History YMMV / GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters1956

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Bosley Crowther (a rather infamous ''The New York Times'' film critic) called it "an incredibly awful film" and then proceeded to tear the film apart for being similar to ''Film/KingKong1933'' [[note]]Which aside from featuring a larger than normal creature, there is virtually no similarity[[/note]] and claimed that it was "too bad that a respectable theater has to lure children and gullible grown-ups with such fare". Nevertheless, the film succeeded spectacularly, grossing up to $2 million in the United States alone as the first Japanese movie to ever break a million in the foreign box office. And while it continues to be popular with fans and critics alike today and even has a release by Creator/TheCriterionCollection, most of the foreign-language films Bosley championed are rather unknown in comparison.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Steve Martin easily ranks amongst the Toho film's better characters as some of the most well remembered human characters in the franchise. Subsequent Showa era films often starred reporter characters clearly modeled after Burr's character and it is not at all uncommon to see Martin given CanonImmigrant status to slot him into both fan works or even official Toho products.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: At the time, the original ''Godzilla'' was the subject of immense critical controversy in Japan due to its premise bringing up the ugly aftermath of World War II while they were in the midst of recovery, and as such, the movie didn't do all that well critically (financially it did very well) at its initial release. However, the recut version of the film [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo slightly downplayed the connection between Godzilla and nuclear weapons]], sidestepping a potential controversy over the film. As a result, the movie was seen as a typical monster movie in the United States and became a huge success. The popularity of this version of the film led to a release of the recut in Japan, which fared quite well the second time around. Ultimately, this would be instrumental in leading to the original cut of the film becoming VindicatedByHistory in Japan itself, and would help establish ''Godzilla'' as one of the country's most famous film franchises. And despite technically being a Japanese film re-edited for American audiences, the movie was popular in Japan back in 1957. It helped spread the "King of the Monsters" moniker over there and inspired reporter characters in later {{Kaiju}} films similar to Steve Martin.

* HilariousInHindsight: The fact that the main character's name is Creator/SteveMartin brings about a bit of unintentional hilarity by association. In fact, when Raymund Burr reprised the role in the 1985 ''Godzilla'' movie, at the height of the real Steve Martin's popularity, all references to him were strictly kept to his last name. It's also kind of amusing that by that point Steve Martin had also been in [[Film/DeadMenDontWearPlaid a movie]] that relied a lot on him interacting with StockFootage and {{Fake Shemp}}s.

* FridgeLogic: While the Japanese version lacks the logic on the time to build the high-tension towers, the producers made a realistic approach, stating that they were there to begin with. The only PlotHole to come out of this is that was never covered how they would know Godzilla would appear in that location.

* HilariousInHindsight: The fact that the main character's name is Creator/SteveMartin [[NamesTheSame brings about a bit of unintentional hilarity by association]]. In fact, when Raymund Burr reprised the role in the 1985 ''Godzilla'' movie, at the height of the real Steve Martin's popularity, all references to him were strictly kept to his last name. It's also kind of amusing that by that point Steve Martin had also been in [[Film/DeadMenDontWearPlaid a movie]] that relied a lot on him interacting with StockFootage and {{Fake Shemp}}s.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Bosley Crowther (a rather infamous ''The New York Times'' film critic) called it "an incredibly awful film" and then proceeded to tear the film apart for being similar to ''Film/KingKong1933'' and claimed that it was "too bad that a respectable theater has to lure children and gullible grown-ups with such fare". Netherless, the film suceeded, grossing up to $2 million in the United States alone, and while it continues to be popular with fans and critics alike today and even has a release by Creator/TheCriterionCollection, most of the foreign-language films Bosley championed are rather unknown in comparison.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: At the time, the original ''Godzilla'' was the subject of immense controversy in Japan due to its premise bringing up the ugly aftermath of World War II while they were in the midst of recovery, and as such, the movie didn't do all that well at its initial release. However, the recut version of the film [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo slightly downplayed the connection between Godzilla and nuclear weapons]], sidestepping a potential controversy over the film. As a result, the movie was seen as a typical monster movie in the United States and became a huge success. The popularity of this version of the film led to a release of the recut in Japan, which fared better the second time around. Ultimately, this would be instrumental in leading to the original cut of the film becoming VindicatedByHistory in Japan itself, and would help establish ''Godzilla'' as one of the country's most famous film franchises. And despite technically being a Japanese film re-edited for American audiences, the movie was popular in Japan back in 1957. It helped spread the "King of the Monsters" moniker over there and inspired reporter characters in later {{Kaiju}} films similar to Steve Martin.

* CriticalDissonance: Yes. ''King of the Monsters'' received negative reviews by movie critics at the time. Even those who found the context between Godzilla and the H-bomb. This did very little to deter American audiences to see the film.

* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: At the time, the original ''Godzilla'' was the subject of immense controversy in Japan due to its premise bringing up the ugly aftermath of World War II while they were in the midst of recovery, and as such, the movie didn't do all that well at its initial release. However, the recut version of the film [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo slightly downplayed the connection between Godzilla and nuclear weapons]], sidestepping a potential controversy over the film. As a result, the movie was seen as a typical monster movie in the United States and became a huge success. The popularity of this version of the film led to a release of the recut in Japan, which fared better the second time around. Ultimately, this would be instrumental in leading to the original cut of the film becoming VindicatedByHistory in Japan itself, and would help establish ''Godzilla'' as one of the country's most famous film franchises. And despite technically being a Japanese film re-edited for American audiences, the movie was popular in Japan back in 1957. It helped spread the "King of the Monsters" moniker over there and inspired reporter characters in later {{Kaiju}} films similar to Steve Martin.

* FridgeLogic: While the Japanesse version lacks the logic on the time to build the high-tension towers, the producers made a realistic approach, stating that they were there to begin with. The only PlotHole to come out of this is that was never covered how they would know Godzilla would appear in that location.

* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: The first page quote featured on the main page was a {{Woolseyism}} used to explain Godzilla to American audiences while avoiding explicit references to nuclear weapons.

* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: At the time, the original ''Godzilla'' was the subject of immense controversy in Japan due to [[TooSoon its premise bringing up the ugly aftermath of World War II while they were in the midst of recovery]], and as such, the movie didn't do all that well at its initial release. However, the recut version of the film [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo slightly downplayed the connection between Godzilla and nuclear weapons]], sidestepping a potential controversy over the film. As a result, the movie was seen as a typical monster movie in the United States and became a huge success. The popularity of this version of the film led to a release of the recut in Japan, which fared better the second time around. Ultimately, this would be instrumental in leading to the original cut of the film becoming VindicatedByHistory in Japan itself, and would help establish ''Godzilla'' as one of the country's most famous film franchises. And despite technically being a Japanese film re-edited for American audiences, the movie was popular in Japan back in 1957. It helped spread the "King of the Monsters" moniker over there and inspired reporter characters in later {{Kaiju}} films similar to Steve Martin.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
** At the time, the original ''Gojira'' was the subject of immense controversy in Japan due to [[TooSoon its premise bringing up the ugly aftermath of World War II while they were in the midst of recovery]], and as such, the movie didn't do all that well at its initial release. However, the recut version of the film [[NuclearWeaponsTaboo downplayed the connection between Godzilla and nuclear weapons]], sidestepping a potential controversy over the film. As a result, the movie was seen as a typical monster movie in the United States and became a huge success. The popularity of this version of the film led to a release of the recut in Japan, which fared better the second time around. Ultimately, this would be instrumental in leading to the original cut of the film becoming VindicatedByHistory in Japan itself, and would help establish ''Godzilla'' as one of the country's most famous film franchises.
** Despite technically being a Japanese film re-edited for American audiences, the movie was popular in Japan back in 1957. It helped spread the "King of the Monsters" moniker over there and inspired reporter characters in later {{Kaiju}} films similar to Steve Martin.

* HilariousInHindsight: The fact that the main character's name is Creator/SteveMartin [[NamesTheSame brings about a bit of unintentional hilarity by association]]. In fact, when Raymund Burr reprised the role in the 1985 ''Godzilla'' movie, at the height of the real Steve Martin's popularity, all references to him were strictly kept to his last name.

* SuperlativeDubbing: The first page quote featured on the main page was a {{Woolseyism}} used to explain Godzilla to American audiences while avoiding explicit references to nuclear weapons.