Kaiju movie Tokyo 1960 has been lost but was it actually connected to Toho's Godzilla? The original Godzilla was a bleak, despairing monster movie that accidentally gave birth to a decades-long franchise. The original was a thinly veiled metaphor for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War 2, but Godzilla slowly morphed from villain to savior of humanity in later entries. He was eventually exported to America for a 1998 movie and Legendary's MonsterVerse movies, and to the latter's credit, they never portray Godzilla is never portrayed as a hero.
More than spawning a series that is still running, Godzilla also inspired countless giant monster/kaiju movies. These include Mothra, Gamera or Gorgo; a young John Carpenter even made a Godzilla Vs Gorgo fan film. The franchise now consists of over 30 movies and various other spinoffs, including animes and video games. The "King of the Monsters" is likely to reign on the big screen for generations to come, but here's also - technically - a Godzilla movie that is now likely lost forever.
Tokyo 1960 Is An Unofficial Godzilla Remake
Tokyo 1960 is a Filipino kaiju film that was released in 1957, but while it might feature Godzilla menacing Tokyo, it's in no way officially linked to the Toho monster saga. Instead, Tokyo 1960 uses footage from the 1954 Ishirō Honda classic but reframes the story using newly inserted scenes with Filipino actors. Sadly, very little information is available about the movie, though it wouldn't be the first time an international version of the original Godzilla was created for an international market. Shortly after the film's success in Japan, Toho sold the rights to American producers to make an English-language version.
Future Perry Mason star Raymond Burr shot new scenes for the retitled English version Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. Burr played an American journalist called Steve Martin, who covers Godzilla's attack on Japan, and for many, this re-edit was the way many English-language fans of the titular monster saw the original. Italian filmmaker Luigi Cozzi also wanted to cash in on the success of 1976's King Kong remake, so the following year, he unleashed a colorized version of the original that also spliced it with scenes from King Of The Monsters and real-life wartime footage. Toho is said to detest this version, which has been dubbed Cozzilla.
Tokyo 1960 Is Lost To Time
Tokyo 1960 was very much designed to be the Filipino take on Godzilla, but it appears fans of the franchise will never get to see what changes it made. There are no signs of Tokyo 1960 being shown again after its original theatrical release, and no clips of it are available. All that remains are some posters (via Lost Media Wiki), revealing it was helmed by Teodorico C. Santos and starred Tessie Quintana and Eddie del Mar. Even the existence of the movie is little known among Godzilla - who has eight powers - devotees, so unless it's recovered, it will likely remain that way.