Katsuhiro Otomo 's '' Akira '' had also influenced the visual design of the film , Edwards stated , " ... one of our designers on the film - a friend called Matt - when we were designing things , and got stuck , we 'd always go , ' What would Akira do ? ' " For the film 's cinematography , Edwards wanted " ... to do this beautifully real documentary vibe , but also that classic Spielberg style " . Ishirō Honda 's '' Godzilla '' ( 1954 ) also inspired the film , Edwards stated , " Godzilla is a metaphor for Hiroshima in the original movie . We tried to keep that , and there are a lot of themes from the '54 movie that we 've kept . " Real life events such as the 2004 Indian tsunami , Hurricane Katrina , and the Fukushima nuclear disaster served as heavy influences on the realism behind the film 's destruction scenes and man vs. nature themes . Edwards had also cited action films from the late 70 's and early 80 's having influenced the film as well , stating , " We tried to make a blockbuster that harks back to the pace and style of the early ’80s and late ’70s action movies . " Film composer Alexandre Desplat was hired to compose an original soundtrack for '' Godzilla '' . Desplat had not composed previously for a monster film , having worked on movies such as '' The King 's Speech , '' '' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , '' and the final two '' Harry Potter '' films . Desplat accepted the contract after being impressed with Edwards ' film '' Monsters '' . Desplat describes the soundtrack for '' Godzilla '' as " non-stop fortissimo , with lots of brass , Japanese drums , and electric violin . " The score is also conducted by Desplat . The film score was released by WaterTower Music on May 12 and 13 , 2014
2004 Indian tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
Godzilla (2014 film)