Godzilla: In Retrospect

[Lain Of The Wired]

The title says it all, put the Godzilla franchise into retrospect. How did you discover it? How has it changed you in life? Why exactly ARE you a fan of the series? What IS Godzilla to you?
Discuss it all right here, and let's see what YOU really think about Godzilla in general.

[Jeff-Goldblum1]

I watch Godzilla movie and like it.

My favorite part is where the monster is big and the people are smaller.

[Mechagigan]

I watch Godzilla movie and like it.

My favorite part is where the monster is big and the people are smaller.

Did you know that in real life, the monsters are small and the people are equally small?

[Noble Saber]

To me, there's a little bit of Godzilla inside all of us.

[Faelon]

In Retrospect? I first learned of Godzilla from friends in first grade. The Aurora Monster kits with the glow in the dark heads were the hot thing at recess. We had a small standoff between the King Kong fans and the Godzilla fans. Then low and behold Channel 7 started running Giant Monster weeks after school. First offering June 1971 Godzilla vs the Thing! And we were all entranced. And thus began a long sometimes silly fondness for the films. The intro music for that 4:30 movie was as burned into my friends and I as Akira Fukube's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2es-lfRSDOI

We were hooked for life. Or at least the next few years. We did not know the word Kaiju yet. But those giant rubber suited monsters were our passion. At least the ones we could find out about. Sometimes traveling friends brought us back pictures of regular television shows about super hero robots fighting monsters. But sadly we would never experience these for years. Besides we liked the monsters.

Here is a great rundown of good old ABC NY's Channel 7 offerings at 4:30 and some of the pure genre joy my friends and classmates were subjected to at that most critical ages 6-10.
http://www.dvddrive-in.com/TV%20Guide/430movielogo.htm
We got all of them. Godzilla. Gamera. US 50's giant bugs of all kinds. Whole weeks of Apes. But it was always the Kaiju that grabbed us like no other. And Godzilla was the undisputed King. (Except when we found out about Minilla... and much schoolyard debate was gad over "cool new thing" vs "Worst thing ever". What movies we did not see on Channel 7's 4:30 offerings were now being shown on Pix II and New Jerseys channel 9. So we were set... at least until the Summer of 77, when something new rocked our world.

1977. We put down our Aurora Godzilla Models (and King Kong... and Frankenstein, cause Joe was weird and couldn' t get with the program.) We donned Lightsabers and Laser Pistols. and headed for the stars. But some of us never forgot our beloved Kaiju.

As we aged through Junior High and into High School we gained access to the latest technology. VHS! So we started holding weekly movie nights. And whenever possible we worked our beloved Kaiju into the mix. (it would be decades before we would see a Star Wars videotape) We loved it for the first twinges of nostalgia. New friends, lady friends enjoyed it for the cheesy good fun it brought and our obvious passion for it. The last great hurrah was Godzilla 1985, which we actually got to see as a real movie, in a real theater. I know looking back the American release was a horrible mess. But we loved it. It was a high point for us. Godzilla not as an old movie, but a new modern movie. It was amazing! It was sadly not to be repeated. We went off to College. Indulged in the Student Unions annual cycle of Godzilla or Gamera movies, and didn't really think that much more about it. Yeah we knew there were more movies. But they weren't coming to us.And if they were we could not have afforded them.

Out of school, working, in new cities, we discovered the joys of local SciFi conventions. Where they not only showed Godzilla movies, and we often got our first tastes of things like Ultraman. But you could get all kinds of import Videos. Legit and Bootleg. Biolante! King Ghidorah! You were now ours. Granted we didn't have the depth of passion we once had. We were splitting our nerd passions among many loves. Star Wars, Star Trek, D&D, Giant Robots, etc. We were discovering not just Kaiju from Japan, but Starblazers and Robotech had nailed us with anime and robots as well.

And then we grew up. We walked away from such "childish" things for a few years. Built our lives. Had kids. Didn't have kids. worked. Wed. and all those normal things. Only catching our beloved monsters and stuff when we could on TV. SciFi channel. TBS and TNT, later FX. Suddenly all the stuff of our youth. All the nerdy stuff that had been the center of our lives was driving pop culture and hollywood. Comic Books. High Fantasy. Giant Robots. and KAIJU. My ages of 45 to 49 has been like 1971 to 76 all over again. (including the culminating moment of a new Star Wars movie). We are getting good Godzilla and Kaiju movies from both sides of the Pacific. Godzilla, Toho Godzilla, Kong, PACIFIC FREAKING RIM!!! And this time they know we are not kids. We are aging nerds with lots of disposable income and thankfully very loving and understanding wives. (Mantra of the Kaiju Wife "It Could Be Worse") We have the toys we want for this age. We have the technology to communicate and meet with fellow fans from all over the world, from the comfort of our homes. We can see any movie we ever wanted to see on demand (except that accursed Godzilla 1985 which will be held up in licensing squabble until the end of the earth.). The coolest Japanese toys that we always dreamed of can be at our door in 3 days. It's all kind of overwhelming, no? We've reached a point where nobody questions if you build a mancave in your house, a special room just for you, based on Batman Fighting Godzilla. We truly live in wondrous times.

[Pic]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3798/199 ... 9204_c.jpg[/Pic]

[Space Hunter M]

I too love the Godzilla movie. In long nights in Soviet Russia, Godzilla Movie brought joy for many hours. It has distracted us from harsh reality of brethren dying in Cold Russian Winter outside. And potential of us doing same. Godzilla vs. Robot was best one. I remember mine Papa rummaging for alcohol. He has long day at Mill. We settle in front of television, and bang on antenna until we receive signal. Mine Mama would make dinner, and Papa would scream obscenities at her when the meat came cold. She would call him alcoholic. He would then grab her by hair and pull her into bedroom where there was much screaming. I then got to sit in Papa's chair and watch movie. It was my favorite of movies. Especially part where Godzilla becomes magnet. I wish I could be magnet, but for people. Maybe then Mama will love me despite me not coming from her womb.

[edgaguirus]

I first saw Godzilla films on Saturday morning. Super Scary Saturday would show movies, including Godzilla and kaiju films. I liked dinosaurs, so I naturally enjoyed a giant, radioactive breathing, indestructible dinosaur and his odd assortment of friends and foes. The destruction and battles were what drew me at first.

Some time later, I paid more attention to other elements of the movies. The music, primarily. When playing my violin, I was good at duplicating tunes by ear, so I tried a few Godzilla themes. It was a mixed result, but I was able to get most of them. I also do some writing, so elements of kaiju films did enter into my short stories. For example, I wrote a fantasy anime style series on another site. In it, I created two larger than life creatures based on Kaiju; A huge sea snake called Manda, and a giant underground lizard named Baragon.

As to what Godzilla means to me, I'd say he represents many things. He's a symbol of nuclear power, but I see him as more of a force of nature more often than not. I know humans think the world of themselves, seeing what we've done from mastering fire to traveling in space to being able to harness natural forces to our benefit. Godzilla is a reminder as an earthquake or volcanic erruption is. We are residents, not the landlord, and there are neighbors that can put us in our place. Secondly, the kaiju make me think of how we know little of our own world. If Titanosaurus or Baragon could stay hidden from man, then what else could? People use to think that stories told by African natives about hairy men were legends until someone shot a gorilla. And new species are still being found. Not to mention that parts of the ocean are little explored or unknown.

[Godzilla The King]

Sadly my story is what you'd expect from someone my age, my dad showed me the 98 film and I grew to love Godzilla. I watched almost all of the films over and over, I searched up facts about Godzilla, thought of ideas for Godzilla, and even tried to "be Godzilla" as a kid. I'd say it changed my life by giving me something that's ever changing. In one film, Godzilla may be a feared destroyer, in another he can be a force of nature or a superhero, that kind of variety is rarely seen.

What I think Godzilla means? I think Godzilla can mean a variety of things, his nuclear origins can allow for him to be a symbol of many things. He can be a punishment for man's arrogance, a hero that shows us the way, a creature that is just doing his job or a man in a suit smashing shit. What I mean to say is, Godzilla is not something that I'd define only as the nuclear horror of 1954, that is a very boring and dull way to look at it. Godzilla is very similar to Batman in that a huge group of the fanbase denies that the lighter eras of the character are equally true to the character. The superhero Godzilla of the 70's is just as valid as his dark origins.

[ZillaJr-KaijuKing]

I started with GODZILLA 1998 when I was 4. It was my first kaiju movie. I fell in love with the design, and I always liked it better than the traditional design. I also vaguely remember watching the cartoon spin-off Godzilla: The Series when it aired, but I couldn't remember anything about it.

Fast-forward to 16 years later. The 2014 Godzilla movie came out in theaters. I watched it and it revived my interest in my old pals from 1998. Soon after, I decided to watch Godzilla: The Series on Youtube, and that's when my obsession with the 1998 Godzillas/Zillas really kicked off.

My interest in the cartoon series eventually convinced me to watch some of the classic Godzilla movies several months later to see what I was missing. I started with Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla and Destroy All Monsters. Some more months later (recently, around the time I started my internship), I decided to watch more Godzilla movies. Thus far, I've watched approximately a dozen Godzilla films, not including the two American ones.

Sadly, though, no Godzilla thus far has excited me as much as the 1998 Godzillas/Zillas. While Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla genuinely made me want to watch more, and while the movies were a good way to kill time, I wouldn't be particularly interested in watching them a second time. I'm really looking forward to the sequels to Legendary Pictures' Godzilla, though.

[Breakdown]

It started when a friend in kindergarden circa 1997 introduced me to Godzilla. Id always ask my dad to rent me Godzilla movies and some of my first where Godzilla's Revenge, Godzilla King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla and Godzilla 1985. Needless to say, I became really obsessed with Godzilla, to the point where my teachers wouldn't let me talk about it, haha. Fast forward to the present day, I'm still a die-hard fan, and will always be probably until I die.

[Creature22]

In retrospect? Hmm... okay.

Be me.
Be 3.
Be bad at cousin house.
Parents try calm me down. "Godzilla king of monsters" is sedative.
I sit in a trance. Look at TV. Boom. BOOM. Title! People on the mountain runnin. Guy bangs on the bell BONG BONG Steve Martin look in awe. What is it? and then he appear and GODZILLA! He roar a mighty roar and send the people into a panic. Then Godzilla... gone. Later, he go tokyo and trash train. City in flames he sees birds at the zoo and tail smash building. guys on radio tower and clock building down. Eye patch build destroyer oxygen godzilla turn bones. Woah.

and sequels too!

Godzilla raid a gin- Godzilla 2. Godzilla is back and ready. Anguirus is spieked ankylosaur and ice in movie.
King Kong vs Godzilla- King kong in movie wit octopus. It's just a lizard! Throw it! What hurts? The corns! Stop it you're not Tarzan!
Mothra vs Godzilla- Godzilla crash into house and mothra crash into godzilla!
Ghidrah!- three headed dragon meteor and rodan and godzilla fight it mothra too and natives there for a bit.
Monster Zero- same movie but no mothra
Ebirah!- sea monster kill sailors and fight godzilla and bird. No buildings to be smash.
Son of Godzilla- Minya hatch and bugs to fight! snow.
Godzilla's Revenge- Little boy go to island and friend Minya gabara
Godzilla vs Hedorah- smog city and Godzilla bulmarks
Godzilla vs Gigan- Godzilla fight a alien
Godzilla vs Megalon- Godzilla fight a bug
Mechagodzilla- robot godzilla!
Terror of Mechagodzilla- same thing!
Godzilla 85- scary boat sink dead corpses! Steve Martin back and grizzled Godzilla is scary and destroys realistic tokyo for once. VOlcanic!
Biollante- plant fight godzilla
Ghidorah- guy runs past car in 2x speed
mothra- battra
merchagoszillaII- Blonde girl fights well! Rodan.
Spacegodzilla- three godfzlla in movie
Destroyah- scary movie nightmares. fish in aquarium blow up and so do godzilla
2000- big spikes
megaguirus-bugs
GMK-no pupils
Mechagodzilla- kiryu
Tokyo sos- kiryu
final wars- matrix tame godzilla and boy with chocolate face burns squirtle
2014- big movie big screen big bugs

[Godzilla1703]

With me Godzilla runs in the family, my dad loved Godzilla, I love it, my sisters love it, and my kids will love it as well