When Does "The Return of Godzilla" (1984) Take Place?
"Gojira" (released for English-speaking audiences as "The Return of Godzilla" or "Godzilla: The Legend is Reborn" and for Chinese-speaking audiences as "Jī Miè Rìběn Guó"/"Destruction of Japan") is an adventure horror (kaiju) film written by Shuichi Nagahara with Tomoyuki Tanaka, Hideichi Nagahara, and Fred Dekker and released December 15th, 1984.
It takes place in the year:
We know this because, when reporter Goro Maki meets Professor Makoto Hayashida at the Hayashida Bioscience Institute, he says, "I understand you lost your parents in Godzilla's attack 30 years ago.", referring to the events of the original film, "Gojira" (1954), which takes place in 1954 AD.
1984 AD
We know this because, when reporter Goro Maki meets Professor Makoto Hayashida at the Hayashida Bioscience Institute, he says, "I understand you lost your parents in Godzilla's attack 30 years ago.", referring to the events of the original film, "Gojira" (1954), which takes place in 1954 AD.
[Hayashida later says, “Godzilla was defeated at Odo Island 30 years ago”, referring to the first sighting of Godzilla in the original film, "Gojira" (1954). A different Godzilla attacks a different version of Odo Island in the remake, "Godzilla Minus One" (2023), in 1945 AD.]
1954 + 30 = 1984.
It takes place in the year:
We know this because the scene between reporter Goro Maki and Professor Makoto Hayashida has the same dialogue but, in this cut, it refers to the events of "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" (1956), which are specifically said to have occurred in 1956 AD.
It has been retroactively absorbed into the MonsterVerse Universe at a chronologically early spot (a second chronological film to feature Godzilla) and can be watched at its timeline point or as part of an extended flashback before "Godzilla vs. Kong" (2021) [with or without the "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" (2023) TV show].
It was adapted to prose in 1984, to comics in 1985, and as a video game in 1985.
There is also a heavily edited cut of the film written by Lisa Tomei and released for Western audiences with a few extra scenes written by Straw Weisman and shot with U.S. actor Raymond Burr reprising his role from the Americanized cut of the original film. This was released as "Godzilla 1985" August 23rd, 1985. It is an entirely different version of the film and functions as a sequel to "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" (1956).
1986 AD
We know this because the scene between reporter Goro Maki and Professor Makoto Hayashida has the same dialogue but, in this cut, it refers to the events of "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" (1956), which are specifically said to have occurred in 1956 AD.
1956 + 30 = 1986.
[HOWEVER, both cuts take place in 1954 AD according to calendars visible in the background of "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" (1956).]
It has been retroactively absorbed into the MonsterVerse Universe at a chronologically early spot (a second chronological film to feature Godzilla).
