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Film character 'Godzilla' blows off steam as it arrives for
a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in
Hollywood, California November 29, 2004. The movie icon
celebrates its 50th anniversary with the star as well as the
premiere of the film 'Godzilla Final Wars.'
(Reuters) | |
Fifty years after he first lumbered from the sea to breathe
fire, trample cities and thrill generations of filmgoers, Japan's most
famous movie monster, Godzilla, was honored with a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame recently.
The gargantuan reptile is
the latest in a pantheon of
famous critters, including
Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny and Woody Woodpecker, to have his name enshrined on Hollywood Boulevard
along with 2,200 flesh-and-blood stars, like Cary Grant and John Wayne.
Accepting the honor on behalf of the self-proclaimed "King of the
Monsters" was the 5-foot-4-inch-tall Japanese actor who plays Godzilla on
screen, Tsutomo Kitagawa. The actor donned the fearsome rubber suit he
wears in his latest picture, "Godzilla Final Wars," which opens on Dec. 4
in Japan.
The film is the 28th Godzilla adventure produced by Japanese studio
Toho Co. Ltd. since the giant, prehistoric lizard, awakened by atomic bomb
tests, first roared out of the Pacific to threaten civilization in the
original 1954 movie.
A metaphor for the perils of the nuclear age, the film was made nine
years after the end of World War II, when the firebombing of Tokyo and
atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were still fresh in Japan's
national consciousness.
Soon after it was released in Japan, Hollywood producers bought U.S.
rights to the film and instead of dubbing it into English, they recut the
original with new scenes starring Raymond Burr as an American reporter
covering the monster's rampage through Tokyo.
Although Godzilla was a deadly and destructive force in his big-screen
debut, the fire-breathing beast returned in subsequent films to save
mankind from other monsters.
Several of his former outsized foes, including the giant moth-like
creature Mothra, make comeback appearances in "Final Wars," which Toho is
touting as its last Godzilla tale -- at least for now.
"So long as Godzilla can fascinate people, I believe he will be resurrected by new generations of
filmmakers in the future," producer Shogo Tomiyama said.
Godzilla's star was unveiled outside Hollywood's landmark Grauman's
Chinese Theatre, where his latest film was set for its world premiere.
A throng of onlookers shouted "We love you, Godzilla!" and "Viva
Godzilla!" as the monster posed for pictures, spewed bursts of
carbon-dioxide gas at photographers from his jaws and danced a few steps
with Hollywood's honorary mayor, Johnny Grant.
(Agencies) |
50年前，它步履笨重地走出海面，口吐火焰，踐踏城市，令幾代影迷膽戰心驚；50年后，日本最著名的電影怪獸“哥斯拉”在好萊塢星光大道上贏得了一顆“星星”。
這只體形龐大的爬行動物是星光大道“卡通生物園”里的新成員，這里還住著米老鼠、賓尼兔和啄木鳥伍迪等。怪獸哥斯拉把自己的名字銘刻在好萊塢大道上，和卡里·格蘭特、約翰·韋恩等2200名真人明星一起名載史冊。
怪獸哥斯拉的扮演者、身高5英尺4英寸的日本男演員村田雄浩代表自稱“怪獸之王”的哥斯拉接受了這份榮譽。他身穿可怕的橡膠外套，這也是他在最新影片《哥斯拉：最后戰爭》中的怪獸造型。該片將于12月4日在日本公映。
這部電影是自1954年首部哥斯拉電影問世以來的第28部哥斯拉冒險系列電影，由日本學者影業公司制作。在1954年拍攝的最早的影片中，這條龐大的史前蜥蜴在一次原子彈試驗中蘇醒，首次咆哮著浮出太平洋，威脅人類文明。
作為對核時代危機的隱喻，這部電影拍攝于二戰結束后第9年，當時東京遭火焰炸彈空襲事件和廣島、長崎的原子彈爆炸事件在日本民族的意識里仍然鮮活。
這部影片在日本發行后不久，好萊塢制片人就購買了它在美國放映的版權。他們并沒有用英語給它配音，而是重新剪切了母片，由雷蒙德·伯爾飾演的美國記者來報導怪獸踐踏東京的狂暴行為。
盡管怪獸哥斯拉首次亮相電影銀屏時代表的是一種破壞性極強的致命力量，但在后來的影片中，這頭噴火野獸回歸善良，從其他怪獸手中拯救人類。
它從前的幾位頭號敵人，包括蛾形巨型生物摩斯拉也在新片《哥斯拉：最后戰爭》中再次現身。學者影業公司聲稱這是他們制作的最后一部哥斯拉電影——至少現在來說是這樣的。
“只要哥斯拉能讓人們著迷，我相信將來他會在新一代電影制作人手中復興的。”制片人富山莊五說。
哥斯拉的“好萊塢之星”已在好萊塢地標格勞門中國劇院外面揭幕，哥斯拉最新影片也將在這里舉行全球首映儀式。
當這頭怪獸擺好造型準備拍照，張開大口向攝影師噴出二氧化碳爆炸氣體，還和好萊塢名譽市長強尼·格蘭特跳起了舞，這時，一群旁觀者大喊“我們愛你，哥斯拉！”，“哥斯拉萬歲！”
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2004-12-02 10:35