Godzilla & Co.

[thomas]

Are there any Gojira aficionados around? I wasn't aware of the fact that the first Godzilla movies were already produced in the mid-50s. It's fascinating to watch these plastic monsters afflicting Japanese cities. Btw, they owe their existence to the American atomic bombs (reminds me of Peter Parker who was bitten by a radioactive spider, if I'm correct, and turned into Spiderman).

Today I watched the first 20 mins of "Rodan! The Flying Monster" (Sora no Daikaiju Radon, 1956). I really like that fast dramaturgical approach in Japanese monster movies, it takes only 5 mins until the first creatures appear on the scene.

 

[Thomas Quinton]

I loved all Godzilla movies, especially King Kong vs Godzilla.

 

[MHtrStevie]

I've always enjoyed the Gojira films... it's interesting how the tone of the movies changes over time, and how Gojira changes froman icon depicting the evils of nuclear research to a more beloved defender of Japan from rampaging monsters...

They did have a great line in a more recent Godzilla movie... I believe it was released in America under the name "Godzilla 2000", and the line came through funny even through the English dubbing. Right at the end of the film, after Godzilla finishes off the monster invading from space, one of the main human characters wonders aloud, "Why does Godzilla always appear to save us?" Of course, while he's saying this, Godzilla's stomping around in the background destroying the city, toppling buildings and breathing fire everywhere... would you call that "saving" everyone?

 

[Iron Chef]

I fondly remember watching many of the older Kaiju movies when I was a kid. Every Saturday afternoon we had this local TV personality portraying "Count Zappula" on one of the local stations and he would host "Creature Features" where he showcased a particular film. My fav of all time has to be the old-school "Destroy All Monsters" with King Ghidora my favorite "badguy" or maybe Biolante/Space Godzilla/The Destroyer a close second. I also like the Gamera films too... even if he is a giant fire-breathing flying turtle from space. 8-p

 

[jeisan]

yeah i watched alot of gojira movies growing up. they always played them on TBS usually friday or saturday night near 1am. my friend and i would stay up nearly all night eating popcorn and watching those movies. its one of the 1st things that got me interested in japan. oh yeah in the japanese version of "king kong vs. godzilla" gojira wins, whereas the US version has king kong as the victor.

 

[Iron Chef]

"its one of the 1st things that got me interested in japan."

Now that you mention it, I suppose that was one of if not my earliest contacts with Japanese culture as well. Never really thought about it until you said that. That and the old school Macross animated series which they renamed to Robotech here. Roy Fokker and Skull Squadron rules! I'm such a geek...

 

[jeisan]

i used to watch voltron growing up as well. my mom prolly went nuts seeing as how many times she rented the movie for me. i liked how the charactors looked. though to tell the truth im not sure if its japanese in origin, but it sure looks like anime.

 

[MHtrStevie]

Voltron definitely had Japanese origins... but it was another case of piecing together two shows to make one show, much like Robotech. I only know that the version of Voltron with the lion robots was originally called "Go Lion" for five lions... I don't know the original name for the version of Voltron with all the small vehicles which eventually combined into the one big robot.

Also, if you ever saw the episode which featured both the lion and vehicle Voltrons together... that obviously didn't come from Japan, but was made in America with stock footage...

Hope this helps...

 

[jeisan]

thanks it did help. ive only ever seen the one with the lions, and actually watched a tape i had last night and decided it was japanese by the horrible dubbing job on it. it also seemed like they tried to hide the fact it was even japanese changing names and weird cg screens between episodes. oh yeah the show with the little cars and things that made up voltron was called "vehicle voltron" in the us.

 

[Ranma]

I've been a huge dai kaiju enthusiast . My favorite monsters are Godzilla (of course), Gamera, King Ghidora, Mothra, Gyaos, Destroya, Jiras, Gigan, Varan, Barugon, Gorosaurus, Baragon, and Irys. My favorite kaiju eiga are Gojira (1954), Kingu Konu tai Gojira (1962), San daikaiju: Chikyu saidai no kessen (1964), Dai Kaiju Gamera (1965), Sanda tai Gaira (1966), Kaiju Soshingeki (1968), Gojira tai Gaigan (1972), Gojira tai Mekagojira 2 (1993), Gojira tai Desutoroya (1995), among many others . I'm waiting for the newer G films to be released on DVD in America. They look awesome!

 

[jeisan]

godzilla 2000 was pretty funny, i like that movie

 

[Gaki]

Godzilla is very cool movie ! Although my favorite monster movie is Gamera !! ^^

 

[maji]

just saw in the tv magazine that on the weekend is here on tv the Japanese movie "Godzilla vs space Godzilla".
hmm... I've to admit I couldn't read that title without being able to avoid a chuckle or two. What do you think about those Japanese Godzilla movies? Especially the older ones?

 

[jeisan]

gojira!!!!

 

[code7rei]

yup! it supposed to be gojira (anybody know the meaning of "gojira"?) anyway, whats the meaning of "zilla" in godzilla actually?

 

[maji]

oh, didnt see there was already a topic around that. sorry

 

[jeisan]

no worries.

 

[Sacred Water]

The older Godzilla movies were the best even though they cheated by re-using some scenes i.e. an army coming to fight the monsters. My favourite Godzilla film is the one where Godzilla and his son battle a giant spider in the snow.

 

[Seppuku]

Are they subbed horribly in German? I know here in the states they are.