The history of Toho Studios

I found this fantastic website that chronicles Toho Studios and how it came it be.

If you've ever wondered how Toho Studios first started, how and when it began working on Godzilla, what direction Toho Studios initially wanted to go, how it operates now, etc., this article has it all.

What was interesting to note was that there was a time period when Toho Studios almost went bust.

Apparently in the early 1970's the entire Japanese movie industry was suffering. This explains Toho's reduced budgets (and very cheap special effects) on some of their movies in order to get by.

As the article highlights, "compared to the SFX advancements going on in the US, it was a struggle for Toho not only to stay current, but just to stay afloat".

Can you imagine if Toho Studios would have gone under?

Undoubtedly they would have had to have sold their assets, including ownership of the Godzilla franchise and characters.

This means an entirely different studio could be making the Godzilla movies now...or could just be withholding them from future use, as is the practice of some studios nowadays.

Fascinating stuff.

In any case here's the original article:

Mania.com: A History of Toho

Godzilla Toy of the Day

For this "Toy of the Day" it's none other than the "Bane" within the Godzilla franchise, Destoroyah.

No other monster brought Godzilla closer to death than this monster.

Looking literally like a bat out of hell, it's gigantic stature and devilish wings towered over Godzilla, and toymakers Bandai have been able to perfectly capture this monstrosity here.

To reiterate I do these "Toy of the Day" features to highlight some spectacular toymakers out there, and Bandai definitely fits the bill.

Standing at just 6.5 inches tall, they were still able to beautifully capture many of the details within Destoroyah.

From the intricate ridges within his body armor, to the wrinkles within his outspread wings, to even the little teeth within his mouth, nothing is lost here.

I highly recommend this to anyone out there who's a Godzilla fan, or knows someone who would enjoy such a treat.

Fantastic Video showcasing deleted "Godzilla 1985" scenes

I found this fantastic video from YouTube user "gigan997" that chronicles various deleted scenes from the "Godzilla 1985" film.

...well not really deleted scenes, as they remain available in the international "Return of Godzilla" DVD release...

...but rather omitted scenes that were nowhere to be found within the American VHS release.

I highly recommend everybody to take a look, as you'll see images related to various long-lost scenes.

Some of these scenes are so outstanding...it makes you wonder why in the heck American editors left them out on the cutting room floor.

My personal favorite are the scenes involving Godzilla walking by a skyscraper and his reflection gleams off of it, and another one where a crowd gathers around a comatose Godzilla (after being shot with Cadmium missiles), only to run away in horror as he is revived.

Why oh why were these fantastic scenes omitted?

I really hope an American DVD release is made of this film that integrates these long lost scenes, so that Godzilla fans here in the US can finally get to enjoy them.

Godzilla Image of the Day

****Credit goes to manhawk for this image****

I'd brake for him.

...well it's not like you have a choice really.

Go ahead and try to run him down and we'll see who's on the losing stick.

The Dark Knight Rises Trailer

While I realize this is NOT Godzilla related news, I just had to post this nonetheless.

I just finished watching this latest trailer for "The Dark Knight Rises" movie that comes out in 2012...and it looks FANTASTIC!

This is how a movie trailer is suppose to be made...reveals everything but nothing at the same time.

Shows you enough to get fully interested while still leaving you non-spoilered and wanting more.

Bane looks amazing, and the newest version of the "Batwing" is as cool as ever.

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing this next year!

Godzilla on Crackle.com

I thought I would use this post to remind everybody that the wonderful crackle.com has a whole host of Godzilla movies available to stream.

I don't know how they were able to get penny-pinching Toho to agree to this, but 9 Godzilla movies are available to stream for free without any membership needed.

Granted there are quick 30-second ads playing during 10-minute intervals, but that's nothing compared to the overall enjoyment of these movies.

We're talking films like "Godzilla 2000", "Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla II", "Godzilla: Final Wars", and so on.

You can literally make it a "Godzilla weekend" with this whole host of available films.

Check it out if you want to watch some free Godzilla films. I've also added the link to my sidebar of Godzilla related websites:

Crackle.com: Godzilla movies

A Propaganda-laden Godzilla?!

Well almost...at least that's what newly deceased dictator Kim Jong iL was trying to create some years back.

The story goes that Kim Jong iL was a huge fan of films, owning over 20,000 copies in fact, and he wanted to create his own "Godzilla" film.

The difference was that this film would be filled with forced propaganda stating that North Korea is great and that capitalism is bad.

As such Kim Jong iL had noted South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok and his wife kidnapped, and under extreme duress Shin was forced to make this film.

The resulting film was called "Pulgasari", which was released back in 1985.

Luckily Shin and his wife escaped a year later...but otherwise an interesting bit of trivia no?

That's not all, as Kim Jong iL had many other quirks that are described within this fascinating article.  I highly recommend everybody to give it a read:

nzherald.co.nz: North Korea's 'Dear Leader': what you didn't know

Godzilla Image of the Day

****Credit goes to Patrick Reilly for this FANTASTIC looking image****

Look at this amazing artwork!

On his website (which you'll find by clicking the link above) Patrick states that this was actually a speed-painting of sorts.

Just something quick that he created in order to emote Godzilla in an early morning attack.

If this spectacular work is him speed-painting, I would love to see what he does when he spends some time on something.

Doesn't it look amazing!

I highly recommend everybody to check out Patrick's website for further examples of his extreme talent.

"Destroy All Monster" Blu-Ray Review

Twitchfilm.com has some great insight on the recently re-released "Destroy All Monsters"

They actually give it a somewhat mild-to-negative review, citing the release's lack of improved Audio and Visual aspects, particularly on the Blu-Ray itself.

They state that while things were definitely upped considering previous editions, Media Blasters (the makers of this re-release) didn't take full advantage of Blu-Ray's capabilities.

For example they state that the picture quality transfer looks good but not great. There's lack of detail in many of the scenes, at least up to what a Blu-Ray should present.

They did like the sound aspect though, even if it was just in 2.0...but still in HD no less.

Ultimately they stated that Godzilla collectionists would enjoy adding this to their pile, as it's still a copy to own.

Here's the original article for all this info:

twitchfilm.com: Destroy All Monsters Blu-Ray Review

Godzilla vs Megalon included within a "Distinctive Geek List"

Now that Toho has re-released "Godzilla vs Megalon" on both DVD and Blu-Ray, fortwayne.com has included it within their annual Christmas "Geek List".

Essentially it's a list catered to the geeks we all know, those friends, family members and coworkers (not to mention ourselves) that would make their Christmas dreams come true.

Such a list contains fan favorites from Star Wars such as the "Han Solo Carbonite Ice Tray" and the "Voice activated R2D2".

Others are the Star Trek "Romulan Ale" and the 2001: A Space Odyssey "HAL Iris 900 Speakerphone dock".

In any case they included this Godzilla film because the author highly recalls seeing John Belushi, in a Godzilla costume, introducing it nationally on NBC in 1976.

I was trying to find a video of this because I had never heard of this before, but unfortunately nothing came up.

Here's the link for more info about this cool "Geek List":

fortwayne.com: ‘Distinctive’ gifts for all the geeks on your list