The VFX shot count for “Godzilla Minus One” isn’t just pared down compared to other Godzilla films, but compared to pretty much any modern genre blockbuster. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” reportedly used 1500 visual effects shots to render its primate-filled world, while the “Madame Web” effects team told Art of VFX that the Sony superhero flick had “over 1,100 shots” featuring digital elements. It’s not just major action-adventure franchises that are effects-happy these days, either; according to Animation World Network, 2023’s candy-colored mega hit comedy “Barbie” featured 1,300 shots with digital elements. That’s more than twice as many VFX shots as “Godzilla Minus One.”

The reason for the major disparity here is simple: budget. While most VFX-heavy American films have budgets in the hundreds of millions, “Godzilla Minus One” more than made do with a budget under $15 million. Most success stories written about the film cite its small budget and major box office returns, but the effects look so impressive that without being told, viewers may not realize how few there are. According to Yamazaki, the vast majority of the VFX shots were employed during the climax, with special attention paid to the moment in which the otherworldly monster crumbles to pieces and returns to the sea. It’s an impressive sequence that features a memorable visual: the monster’s atomic power, previously only shown via a heat ray blast traveling up its spine to its mouth, begins to shine through in startling blue beams of light as Godzilla breaks apart.