The one that started it all. This is the original Godzilla, or Gojira, of the 1954 classic monster movie that was as terrifying as it was wonderful. Unlike some of the fun, silly and campy traits the series has become known for, the original Godzilla film was a serious, dark story that almost won best picture of the year. This horrific design is a big reason why. After all, this creature was the direct result of atomic bomb testing and he was back for vengeance.
Unlike many of the other designs, the 1954 monster looks every bit of the villain that he is. He is very demonic looking, with pointy ears, very sharp fangs, and these beady eyes that look consumed with an insane intent to kill and destroy. The figure represents all of that faithfully on an impressive level. He looks every bit of an almost unrecognizable radioactive mutant that he's supposed to be. Part dinosaur--part something else, something evil. Something divine, yet angry, hellbent on destruction.
It is in that sense that this design is so unique. He isn't even as refined looking compared to later incarnations of himself. He has spines jutting out from his back in different directions, he looks full of evil intent as he stomps through the city. He doesn't look natural. What I love about this design is he doesn't look like a creature that was meant to look how he does. There isn't that divine beauty or gentleness in it or those symmetrical characteristics that we can chalk up to evolution, No, instead he looks like something that maybe was supposed to be something else, but because of unnatural circumstances, he is now this angry victim in this mutilated, twisted physical prison. And I'd like to think this design is meant to show that. He doesn't look like too much of any creature.
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| Evil demon ears |
The sculpt of this figure is a great reproduction of those qualities They managed to nail his cold stare with his beady eyes and they have his staple 90 degree angle his arms had for the whole movie.
His long tail is very detailed and captures the ridges perfectly so it looks like he's got a skeletal structure underneath. The scary looking spines look like bones piercing out of his skin due to mutation. The figure even represents the suit faithfully be being baggy in some spots where it hung off the actor a bit more than other places.
I will say though, if there is one thing I'd certainly say is off with the sculpt it is that he is a little leaner than he should be. This suit is notorious for being heavy and almost impossible for the suit actor to move around in. In fact, for the sequel, they had to trim down Godzilla so much just for the safety of the actor inside the suit. But this figure does not replicate that. The whole body should be thicker, especially the waist down. Other than that I think the sculpt is pretty spot-on, and in some ways, the X-Plus design is better than the actual suit. But when accuracy is the intention, it does have to be noted.
Now, from a paint standpoint this figure might look rather bland but that is not by accident. He is painted to look exactly how he appears in the 1954 classic. So that means he is painted to be just black and white. Even his mouth lacks any real life-like color. I think this works very well for this figure but I do think some extra shading or texture could have been done in the mouth to still make it look as detailed as the outerbody. But that's just a personal nitpick.
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| The silhouette shows off the heavily-mutated body of Godzilla |
Strangely enough, in almost all the films after this, the Godzilla suits had a color that is very similar to the color of this figure. So in that sense, he doesn't really stand out color wise from his companions. But the interesting bit is that the suit for the original 1954 film is said to have actually been brown. To honor that, X-Plus released a brown Godzilla 1954 figure (with a properly painted mouth). Many long-time Godzilla fans don't know the real color of the first suit.
Like all the X-Plus figures re-released by Diamond, this figure comes in a big square box with pretty cool artwork (see photo below) and is shipped with the body and tail separate. The use of a hairdryer is recommended to soften up the "female" part of the figure so that the "male" end can be inserted into the plug and bonded securely.
Overall he's a very well-done rendition of a design that is not easy to reproduce. I have seen far more expensive renditions in vinyl or resin miss the mark way more. As I said earlier, I do think the overall accuracy is not exact (even though I like the body of the figure as well) and it doesn't have the sheer mass that the film version does. Overall, I'd say this is a 4 out of 5 rating.
I believe he still remains as the tallest 30cm Godzilla figure yet made by X-Plus (well, one of them now that 2014 has been released). He's easily worth the sub-$200 you can still get him for and you won't find a better representation of the original Gojira at this price. Any fan of the Godzilla series or cult classic, science fiction stuff in general really should think about adding the 1954 beast to their collection.
Size Comparison:
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| The 30cm Godzilla 1954 and the 30cm Godzilla 1964 |
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| With the Power Rangers Legacy Megazord |
And the Box:
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