It was an international box office success, won an Oscar and was praised by “Oppenheimer” maker Christopher Nolan, among others – and from today, the cinema highlight of 2023 is also available in a second version on Netflix…
… we are of course talking about “Godzilla Minus One”. The 33rd Godzilla film from Toho was one of the cinema surprises of last year, grossing more than 116 million dollars (with production costs of just 10 to 15 million dollars), winning the Oscar in the category Best visual effects and also convince “Interstellar” and “Oppenheimer” maker Christopher Nolan, who describes the mix of Kaiju blockbuster and war drama as an “incredible film”.
The surprise was great when the film – which, by the way, is one of the cinema highlights of the previous year and one of the best Godzilla adaptations of all time for the author of this article – suddenly landed on Netflix on June 1st without any prior announcement. Two months later, there is still no trace of a local release on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray, but there is new, fresh material on the streaming platform with the red “N”. From now on you can watch “Godzilla Minus One” not only in the cinema version, but also in the version reminiscent of the iconic Original from 1954 stream the black and white version on Netflix.
After the international success of the film, the alternative version was even shown in cinemas in the USA and Japan under the title “Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color”. Here in Germany, we are now, albeit belatedly, getting our money’s worth in our home cinemas – finally!
“Godzilla Minus One”: Even more intense in black and white?
In “Godzilla Minus One”, director Takashi Yamazaki tells the story of deserter Kamikaze pilot Koichi Shimisha (Ryunosuke Kamiki), who fakes a technical problem towards the end of World War II in order to be able to land on the island of Odo – where his life changes forever. This is where he first encounters Godzilla: But Koichi fails to open fire on the enormous creature, which ultimately razes the island and most of the people on it to the ground.
Plagued by feelings of guilt, he tries in the years that follow to start a new life together with Noriko (Minami Hamabe) in Tokyo. When what is popularly known as Gojira However, when the monster he is familiar with reappears, Koichi finally sees his chance to settle his score, come to terms with his past and leave his guilt behind. But to do that, he must first find a way to kill Godzilla…
“Godzilla Minus One” is not only remembered for its destructive ragewith which the titular giant lizard deals Japan the next blow after the country has already been reduced to zero by the war (hence the title Minus One). The film also works as a post-war dramawhich is dedicated to “life after death” with its seemingly unimaginable challenges.
In the black and white version, the emotional punch is said to be even stronger, and the film and its monster are said to be “more realistic, more documentary and more frightening”. To what extent this actually works in the end or whether the well-known cinema color version is ultimately the better one, you can now find out on Netflix.
It remains to be seen whether Toho will continue with another stand-alone Godzilla film or whether we can perhaps even look forward to a “Godzilla Minus One” sequel. In the following video, FILMSTARTS YouTuber and Godzilla enthusiast Sebastian Gerdshikow takes up some clues from the film that could play a role in a possible sequel:
