Serving as a direct sequel to Ishirō Honda’s seminal 1954 original while completely resetting the franchise timeline, The Return of Godzilla (released internationally as Godzilla 1985) returns the iconic creature to his dark, terrifying roots as a destructive metaphor for nuclear anxiety. The story begins when a volcanic eruption unleashes a new, much larger Godzilla, who instantly targets a Soviet nuclear submarine to feed on its radiation.
The incident ignites an intense Cold War diplomatic crisis, pushing the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of war until the Japanese government reveals the true culprit. Caught in the middle of two superpowers eager to use nuclear weapons against the beast, Japan’s Prime Minister refuses, deploying instead the military’s top-secret aerial fortress, the Super X.
As a team of scientists desperately scrambles to find a way to lure the beast into a volcanic trap using a magnetic homing signal, Godzilla enters Tokyo, leaving a path of absolute devastation in his wake.