Book Title
Godzilla: Final Wars: Super Complete Works
Author(s)
Compilation
LanguageGenre
JapaneseNon-Fiction
Year of ReleasePages
2004 98
PublisherISBN
Shogakukan 4091014984
Preview
Page 14 - Page 42 - Page 52 - Page 75
Comments

The definitive book on Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). The Super Complete Works series is well known for going above and beyond in relation to the amount of content present, but their Final Wars edition is really something to behold. Normally books in this series are around 60 pages in length, but this edition runs for around 100 pages (104 according to Shogakukan's numbering system, but they count the opening poster as 6 pages). The added length really allow this volume to stand out from others in the series, and other books on Final Wars for that matter.

The book starts off by covering the numerous monsters in the film, containing stats, descriptions (in Japanese, of course), production shots, and a multi-angle study for each. It should be noted that Manda's multi-angle study breaks the monster up into segments, due to his abnormal length, while there is no multi-angle study for Zilla. After covering the monsters, the book gives the same type of coverage for the aliens and mechs featured in the film. This entire segment runs till about page 32, when it changes gears and devotes a very long section to production shots from the film. Following this, there is a rather odd feature which is a mask one can cut out with Godzilla's face on it. There are then 15 pages, black and white, which take a more focused look at the film. What can be expected from the black and white section includes: a world map showing the events of Final Wars, a rundown of the monsters shown with stock footage during the film's introduction, a brief overview of the history of all of the Final Wars monsters, and a two page breakdown on the past Godzilla movies. The book then concludes with a long section focused on the "Making of Final Wars", which includes concept art and many behind the scenes production photos.

In summation, Godzilla: Final Wars: Super Complete Works is a wonderful focus on Godzilla's 50th Anniversary film, hitting all of the basics while featuring more than enough pictures to keep importers happy.

- Anthony Romero