THE EVOLUTION OF GODZILLA Godzilla has appeared in 28 movies since 1954's Gojira, often reflecting issues of the day in Japanese society. USA TODAY's Mike Snider geeks out on four sightings: 1962: King Kong vs. Godzilla Universal, on DVD with King Kong Escapes, $20 This battle of titans involves Kong being drugged and dropped on Mount Fuji, where he and Godzilla duke it out. This is when Godzilla changes from "being the serious conscience of Japan to a kids' monster," says William Tsutsui, author of Godzilla on My Mind.  1971 Godzilla vs. Hedora* Sony, on DVD, $22 Godzilla comes to the rescue against a creature that feasts on pollution. This time around, Godzilla looks almost like "a muppet," Tsutsui says. "He looked like Hello Kitty as much as a monster." *Released in U.S. theaters in 1972 as Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster  1998 Godzilla Sony, on DVD, $20 Godzilla goes Hollywood in a $130 million "event" picture. Why it's a fiasco to most fans: He looks like a refugee from Jurassic Park, is hurt by missiles and runs from the military. "People expected a monster that acts a certain way and looks a certain way and it didn't," says Steve Ryfle, author of Japan's Favorite Mon-Star. 2000 Godzilla Sony, on DVD, $10 Godzilla's last U.S. theatrical appearance (his last film was 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars, on DVD , $20). Here, Godzilla is "straight and serious" rather than "cartoony and comedic" as in the '60s and '70s, Tsutsui says.

Gojira, the 1954 film that introduced Godzilla, will be available Sept. 5 on DVD for the first time in the USA. The $22 two-disc set from Classic Media includes the U.S. version of the film, 1956's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, plus special features on the Godzilla suit and expert commentaries.

"This is the thing that Godzilla fans have been waiting for for decades," says University of Kansas professor William Tsutsui, author of Godzilla on My Mind. "I have a grainy bootleg tape with subtitles scratched in. To have a high-quality DVD is just heaven."

As in the later Saturday matinees, Godzilla is played by a man in a rubber suit, but Gojira conveyed a serious political statement. "If you try to put yourself into the mind-set of someone in Japan watching this film in 1954, it was quite a scary picture they were painting," says Steve Ryfle, author of Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G."

Godzilla is a sea-dwelling giant of a mix of Tyrannosaurus rex, iguanodon, stegosaurus and alligator who is awakened by the testing of nuclear bombs in the Pacific Ocean. Once ashore, Godzilla levels Tokyo. "It plays on the Japanese audience and its lingering fears from World War II," Tsutsui says.

"Some people feel Godzilla stands for the atomic bombs and nuclear devastation," he says. "Others say a conscience for the world that has tinkered too much with science. Nature has revenge through this movie. That's what makes the movie so chilling."

For U.S. audiences, director Terry Morse edited the film and added some scenes with Raymond Burr as Steve Martin, an American reporter covering Godzilla's attack on Japan. "They managed to take out much of its serious message," Tsutsui says.

Yet Godzilla still inspires. South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone plan to make Giant Monsters Attack Japan!, a live-action film using Godzilla-like rubber suits.

Says Tsutsui: "He's a beast for all times."