GODZILLA REBORN: GOJIRA (1954) / SHIN GODZILLA (2016) ROUND TABLE!!!

GOJIRA (aka GODZILLA) (1954) d. Ishiro Honda (Japan)
GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS (1956) d. Ishiro Honda/Terry Morse (Japan/USA)
SHIN GODZILLA (2016) d. Hideaki Anno (Japan)

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It’s impossible to approach this episode’s subject with any objectivity, so I’m not even going to try. My childhood infatuation with this Tokyo-stomping behemoth first piqued an interest in monster movies, from which my passion for horror cinema followed. Granted, my gateway encounter was a far cry from the dark and imposing figure introduced to Japanese audiences in 1954 – by the time I met Godzilla in the mid-’70s, he had evolved into a rambunctious, bellowing, drop-kicking superhero, defending humankind from the evils of pollution, alien interlopers and the like.

HALF HUMAN (1958) movie review

Half Human (1958) d. Kenneth G. Crane / Ishiro Honda (USA/Japan)

Following the international distribution template set by Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Toho sold off the rights to their 1955 abominable snowman film Ju jin yuki otoko (which also starred Gojira’s Akira Takarada and Momoko Kochi) to producer Robert B. Homel. Homel took it upon himself to lop out nearly 50 minutes of footage and insert a 20-minute framing story featuring paleontologist John Carradine in his office booming out endless pages of exposition to fellow incredulously dull and dully incredulous scientists Russell Thorson, Morris Ankrum, and Robert Karnes.

Interview with GODZILLA: BATTLE ROYALE writer/director Billy Dubose!!

We’ve seen Godzilla fever sweeping the world in the wake of the 2014 Legendary Pictures effort, but for some, that burning love for oversized irradiated lizards and their ilk has been a lifelong passion.  Case in point: Billy Dubose, who has taken his fandom to a skyscraper-stomping new level. The 31-year-old native of Elmhurst, IL, is the writer, director, producer, editor, star, and driving force behind what has to be one of the most ambitious kaiju fan films of the 21st century, Godzilla: Battle Royale.

GOJIRA (1954) / GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS (1956) DVD Review

Gojira (1954) d. Ishiro Honda (Japan)
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) d. Ishiro Honda / Terry O. Morse (Japan/USA)

It’s nearly impossible to approach the subject of Godzilla with any objectivity, so I’m not even going to try. After all, it was my love for this fire-breathing, Tokyo-stomping behemoth from Monster Island that first piqued my interest in monster movies, from which my love for horror films consequently followed, ultimately leading me to my current state of being dutifully strapped to my television set every spare minute to take in the latest fright flick, then rushing to the computer to discuss and critique. It’s to the Big G that we must raise our glasses and shake our fists, because it all started there. 60 years, 28 official Toho films, and two U.S. remakes later, he still stands head and shoulders above the rest.