Unmade Film
Intended Release: 1984

Resurrection of Godzilla (Nagahara Draft)

ゴジラの復活
[Gojira no Fukkatsu]

An incident occurs without warning. At the moment of Mt. Otake's eruption, a bright red pillar blows up from the mouth of a volcano, followed by the sound of a roar! The director of the Information Science Center, Shinpei Muraki, travels to the area to observe the phenomenon firsthand. 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 Akiko Inamura, daughter of physicist Dr. Inamura. Returning to his lab with Akiko, 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. Akiko points out how it resembles a Tyrannosaurus, which inhabited the earth about 70 million years ago.

Akiko goes to Dr. Inamura's lab accompanied by Muraki and Dr. J. Radner, a nuclear physicist, to show her father the photos and discuss what their implications may be. As they arrive, the group witnesses two men attempting to abduct Dr. Inamura - fortunately, when Muraki and Radner confront the men they quickly flee. Radner and Inamura suspect that the attempted kidnapping is due to Inamura's "Reikanium," a substance possessing a kind of super nuclear energy. Dr. Inamura explains that "Reikanium" may be 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 monkey-like dinosaur near Lake Suwa. Muraki has a book of mythology that identifies this Kajiu as the Enjin Reijuu, the Monkey 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. Akiko examines the photos that 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 Kaiju called Bakan.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, a freighter is illegally dumping nuclear waste into the ocean until it is caught in a mysterious whirlpool, sinking the ship. Since the ship's 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 strange cave located on a neighboring island. Unfortunately for them, most of the men are killed by carnivorous plants and huge ticks. A sole survivor by the name of Kagami 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 area that Kagami confessed was used as the illegal dumping ground.

Upon arriving at the site and dropping the survey ship's anchor, a nuclear submarine emerges from the depths. Dr. Inamura and company are ambushed by the same two men who had previously tried to kidnap him at his laboratory. But as the men attempt to lead Inamura to their submarine at gunpoint, 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 that what they are staring at is actually the lower body of a creature - Godzilla has been revived! The kidnappers flee once again upon seeing the monster. It is observed that Godzilla had been consuming the illegally dumped nuclear waste, giving him strength.

Meanwhile, in the Northern Alps, the Japanese SDF launches an attack against the Monkey God Beast. Missiles, tanks, rockets, and artillery are all used against the creature. The Monkey God Beast retreats into a tunnel in the side of a mountain causing the mountain to collapse. Then suddenly the Dragon God Beast emerges from beneath the collapsed mountain, and immediately takes flight. The SDF pursues the Dragon God Beast with a squadron of fighter jets. The jets injure the beast, but are unfortunately destroyed during the confrontation. The injured Dragon God Beast crashes into the ocean as if to mend its wounds. Once in the water, the beast transforms into the Water God Beast and it is discovered that when Bakan changes shape it also heals itself.

After the failure of conventional weapons against the monster, the SDF decide that it is time to release several "Super-Weapons" that they have been developing. The SDF sends out Giant Bus which is equipped with a giant arm able to capture submariners; Flying Angel, a specialized craft capable of vertical takeoff and landing; and the Super Beetle, a vehicle that has excellent underwater mobility and can fire hundreds of shots per minute. The "Super-Weapons" are joined by a fleet of submarines and battle cruisers called Club Caesars, all of whom search diligently for the Water God Beast. The Kaiju is eventually spotted, and the Club Caesars fleet goes on the offensive, injuring it as well as severing one of its arms. The victory is short-lived however, as a tidal wave destroys the fleet as Godzilla arrives. The Water God Beast leaps out of the water at Godzilla, changing into the Dragon God Beast. Godzilla quickly dispatches the creature by shooting it with an atomic ray, causing the Dragon God Beast to fall back into the sea. It changes back to the Water God Beast, and then once again to the Dragon God Beast and in the process heals its wounds. The creature again attacks Godzilla, but this time the Super Beetle interrupts the battle, only to be quickly destroyed as the two Kajiu continue their fight. The Dragon God Beast lands on a nearby mountaintop, and transforms itself into the Monkey God Beast. The creature continues to attack Godzilla, this time by grabbing boulders off the mountain and throwing them at Godzilla. After several direct hits the worn-out Godzilla collapses in the water, and the Monkey God Beast disappears into the mountains triumphantly.

Eventually, Godzilla rises out of the water and drags itself in the direction of the Kanto Nuclear Power Plant. Upon reaching the power plant, Godzilla attacks the reactor building, causing it to leak radioactivity. The monster then lowers its head into the ruins of the facility, and its body begins to glow, sparking with pale energy. Godzilla quickly absorbs the energy, becoming completely revitalized, and then heads toward Mt. Fuji seeking the Monkey God Beast. Upon finding the creature Godzilla attacks it, and with renewed energy quickly overpowers the creature. The creature changes shape to its Dragon God Beast form and continues its attack on Godzilla. Godzilla blasts both of the monster's wings and sends it falling into the sea in agony. Suddenly, the creature begins a different kind of transformation. From the chest of the Dragon God Beast, the webbed hands, feet, and face of the Water God Beast begins to form, then the arms, legs, and face of the Monkey God Beast also take shape on the Dragon God Beast's body. The Demon Beast Bakan's true form is revealed for the first time. However, once in this form Bakan is unable to transform out of it, and as a result can no longer heal itself. Underestimating its revitalized opponent, Bakan is eventually dispatched by Godzilla, and Bakan dies in the sea having exhausted all its power. Godzilla immediately proceeds to the Numazu Industrial Zone following the fight, destroying the complex and disappearing 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 Reikanium against Godzilla. Inamura stubbornly refuses, stating that its potential as a weapon outweights that of destroying Godzilla.

Meanwhile, Akiko is traveling to her family's villa in the Hakone area. While riding on a ropeway up towards the house the power in the area is suddenly interrupted due to Godzilla's advance. Muraki realizes that Akiko may be 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 Akiko. 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, jumping over a sea of fire beneath them. The couple safely returns to Dr. Inamura's laboratory, where Akiko begs her father to use the Reikanium against Godzilla, to which after learning of his daughter's plight Dr. Inamura finally agrees.

The Reikanium weapon is readied and placed in a trap baited with radioactive fuel on the remote Bayonnaise Atoll, with military satellites on standby to carry out the strategy. The bait lures Godzilla to the area, but the weapon malfunctions. Dr. Radner volunteers to go to 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 necessary repairs. With a heavy heart, Dr. Inamura activates the Reikanium device before Godzilla can escape, and the monster is engulfed by a pale flame as nuclear fusion begins inside its body, turning it incandescent. The beast falls into the sea as its body burns, and 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, vows: "Radner, I will not waste your death! I will continue fighting for the peaceful use of nuclear weapons as long as I live."

Several months later, Godzilla's body floats ashore onto the west coast of the United States, where a variety of nuclear power plants are stationed. Shortly after washing ashore, Godzilla's eyes open and it lets loose an earth-shattering roar - a living testament that so long as nuclear energy exists, so does Godzilla.

LOST PROJECT HISTORY

Also commonly referred to as "The Reawakening of Godzilla", this project is the most well known of the numerous Resurrection of Godzilla drafts. While largely similar to Resurrection of Godzilla (Tanaka Proposal) from 1980, several noteworthy changes include Bakan having a totem-like "true form" to battle Godzilla, the helicopter sequence with Akiko and Muraki, a number of new "Super-Weapons", the lack of Dr. Inamura's wife, and the introduction of Dr. J. Radner, who dies in place of Dr. Inamura.

Despite most of the changes made over the last half of the story, almost the entire script was scrapped and reworked during the development of what would eventually become The Return of Godzilla (1984), with the exception of the lead characters being left behind after a helicopter rescue and Godzilla's hunger for nuclear material. Despite this, this draft is the most developed script for a Lost Project in general, having listed narration and even a credit sequence, as the title "Resurrection of Godzilla" was supposed to flash across the screen after Godzilla's roar at the end of the movie.

Ultimately, however, the script remains fairly rough, as human interaction is rather dry in comparison to Tanaka's proposal, and a number of the newly-added "Super-Weapons" were very undeveloped. The name for the super nucleus "Reikanium" is also fairly strange, as Dr. Inamura's wife isn't mentioned in summaries of the screenplay. The anti-climax to the film is also a downfall, unlike the final script for The Return of Godzilla (1984) which quickly wraps the story up after Godzilla destroys the Super-X, or even Tanaka's proposal which featured a much more intense sequence featuring Akiko following the defeat of Bakan.

Overall the idea was very lavish, but simply too much so as the reason for the script being brough back to the drawing board was it still being deemed too expensive to produce.

The first draft for a "resurrection of Godzilla" was pitched in 1978 by Ryu Mitsuse, but the concept constructed by Akira Murao and Tomoyuki Tanaka in 1980 was what Hideichi Nagahara's manuscript was most heavily influenced by. Much later, near the end of 1983, this revised draft of the 30th anniversary Godzilla film still retained the title of Tanaka's proposal, with an intended release sometime in 1984. But eventually, as more revisions were made by Hideichi Nagahara and Akira Murao, elements such as Reikanium and Bakan were dropped altogether, and the title was changed to simply "Godzilla" in Japan, with "The Return of Godzilla" being used as the International title for the production.

Monsters

Aliens, SDF & Misc.

Background and Trivia

• The article picture featuring Bakan's final form was colored by artist hea777 using Hurricane Ryu's illustration as a basis for use by Toho Kingdom. It was not created by Toho nor is it their official look for the unused character.
• One of the most common mistakes regarding Nagahara's draft is its date - the draft was proposed sometime late in 1983, with an expected release later in 1984. The year most associated with this unmade movie, 1980, actually belongs to Resurrection of Godzilla (Tanaka Proposal). Despite Tanaka's version of the script being deemed too pricey, Nagahara's draft largely added more new material to the story and removed little in exchange.
• Strangely, there is no mention of what happens to the "Super-Weapon" Flying Angel in summaries about the movie, though it is presumably destroyed during Godzilla's bout with Bakan halfway through the story.

Images

Concept Evolution