Godzilla Minus One 2023*
[...Intercepting a distress call from the Pacific Fleet attack submarine reporting the pursuit of a massive undersea organism through Pacific waters. After successfully photographing the target, the submarine made contact and was destroyed. Wreck reconnaissance picked up high radioactive emissions where the hull collided with the enemy creature's skin. The colossal sea creature is projected on a course to reach the Japanese archipelago within a few weeks. The US stated with regret that recent Soviet movements prevent US military assistance but called upon Japan to begin strengthening its security forces]
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[Blockade breached! It's heading to Tokyo! And it is gargantuan!]
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[...It's a scene that defies belief, a giant creature on the loose trampling Ginza underfoot! Tearing whole buildings apart! The Ginza survived the air raids but not this! This monster has turned it to rubble! Damage wreaked by the giant creature includes some 30,000 killed and injured and 20,000 homes and buildings destroyed. Recovery operations are underway, but the path the creature took carries the risk of radiation that is impeding progress. Police have cordoned off central Ginza to collect shards of the creature which are of unknown composition and potentially hazardous]
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- Godzilla cannot be hurt by conventional firearms. I saw it take heavy artillery fire from the guns of the Takao class cruiser but quickly heal itself. At over 1,500 meters in depth, the Sagami Trench is the deepest place in nearby waters. The plan is to strap freon cylinders to Godzilla and let them foam. We create a bubble membrane. It'll sink so rapidly that the pressure will crush it. Two ships will corral Godzilla and wrap it in cable. The cable will have multiple freon gas cylinders attached to it. The gas will be released as it's being tied. And Godzilla will take a rapid plunge of 1,500 meters. Godzilla is an unknown organism. We can only predict what will happen.
- What if that plan fails?
- There is a Plan B. This is an inflatable levitation device like the kind used in Navy aircraft. CO2 is shot into air sacs for buoyancy. It's a life preserver. When Godzilla hits the sea floor, we raise it quickly back up to the surface. If it bears the pressure, it'll then contend with massive decompression. I can't say for sure that it wouldn't survive. But we must do what we can. I know it's my plan. But I'm feeling we'll need a miracle to make it work.
- Doing nothing won't cause a miracle, either. We all came through war**. This time, we're making it right.
- Come to think of it this country has treated life far too cheaply**. Poorly armored tanks. Poor supply chains resulting in half of all deaths from starvation and disease. Fighter planes built without ejection seats. And finally, kamikaze and suicide attacks. That's why this time I'd take pride in a citizen led effort that sacrifices no lives at all! This next battle is not one waged to the death. But a battle to live for the future.
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original title·····ゴジラ-1.0 (Gojira Mainasu Wan)
language·········Japanese
**
Set in postwar Japan. The title refers to how Godzilla's destruction changed Japan's position from a postwar zero situation to a minus.
The fifth film in the Gojira franchise's Reiwa era (Shin Godzilla 2016, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters 2017, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle 2018, Godzilla: The Planet Eater 2018)
Written, directed, and visual effects by Takashi Yamazaki (Space Battleship Yamato 2010, Parasyte: Part 1 2014, Parasyte: Part 2 2015)
Shin Godzilla (2016) baluwada?