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Original Godzilla In U.S. Theaters

Posted by michael on from the mystery-science-theater dept.

saudadelinux writes "The original Gojira is in theaters now through July. See the *uncut Japanese version* of the film as it was really meant to be seen, as a serious anti-nuke picture, not just Saturday afternoon UHF fodder."

15 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. It's more than an anti-nuke picture. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's more along the lines of a warning about the dangers of running away with a technology before we understand the consequences and the social commentary that, ultimately, is exactly what were going to do anyway.

    1. Re:It's more than an anti-nuke picture. by Aglassis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Any technology can be used for good or evil, especially technology that makes energy. Alfred Nobel, the inventor of TNT, knew this only too well. He created the Nobel prize so people wouldn't remember him as the creator of a weapon.

      As far as understanding what technology's consequences are: technology is part of society. Its not that somehow society and technology can be seperated and analyzed so that only the 'good' technology can interface somehow with society. Society is what causes the technology to exist in the first place and continue its development. Society has as much as an effect on the dangers of the technology as the mechanics of the technology itself.

      Some may argue that technology can't be released until its full impact on society is known. Thats impossible, as a modern technological society can't exist as a free state with blantant censorship. These issues aren't suddenly new. Its the same problem that engineers throughout history have had to deal with when they realized that their peaceful invention could have dangerous implementations. Research DNA, make more powerful bioweapons. Reasearch nuclear power, make the most powerful WMDs. Research network technology, make the powerful network warfare that we saw in the beginning of Gulf War 2.

      Correct the society and the consequences of the technology will follow along.

      --
      Suddenly, the hairy finger of a familiar monkey tapped me on the shoulder. It was time.--G. T.
    2. Re:It's more than an anti-nuke picture. by einTier · · Score: 2, Insightful
      There's a good reason we dropped two, and why we dropped those two one right after the other -- it was all we had.

      In those days, getting the nuclear material wasn't exactly easy. We had enough fissionable material for three bombs. One we detonated at Los Alamos to prove the bomb actually worked. The other two became Fat Man and Little Boy.

      We really didn't know how destructive the two bombs would be, but we did know that producing a third would take quite a bit of time. A fourth or fifth would take even more time after that.

      What we were afraid of is that the Japanese wouldn't surrender. This was a very real possibility, as they had never surrendered before, and their culture ecouraged suicide attacks over surrender. We had to make the Japanese believe that we had a near inexhaustable supply of these weapons, that if they didn't surrender that we would keep dropping a new one on their cities every few days until they did -- or simply wiping the whole country clean without ever setting one American foot on Japanese soil. When you can't engage the enemy face to face, suddenly being a martyr isn't so appealing. Dying for nothing is never fun. Making your parents, wives, children, et al die for nothing is even less enjoyable.

      However, had we waited to drop the second bomb and not gotten our surrender after it, it could have been months before we could drop a third. And a month after that before we could drop a fourth. Show that you can only carry out these attacks every once in a while and you might steel your enemy's resolve. They might figure that they can wait you out, or they might get used to being blasted, or they (the leaders anyway) might figure out a way to survive. Then you have to go over there and kill them all hand to hand anyway. WE had to show them we had the will and the power to scour their country from the face of the planet.

      What we did was one hell of a poker bluff. Thankfully, the Japanese never called us on it. It was horrible thing, dropping those bombs, but it would have been far more horrible and bloody to have marched American troops all the way to Tokyo -- for both sides.

      --
      -------------------------------------------------- $665.95 -- retail price of the beast.
  2. Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla by mse61 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound
    He pulls the spitting high tension wires down

    Helpless people on a subway train
    Scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them

    He picks up a bus and he throws it back down
    As he wades through the buildings toward the center of town

    Oh no, they say he's got to go go go Godzilla
    Oh no, there goes Tokyo go go Godzilla

    History shows again and again
    How nature points up the folly of men

    --
    ++mse61--
    1. Re:Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla by .com+b4+.storm · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Only on Slashdot can you post LYRICS to a song and get moderated "Insightful" :)

      --
      "Wow, you're like some kind of superhero able to ward off happiness and success at every turn."
      -- Ryan Stiles
  3. Nitpick by ciroknight · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I completely agree with you except for one little point:

    Any technology can be used for good or evil, especially technology that makes energy

    Making energy would defeat Law of Conservation of Energy (and most likely Law of Conservation of Mass, since that's how most of the energy we're accustom to seeing is expressed). IANAP, but it really does get irritating to see this in writing... I guess you could reform it as: Any technology can be used for good or evil, especially technology that deals with releasing or storing energy.

    --
    "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
    1. Re:Nitpick by Aglassis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You said: "Making energy would defeat Law of Conservation of Energy (and most likely Law of Conservation of Mass, since that's how most of the energy we're accustom to seeing is expressed). IANAP, but it really does get irritating to see this in writing... I guess you could reform it as: Any technology can be used for good or evil, especially technology that deals with releasing or storing energy."

      Actually, my job does create energy (I work as a reactor operator). I just decrease mass by doing it.

      --
      Suddenly, the hairy finger of a familiar monkey tapped me on the shoulder. It was time.--G. T.
  4. The US can do that now by DrJimbo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... and we even get to see pictures of it all on tv. I hear that videos of even nastier stuff will be coming out soon.

    --
    We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.
    -- Anais Nin
    1. Re:The US can do that now by maelstrom · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Give me a break dude. The abuses in Iraq are to be condemmed and those responsible should do jail time, but it doesn't come close to the Rape of Nanking and to suggest otherwise is a distortion of history.

      --
      The more you know, the less you understand.
  5. Re:What's the point? by LauraScudder · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yeah, the public has an allergic reaction to anything having to do with radioactivity now. It's like irradiated meat. God forbid you eat meat that is not at all radioactive, but is safer and keeps for longer.

    As if well maintained nuclear plants are more hazardous than those petroleum monsters injecting god-knows what kinds of carcinogens and pollutants into the air we breathe.

  6. Godzilla vs The Smog Monster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How ironic was it that Godzilla, a mutant created by nuclear fallout, helped the environment by battling the Smog Monster, another creation of man made toxins.

  7. Re:Nitpick^3 by swatter · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Mass and energy are both human terms. They have no inherent meaning beyond how we interpret them.

    This is crap. They are certainly human terms, but they do have a specific meaning (which is as inherent as it gets). The fact is the best theory about the universe we have makes energy and mass two measures of the same quantity -- they're just expressed using different units.

    For example, I can easily say that an electron has a mass of about 0.5 MeV, but I certainly wouldn't measure the mass of an apple in Joules.

    Why not, it's about 3x10^16 J. Granted, that's not as meaningful to most as 300 grams, but then 300 grams doesn't mean a hell of a lot to many Americans either...

    Err, so there.

  8. Please let the pedantic parade end. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    He was just fine using the laymans distinction, in what is esentially a layman enviroment. You are appealing to the "jargon", and overly specific, version of the words in an appeal to authority. It has failed you. You have failed it.

    If you must insist on such primitive displays of noodle armed social dominance, might I direct you to one of the starwars.vs.startrek newsgroup where this sort of thing is appropriate?

  9. Re:Serious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    consider the time (1954). Public knowledge about nuclear physics was zero, USA and Soviet Union were testing atomic bombs in the atmosphere while teaching "duck and cover"...

  10. Re:Solly Cholly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So what you're saying is that although you know nothing about Japanese culture, you don't mind making dumb-ass ignorant bigoted comments about it anyway? Or can I play this game too, and make broad generalisations about American culture derived solely from, say, the Garfield comic strip? Or some popular America porn magazine? Or the Red Meat comic strip?