The Evolution of Godzilla

Leave it to historyvortex.org to create a fantastic article highlighting the costume evolution of Godzilla.

Like your average girl's wardrobe, it seems like Godzilla has had a costume for just about every occasion.

You'll see in the link below just how much his costume has changed over the decades, with Toho Studios essentially never making the same one twice.

I find it interesting that Toho did this in the first place.

One would think that if the Godzilla throughout these movies was the same monster, why would his style change so dramatically?

I can see artistic interpretation coming into play...but that's usually on a rare cycle, not for every single movie!

In any case my favorite costume ever remains the one pictured above, the Godzilla 1985 one, because of its ultra-menacing looks.

Godzilla has never looked so good looking so bad!

Here's the link if you want a fascinating look into the evolution of Godzilla:

historyvortex.org: The Evolution of Godzilla

Dillzilla: Titan of Terror!

Yes you are seeing that image correctly...a giant Godzilla-sized pickle is attacking cities!

And you too can be a part of it!!!!

For those interested in this spectacle, picklemanproduction.com is encouraging people to sign up and become part of the "fleeing crowd" scenes.

Much like those famous shots in past Godzilla films where a panicky crowd flees on foot, looking behind in horror as Godzilla is about to attack them, the same thing applies here.

As the film's website describes:

"During shooting, we are asking people to imagine a 50 foot pickle attacking the city and looming over the buildings.

Come out and join in the fun!"

It does indeed sound like great fun, and I wish I could be a part of it...but the shooting location is too far away.

For details on the when, where and how it can be done, check out the film's webpage here:

pickelmanproductions.com: Dillzilla: Titan of Terror!

Godzilla Image of the Day

****Credit goes to "lyonsmouth" for this great image****

Godzilla has never looked so cool!

Puffing on that cigar after having destroyed his latest city...another job well done.

I believe that picture is of a toy called the "The Ultimate Godzilla Electronic Action Figure".

Very pricey item when it first came out during the 1998 film, I believe they were originally $199 each, and the price has only gone up since.

If you happen to have one of those consider yourself lucky, as they're pretty rare to have right now.

Here's a pretty decent review on YouTube if you want to see what it entails.  Lots of really cool stuff to see:

Blast from the Past: Sony Hopes to Turn Godzilla into a Marketing Monster

It's been a while since I've done a "Blast from the Past" article, so I thought I would create another one here.

(For the previous articles go here).

I found this great archived article (dated sometime in 1997) that talks about the eager plans Columbia TriStar/Sony had with their "Godzilla" movie.

I love finding such things because it's great to look back in hindsight...see what paths were taken...and compare them against what could have been done.

In this case it's the news that their upcoming "Godzilla" movie was going to be so successful it would generate a gigantic franchise of sequels.

Key highlight is this sentence from the article:

"The goal is to not just sell the movie, but make the monster a retail franchise, like Warner's Batman or Paramount's Star Trek, that will generate sales for many years to come".

So ambitious was Sony that they spent over $125 million creating the film, $50 million more in advertisement, and over $125 million in product tie-ins!

Not to mention all of the free reign given to Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich to make the film anyway they wanted.

Of course once the movie came out the results were disastrous both critically and commercially, and to this day it remains a sore-spot with Toho Studios and die-hard Godzilla fans.

Look, I still admire the fact that both the filmmakers and the studio took a big chance here.

Especially when at the time the only other US released Godzilla film, "Godzilla 1985", didn't exactly set theaters on fire.

They took a chance, gave it all of the resources needed to create a summer blockbuster...when quite honestly something like Godzilla could just have easily gone the way of video...and they lost.

Despite this hiccup it was still popular enough to generate a successful cartoon series, and at least according to Emmerich, still remains his most asked-about film.

And in some sense it proved that a transition to US audiences could still be successful enough to merit another chance with Legendary Pictures (with Godzilla 2014)...so it can't all be bad right?

In any case check out the full article if you want to revisit the world of Godzilla just before the release of this ambitious blockbuster:

thefreelibrary.com: On the Prowl: Sony Hopes to Turn Godzilla into a Marketing Monster

Godzilla Video of the Day

YouTube user "LaPompadourProd" has created a great video dedicated to the most famous monsters of all time.

Each monster is given a category based on the first letter of its name, so for example the "C" slide will relate to "Chuckie" from "Child's Play", "G" is for "Godzilla"...and so forth.

The catch is that there's only subtle clues given to each letter, NO actual monster images, so it becomes a great guessing game as to whether or not one can come up with all 26 monsters!

Check out the video and try and see if you can win them all.

Enjoy!

Sea Monster Washes Ashore

Looking like something straight out of a "Godzilla" movie, a giant carcass recently washed up ashore on the beaches of South Carolina.

The internet was buzzing that this could be a genuine sea monster...but sadly it turned out to be nothing more than a sturgeon.

...yeah I too had to look up what a sturgeon was, and the last picture showcases one as an example.



The one recently discovered is of course several times larger...which begs the question...how did it get so big in the first place?

And more importantly...could there be even bigger ones out there in the sea?

I still find such a topic very interesting, and look forward a real life giant sea monster eventually being detected somewhere.

For further info on this carcass, feel free to go here:

weeklyworldnews.com: Sea Monster Washes Ashore

Until then, the biggest clue we have remains the famous "Bloop" video below:

A New “Mega Shark” Film On the Way

Ahhhh Mega Shark.

Considered the "Godzilla" of the SyFy Channel, this is a giant monster that has apparently won the hearts of American audiences everywhere.

Already having "Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus" and "Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus" under it's belt, now SyFy is adding yet a third feature...this one known as "Mega Shark vs Mega Shark"!

Why bother with one Mega Shark when two can always double the fun!

I've seen these movies before and they (along with other SyFy flicks) remains of the most cheesiest, guiltiest pleasures to watch.

But hey at the end of the day that's all they set out to be.

You've got to give credit to a production company that can squeeze 80's teenage pop stars with Urkel and still make it work!

For further info on this new film check it out here:

bangstyle.com: A New "Mega Shark" Film on the Way

By the way here's a trailer if you don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to "Mega Shark"!

Godzilla Legends #4 Rankings

Another month another new set of comic book rankings, this time for Godzilla Legends #4!

Last time issue #3 came in at 187th place with 8,012 issues sold.

This time issue #4 dropped even further, tumbling to 226th place with 7,455 issues sold!

At 226th place I believe that's the lowest I've ever seen any Godzilla issue sell thus far.

I guess having Hedorah in this issue didn't exactly spark things up...even with the added presence of MechaGodzilla.

It'll be interesting to see now how the final issue pans out.

Hopefully things will pick up.

Godzilla Image of the Day

Here's yet another great Godzilla comparison image to present.

God I love these things!

It's a really great way to see just how big/small Godzilla really stands against other monsters out there.

(For all of my previous comparison charts, go here).

This time however you can truly see a cross-comparison between multiple movie monster franchises.

From the "Cloverfield" monster to the T-Rex from "Jurassic Park" to even the giant sea monster from "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace", no monster is spared.

And of course towering over them all is archenemy King Ghidorah!

Look at the size of him! His wingspan alone eats up most of these monsters combined!

I wish I knew who I could give credit to for this great image...but unfortunately I can't make out the artist's signature.

Criterioncast.com Episode 120- Ishiro Honda's Godzilla

Criterioncast.com has the mother of all Godzilla podcasts, where they spend no less than 1 1/2 hours talking about all things Godzilla and the original "Gojira" film.

(This is all in relation to their recently released Godzilla (The Criterion Collection) Blu-Ray).

Here's what they have to say about this massive undertaking:

"The CriterionCast returns! Now that we’ve split off all of the segments into their own shows on our Hyperbolic network, we’re left with the space to discuss a release for as long as we want. This time around we spend an hour and a half discussing Godzilla."

Great stuff, and it shows what true Godzilla fans they are to be able to spend so long talking about the big guy.

If you want to listen to this huge podcast and even download it for free, click on the bottom link here:

criterioncast.com: Episode 120 - Ishiro Honda's Godzilla

Godzilla Image of the Day

Just the other day I was talking about a great Hawaii tourism package where one can visit movie locations from "Jurassic Park", "50 First Dates" and even the 1998 "Godzilla" film.

(For the original article go here).

It turns out somebody has already been on this trip, and as you can see in today's "Image of the Day" the footprints Matthew Broderick inspected in the movie are still there!

How cool is that!

I guess Columbia Pictures thought it was more cost effective to leave the footprints as is rather than fill them in...but that's definitely our bonus now.

It looks like those footprints have definitely shown wear over the past decade, with the outer edges less distinct and more of the inside caved in with dirt.

But at least for anybody lucky enough to visit this site, it's the closest one can realize the aftereffects of a real-life "Godzilla"!