano has lamented at how difficult the giant, 18 foot cybot version of Godzilla was to work with in the movie. However, it was Nakano himself who had convinced the studio to create it in the first place. As it turned out, though, Toho got a lot of use out of the prop in promotiong the film. In fact it was used to promote the movie both to the press and also later to the public in October and November closer to release. Noted in Age of the Gods (self-published).
- To learn how specific buildings would crumble, Hashimoto consulted Yorihiko Ohsaki, a Doctor of Engineering. Ohsaki and his company, the Ohsaki Research Institute, turned in a 10cm-thick stack of paper detailing the hypothetical demolition of buildings in the Yurakucho and Shinjuku districts. Noted in The Making of Godzilla 1985 (ISBN: 409103151X).
- Geophysicist Hitoshi Takeuchi served as a consultant on the film and recommended possible locations for Godzilla's defeat. Before ultimately deciding on Mt. Mihara, the staff considered staging the finale at Mt. Fuji and the Fossa Magna. The account is located in The Making of Godzilla 1985 (ISBN: 409103151X).
- Against the wishes of other executives and producers, who wanted another monster in the movie, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka was the one who ultimately decided to have the feature focus on Godzilla. His desire in doing so was to make it feel more like Godzilla (1954). Cited in Age of the Gods (self-published).
- Producer Fumio Tanaka, who worked on films such as Vampire Doll (1970) and The War in Space (1977), has criticized the movie in retrospect for not including another monster, saying that Godzilla "has no personality" and adding another monster would have helped with his motivation. This account located in Age of the Gods (self-published).
- In a 1985 People magazine interview, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka stated that he felt previously altering Godzilla to be a heroic monster "was a mistake" and that "this character change was responsible for his decline." Referenced in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G" (ISBN: 1550223488).
- Actor Raymond Burr told the Washington Post that he welcomed the chance to play Steve Martin again, stating that "everybody thought I was out of my mind. But it wasn't the large sum of money. It was the fact that, first of all, I kind of liked Godzilla, and where do you get the opportunity to play yourself 30 years later?". This fact is found in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G" (ISBN: 1550223488).
- A tie-in music video, called "I Was Afraid to Love You" by Jill Elliott, was created by New World Pictures to help promote the movie. It features footage predominantly from the American version, although one clip from the Japanese version is used too. It also features a quick segment from one of the Dr. Pepper Godzilla commercials of the time. It appeared on MTV in 1985, although briefly. Inside the music video, it's described as the "love theme from Godzilla 1985", although the song never appears in any version of the movie.
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