(Japanese: 怪獣王ゴジラ, Hepburn: Kaijū Ō Gojira)[8] is a 1956 kaiju film directed by Terry O. Morse and Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.

The film stars Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kōchi, Akira Takarada, and Akihiko Hirata, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla.

In 1955, Edmund Goldman acquired the 1954 film from Toho and enlisted the aid of Paul Schreibman, Harold Ross, Richard Kay, and Joseph E. Levine to produce a revised version for American audiences.

[10] Injured American reporter Steve Martin is brought from the ruins of Tokyo to a hospital filled with maimed and wounded citizens.

There he learns of the island inhabitants' long-held belief in a sea monster god known as "Godzilla", which they believe caused the ship disasters.

Upon Dr. Yamane's later return to Tokyo, he deduces that Godzilla is 400 feet (120 m) tall and was resurrected by the repeated hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific.

Emiko goes to Serizawa's home to break off her arranged engagement with him because she is actually in love with Hideo Ogata, a salvage ship captain.

The next morning, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) supercharges the tall electrical towers along Tokyo's coast to repel the monster.

Godzilla resurfaces that night and breaks through the electrical towers and JSDF defense line using his atomic heat breath.

After watching a television broadcast showing the nation's continuing plight, Serizawa finally gives in to their pleas, then burns his notes and papers on the formula.

[15] Samuel Z. Arkoff of American International Pictures also made a bid for the film, negotiating with Toho for three months until he discovered the rights had already been sold to Goldman.

[4] Goldman enlisted the help of Harold Ross (sometimes credited as Henry Rybnick) and Richard Kay of Jewell Enterprises to distribute the film.

[17] Morse viewed the original Japanese cut, with an English translation of the script, to find key scenes in which Burr could be inserted.

[18] Rather than dub the entire film, Morse chose to retain most of the original Japanese dialogue and have Frank Iwanaga translate, albeit inaccurately, those scenes and alternate with Burr narrating.

[1][24] It was the first Japanese feature to become a commercial success in the United States and was, at the time, the fourth foreign film to have grossed more than $1 million at the American box office.

After complaining about the dubbing, the special effects ("a miniature of a dinosaur") and the similarity to King Kong, he concluded, "The whole thing is in the category of cheap cinematic horror-stuff, and it is too bad that a respectable theater has to lure children and gullible grown-ups with such fare".

[33] On the film's alterations, critic Danny Peary accused the producers of making "deletions that arouse suspicions regarding the cover-up of references to damage done by the A-bomb".

[35] Over the years, original director Ishirō Honda was asked by film historians if the alterations made by the American version without his permission had offended him.

[36] In writing for Ritual and Event, Aaron Kerner stated, "the 1956 Godzilla, King of the Monsters transforms Gojira into a run of the mill science fiction film".

[37] William Tsutsui criticized the film for watering down the original themes, stating, "although Gojira was not exactly eviscerated in this transition, with the terrifying charm of the monster thankfully surviving the cinematic surgery, much of the emotional power, intellectual depth, social relevance, and visceral impact of Gojira was lost in its translation to US movie screens".

[39] Kalat further praised how the narration renders Burr's character as impotent, stating, "not even the American hero can save the day this time".

However, when judged on its own merits, Ryfle commented, "the film is one of the best American atomic-monster movies of the 1950s, on par with—or even better than—the classic giant-ant thriller Them!"

[6] Vestron Video released Godzilla, King of the Monsters on all available home media formats (VHS, Betamax, CED, and LaserDisc) simultaneously in mid-1983.

[44] In 2006, Classic Media and Sony BMG released a two-disc DVD set titled Gojira: The Original Japanese Masterpiece.

This release includes a remaster of the 1956 American version, Godzilla, King of the Monsters (completely uncut for the first time since its theatrical release), as well as other special features such as interviews with Akira Ikufube, Japanese film critic Tadao Sato, actor Akira Takarada, Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima, effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai and audio commentaries on both films by David Kalat, author of A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series.

Using the pseudonym "Magnetic System", Vince Tempera composed the film's additional score alongside Fabio Frizzi and Franco Bixio using his personal electric piano.

Cozzi selected synth music because he wanted the score to give his version of the film a "modern look" and have audiences see the difference between the new scenes and the originals.

was responsible for introducing international audiences to the character of Godzilla;[14] the Japanese version remained officially unavailable overseas until 2004, but was screened at New York and Chicago film festivals in 1982 honoring Takashi Shimura's work.

Like Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, new footage was filmed for the American version, scenes and themes re-edited or omitted, and the entire dialogue dubbed in English.

Burr reprised his role as Steve Martin, acting as an adviser to the Pentagon, but did not interact within the Japanese characters as he had done in King of the Monsters.