Godzilla Random Trivia of the Day

Did you know...

That in the original Gojira film "Godzilla King of the Monsters", all of Raymond Burr's scenes were filmed and added onto the film AFTER the Japanese version was already released.

This was an interesting bit of filming if you ask me, as an entire plot (this containing the character of Steve Martin) was incorporated into the original Gojira film in order to properly give it a US release.

In my opinion this was done all done in a very nice manner. Good camera work and body doubles concealed this fact any time Raymond Burr occupied a scene.

There were a few instances where things seemed somewhat obvious (I mean seriously, how many times could you have his character look and talk from far away and still make it work) but I still give it an "A" for effort.

Surprisingly enough the same tactic was done 30 years later with "Godzilla 1985". All of the Japanese scenes were filmed first, with the all of the US scenes (including Raymond Burr's) filmed and added months thereafter for the US release.

The old becomes new, and the new becomes old, as they say.

Source: IMDB.com

Super Godzilla (Super Nintendo) Game Review

Hello everybody this is Fernando for godzillamovienews.

Now this is more like it! Here is a game that I felt truly excelled when it came to the Godzilla gaming franchise, which is why it has remained such a hallmark even after all of these years.

What made this game so marvelous was the unique approach to its gameplay. Rather than make this a standard fight-and-punch type game (one that plagued the aforementioned Godzilla NES game), the creators chose to make this as much as a "film" as it is a game.

Take a look at the following shots to see what I mean:

You'll instantly notice that it does not look like any average game here. Instead it incorporates a more cinematic feel, where the top half of the screen looks like a motion picture of sorts, and the bottom half provides more detail about what's going on.

Sound familiar? It's exactly like any interactive DVD/Blu-Ray that's out there right now, and that is what made this game so revolutionary. It was so ahead of its time.

Then when Godzilla faced major enemies are when things really became interesting:

You'll now notice there's extra "action" shots of sorts showcasing every attack in cinematic detail.  Very cool stuff because one gets to see Godzilla's dorsal fins light up dramatically just before he shoots his fire breath, or one sees a sweeping camera move across an enemy just as they're about to attack.

How awesome was it for the game developers to include such incredible little details. They could have easily made this just another ordinary romp-and-stomp game.  But instead they chose to expertly craft as many little nuances as possible to make each action as impactful as ever.

All in all I give this game 5/5 stars for the great work the game developers did here, and one extra note goes to the amazing graphics involved. It's only a Super Nintendo game but they seemed to maximize as much detail as possible out of each sprite.

But don't just take my word for it. Here's some great video play as proof:

Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths #1 Review

Hello everybody this is Fernando for godzillamovienews.

Godzilla and mobsters? Can such an odd combination be as successful as peanut butter and jelly?

Surprisingly the answer is yes!

I picked up this issue more as an afterthought than anything else, as I was increasingly enjoying the other Godzilla IDW series "Kingdom of Monsters", and wanted to see what this issue would be about.

I knew nothing about what was inside, but what instantly grabbed my attention was the title. Could this really be Goodfellas meet Godzilla?

Once I got home I took a look inside and was immediately surprised by how well things were working out.

The story is relatively simple but very effective. There's a detective by the name of Sato whose work unfortunately leads him into the hands of a mafioso cartel. This mob wants to permanently make Sato disappear, and what better way to do this than by "taking him out" to sea.

However upon arrival Sato manages to escape and swim to a nearby island, one that happens to be called Monster Island!

Here is where the fun ensues as those gangsters chasing after Sato bump into Godzilla himself, and when it comes to Tommy Guns versus Godzilla's fire breath we all know who will win 100% of the time.

What works very well about this series is that it shows great promise. As corny as the idea sound of mixing the Mafia with Godzilla, writer John Layman takes this on in a very serious manner. We barely meet Detective Sato and we're already rooting for him, which is major kudos to Layman's writing style. Unlike Erik Powell's goofy take within "Kingdom of Monsters", Layman gives this title the proper respect that it deserves.

Plus Layman gives the ultimate tease, making it seem that Detective Sato is going to utilize Godzilla and other Monster Island monsters as revenge towards the mafia!

Artist Alberto Ponticelli does a great job with his work too. I love detailed artwork because it keeps my interest going as I look into every panel. Here Ponticelli gives this in spades, and his Kaiju renditions are perfect.

All in all I give this title 5/5 stars. It starts off on a great path and looks to even go higher, and I definitely look forward to the next issue.

Random Godzilla Video of the Day

Hello everybody this is Fernando for godzillamovienews.

Here is yet another column I want to introduce, this one dedicated to showcasing some of the strangest/funniest/weird/random Godzilla videos out there. Hope you enjoy it!

For this inaugural video it seems to be a Japanese oil company ad, one which showcases one of the strangest looking Godzilla designs ever, as he rampages through a city until he finally meets his match with the fuel this Japanese company makes.

Words cannot describe how weird this commercial is:

Fight of the Day: Godzilla vs. Wolverine

Hello everybody this is Fernando for godzillamovienews.

Here's a new column that I thought would be interesting to have every now and then, "Godzilla vs.", utilizing some of our favorite heroes/villains as the opponent. All just for fun and laughs really. Godzilla would win some fights, his opponents others.

To start with is Godzilla vs. Wolverine!

In one corner you have the King of Monsters, in the other is Canada's favorite anti-hero, Wolverine!

For starters I strongly believe that Wolverine would give Godzilla more of a run for his money than expected. Wolverine has tackled full-sized Sentinels before, and they've got to be in Godzilla's height range so he has experience on the matter.

Wolverine would first utilize all of his stealth mode to sneak up on Godzilla and aim his claws for that head. He is smart enough to realize that anything else would just be carving up meaningless flesh, so Wolverine would have to make things count.

Even if he gets swallowed by Godzilla, he could even do major damage inside his body too.

After getting to Godzilla's head Wolverine would try his best to carve those famous claws into his brain, but here is where Godzilla has the advantage. By twisting and twirling ferociously not even somebody as strong as Wolverine would be able to hang on.

So as soon as Wolverine flies through the air Godzilla would do one of two things: either a) vaporize everything but Wolverine's adamantium bones by utilizing his fire breath, or b) wait until Wolverine lands down "HARD" and then stomps him flat, probably vaporizing him with his breath thereafter.

All in all I would give this fight around 2 minute tops with Godzilla becoming the clear winner.

Weird Godzilla Toy...part 8

This is a "Godzilla Drink Dispenser", the perfect toy for your average Godzilla coaster fan!

I'm still looking at this item and wondering exactly how one would operate it. The drink goes in the middle of Godzilla's body...so where does one exactly drink the drink out of?

I'm thinking that it may be you have to drink out of his mouth?  How weird would that be? You would literally have to hold the drink about 6 inches above your head in order to make it work right...

...or you can simply plant your lips on Godzilla's and do it that way. Either way it's a lose-lose situation.

The closest solution I can think of is utilizing a straw, but then that defeats the purpose of this "Drink Dispenser" in the first place.

Weird toy.  Definitely better as a visual apparatus rather than utilizing its intended function.

Godzilla Random Image of the Day

*Credit goes to Darren Naish for this image*

It was bound to happen, somebody finally decided to interpret Godzilla's insides.

Very interesting image in my opinion, as creator of this image Darren Naish gives a very good interpretation of what Godzilla's inner body would look like.

Where the muscles and organs are make sense, as Godzilla would naturally be an overgrown lizard, so his body should constitute the same parameters as one. What I mean here is there's nothing weird like 5 hearts, 10 lungs and rotating intestines and so forth.

I remember seeing a science show once (for the life of me I cannot remember what it was, but it was something on the Discovery Channel) that stated that a living animal like Godzilla could never physically walk the Earth. And the reason is because Earth's gravity would give so much exertion that Godzilla's legs would instantly collapse under the pressure.

The show explained that this is the reason why nature has never developed 300+ foot tall animals, because gravity can only allow so much for an animal's evolution when it comes to height.

Godzilla Movie News: Do NOT mess with Toho Studios and their Godzilla properties

Here I go over some very interesting tidbits about Toho Studios and the very protective stance they take over their Godzilla copyright/trademarks.

Godzilla Movie News: New interview with Gareth Edwards, and is the Godzilla movie even green lit?

Here I go over the latest interview tidbits from Gareth Edwards, and reveal that the movie is apparently not even green lighted yet.

Godzilla Random Trivia of the Day

Did you know...

In the movie "Godzilla Final Wars", Destroyah was originally scheduled to appear in a battle of sorts with Godzilla.

What was undecided though was whether the battle was going to be a quick cameo (like most of the monsters had), or a longer battle such as with King Ghidorah's.

Ultimately the decision was made to not even include him in the film, probably in large part to the impact Destroyah had within Godzilla's world.

Because he's the only monster to have truly killed Godzilla (even if it wasn't an outright cause, but rather a prolonged one that finalized Godzilla's death in "Godzilla Final Wars"), making Destroyah into a quick cameo would have taken away his previous "Death of Godzilla" claim; while making Destroyah's sequence into a prolonged battle would have also taken away King Ghidorah's final impact.

In either case I agree with the decision to remove Destroyah from the film, as it never would have been a win-win situation at all.

Weird Godzilla Toy...part 7

Lipstick on Godzilla? Scary looking eyes?


If you want a weird Godzilla toy to add to your collection, then it does not get any better than this.


First off I want to know what exactly the toymakers were thinking when they placed that red stuff on Godzilla's lips. Sure it's probably suppose to be a representation of his fire breath, but did they not see what the final results would end up looking like.


From no angle does the red stuff not look like lipstick. I mean am I right or am I right? The only other thing it could look like is blood, and I'm quite certain they didn't want to represent that.

Even beyond that are the bulging cross-eyes emanating from Godzilla's face. Talk about scary looking. One can imagine this toy sitting on top of a shelf in your room, and it's the dead of night, and all you can see in the darkness are these bulging eyes looking straight at you.  It's like the toymakers wanted to ensure that kids would have nightmares each night after looking at this thing.

Godzilla Random Image of the Day

This is an image of the limited edition "Godzilla G-Force" watch that was released some few years back.

While it looks like to me like any other $10 digital watch that one can buy at a Target store, apparently this watch would set you back more than $150, at least according to a sales listing I once saw on it.

Why the watch costs $150 is beyond me, as again it looks to have the same plastic and metal pieces as any other digital watch. I don't see any fancy technology like an MP3/4 or USB port on it; just the usual digital watch features i.e. alarm, date, stop watch, etc.

What's most interesting though is that the only Godzilla related item on the watch are what appear to be his dorsal finds on the wrist band. Otherwise there's no picture of Godzilla, just the added name on the face of the watch itself albeit in really tiny letters.

So if you're in the mood of spending $150 on something like this for some pictures of Godzilla's dorsal fins, I'm certain there's sellers out there ready to ship one to you. Otherwise I'd recommend spending that money instead on other Godzilla related items like DVDs or books.

Godzilla Monster of Monsters! Nintendo Review

Hello everybody this is Fernando for Godzilla Movie News.

Ah yes, I'm sure we all remember playing this game as little kids.

What's interesting about this video game is the feeling I had right after first playing it.

Even as a kid I was surprised at how underwhelming the game was. I mean look at some of the images here:

While I realized that the graphics at the time weren't exactly arcade level, I was more surprised by the lack of gameplay. Godzilla essentially moved forward and punched items away, with the occasional fire breath to give out and a tail swipe. That's pretty much it.

I mean look at something like Mario Bros. for the Nintendo. Essentially the same concept of moving forward and punching bad guys away, but that gameplay is somehow leagues better than this one.

Then when a boss would come out I would think it'd get much better:

Nope, pretty much still the same gameplay as before.

This is one game that became boring very quick, and needless to say it wasn't rented much by me thereafter.

Still I would have to give this game around 3/5 stars if only for the fact that the game stayed true to the Godzilla franchise by incorporating actual Toho monsters, rather than cheaping out and making them up.

Here's some actual gameplay if anybody wants to reminise about the game too:

Weird Godzilla toy...part 6

Look at how freaky this particular Godzilla toy is. It looks like some demented version of Godzilla's skeleton, like something we would see within a SAW movie or any other torture flick.

This is actually a "3D Godzilla Woodcraft Model", and the idea behind it is for kids to find the time/patience associated with placing all 56 pieces together in order to form this final image.

I can see why a parent would want this for their child, as it teaches discpline, procedures and goals for any child looking to finish this. Patience is the key here, as all of the pieces have to be interlocked in a correct manner in order for things to work.

But I can't see how any kid would really enjoy this. Place this Godzilla toy alongside a standard Godzilla articulated toy and see which one the child truly goes with. I bet you 99% of the time it will be the articulated toy, as kids just want to play and have fun, not have to become puzzle masters in order to get things rolling.

Godzilla Random Trivia of the Day

Did you know...

"Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" (1974) featured the last appearance of Anguirus for more than 30 years!

It was only until "Godzilla Final Wars" that Anguirus made his triumphant return, which was followed thereafter with recent appearances in both comic books and video games.

Strange how a kaiju like Anguirus, who had so few appearances and was away for over 30 years, could still have such a powerful impact within most Godzilla fans. It illustrates the ability of a well designed monster to maintain a cult-like status within viewers, so big kudos to Toho studios on their work here.

Source: IMDB.com

Godzilla Image of the Day

This is an image of a real life "Godzilla", or at least the closest we'll ever have to a dinosaur being named after the King of Monsters.

When scientists had originally unearthed this giant crocodile like creature's remains, they decided that because this monster both came from the sea and measured a staggering 4 meters in length, they gave it the nickname "Godzilla".

While not quite as big as Godzilla himself, one can still see how massive this creature truly was during its reign some 135 million years ago. It could easily pluck Pterodactyls from the sky and presumably swallow them whole.

Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters #2 Review

Hello everybody this is Fernando for godzillamovienews.

And so the trouble-spot known as IDW's "Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters" continues.

I have to state that if I was disappointed with the first issue, the second issue does not provide much hope either. The issue still reads as a quick-and-easy breeze, with Godzilla continuing to rampage throughout the issue.

There's an added joke of a fisherman (whose kids had died in the previous issue) meeting his demise while trying to take out Godzilla.

****SPOILER, the fisherman's suicide-bomb trick at Godzilla's nose did not more than make Godzilla scratch his nose in annoyance****

Anguirus finally makes his well-deserved introduction. Only this time writer Erik Powell manages to place it alongside one of the dumbest ideas around. Take a look:

So wow does Powell introduce famed Godzilla villain Anguirus? By having him stomp around from Mexico to Texas while utilizing some of the most hokey Texan caricatures around. I was half surprised that Powell did not have this Texas "Governor" twirl an evil mustache while he was writing him, as things just seem really corny here.

Barring the nice splash page (by continuing artist Phil Hester) of Anguirus stomping away in full fury, Powell still comes across as a somebody who is not taking his writing duties as seriously as he should. These issues keep reminding me of the childish Godzilla films of the 70's, where Godzilla is ninja-kicking bad guys and flying around with his super breath.

And why the political bantering? It's not really needed in such a comic regardless of whose politics one follows.

I did like though how Powell is taking things on the US Presidential side. There are several well written panels here where Powell truly conveys a Presidential response to the matter:

I also have to admit that the artwork by Phil Hester is growing on me, if only by a little. Now that the action is picking up Hester knows how to make it work, even if the artwork remains simple at times.

Overall I give this issue 3/5 stars, as I see it continue to grow somewhat (albeit warts and all). Here's hoping we actually get some monster fights soon enough.

Godzilla Random Trivia of the Day

Did you know...

There was enough paint used during the making of the 1998 Dean Devlin/Roland Emmerich Godzilla movie to paint the entire Golden Gate Bridge!

I imagine that a lot of the paint went towards the gigantic sets used throughout the film, such as the Madison Square Garden area, the subway scenes, the various military institutions, and so forth.

If there's one thing that I have to give credit to the 1998 Godzilla movie, it's that they did not skimp out when it came to their sets. All of those aforementioned scenes looked very real, and the efforts that went into making them look as real as possible definitely payed off. Nothing looked fake at all, like it was blatantly being filmed within a movie studio.

Source: IMDB.com

Godzilla Image of the Day

I'm not really certain how accurate this picture is, but it's a good comparison of the various sizes Godzilla has had throughout his franchise history.

What's interesting to note is how gigantic the 1991-1995 Godzilla size was, which was from the Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah era. It practically dwarfs all of the others here, by double of what the original Gojira was.

(The only Godzilla not pictured was the 1998 movie design, which was apparently set at 160 ft. So that would place him around the same size as the original Gojira).

I imagine that the size changing has to do with the studio choosing to make him truly larger than life in some movies, and just ordinary in others.

Godzilla Movie News:How the 1998 Godzilla movie design was first leaked to the world

Hello everybody this is Fernando for godzillamovienews.

Here I go over some information on how the Godzilla 1998 movie monster design was first leaked to the world.