How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

[shippersdreamer]

I remember going to my local video store when I was younger and renting 3 VHS tapes. Son of Godzilla, Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla (original 1974), and the original 1955 release of Godzilla, then curling up on my couch with the blankets over me and just having a monster movie night.

I've been hooked ever since.

[eabaker]

They used to get a lot of play on local stations, usually things like Thanksgiving or New Years marathons.

I saw Godzilla 1985 on the big screen, and at some point taped both that and Megalon off of TV and re-watched them a ton.

The first one I had a commercial VHS copy of was King Kong vs. Godzilla, and then my dad got himself copies of Godzilla, King of the Monsters and Rodan.

In the early 90s, I began renting them from Tower Records and making copies, and then buying any that I couldn't find for rent (then eventually buying commercial copies of the ones I'd made dubs of).

Around that same time, I was turned on to the bootleg market. First, I bought the Heisei movies that way, then I began buying subbed boots of everything.

[FalconZ]

Blockbuster movies rented.

[Bigdog]

I had Monster Zero, Revenge, Mothra and Megalon vhs's while growing up , so I watched those. Then watched some of them on TNT. I recall seeing the first minute of King of the Monsters and seeing it was black and white, turned the channel to watch some Toonami. My first film period that I remember is Godzilla vs Mothra, and all of those that I mentioned are all my favorites of the Showa Era up until I got to see Gojira.

That's ironic, given I was highly into Westerns and older scifi shows save for Star Trek, which I thought was utterly boring compared to Star Wars
Then in middle school when Youtube came around and everyone was pirating movies on the site in countless parts, I watched every single film through Final Wars, which led me to buying every single film on DVD save for Son of Godzilla and Ebirah, every Saturday before going part as coping with family loss and part because I discovered the entire world of Tokusatsu at that time.

Let's just say my mind was blown when I seen Gojira, Godzilla 1984 and Biollante for the first time. I did see 2000 in theaters I believe, though watching it again was nice.

[kamilleblu]

Blockbuster and the Sci-Fi Channel were pretty dependable in my younger days. Netflix came in handy later. Also, friends and family had a few films floating around on vhs.

[Missingno.]

I kinda miss Blockbuster, just not their prices... It was how I saw the Millennium films such as G2K and GMK when they came out. Otherwise, I was occasionally lucky enough to find a random G movie playing on cable, particularly when I was younger.

[Godzilla21]

I basically had GRA, KKVG, GTTHM, GVSM, and SOG on rotation when I was a kid. All VHS tapes of course (I grew up in the late 80s/early 90s). As I grew up I would add to the collection (usually always at Suncoast video if anyone remembers that place). I actually watched more Gamera growing up as the local video store had more Gamera films than Godzilla strangely enough. I remember kind of losing interest in Godzilla until I realized the Heisei films existed and I have been a Godzilla fanboy ever since.

It's fun reading everyone's stories in here about their Godzilla watching experience growing up. I can tell who the older guys like me are (video stores, VHS, bootlegs), to the younger guys (Netflix, DVD).

[Komenja]

I had Return of Godzilla, Mothra vs Godzilla, Godzilla vs Megalon, Monster Zero, Son of Godzilla, Godzilla's Revenge, King Kong vs Godzilla, and a bootleg of Godzilla vs Biollante on VHS when I was a kid, and I would rent Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla all the time from Blockbuster. I don't even remember if they had other Godzilla movies, I just wanted to see Mechagodzilla blow stuff up!

Biollante was the most "recent" film I had seen up until Godzilla 2000 hit theaters (which my awesome dad took me to see), I had no idea anything from GvKG to Destoroyah even existed. I was aware of most of the Showa films, even though I had never seen a good chunk of them in thrift stores or on TV, thanks to Ian Thorne's book, which my school library had.

Wasn't until the Classic Media DVDs came out that I was able to see essentials like King of the Monsters or Terror of Mechagodzilla (the fact that a sequel to Mechagodzilla, my absolute favorite at that point, existed just blew my mind). My first taste of the Heisei series past Biollante came with the Tristar Spacegodzilla/Destoroyah double feature. Spacegodzilla was a total surprise to me, though I was familiar with Destoroyah thanks to Destroy All Monsters Melee (which became the new obsessive rent from the local Blockbuster, and the thing that motivated me to do well in school. I could only rent it if I got good grades).

Concerning Millennium, I of course got my hands on the Godzilla 2000 DVD as soon as I saw it, and would later find Against Mechagodzilla and Tokyo S.O.S. lumped together in the five dollar bin at Kmart. I didn't find out about Final Wars until several years after it came out.

I was never able to find any other movies after getting Final Wars. Hell, I hardly saw any Godzilla movies in stores period from about 2006 to 2011. Whenever I did, it was always the same Classic Media/Tristar releases I already had. Plus I had the WORST timing when it came to catching them on the Sci-Fi channel. I managed to catch the very end of GMK once. Boy was I confused. "Da fuq? Why is Mothra helping King Ghidorah fight Godzilla?! Holy balls, the rest of this must be awesome!"

But thanks to the internet (and having a job to buy all the crap I could ever want) I've since found out about/been able to track down most of the other G movies and other Tokusatsu like War of the Gargantuas, Gamera and Rebirth of Mothra. Unfortunately, I lost ALL my old VHS tapes during the move to another apartment many years ago. I'm still heartbroken.

[GojirO]

Before I discovered the joys of Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, there was TNT and the Sci-Fi Channel. I was introduced to Godzilla at 2-2:30 in the morning in the 90's. TNT held it's MONSTERVISION programming late at night and I distinctly remember Joe Bob Briggs (the hero) discussing with someone about Mothra vs. Godzilla, showing clips from the film as well. It was from then on I was hooked.

By that time, It was already 1998, we were getting the (disappointingly) GINO and the Sci-Fi Channel was holding a summer marathon of the Showa era. My mother, the introducer of the jiller in my life, got several VHS tapes and recorded onto them Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, and Destroy All Monsters, some of which have been lost in the move.

It was then, I discovered the joys of uninterrupted goodness from the video stores, renting Godzilla 1985 once and recording it onto a blank tape.

To this day, I still go back to the VHS tapes of my youth for nostalgia and joy.

If this story doesn't answer anything for you, just know that if it wasn't for my mother introducing me to Godzilla, I would have never met you all and been thankful for meeting you guys

[KingKaiju]

VHS!!!! I grew up in the 90's, Blockbuster, Video Update, and Hollywood videos were AWESOME!! I remember having to always look at their "godzilla section" every time I found myself at a new one because they might have a movie that the other rental stores didn't. Finding Godzilla movies that I hadn't seen before was such a great feeling. I remember seeing the cover art for "Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster" for the first time, or King Kong vs. Godzilla. Cable was also cool. I remember when we got cable when I was around 4 years old, and I finally saw Godzilla Raids Again, Terror of Mechagodzilla, Mothra vs. Godzilla, and Godzilla vs. Biollante, and my head damn near exploded.

[Rodan]

Unlike a lot of posters here, I didn't have a huge interaction with the series as a kid. I had a few VHS tapes when I was little, including Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), saw Godzilla 2000 in theaters when I was ten years old, and rented some others in middle school, but my only other major exposure was the first, bare-bones Classic Media five-DVD set. It wasn't until college when I decided to watch and use the original 1954 film for a paper that I fell in love with the series and sought out the rest of the films, most of which had DVD releases by that point (I jumped straight from that release to the updated, 7-film Classic Media box, and then began picking up the Sony releases when I could).

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

I kinda feel sorry for those who didn't grow up in the late 80s/early 90s. Discovering new Godzilla movies back then was almost like an adventure. Back when late night tv still showed classic monster movies in the early hours of the morning. TNT had MonsterVision and AMC had Monsterfest on Halloween. So many Godzilla and other classic monster movies I discovered for the first time. Now TCM will show monster/sci-fi films once in awhile, usually around Halloween but it's just not the same anymore. AMC has gone almost completely to hell. TNT still has some good stuff but is mostly a shadow of its former self. Same goes for SciFi, oh excuse me I meant Syfy. Hell I haven't bothered to watch jack on Syfy since Kris Williams left Ghost Hunters. Poor TCM is the only thing keeping classic movies alive on TV these days.

[Tatsunoshi]

I either saw them in their initial release to US theaters (both walk-in and drive-in...drive-in was the best) during the 60's or on our black and white snow, ghost, and distortion filled TV set.

[GojirO]

I kinda feel sorry for those who didn't grow up in the late 80s/early 90s. Discovering new Godzilla movies back then was almost like an adventure. Back when late night tv still showed classic monster movies in the early hours of the morning. TNT had MonsterVision and AMC had Monsterfest on Halloween. So many Godzilla and other classic monster movies I discovered for the first time. Now TCM will show monster/sci-fi films once in awhile, usually around Halloween but it's just not the same anymore. AMC has gone almost completely to hell. TNT still has some good stuff but is mostly a shadow of its former self. Same goes for SciFi, oh excuse me I meant Syfy. Hell I haven't bothered to watch jack on Syfy since Kris Williams left Ghost Hunters. Poor TCM is the only thing keeping classic movies alive on TV these days.

I will agree with you there. After the name change, they mostly show the ripoffs of big movies. TNT basically shows nothing but "drama" and AMC.....don't get me started with THAT. AMC shows GINO as a "American Movie Classic"...I feel that there is no hope for the world. The only time I see ANYTHING Kaiju related, it's either on TCM or The El Rey Network. Hell, I finished watching a Kaiju movie to turn on a Kaiju movie on El Rey.

One thing I wish that SyFy would do is hold, maybe in the summer, a Godzilla Marathon. All the best of the three eras in a weekend long marathon. They probably won't, instead opting to show the ripoff of THOR for the thirtieth time or some crapfest-of-a-movie they deem entertaining.

[KaijuFiend]

I kinda feel sorry for those who didn't grow up in the late 80s/early 90s. Discovering new Godzilla movies back then was almost like an adventure.

I feel the same way. And I feel like the world is a bit of a lesser place for phasing out VHS/DVD rental stores. Gone are the family trips to a store chock full of movies of all sorts. Yeah we have Netflix and On Demand and whatnot, but not only do they lack the enticing VHS/DVD covers that would draw people into something they otherwise may not have watched, but they're far more limited in the selections they offer, for a multitude of reasons. Gone are the days of both those and the majority of Godzilla TV airings. And the big thing that sucks about that is, many of us are fans not because we initially sought out Godzilla, but because Godzilla sought us. We weren't looking for Godzilla, but we saw him in a store or on TV and for reasons unbeknownst to us, we were drawn to him. I feel like that's far less likely to happen with the way things are now.

[GojirO]

I kinda feel sorry for those who didn't grow up in the late 80s/early 90s. Discovering new Godzilla movies back then was almost like an adventure.

I feel the same way. And I feel like the world is a bit of a lesser place for phasing out VHS/DVD rental stores. Gone are the family trips to a store chock full of movies of all sorts. Yeah we have Netflix and On Demand and whatnot, but not only do they lack the enticing VHS/DVD covers that would draw people into something they otherwise may not have watched, but they're far more limited in the selections they offer, for a multitude of reasons. Gone are the days of both those and the majority of Godzilla TV airings. And the big thing that sucks about that is, many of us are fans not because we initially sought out Godzilla, but because Godzilla sought us. We weren't looking for Godzilla, but we saw him in a store or on TV and for reasons unbeknownst to us, we were drawn to him. I feel like that's far less likely to happen with the way things are now.

I still go to the video stores, I used to go to Blockbuster, when they were still around, and rent old movies like Godzilla or even The Blob from 1988. I went to Hollywood Video and got my fix from there as well. Hell, the only REAL video store that was in my area (at the time I lived in Taylor) was King Video, and THEY had quite the selection of Godzilla films. In fact, I bought like three or four of my Godzilla DVDs from there. But it's no longer about the thrill of going someplace new, being mesmerized by some movie on the many screens of the store and rent maybe that movie, or even something new. Because of Netflix and On Demand services, I say this with a heavy heart, the video store, the REAL video store, is dead.

[Creature22]

I still go to the video stores, I used to go to Blockbuster, when they were still around, and rent old movies like Godzilla or even The Blob from 1988. I went to Hollywood Video and got my fix from there as well. Hell, the only REAL video store that was in my area (at the time I lived in Taylor) was King Video, and THEY had quite the selection of Godzilla films. In fact, I bought like three or four of my Godzilla DVDs from there. But it's no longer about the thrill of going someplace new, being mesmerized by some movie on the many screens of the store and rent maybe that movie, or even something new. Because of Netflix and On Demand services, I say this with a heavy heart, the video store, the REAL video store, is dead.

I loved going to Hollywood Video back in the day and picking out a Godzilla movie to rent. They had a ton of them on VHS, all with lavish box art that usually made the movie look a whole lot better than it was going to be. Renting movies in GENERAL was always a fun trip, even if it wasn't a Godzilla movie. There was always so much to choose from and it was fun to spend a couple of minutes browsing the place for something to watch for the night. Finding a movie was never too difficult and they normally had everything. Too bad kids today can't experience that; browsing on Netflix, especially with its crappy layout and selection, is tedious.

[GojirO]

I still go to the video stores, I used to go to Blockbuster, when they were still around, and rent old movies like Godzilla or even The Blob from 1988. I went to Hollywood Video and got my fix from there as well. Hell, the only REAL video store that was in my area (at the time I lived in Taylor) was King Video, and THEY had quite the selection of Godzilla films. In fact, I bought like three or four of my Godzilla DVDs from there. But it's no longer about the thrill of going someplace new, being mesmerized by some movie on the many screens of the store and rent maybe that movie, or even something new. Because of Netflix and On Demand services, I say this with a heavy heart, the video store, the REAL video store, is dead.

I loved going to Hollywood Video back in the day and picking out a Godzilla movie to rent. They had a ton of them on VHS, all with lavish box art that usually made the movie look a whole lot better than it was going to be. Renting movies in GENERAL was always a fun trip, even if it wasn't a Godzilla movie. There was always so much to choose from and it was fun to spend a couple of minutes browsing the place for something to watch for the night. Finding a movie was never too difficult and they normally had everything. Too bad kids today can't experience that; browsing on Netflix, especially with its crappy layout and selection, is tedious.

I feel that if the video store, not Family Video but the REAL stores like Hollywood Video or Blockbuster, had survived, it would have been glorious. MY grandmother lived in the rise and the fall of the video store and when I say "Lets rent a movie" she tells me to go On Demand and look for one to rent. I am appalled by this every time she says it. I wish we had the video store back...

[Bigdog]

I still go to the video stores, I used to go to Blockbuster, when they were still around, and rent old movies like Godzilla or even The Blob from 1988. I went to Hollywood Video and got my fix from there as well. Hell, the only REAL video store that was in my area (at the time I lived in Taylor) was King Video, and THEY had quite the selection of Godzilla films. In fact, I bought like three or four of my Godzilla DVDs from there. But it's no longer about the thrill of going someplace new, being mesmerized by some movie on the many screens of the store and rent maybe that movie, or even something new. Because of Netflix and On Demand services, I say this with a heavy heart, the video store, the REAL video store, is dead.

I loved going to Hollywood Video back in the day and picking out a Godzilla movie to rent. They had a ton of them on VHS, all with lavish box art that usually made the movie look a whole lot better than it was going to be. Renting movies in GENERAL was always a fun trip, even if it wasn't a Godzilla movie. There was always so much to choose from and it was fun to spend a couple of minutes browsing the place for something to watch for the night. Finding a movie was never too difficult and they normally had everything. Too bad kids today can't experience that; browsing on Netflix, especially with its crappy layout and selection, is tedious.

I feel that if the video store, not Family Video but the REAL stores like Hollywood Video or Blockbuster, had survived, it would have been glorious. MY grandmother lived in the rise and the fall of the video store and when I say "Lets rent a movie" she tells me to go On Demand and look for one to rent. I am appalled by this every time she says it. I wish we had the video store back...

It was a combination. I had TNT and AMC's Monstervision and MonsterFest, which the latter is why I love horror films in general. Then my parents had VHS's of three movies. Godzilla vs Mothra [the good one without Battra], Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, and Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla's Revenge. Well....my very first remembered film I ever watched was Godzilla vs. Mothra at four years old. And ever since then, I was hooked on the franchise and the concept. But to keep it to mainly Godzilla, I loved the idea of the film and through TV and VHS, I watched as many as I could.

I believe I seen 2000 in theaters , but not the 1998 film. It might have been the second film I seen in theaters, actually after Pocahontas at the Fox in Detroit. The audio in that classic theatre is amazing.

Since we didn't have a DVD player until 2004, I didn't really know about anything after or wasn't as interested. I never knew there was Gamera besides a trailer I watched way back when the video quality was utter bollocks, and that never interested me in the slightest. Once 2005 hit and I discovered there were several films I never saw before, and Youtube came around, I watched the uploads of all the films by part up to Final Wars. After I was finished watching them? I bought all of them that I could look for. For the ones not available at the time like 1984 and Biollante, I imported the official Universe Laser versions a few years later and watched them on my computer after I made my drive region free. Cheapest things I ever bought of all the discs, but were so worth it.

I had plenty of video stores around me until they all steadily shut down. Suncoast closed, and I could've gotten into 70's super robot anime like Gaiking, which I believe was a part of some dubbed series here, but I thought it was a ripoff of Voltron so I was like "Nope!". Also had other weird movies. Then there was Media Play, and when that closed, there was Blockbuster and FYE. I never went to the former and relcuntatly went to the latter. But most of my purchases were at Best Buy, since they had a vibrant foreign film section for the longest time. I would never buy films from Border though. Too expensive.

There was never any video stores, or libraries in town since it's basically been growing deader since I was small, and because online services are far more convenient, why bother renting when I can own them, or stream what I don't have with ads? Same reason why I don't buy books in a physical bookstore any more, if I even need to. Well, I don't, because I kind of got a very small library of both.

While I like the memories, I don't regret that we have a wider selection of products on the global market than the 90's or early 2000's, when I grew up.

[ABB Gamma]

Formative influences: King Kong vs. Godzilla from the city library, Godzilla vs. Hedorah/Godzilla vs. Mothra off the Sci-Fi Channel (specifically, Sci-Fi Stompathon 2001), and Godzilla vs. Gigan from a garage sale.

There's not much of a pattern to how I watched Godzilla movies as a kid; it was a blend of libraries (I distinctly remember going to one branch, a fair distance away, just for Rebirth of Mothra and Gamera vs. Zigra), Blockbuster, FYE, thrift stores, Sci-Fi, and the occasional bootleg. (I wouldn't figure out torrenting for a while.) Also, I saw Tokyo SOS and GFW for the first time at G-FEST.