Who saw a Showa Era Godzilla in the Movies When Released??

[Godzilla Vinyl Mania]

I know I am dating myself but.......I saw Godzilla vs Megalon here in the US as a kid. I remember the theatre 4 page movie comic handout and a Godzilla vs. Megalon button they gave away as well. The good old days!! I did manage again to get my hands on one of those theatre comic handouts 30 something years later.

[szmigiel]

I saw Godzilla Vs Megalon, Godzilla Vs Monster Island, Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla, and Terror of Mechagodzilla all for the 1st time in the theater in the late 70's. Don't know if they were the initial release, or during a re-release. Mostly at a small matinee theater near my home.

[Godzilla Vinyl Mania]

I saw Godzilla Vs Megalon, Godzilla Vs Monster Island, Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla, and Terror of Mechagodzilla all for the 1st time in the theater in the late 70's. Don't know if they were the initial release, or during a re-release. Mostly at a small matinee theater near my home.

Awesome. That's alot of them

To add: My mom as a teenager saw Rodan in the theatre.

[Maritonic]

This thread needs more posts. I need to hear more stories like this.

[Godzilla Vinyl Mania]

This thread needs more posts. I need to hear more stories like this.

+1

[KaijuCanuck]

My dad saw King Kong vs. Godzilla in theatres when he was 8 and he thought that the train sequence and Godzilla in general was really scary.

[Godzilla Vinyl Mania]

My dad saw King Kong vs. Godzilla in theatres when he was 8 and he thought that the train sequence and Godzilla in general was really scary.

Thats definitely cool. My favorite G movie!!

[eabaker]

Well, if we're recounting our parents' experiences, my dad saw Godzilla, King of the Monsters at a drive in in 1956, when he was 10. It had a huge impact. He told me that going to see that movie was one of the few good movies he had of his father, and that's one of the reasons he chose to show me the movie (on VHS) when I was 10.

Then, the day after my dad died, I flipped on the TV and found that they were showing Godzilla, King of the Monsters on El Rey (I posted about this on here at the time).

[Godzilla Vinyl Mania]

Well, if we're recounting our parents' experiences, my dad saw Godzilla, King of the Monsters at a drive in in 1956, when he was 10. It had a huge impact. He told me that going to see that movie was one of the few good movies he had of his father, and that's one of the reasons he chose to show me the movie (on VHS) when I was 10.

Then, the day after my dad died, I flipped on the TV and found that they were showing Godzilla, King of the Monsters on El Rey (I posted about this on here at the time).

More than ironic

[Terasawa]

The unfortunate answer to the original question is “very very few of us here.” I’m not quite 30 and still I think I’m one of the older members here.

[LSD Jellyfish]

I consider myself very lucky to see Godzilla 2000 in theaters when I was 4, I suppose that dates me haha

Technically not related to the thread, but I have seen Godzilla 1954 twice in theaters. A lot of art House/independent theaters in nyc regularly do showings. I gotta say seeing the showa era films on screen are a big treat and if you’re ever able to see one by all means go.

[godzilla707]

I maybe the oldest in here at 58 but I saw Godzilla vs the Smog Monster in 1972 in a theatre in Los Angeles, also Godzilla vs the Bionic Monster and Godzilla vs Megalon in the mid and late 70's.

[Pkmatrix]

Nope, not me. I was born in the '80s, my first experiences with Godzilla in theaters were G'98 and G2K.

My parents could have, but as far as I'm aware neither ever did. My Dad has talked about watching them on TV in the '60s.

[szmigiel]

I am 49 when I was in elementary school the early Showa movies played on TV a few times a year. Either on the weekend horror/sci-fi movie slots, or during Monster Week where at 4PM they would show Japanese Giant Monster films all week. Mostly GKTOM, Godzilla Vs the Thing, Ghidorah, Monster Zero, Godzilla Vs the Sea Monster, Son of Godzilla, and DAM. I would search the TV guide book each week when it came in looking for any monster movies.

I never got to see any of the Drive-In releases, no real drive ins near where I lived. Also I was probably way to young to even remember even if I did. Then in 1976 after King Kong came out the 70's Godzilla films started to show. From 76-78 there seemed to be at least a Godzilla film each summer. They never seemed played in the bigger multiplexes, always the smaller 1 or 2 screen theaters. I remember seeing Godzilla Vs Megalon, before ever seeing Godzilla on Monster Island aka Godzilla Vs Gigan. Then by the early 80's these films replaced the earlier Showa films on TV during the Monster weeks.

Slowly as Syndicated TV and VHS started becoming more popular the movies slowly disappeared from TV, video stores would only have a few Godzilla movies on the shelves, usually Godzilla 1985 and maybe one or two others, if any. You could find the cheap EP copies of many of the films in the discount movie binds, often being terrible transfers. It is funny when a copy you recorded off TV with commercials was better then the copy you could buy.

By the time the Heisei films started coming out I was trading anime tapes, and was able to get copies shortly after release in Japan. Also started getting LD copies of many of the Showa films, even if they didn't have subs yet, it was nice seeing the Japanese version. Soon you could find copies of the Heisei films recorded in the theater if you couldn't wait, or the Chinese version with white subtitles.

[Arbok]

If our parents count, mine didn't see the Godzilla movies growing up... but my father did see Rodan in theaters as a kid. Left a huge impression on him, and we watched it together on VHS when it came out in the 1980's. Very much part of why Rodan is one of my favorite characters.

[Ron Burton]

I saw GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER at the drive-in in 1972 and became an instant fan (I was 10 then). I missed seeing GODZILLA VS. MEGALON at the theater when it was released in 1976 but in December of that same year, I did see GODZILLA VS. BIONIC MONSTER at the cinema. Contrary to what has been universally written, that particular movie wasn't released Stateside in March of 1977. It was released earli toward the end of '76. Then I saw GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND in November of 1977 and THE TERROR OF GODZILLA in September, 1978. I can recall these dates with such clarity because they were grand events to me. Because of money and transportation issues, trips to the theater were few and far between, even though theater admission was only $1.50. I also sawGODZILLA 1985 and GODZILLA 2000 on the big screen when they were issued. GODZILLA 1985 was more enjoyable than G2000, I thought.

[DoctorMafune]

By the tender age of eight, I'd seen Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Gigantis and Mothra on TV in the mid-60's, and I'd seen trailers for King Kong Vs. Godzilla and Ghidrah (begging to be taken to see them got me nowhere.)

But the first Godzilla movie I saw in a theater was Destroy All Monsters, at the Preston Royal in Dallas in 1969. It was on a double bill with Frankenstein Conquers the World, which my best friend Richie and I (dropped off at the theater with plenty of money for hot dogs, popcorn and drinks) saw right after watching the end of DAM (well, could YOU have waited in the lobby, hearing Ghidrah descending and all the Earth monsters roaring in defiance?) And of course, after FCTW (both of were very surprised to see Baragon... we'd known nothing about the movie), we watched DAM all the way through. We were 9 years old at the time, and needless to say, we went nuts. It was a life-changing experience.

We were back for more a year later, with the double feature of War of the Gargantuas and Monster Zero.

A drive-in later that year offered a "Thing-o-Rama" with Konga, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs. the Thing and Reptilicus. Dad caved in and took us to see the first three, but drew the line at hanging around until after midnight to watch Reptilicus. I loved seeing DAM again, and Godzilla vs. the Thing blew me away.

We were traveling when Godzilla's Revenge hit theaters in '71 (I think), but I spotted an ad for a theater in a Dallas suburb that was still showing it when we got back, and Dad dropped me off there. When he picked me up, he asked, "Why the long face?"

Finally saw KKVG at another drive-in (third feature in a line-up of four films that had nothing to do with each other.)

Richie and I watched GKOTM again one afternoon in '72, on TV's "Dialing for Dollars," then had Mom drop us off at the Northtown 6 for a first look at Godzilla vs, the Smog Monster. Well, uhh... It was certainly a contrast...

Others I saw in theaters: King Kong Escapes; Yog, Monster from Space (again, on a double bill with DAM: that showed up again and again, even as a double feature with the 1933 King Kong, back at the Preston Royal); Godzilla vs. Megalon; Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster (at a drive-in, after Spawn of the Slithis); and The Terror of Godzilla, which ran for exactly one week in 1978 at Southroads Mall in Tulsa, if I recall correctly. I saw it eight times during that week. Imagine my astonishment later that same year when a good friend and I were watching Curucu, Beast of the Amazon ( ) on late-night cable, and they announced next week's Creature Feature as: The Terror of Mecha Godzilla.

Never managed to be in the right place to catch Godzilla on Monster Island in a theater, during its limited release... had to wait until that showed up on TV.

On my first trip to Japan, in '82, friends in Osaka took us to a triple feature of The Mysterians, Battle in Outer Space, and Atragon... plus, the Special Effects Convention in Tokyo featured Sanda vs. Gaira (the crowd went wild every time the maser cannons were on screen), and as a special treat, we also got to see the original ending of Frankenstein vs. Baragon. The real highlight of that convention was getting to meet both Tetsuko Kobayashi and Ishiro Honda in person. Both were very kind, and patient with my extremely limited Japanese, and Mr. Honda signed my copy of the All-Monster Pictorial: needless to say, it's still one of my most treasured possessions.

I was working my fandango off in graduate school and living on a stipend when the 1984 Godzilla premiered, so there was no hope of joining my friends to see it in Japan. But I did take an evening off in '85, to take a bus out to north Seattle for a look at Godzilla 1985.

First newly released Godzilla movie I got to see at a theater in Japan (a dream come true): Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, followed in '92 and '95 by Godzilla vs. Mothra and Godzilla vs. Destroyer, then by Mothra in '97 and Mothra 3 in '99. I didn't catch another G-film there until Shin Godzilla.

Great memories.

[Godzilla Vinyl Mania]

By the tender age of eight, I'd seen Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Gigantis and Mothra on TV in the mid-60's, and I'd seen trailers for King Kong Vs. Godzilla and Ghidrah (begging to be taken to see them got me nowhere.)

But the first Godzilla movie I saw in a theater was Destroy All Monsters, at the Preston Royal in Dallas in 1969. It was on a double bill with Frankenstein Conquers the World, which my best friend Richie and I (dropped off at the theater with plenty of money for hot dogs, popcorn and drinks) saw right after watching the end of DAM (well, could YOU have waited in the lobby, hearing Ghidrah descending and all the Earth monsters roaring in defiance?) And of course, after FCTW (both of were very surprised to see Baragon... we'd known nothing about the movie), we watched DAM all the way through. We were 9 years old at the time, and needless to say, we went nuts. It was a life-changing experience.

We were back for more a year later, with the double feature of War of the Gargantuas and Monster Zero.

A drive-in later that year offered a "Thing-o-Rama" with Konga, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs. the Thing and Reptilicus. Dad caved in and took us to see the first three, but drew the line at hanging around until after midnight to watch Reptilicus. I loved seeing DAM again, and Godzilla vs. the Thing blew me away.

We were traveling when Godzilla's Revenge hit theaters in '71 (I think), but I spotted an ad for a theater in a Dallas suburb that was still showing it when we got back, and Dad dropped me off there. When he picked me up, he asked, "Why the long face?"

Finally saw KKVG at another drive-in (third feature in a line-up of four films that had nothing to do with each other.)

Richie and I watched GKOTM again one afternoon in '72, on TV's "Dialing for Dollars," then had Mom drop us off at the Northtown 6 for a first look at Godzilla vs, the Smog Monster. Well, uhh... It was certainly a contrast...

Others I saw in theaters: King Kong Escapes; Yog, Monster from Space (again, on a double bill with DAM: that showed up again and again, even as a double feature with the 1933 King Kong, back at the Preston Royal); Godzilla vs. Megalon; Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster (at a drive-in, after Spawn of the Slithis); and The Terror of Godzilla, which ran for exactly one week in 1978 at Southroads Mall in Tulsa, if I recall correctly. I saw it eight times during that week. Imagine my astonishment later that same year when a good friend and I were watching Curucu, Beast of the Amazon ( ) on late-night cable, and they announced next week's Creature Feature as: The Terror of Mecha Godzilla.

Never managed to be in the right place to catch Godzilla on Monster Island in a theater, during its limited release... had to wait until that showed up on TV.

On my first trip to Japan, in '82, friends in Osaka took us to a triple feature of The Mysterians, Battle in Outer Space, and Atragon... plus, the Special Effects Convention in Tokyo featured Sanda vs. Gaira (the crowd went wild every time the maser cannons were on screen), and as a special treat, we also got to see the original ending of Frankenstein vs. Baragon. The real highlight of that convention was getting to meet both Tetsuko Kobayashi and Ishiro Honda in person. Both were very kind, and patient with my extremely limited Japanese, and Mr. Honda signed my copy of the All-Monster Pictorial: needless to say, it's still one of my most treasured possessions.

I was working my fandango off in graduate school and living on a stipend when the 1984 Godzilla premiered, so there was no hope of joining my friends to see it in Japan. But I did take an evening off in '85, to take a bus out to north Seattle for a look at Godzilla 1985.

First newly released Godzilla movie I got to see at a theater in Japan (a dream come true): Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, followed in '92 and '95 by Godzilla vs. Mothra and Godzilla vs. Destroyer, then by Mothra in '97 and Mothra 3 in '99. I didn't catch another G-film there until Shin Godzilla.

Great memories.

DAMn....Impressive, quite the memory to have.

[bgbuff]

My first exposure to Godzilla was Godzilla on Monster Island back in the 70s. My best friend and I went to the local theatre and became hooked. I think Gigan's brutality is my most vivid memory of this viewing.

[DoctorMafune]

DAMn....Impressive, quite the memory to have.

There was a particular kind of magic in seeing a movie like Destroy All Monsters in the 60's. The Preston Royal had that spectacular one-sheet poster next to the box office, and only my eagerness to see the film itself got me to stop drooling over it, buy my ticket, and head into the lobby... where they also had the DAM insert on display and a couple of the lobby cards.

The auditorium itself was plush (the Preston R was a single-screen establishment...anybody else remember those?), and from my perspective as a kid, the screen seemed gigantic.

https://prestonhollow.advocatemag.com/2 ... -theatres/

Getting back home after seeing it, Richie and I were so psyched about the movie that we started drawing pictures — trying to remember what every single monster in the film looked like (we were especially surprised by "Godzilla's son," and whatever that wicked-looking 'floating' monster was (we'd never heard of Varan, at that point) — and we even saved our allowances to buy Sculpey at the nearby Park Forest dime store, and started making our own models of Godzilla and son. (For some reason, Richie got a big kick out of Minya.)

I was also fascinated by the kind of continuing mythology DAM represented... I had remembered Mothra from seeing the original film on TV (around 1967), but I was intrigued to see her(?) in DAM as a larva. And I remembered having heard about a flying monster named Rodan being in Ghidrah, from the TV spot, though by 1969, I still hadn't seen that film... but here were Rodan and Ghidrah themselves, in a new film. Manda, Spiga and Gorosaurus were entirely new to us... neither of us had yet seen Atragon, Son of Godzilla or KKE.

In those days, I would probably have traded a kidney to get the poster for Destroy All Monsters... so imagine my delight when, a few years later, I discovered Dallas's own Duncan Poster Service, and scored not only the one-sheet and press book for DAM, but also near-mint American three-sheets for Gigantis and Godzilla vs. the Thing, lobby cards for Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, and a lot of other goodies.

Even with Film Collector's World, it was next to impossible at that point to get one's hands on Japanese posters, lobby cards, etc. ... to say nothing of the Bullmark toys that Richie and I bugged our eyes at when seeing them in Smog. But our early fascination with the movies and everything related to them just makes the current embarrassment of riches for collectors, all the sweeter.