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When Mt. Otake erupts, the director of the Information
Science Center, Shinpei Muraki, travels to the area to observe
the phenomenon first hand. While conducting his studies, he sees
a woman who is quickly fleeing the area. Muraki offers his assistance
to the woman in escaping from the danger zone. She accepts and
identifies herself as Akikuko Inamura, daughter of physicist Dr.
Inamura. Returning to his lab with Akikuko, Muraki develops the
rolls of film which he took of Mt. Otake's eruption, and much
to his surprise, discovers a dinosaur like silhouette in the flames.
Akikuko goes to Dr. Inamura's lab accompanied by Muraki and Dr.
Radner, a nuclear physicist, to show her father the photos and
discuss what their implications maybe. As they arrive, the group
witnesses two men attempting to abduct Dr. Inamura; fortunately,
when Muraki and Radner confront the two they quickly flee. Radner
and Inamura suspect that the attempted kidnapping is due to Inamura's
"Reiconium," a substance possessing a kind of super
nuclear energy. Dr. Inamura explains that "Reiconium"
maybe used as fuel for a new generation of safe nuclear power
plants; consequently, it is also viable as a weapon containing
several times the destructive power of modern nuclear weapons.
Shortly afterwards, reports come in that several
people have sighted a dinosaur like creature resembling an ape
near Lake Saiwa. Muraki has a book of mythology that identifies
this Kajiu as the Enjin Reijuu, the Ape God Beast. Coincidentally
at a distance of 50 meters from the lake, another monster appears,
this one reptilian in shape which legend calls Mizu Reijuu, the
Water God Beast. Akikuko examines the photos which Muraki took
at Mt. Otake and discovers that the creature seen at the eruption
is actually Doragon Reijuu, the Dragon God Beast. According legend
the three different beasts are actually incarnations of a single
Kajiu called Bagan.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Pacffic Ocean, a freighter
is illegally dumping nuclear waste into the ocean until a unexplained
disaster occurs, sinking the ship. Since their whereabouts' were
supposed to be secret, no distress signal is sent out. Several
members of the crew survive and manage to take refuge in a weird
cave located on a neighboring island. Unfortunately most of the
men are killed by carnivorous plants and giant ticks called Shokilas.
A sole survivor by the name of Tagami manages to escape the island
and tell local islanders the story. The islanders believe that
what the crew found wasn't a cave at all but actually part of
Godzilla's body. Upon hearing the story Dr. Inamura and his associates
decide to investigate the nuclear waste processing plant that
Tagami confessed was involved in the illegal dumping.
Upon arriving at the seaside facility, Dr. Inamura
is ambushed by the same two men who had previously tried to kidnap
him at his laboratory. But as they lead Inamura to their secretly
docked submarine the sky suddenly grows dark and a deafening sound
like thunder fills the air. The men realize that the sky hasn't
grown dark, but what they are staring at is actually the lower
body of a creature, just as Godzilla lets out a terrifying roar.
The kidnappers flee once again upon seeing Godzilla. It is noted
that Godzilla has been consuming the illegally dumped nuclear
waste and was able to trace it back to its source. Godzilla then
starts to consume nuclear energy at the nuclear waste processing
plant growing even stronger.
Meanwhile, in the Northern Alps the Japanese SDF
launches an attack against Enjin Reijuu. Missiles, tanks, rockets,
and artillery are all used against the creature. Enjin Reijuu
retreats into a tunnel in the side of a mountain causing the mountain
to collapse. Then suddenly Doragon Reijuu emerges from beneath
the collapsed mountain, and immediately takes flight. The SDF
pursues Doragon Reijuu with a squadron of fighter jets. The jets
injury the beast, but are unfortunately destroyed during the confrontation.
The injured Doragon Reijuu crashes into the ocean. Once in the
water the beast transforms into the Mizu Reijuu and it is discovered
that when Bagan changes shape it also heals itself.
After the failure of conventional weapons against
the monster, the SDF decide that its time to release several "super
weapons" that they have been developing. The SDF sends out
Giant Basu which is equipped with a giant arm able to capture
submariners. With it are the VTOL fighters which are special craft
capable of vertical take off and landing. Joing them is the Super
Beetle, a vehicle that has excellent underwater mobility. The
"super weapons" are joined by a fleet of submarines
and battle cruisers as they search for Mizu Reijuu. The beast
is eventually spotted, and torpedoes are fired and the creature,
injuring it as well as severing one of it's arms. The victory
is short lived how ever, as a tidal wave destroys the fleet as
Godzilla arrives. Mizu Reijuu leaps out of the water at Godzilla
changing into Doragon Reijuu. Godzilla quickly dispatches the
creature by shooting it with his atomic breath, causing Doragon
Reijuu to fall back into the sea. It changes back to Mizu Reijuu,
and then once again to Doragon Reijuu and in the process heals
its wounds. The creature once again attacks Godzilla, but this
time the Super Beetle interrupts the fight, but only to be destroyed
and the two Kajiu continue there fight. Doragon Reijuu lands on
a nearby mountain top, and transforms itself into Enjin Reijuu.
The creature continues to attack Godzilla, this time by grabbing
boulders off the mountain and throwing them at Godzilla. After
several direct hits Godzilla collapses in the water, and Enjin
Reijuu disappears into the mountain.
Eventually Godzilla manages to rise out of the water
and he slowly heads in the direction of the Kanto Nuclear Power
Plant. Upon reaching the power plant, Godzilla attacks the reactor
building, demolishing it. The monster then lowers it's head into
the ruins of, and it's body begins to glow, sparking with blue
white energy. He quickly absorbs the energy and then heads toward
the Mount Fuji seeking Enjin Reijuu. Upon finding the creature
Godzilla attacks it, and with his renewed energy quickly over
powers the creature. The creature changes shape to the Doragon
Reijuu form and continues its attack on Godzilla. Godzilla blasts
both of the monsters wings causing it to fall into the sea, and
then the creature begins a different kind of transformation. From
the chest of Doragon Reijuu, the arms, legs, and face of the Mizu
Reijuu begin to form, then the arms, legs, and face of the Enjin
Reijuu also take shape on Doragon Reijuu's body. Bagan's true
form is revealed, however once Bagan is in this form he can not
change out of it, and as a result can no longer heal himself.
Godzilla makes quick work of Bagan's new form, and Bagan dies
falling into the sea.
Godzilla destroys an oil field, and then disappears
into the sea. When Godzilla reappears in Izu, it is feared that
Godzilla will next attack Tokyo. With its "super weapons"
destroyed the SDF has no choice but to ask Dr. Inamura to use
his Reiconium against Godzilla. Inamura refuses stating that its
potential as a weapon out weights that of destroying Godzilla.
Meanwhile, Akikuko is traveling to her family's
cottage in the Hakone area. While riding on a ropeway up towards
the cottage the power in the area is suddenly interrupted due
Godzilla approaching the area. Muraki realizes that Akikuko maybe
in danger, so he joins a helicopter rescue mission sent into the
area in a attempt to rescue her. The team is unable to rescue
everyone from the ropeway so the helicopter departs leaving behind
Muraki and Akikuko among others. As the helicopter takes off,
it is suddenly blasted from the sky by Godzilla. Threatened by
the monster's presence, the couple manages to find a hang glider
and escape from the area. The couple returns to Dr. Inamura' s
laboratory, where Akikuko begs her father to use the Reiconium
against Godzilla,and finally Dr. Inamura agrees.
The Reiconium weapon is readied and placed in a
trap baited with radioactive fuel on the remote Beonase Atoll.
The bait lures Godzilla to the area, but the weapon malfunctions.
Dr. Radner volunteers to go onto the atoll to repair the damage
before Godzilla gets away. Dr. Radner is successful in repairing
the device but is crushed by Godzilla shortly after making the
neccasary repairs. Before Godzilla can escape Dr. Inamura activates
the Reiconium device and Godzilla is engulfed by a blue-white
flame as nuclear fusion begins inside his body. The Kajiu falls
into the sea, as the surface is rocked by an enormous explosion.
Dr. Inamura is convinced that his weapon has worked and tells
his daughter that even though Dr. Radner was not able to die on
his own time. As long as I live I shall fight for peace in this
Nuclear Age.
Several months later, Godzilla's body floats ashore
on the west coast of the United States, next to the beach is a
nuclear power plant, and shortly after washing ashore Godzilla's
eyes open and he lets loose a earth shattering roar.
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This project is noteworthy for a variety of reasons.
Foremost though is because it introduces Bagan, the most famous
lost creation of all time, whose failed carrier would spread across
a decade and a half. Another reason is the great transition that
the script went through before it went in front of the camera
4 years later. Almost the entire script was scrapped with the
exception of the lead characters being left behind after a helicopter
rescue and Godzilla's hunger for nuclear material. Also this is
the most developed script for a Lost Project, it was done even
down to the narration and credit sequence as the title 'The Return
of Godzilla' was supposed to flash across the screen at the end
of the movie.
Ultimately though the script is still rather rough,
human interaction is rather dry and mimics that seen in the first
Godzilla too much. One can not complain about the monster cast
though, as seeing this many in a Heisei film would have truly
been a treat. Of course the idea of the SDF's 'Super Weapons'
was very undeveloped, what's the point of introducing them if
there only purpose is to be quickly destroyed along with conventional
weapons? Also the anti-climax to the film is also a downfall,
unlike the final script for 'The Return of Godzilla' which quickly
wraps the story up after Godzilla destroys the Super-X, this one
continues going as Bagan dies about 2/3 the way through the movie.
Overall the idea was very lavish, but probably
too much so as the reason for the script being brough back
to the drawing board was beacuse Tanaka couldn't get the finacing
for such a project.
The initial concept was pitched in 1980, and
was constructed by Akira Murao and Tomoyuki
Tanaka. Much later, in 1984, the first draft of the 30th
anniversary Godzilla film by Tomoyuki
Tanaka and Shuichi Nagahara still retained the title,
although dropped this concept. Eventually, it was revisied
and the title changed to simply "Godzilla", although
"The Return of Godzilla" would end up being used
as the International title to the production.
Note, the name Sokunikusu was not the Kajiu's official
name, as the creature was unnamed when the project was canned.
Also no picture of Bagan (1st Generation) exists beyond a concept
art drawing for the script. The above picture of him was done
through the Toho Kingdom's interpretation of the concept
drawing, using it as a model and then coloring it in and fleshing
it out a bit.
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