Takashi Yamazaki [Source: AP]

Godzilla, the nightmarish radiation spewing monster born out of nuclear weapons, has stomped through many movies, including several Hollywood remakes.

Takashi Yamazaki, the director behind the latest Godzilla movie, set for U.S. theatrical release later this year, was determined to bring out what he believes is the essentially Japanese spirituality that characterizes the 1954 original.

In that classic, directed by Ishiro Honda, a man sweated inside a rubber suit and trampled over cityscape miniatures to tell the story of a prehistoric creature mistakenly brought to life by radiation from nuclear testing in the Pacific. The monster in “Godzilla Minus One” is all computer graphics.

“I love the original Godzilla, and I felt I should stay true to that spirit, addressing the issues of war and nuclear weapons,” said Yamazaki, who also wrote the screenplay and oversaw the computerized special effects.

“There is a concept in Japan called ‘tatarigami.’ There are good gods, and there are bad gods. Godzilla is half-monster, but it’s also half-god.”

The world has been recently thrust into a period of uncertainty, with the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic. It was a mood that fit his supernatural “very Japanese” Godzilla, Yamazaki said at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where “Godzilla Minus One” is the closing film. It opens in Japanese theaters Friday.