Godzilla shelved over sub tragedy

Godzilla: The 1998 movie was considered potentially upsetting

Japanese TV has postponed screening a Godzilla movie because of scenes that could remind viewers of a recent collision between a US submarine and a Japanese trawler.

Nippon Television Network Corp (NTV) had planned to show the 1998 Hollywood movie, in which the monster attacks some fishing boats, on 2 March.

But following the collision between the USS Greenville nuclear submarine and the Japanese trawler on 9 February, NTV decided not to show the film out of respect for the victims.

The USS Greeneville collided with a Japanese trawler

Nine of the 35 people aboard the Japanese ship are missing, presumed drowned, after the trawler sank.

The accident has strained relations between Japan and the US.

In Japan itself, it has also fuelled demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori for his seemingly nonchalant reaction to the tragedy.

Japan has said it wants to send the captain of the sunken vessel to participate in the US Navy's investigations into whether three officers from the submarine should be disciplined.

Godzilla tradition

In the opening of the 1998 film, the monster Godzilla emerges from the ocean to attack and sink Japanese fishing boats in rough seas.

The film, starring Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno, sees nuclear testing accidentally resurrect Godzilla, a huge dinosaur-like monster.

The monster takes over Manhattan, leaving Broderick and his friends to stop it before it destroys the whole city - and maybe the world.

Godzilla films are part of a long tradition, originating in Japan in 1956 with Godzilla, King of the Monsters from director Ishiro Honda.

It has since been remade several times in various countries using genres from horror to comedy to cartoon.