Godzilla Minus Zero director reveals Oppenheimer inspiration behind brutal New York scene

*Warning: Spoilers ahead for Godzilla Minus Zero*

Godzilla Minus Zero has finally arrived, and it well and truly lives up to expectations. And if the horrifying New York scene reminded you of another film, you’re not alone. Director Takashi Yamazaki has now confirmed his movie’s connection to Oppenheimer. 

Taking place two years after Godzilla Minus One, the kaiju film sees postwar Japan still feeling the effects of Godzilla’s attacks. And if that weren’t enough, the country now faces a new threat in the form of an extraterrestrial parasite they name King Ghidorah.

After human intervention proves unsuccessful, Hiroshima bombing survivor Kanji Murakami (Min Tanaka) and other scientists realise that the only way to defeat it is by having Godzilla take down King Ghidorah.

What no one realises is that Murakami is secretly plotting to use the Resonance Wave Amplifier – a device capable of summoning Godzilla – to avenge his family. His wife, daughter and grandson were killed by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and so he wants to use Godzilla to destroy New York. 

As his plan is revealed, Godzilla Minus Zero shows a horrifying sequence in which Gojira unleashes his atomic breath on the city. In the process, he destroys the Statue of Liberty like it’s a piece of paper. We also see a huge nuclear fireball forming, causing the faces of passersby to melt from their skulls. 

In the end, Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) convinces Murakami to drop his plan for revenge. The scene was simply in his head, but it doesn’t take away from the sheer horror of it all. Especially as we’ve already seen the bodies of Murakami’s family in the aftermath of the attack on Hiroshima.

These sequences are reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. And it turns out, there’s a reason for this. 

Godzilla Minus Zero is a response to Oppenheimer

Although it’s not a direct sequel, director Takashi Yamazaki has since revealed that Godzilla Minus Zero is his spiritual response to Nolan’s 2023 movie. 

Speaking to Time, he explained that he met Nolan at the 2024 Oscars, where both Godzilla Minus One and Oppenheimer won awards. 

“As part of our conversation I told him, ‘One day I think I would like to make a response to your movie,’” Yamazaki said. 

“In my mind I was thinking I’d develop a film that looks directly at Hiroshima. But then I began thinking, ‘Wait – Godzilla is itself a metaphor for nuclear war. Maybe I can combine the two and make a Godzilla movie that is also an answer to Oppenheimer.’”

And it makes perfect sense when you think about it. Godzilla has represented the horrors of nuclear weapons ever since the original 1954 film, which was released less than a decade after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

But Godzilla Minus Zero is even more explicit in showing the devastation and destruction left behind. Not only do we see it in the New York scene, but also in the charred bodies of Murakami’s family.

Although Oppenheimer was widely praised, one criticism was that it stopped short of showing the true horror of the effects of the atomic bomb. But this film does not shy away from these moments. 

Elaborating on this, Yamazaki told Time, “It was important to show as many people as possible what the effects of an atomic bomb would really look like. With the violence we see in New York City, I think back to Terminator 2, where James Cameron shows audiences what nuclear war does to us.

“I wanted to evoke something similar because it’s very important for it to feel relatable – to jog our imaginations in a way that says, ‘Wow. This is real. It is a very violent act.’”

What King Ghidorah represents in Godzilla Minus Zero

As for Ghidorah, it represents a different kind of catastrophe. Yamazaki told Den of Geek that the monster’s influence on the weather is a metaphor for natural disasters. 

“The way in which he interacts with or affects the weather is a metaphor for a natural disaster… which Japan suffered a lot,” the director told the outlet. 

“There were a lot of disastrous typhoons that we had to survive through in our postwar era, which is also a reason that our postwar recovery was a bit delayed as well. So it does symbolise the turmoil and catastrophe that we had to survive in that era in Japan.”

But, as said, it’s Murakami’s storyline that brings the film’s message about nuclear weapons into focus. 

Discussing the New York sequence with The Playlist, Yamazaki explained, “I think war, at its core, is an infinite cycle between this unchecked rage and revenge that will trigger the next cycle of revenge, etc., etc. 

“And if you look at human history, I think you could probably trace a bunch of different sequences and stretches of centuries that are informed by and a result of this cycle of revenge. 

“So I wanted to express that idea through Godzilla itself, and just sort of this foolish nature of human arrogance, but also of hope.”

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Featured image credit: Toho/Universal Pictures