Godzilla Image of the Day

This is a model of how Godzilla would have looked like within the now defunct 1994 "Godzilla" movie from director Jan De Bont.

(Such a model was created by legendary special effects wizard Stan Winston and his company).

As I had chronicled within one of my oldest YouTube videos (seen here), this was a movie that came so close to production actual sets were built.

A final draft of the script was done, the special effects were secured through Winston and ILM, locations were scouted and ready to film.

There was even a teaser trailer created for the film!

About the only thing missing were the actual actors, which were rumored to be the tag-team of Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt.

Unfortunately Tri-Star pulled the plug at the very last second over budgeting issues. They feared that $130 million was too high for their tastes, and so the studio ended up going with Roland Emmerich/Dean Devlin's version instead.

(On an ironic note, their budget actually went higher than De Bont's).

One can clearly see how close the model looks like Godzilla, only more reptilian in nature. Particularly with the eyes and scales, it's a great modernization of the monster in my opinion.

This model was eventually sold on Ebay, and some lucky bidder out there has this one-of-a-kind fantastic piece in their house somewhere.

Family fun planned at Richmond K of C hall

Hello everybody this is Fernando for Godzilla Movie News.

Live near or around Richmond, MI?

Well you're in luck because there's going to be a great Movie Monster Festival that will occur at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

Starting September 17 from noon until midnight, the entire day will be filled with monster movies aimed at young children to teenagers.

Most films will feature everyone's favorite King of Monsters, Godzilla himself, with the final three films being "Godzilla 2000", "Godzilla versus MechaGodzilla" and "Godzilla Final Wars".

And the best part is that the entire showing is free!

Food and other concessions will of course be provided for additional fees.

Sounds like great fun, I wish I could be there to enjoy the entire marathon. If the Alamo Drafthouse franchise near me were wise they would do the same thing. I'm certain it would be a sellout the entire day.

In any case here's the original link for further info:

Voicenews.com: Family fun planned at Richmond K of C hall

Roland Emmerich now winning praise?

If the name Roland Emmerich sounds familiar, it's because he was/is probably the most hated director within Godzilla fandom.

He directed (with business partner Dean Devlin producing) the 1998 "Godzilla" film, one that immediately created a fiery debate amongst Godzilla fans worldwide.

To this day it remains a hotbed as to whether or not it's a good Godzilla film.

Those that love everything Godzilla state it's a disgrace; those more flexible see it as a modernized summer-popcorn version of the original.

In all honesty I give the guy credit where credit is due. He creates some of the most fantastic special-effects-filled films out there. "Godzilla" was no exception, filled with amazing action pieces that cannot be matched within anything else the franchise offers.

(To this day he states it's the film he gets most questions asked about, from both reporters and fans).

What everyone agreed upon though was none of Roland's film receiving anything close to high praise. They're all mindless popcorn movies, nothing more nothing less.

Things could change now with his upcoming film "Anonymous", which deals with William Shakespeare and the authority he truly had on his writings.

Personally I see it as instant Oscar-bait (i.e. the type of movie manufactured for awards), but the following article constantly decrees it as a changing of Roland's style and direction.

It looks like things are finally going up for Roland on the critics side.

Here's the original link for further reference:

MSNBC.com: Roland Emmerich wins over critics with new film

Comic relief: Veteran artist shares friends, skills with fans

You see this is why it's hard to hate anybody within the comic book field.

I've been riding artist Phil Hester a little too hard for his work on "Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters", calling it rushed and not as heavily detailed as I would like for it to be.

And then I find an article like this where Phil is so nice to his fans; how he frequently takes time out of his busy schedule to fly around the country for these signings.

Apparently they're done a "thank-you" to his fans for following his work, as he definitely appreciates all that they've done for him throughout his 20+ years in comics.

Comic book artists doing signings are not a new thing, as there are multitudes of them at comic and sci-fi conventions almost every week.

The difference here is that Phil does this signings at local comic book shops. This means that the potential audience is FAR smaller than at any convention, which means his chances of making any money are little to none.

But it goes to show how much he truly does these for the fans, as the article highlights how well he's cultivated such activities over the years.

Sort of makes me change my mind about his work all of a sudden.

In any case here's the original article for further reference:

wcfcourier.com: Comic relief: Veteran artist shares friends, skills with fans

Free ‘Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla’ screening Sunday with Godzilla artist Matt Frank

Those near or in San Antonio, TX are in for a Godzilla-sized treat!

On September 18th the comic book shop "Comic Break" will be hosting a free screening of "Godzilla versus Mechagodzilla" at the Stone Oak Drafthouse (part of the very popular Alama Drafthouse franchise), where Godzilla artist Matt Frank will be in attendance to meet and greet fans.

The Alamo Drafthouse franchise is known for having these kind of kooky and zany events, with movies tied in with fun promotional activities.

Matt Frank is of course the popular variant cover artist for the current "Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters" series, and at this event he will be selling and signing an exclusive Godzilla print.

I think I must go the event since it's so nearby and will follow-up with any news if I can make it.

Here's the original link for all of the info:

Mysanantonio.com: Free ‘Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla’ screening Sunday with Godzilla artist Matt Frank

A "Godzilla-sized" cell phone tower is in the works...

...and it is leaving local residents in Hamilton, New Jersey furious about the eyesore it's going to create.

About the only reason residents are calling this cell phone tower "Godzilla" is due to its mammoth size.

At over 160 feet tall, this cell phone tower will dominate the entire residential area for miles to see.

The neighbors apparently know how tall Godzilla is, as they're fairly accurate when it comes to the tower's size.

As in a previous "Godzilla Image of the Day" article (seen Here), we can see that 160 feet tall would be the Godzilla from around the 1991-1995 era, only 10 feet higher.

It'd be nice to see a picture of this cell phone tower, as one could then see how tall "Godzilla" would truly look when compared to the rest of the town.

In any case here's the original link for further reference:

Trentonian.com: Godzilla-sized cell phone tower to be developed

Godzilla Trivia of the Day

Did you know...

That "Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah - Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
" is the first movie in which King Ghidorah is actually smaller than Godzilla.

This is something that I still think doesn't work at all.

King Ghidorah is Godzilla's arch-enemy!

He should be the very imposing monster that we all know and love by now; one that is so big/strong that Godzilla has to constantly team-up with other monsters just to even take him on.

If King Ghidorah is suddenly shrunk down to Godzilla's size, that detracts from the physicality that he usually brings to the table.

In other words it takes away the "David vs Goliath" approach that Godzilla usually has, where he's the underdog in the fight and has to prove himself in order to win.

Thankfully this trend did not continue throughout the rest of the King Ghidorah appearances.

Source: IMDB.com

Godzilla Sound Board

You see this is why I love the Internet, because one can virtually find anything out there related to a topic one loves.

Case in point is this great website showcasing many Godzilla sounds/sound effects from his movies. They all range from his first movie to his last one a few years back.

(Strangely enough there's none for the 1998 Godzilla film
).

There's 22 great clips to pick from, and they're all free and available for download purposes!

So if anybody wants to create some great ringtones for their phones, or some alerts on their computers/email, or some sound effects for your own YouTube videos, feel free to grab them here.

I can just imagine the looks people will give when you're in a crowded elevator, and all of a sudden your phone rings to the sound of a Godzilla roar!

Soundboard.com: Godzilla Sound Effects

Godzilla the Original Animated Series available on Hulu

Great news everyone!

I came across this today as I was browsing one of my favorite websites around, Hulu.com.

Apparently Hulu has most of the episodes for the "Godzilla: The Original Animated Series (See all Kids & Family Animated Movies)
" cartoon now available for viewing.

I've been meaning to catch these episodes as I've had requests in the past to review them on YouTube, and thought I would share Hulu's Godzilla link for everyone to see.

If you haven't used Hulu before I highly recommend it. Hulu mainly focuses on current/older TV shows, where they substitute a few commercials for their free content. Plus it's in HD. They also have a premium subscription service where commercials can be eliminated for a small fee, but in my opinion the free service is fine enough.

In any case here's link. If you truly wanted to own the series I also have the DVD link on Amazon.com underneath. Enjoy!

Hulu.com: Godzilla the Original Animated Series Episodes

Making of the original Godzilla suit

Hello everybody this is Fernando for Godzilla Movie News.

I found this most interesting YouTube video that I highly recommend everybody to take a look at.



Made by Ed Godziszewski (good lord that's a unique last name), it's essentially a mini-documentary of sorts that chronicles how the original Godzilla suit from "Gojira
" was made.

In it is very fascinating material about what led to the design, who was behind it, how it was made, what has happened with the suit, what worked and what didn't work, and so on.

One even gets to see designs for different Godzilla suits, showcasing the range the producers originally wanted to go with.

Plenty of incredible behind-the-scenes photos too from the movie.

Great stuff, and again a highly recommended viewing!

Godzilla Video of the Day

Ugh, to me this is the epitome of everything that was wrong with the corny, goofy 60's/70's Godzilla movies.

This scene completely makes Godzilla out as a joke, complete with the campy music that sounds like something out of a circus.

I know there's fans of these movies
out there, but I'll never understand why somebody would stand for these things.

It's like the Batman show from the 60's. A complete idiotic representation of the Batman character, as opposed to what he should be...dark and brooding.

In any case I hope Gareth Edwards does NOT have any of this within his new Godzilla movie.

Godzilla Kingdom of Monsters #5 Rankings

Okay now I'm confused.

Last we had checked issue #4 of this series had a huge fallout, tumbling thousands of issues to have only 7,750 copies ordered by retailers.

Now issue #5's report comes out and it's actually DOUBLED in sales, landing at 148th place with 13,750 orders.

I can't understand why there was this sudden jump, especially considering there wasn't anything special going on with the issue.

There weren't any exclusive monster fights, the writing/drawing team was still the same, no dozens of variant covers, everything was just the status quo.

The closest thing I can think of is that IDW must have given an extra discount to retailers to help buy more issues, as happens sometimes within the world of comics when things become stagnant. So if retailers were normally buying the issues at half-off retail price, then now it's 60% off and so forth.

In either case an interesting jump to see within this series
.

Godzilla Toy of the Day

Awww isn't this toy the cutest thing ever!

There's something about a Plush doll that just makes everything so cute all of a sudden.

Even something as ugly as Battra
suddenly has the cuteness factor turned to level 10 when there's a soft and furry Plush involved.

In any case the detail on this Plush doll is amazing. There's all of the little mini-spikes in all of their glory, there's the darker patches on its skim made to resemble its scaly parts, there's Battra's eyes in a hard red plastic, everything's there except the actual lightning strikes.

I highly recommend this toy for any Battra fans out there. It's a great item to have on your office desk or for your son/daughter.

Godzilla is now taking on Japanese whalers

What you're looking at the "Gojira", the latest interceptor vessel utilized by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to help save whales.

This non-profit organization essentially goes on the "hunt" for whaling factory ships who kill these large animals for their blubber and other parts.

They specifically speed in and out of the whaling ships paths so that a) their harpooning vessels cannot strike the whales, and b) so that the whales themselves become spooked and leave the area altogether.

This particular interceptor is nicknamed "Gojira" for obvious reasons, as the shipping crew placed a large Godzilla design on the front left part of the ship.

What's interesting is that they went with the design modeled after the Godzilla 1998 film
. There's the unmistakable face, the sleeker body and the larger arms.

My guess is that this was done because the company wanted this "faster" Godzilla version in order to mimic the higher speed of this vessel.

In any case here's the original article link for further reference:

Heraldsun.com: Japanese Whalers to be chased by Godzilla

Godzilla had a dinosaur nicknamed after him?

What you're looking at is a dinosaur that scientists have nicknamed "Godzilla" thanks to its rather unique size.

Part of the crocodilian family, this dinosaur lived around 135 million years ago throughout parts of the ocean. Completely amphibious it was a giant amongst its family class, so large in fact that this is where the "Godzilla" moniker came into play.

Its head alone was nearly the size of a T-Rex's
head, and its body measured a staggering 13 feet across!

With such a huge head you better believe it was mostly filled with monster size teeth, up to 4 inches in length in fact. Such features gave this predator the fiercest advantage when it came to hunting other fish down.

Of course the computer generated picture makes the dinosaur look nothing like Godzilla, but again the name has more to do with the freakish size difference between itself and the rest of its species.

It basically dwarfed any other families of species.

Here's the original link for further reference:

Animal.Discovery.com: 'Godzilla' Dino-Crocodile found

Blast from the Past: Is this how Godzilla will look in the US Reboot?

Hello everybody this is Fernando for Godzilla Movie News.

For this latest edition of "Blast from the Past", I wanted to chronicle several images that took over the Internet a while back.

Anybody who's been following the US Godzilla reboot news knows about these pictures. Introduced early last year, they were originally thought of as early-concept statues of the newest Godzilla
design.

Such statues are commonly utilized by movie studios to help create literal reference points for CGI artists, so that the artist can have a 360 degree view of what they're designing.

Literally in a day or two every major movie/sci-fi website had these images posted, and the Internet was abuzz with how they thought Godzilla would look like.

Most favored the design, as the look nicely paid tribute to the design we all know and love, while still giving it a rather nasty/mean/intimidating stance.

But through some further research it was later revealed that these statues were not commissioned by any movie studio. Rather these sculptures were done by a Godzilla fan looking to redesign/modernize the King of Monsters and that's it.

I must say that though that I was a fan of these pics myself. The design does indeed look very intimidating, and that is what our Godzilla needs to convey throughout this reboot. I would certainly not have minded such a design being within the movie.

Here's the original article for further reference:

Twitchfilm.com: Is this how Godzilla will look in the US reboot?

'Godzilla-like creature' nabbed in Calif. town

It seems like there was a monitor lizard so large on the loose near Riverside, CA, that the media decided to call it "Godzilla-like".

With a five-foot length, this lizard "Elmer" had apparently escaped it's owner's residence when the owner (Tom Casarez Jr.) was cleaning his glass tank.

What caught my eye was how the Riverside citizens reacted to seeing this giant lizard roaming around the streets.

Residents were apparently freaking out left and right, and even the Animal Control Officer almost jumped back in her truck upon first seeing Elmer.

It would be quite an amazing thing to see this 5-foot lizard quickly scurrying around everywhere. I've seen documentaries on monitor lizards on the Discovery Channel and they are something to definitely take seriously. They move very fast, strike quickly and can give a pretty mean bite.

I can also see where the media would dub this "Godzilla-like". Besides being abnormally large, it closely resembles the lizard-like model used within the 1998 Dean Devlin/Roland Emmerich film
.

Can you believe this is somebody's pet too? Apparently it's legal in California to own such an animal.

Here's the original article for further reference:

MSNBC.MSN.COM: Godzilla-like creature nabbed in California Town

Weird Godzilla Toy...part 14

Feast your eyes on this.

Apparently Godzilla merchandise not only encompasses games, toys, novels, movies, clothing, etc., but it also encompasses confetti!

...confetti? How did a toy maker wake up one day and decide that there's something missing within the world of Godzilla toys, and that it involves confetti?

What a strange notion as it's confetti and nothing else. I mean I can understand Godzilla party-related items like cakes, cake toppings, balloons and so forth, but confetti?

In looking closely at the photo it's from the 1998 "Godzilla" film from Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. It basically consists of small reflective laminated paper cutouts in various colors, with a large Godzilla cutout somewhere in the middle.

There's also the fact that it's only good for a one time use. The confetti is thrown around or added onto its original destination, and that's it no?

Weird toy, weird concept.