The Lost Godzilla Episodes

Historyvortex.org has a fantastic article highlighting the rarely seen TV appearances by Godzilla back in the late 60's.

They call these the "Lost Episodes" because they were rarely seen by most Godzilla fans, thus becoming seemingly forgotten.

I've included several images of the "monsters" from these shows, and as one can see Toho essentially took the classic Godzilla costumes and refitted them with various trinkets/highlights to create "new" monsters.

It denotes the very cheap production Toho had for these shows, to the point that the second image is clearly Godzilla with an upside down fin!

In any case the real Godzilla did make several appearances and fought alongside the superhero Ultra Q to help save the day.

I can't state how good or bad these shows were as I've never seen any of them...but based on what the website describes they seemed kooky enough.

I highly recommend everyone to read this article as it presents a very descriptive glimpse into these rare Godzilla television appearances.

Great stuff!:

historyvortex.org: The Lost Godzilla Episodes

Godzilla Image of the Day

Those who have followed my Godzilla website for some time know how much I love images that compare Godzilla against various other items.

(See past examples of this here, here, and here).

I just love these because they easily place into perspective just how large (or small) Godzilla can be.

Here's another fantastic size comparison image to behold.

If you thought Godzilla was large, just wait until you see him compared to the "Barad-dûr", which was Sauron's personal fortress within the "Lord of the Rings Trilogy".

Look at how huge that fortress was!

It absolutely dwarfs him and everything else on that chart!

I found this nice image at the metropolis.co.jp website, and they even included specific details related to each image's size:

1. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles: 2M


2. Sperm whale, Antarctica: 16M


3. Shonan Maru 2, Antarctica: 71M


4. Godzilla, whereabouts unknown: 100M


5. Tokyo Tower: 335M


6. Tokyo Sky Tree (current): 338M


7. Tokyo Sky Tree (planned): 634M


8. Bhurj Khalifa, Dubai: 828M


9. Barad-dûr, Middle-earth: 914M

Impressive stuff.

Here's that website's official link too:

metropolis.co.jp: Upfront extra measurement

Godzilla Monster Puns

Slacktory.com has created a pretty funny list of visual puns related to the Godzilla franchise.

As you can see from the included images, they're basically combining funny visuals with a play-on-words for each of the monsters' names.

Funny stuff, and for more of these puns I highly recommend everyone to check out their website here:

slacktory.com: Godzilla Monster Puns

Ever wonder who created the official "Godzilla" poster/image for Legendary Pictures?

This is of course the official (and famous) "Godzilla" image that Legendary Pictures released back in 2010, this in anticipation of their still-in-production "Godzilla" movie.

It was famously released at the San Diego Comic Con that year and was emblazoned throughout multiple t-shirts, posters, various trinkets, etc.

(There was even a t-shirt made that featured this image "breathing fire" if it was placed in front of a webcam).

What made this image especially popular was that it introduced the path Legendary Pictures was taking with their Godzilla design.

It reaffirmed that things were coming back to normal. This Godzilla would be the classic design we all know and love, not a re-imaging like in the 1998 film.

Well if you've ever wondered who created this image...it's none other than user "Genzoman" over at deviantart.com.

Here's what he had to say about this commissioned image on his website:

"Hi there guys! GOOOOODDDDZILLAAAA!!! RUUUUUUUN!!!!...This is a Image I done the last year for Udon, Legendary pictures / Toho as a promotional image for San Diego comic-con for a upcoming Godzilla film. The image on the boot worked with aumented reality, (godzilla roaring releasing flames everywhere) and also featured in t-shirts.

hehehe, hope you like it, I LOVE godzilla, I grew up watching the old Godzilla and Kaiju/sentai films, so this was a really fun work to do thanks a lot to for all the help and advices about this.

hope you like it"

How cool is it to be asked by a major movie studio to create an image that would be seen worldwide.

Amazing stuff.

Here's the direct link to his website if you wanted to see more of his work:

genzoman.deviantart.com

10 of the best outdoor activities in and around Tokyo

It has survived enough attacks from Godzilla to merit its own award, and now the Tokyo Tower is listed in a top 10 list for the best activities to do in Tokyo.

Obviously visiting the tower and sightseeing from the top is a given. If I ever travel to Tokyo that's going to be one of the first things I'll do.

(I'm not afraid of heights...so I'd probably see how far I can legally stretch out from the guarded edge).

But this list offers other interesting things to do, such as jogging around the Imperial Palace, to trying some urban fishing along the Ichigaya fish centre, to taking a fantastic walk at Inokashira Park.

I never realized there were so many good things to do in Tokyo, and it makes paying a visit all the more impressive.

I thought most of the sightseeing tours involved visiting local merchant areas...but this is something else.

Those who have visited Tokyo before, I'd love any extra input on any other sightseeing locations you can think of that can work great.

In any case here's the impressive list:

guardian.co.uk: 10 of the best outdoor activities in and around Tokyo

Battlezone: Destoroyah vs. SpaceGodzilla

Destroyer 14 has another great article at comicbookmovie.com, this one starting an interesting theme that I may just imitate.

(While I already have the Godzilla Fight of the Day column, seen here, this one hypothetically pits various Godzilla villains against one another...at least those who have never met before).

Starting this battle is Destoroyah vs. SpaceGodzilla, villains from the Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla / Godzilla vs. Destoroyah films.

While I won't go into in the extreme detail Destroyer 14 has on this battle (which is why I highly recommend clicking on this link below for further info), I do agree with his assessment on who the winner is.

Destoroyah would hands-down win any battle against SpaceGodzilla, as Destoroyah is the ultimate Godzilla villain.

While I love me some King Ghidorah as the archvillain of the franchise, Destoroyah remains the hardest villain Godzilla has ever faced.

The sheer power and destruction that Destoroyah brought forth...nobody has been able to match his debut ever since.

If King Ghidorah is the Joker of villains, Destoroyah is Bane.

Again a great article Destroyer 14 has introduced, and here's the link for it:

comicbookmovies.com: Battlezone: Destoroyah vs. SpaceGodzilla

Godzilla Image of the Day

I wish I could give credit to whomever drew this absolutely beautiful drawing, but unfortunately no names were listed from where I found this.

What an absolute gorgeous piece of work!

Showcasing the pivotal moment in "Gojira" when the Oxygen Destroyer is first opening, an unsuspecting (although curious) Godzilla is about to look onto what will be his ultimate demise.

I really loved the added touch of the fish swimming nearby, again curious at the device causing so many bubbles.

Beautiful (and ultimately tragic) piece of work.

The Godzilla Insurance argument

Who knew that Judges had senses of humor?

Apparently in Maryland back in 2006, Allstate insurance was looking to limit risks imposed from various insurance policies.

One of those risks involved halting written policies for coastal areas within Maryland, those who faced potential disasters from potentially large hurricanes.

Such a policy would essentially limit one-third of the state's geographic area altogether.

What made this decision controversial was the fact that Maryland had never experienced a catastrophic hurricane before.

While this decision was agreed upon by the Maryland Insurance Administration, the Maryland People’s Insurance Counsel Division, a consumer protection unit of the Office of the Attorney General, challenged this ruling.

For obvious reasons they felt that the people of Maryland were getting the raw end, and the Judge reviewing the case felt the same way about Allstate's far-fetched notions, stating the following:

"He argued that recorded history on the subject shows, again and again, that a catastrophic hurricane of the order of magnitude described in Allstate’s plan justification and forecasting models has not made landfall in Maryland yet. And the chance of such a hurricane hitting Maryland in the future is so improbable that the insurers might as well be waiting for Godzilla to attack Maryland".

Again who know that Judges had enough sense of humor to utilize Godzilla in this manner.

Unfortunately the King of Monsters did not win the argument here, as the highest court in Maryland, the Maryland Court of Appeals, in the end still sided with Allstate.

For more info about this interesting argument follow this link here:

Insurancejournal.com: Maryland High Court Sides With Allstate in Coastal Homeowners Case

Godzilla in a "Greatest Movie Monsters" list

In celebration of the upcoming release for "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" (the sequel to the successful "Journey to the Center of the Earth"), femalefirst.co.uk has made a list of what they consider to be the "Greatest Movie Monsters" ever.

Godzilla of course is included, and they have this to say about the King of Monsters:

"Also known as Gojira, Gozilla first stared in self titled film ‘Godzilla’ in 1954. Since then Godzilla has had a successful career starring in 28 films.

Fans were left raging as the giant mutated dinosaur’s reputation was tarnished in Roland Emmerich’s 1998 remake in which Godzilla was portrayed as a heartless rampaging monster.

It might surprise you that Godzilla actually became a saviour, defending the human race from other monsters!"

They've included other famous movie monsters like King Kong and the Great White shark from Jaws, but what was really interesting were the wildcard entries like the Gremlins, the giant marshmallow monster from "Ghostbusters", and others.

Take a look to see if any of of your favorite movie monsters made the list:

femalefirst.co.uk: Greatest Movie Monsters

By the way I've seen the trailers for "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island", and while the film looks okay what really stands out is how smoking hot Vanessa Hudgens looks.

They are certainly stressing her looks here...and honestly who can blame them for this.  She is scorching, and I'm willing to see the film just to see her in it.

I've included her official poster and the trailer for everyone to see what I'm talking about.

Enjoy!

What Other Roles Can Matthew Broderick Use to Sell Stuff?

Chicagoist.com has a pretty funny list of items actor Matthew Broderick should sell using his past movie characters.

(This is all based on the latest Honda commercial featuring the actor semi-reprising his famous "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" character in order to sell the Honda CR-V).

One of those noted film characters is his "Dr. Niko Tatopoulos" role from the 1998 Godzilla film, where chicagoist.com offers the following:

"Diddy has Broderick cover his Kashmir-sampled "Come With Me", the most popular song off the soundtrack to the 1998 remake of Godzilla - in which Broderick starred - for a Ciroc ad".

Funny stuff. I can just imagine him trying to either sing or lip-synch through that, and either result is not pretty.

There's other good items in the article, and I recommend everybody to take a look to imagine what kind of results could happen.

Here's the link:

chicagoist.com: What other roles can Broderick use

On an interesting note, I wonder if Matthew ever wished he could work again on those Godzilla sequels. He was contracted to do two more sequels, and from interviews done during the original film's release it seemed like he had a blast. ...oh well.

By the way I've included the new Honda commercial so that everyone can see what all the buzz is about.

I've personally never seen that Ferris Bueller movie (it's just one of those things that never seemed to catch my interest) so a lot of the scenes are lost on me as they no doubt reference stuff from the movie.

Enjoy!:

Half-term Monster Fun

If you're in the United Kingdom are this February near Lancaster, then you're in luck!

At the Dukes Theater (pictured) from February 13th to the 17th, they will be holding a special kaiju-centric film-making experience.

Dubbed "How to Make a Monster Movie in Five Days", this workshop will be catered to young children ages 11 to 14 looking to learn about film-making.

A week-long crash course of sorts, filming experts will be there to provide guidance on how to write scripts, build sets, shoot and edit their own short films, all geared towards producing a short B-like classic Godzilla movie.

Sounds like fun!

Too bad something like that isn't available in the states...it would certainly make for a great family trip.

No doubt if any of the major film festivals out there (Tribeca, SXSW, New York Film Festival, etc.) added an audience gauging project like this into their line-up, it would have huge success.

Who wouldn't want to take their kids to an exciting experience like this, where they can learn how to make their own film!

Godzilla Trivia of the Day

Did you know...

...that within the 1998 Godzilla film, so precise was the detail placed into each scene that during the final taxi chase scene with Godzilla, there was even a brief shot showcasing the final meter tally for the entire ride.

It came up to $95.20!

Now I know this film has its detractors.

Different Godzilla-suit and lame movie jokes aside, what one can't argue against is how big of a scope this film aimed for.

It set out to be a blockbuster and the results certainly paid off.

Case in point is the fantastic taxi chase scene near the end of the movie.

I'll never forget the first time I saw this. There was that previous scene where the heroes are all standing in front of Madison Square Garden, it looks like the film is about to close with a group shot and the happy music is playing...then all of a sudden Godzilla roars out of the ground and begins personally chasing them!

This final taxi scene blew my mind because it was an extra bonus that came out of nowhere! It was never hinted within any of the trailers or TV spots, so filmmakers Devlin and Emmerich truly kept it well hidden.

There's just something so amazing in witnessing our heroes being personally chased by a 200 foot tall creature hell-bent on revenge.

That was incredible!

I truly hope the new Godzilla movie has something like that, because if it's done right it'll be like we're truly experiencing this ourselves, especially if it's in 3D.

Source: IMDB.com