How Kim Jong Il Kidnapped a Director, Made a Cult Hit Godzilla Knockoff (2015)
9 comments
·May 3, 2025marc_abonce
Just to clarify, the article is from 2015, but the actual movie is from 1985:
Rendello
It's on YouTube:
CameronBanga
This is why the movie tariffs are a matter of national security.
domoregood
Story is from 2015, but here's the readable link anyhow:
ivape
Why did they have to resort to kidnapping though? There's so many people that will do anything for money. I must be missing something about North Korea.
JumpCrisscross
> I must be missing something about North Korea
Sanctions.
Rendello
Though interestingly:
> though Kim despised the Japanese, he set aside his pride and flew in the special-effects team of the original films, along with Kenpachiro Satsuma, the man inside the Godzilla suit. According to Satsuma, he and his crew members thought they had been hired for a film shooting in China when they landed in North Korea instead.
The production and release sections of the Wikipedia article are interesting. It was intended for wide release by a Japanese company, then banned by the NK government after the director fled. In the 90s it saw a wide release, even in South Korea. The then-escaped director tried to sue it off the air.
null
Really curious what modern North Korean cinema is like, especially compared to the slick South Korean productions. One of my favorite childhood movies growing up in late 80s Soviet Union was Hong Kil Dong, a campy North Korean martial arts movie, with a folk hero battling evil ninjas. Played across Eastern European movie theaters. Rewatching it as an adult, I was surprised how little propaganda there was in it. According to Wikipedia, the creators were inspired by Shin Sang Ok, the kidnapped director.