Peter H. Brothers - The Sons of Godzilla: From Destroyer to Defender - From Ridicule to Respect

Also by the Author :

Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men:

The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda

Atomic Dreams and the Nuclear Nightmare: The Making of Godzilla (1954)

Devil Bat Diary: The Journal of Johnny Layton

Terror In Tinseltown: The Sequel to "Devil Bat Diary"

A Rainbow's Bold Amen: A Potpourri of Poetry

THE SONS OF GODZILLA

From Destroyer to Defender

From Ridicule to Respect

(1955 - 1995)

Peter H. Brothers

CreateSpace

CreateSpace Books / Seattle, Washington

Copyright by Peter H. Brothers

ISBN-10: 1724667270

ISBN-13: 978-1724667274

All Rights Reserved

The following is a critical analysis and text book. It has not been approved, authorized, endorsed, licensed, prepared, sponsored or authorized associated by any entity involved in creating or producing any Godzilla film. The opinions expressed in this book are those belonging to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Toho International Co., Ltd. or any of its employees.

Toho International Co., Ltd. is the owner of all copyrights and trademarks in its related and respective films, characters, and all of its rights are expressively reserved and of a purely informational nature. All images are used in accordance with Fair Use for edification purposes and are property of the film copyright holders.

The author is not affiliated, licensed, or endorsed by Toho International Co., Ltd., which has in no manner or form approved, licensed, prepared, sponsored or otherwise been involved or associated in any manner or form whatsoever with any portion of the writing and/or publication of this book, which is of a purely informational nature.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, duplicating, distribution, recording, taping of information storage and retrieval systems without written permission of the author.

Toho Co. Ltd. is the owner of all copyrights and trademarks in its respective films and characters, and all of its rights are expressly reserved. 1943-2018 Toho Co. Ltd. and its related entities. All Rights Reserved. "Gojira," "Godzilla," "King of the Monsters," and the character names and designs of Godzilla's friends and foes are trademarks of Toho Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The author has made every effort to trace and contact copyright holders. The publisher will be pleased to correct any mistakes or omissions in future editions.

Manufactured in the USA.

Published by CreateSpace, a DBA of On-Demand Publishing, LLC.

Author's Website: http://encinostalgia.webs.com/ .

Facebook: Peter Hayes Brothers

and my daughter, Jaclyn, for her inspiration...

... And with gratitude for two of the hardest-working men in show business:

Haruo Nakajima (1929 - 2017)

and

Kenpachiro Satsuma

Contents

Foreword:

Chapter One: Godzilla's Counterattack

Chapter Two: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

Chapter Three: Son of Godzilla

Chapter Four: Godzilla vs. Hedorah

Chapter Five: Godzilla vs. Gigan

Chapter Six: Godzilla vs. Megalon

Chapter Seven: Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla

Chapter Eight: The Return of Godzilla

Chapter Nine: Godzilla vs. Biollante

Chapter Ten: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

Chapter Eleven: Godzilla vs. Mothra

Chapter Twelve: Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II

Chapter Thirteen: Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla

Chapter Fourteen: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

Afterword:

Photo Credits:

Filmography:

Notes and Sources:

Selected Bibliography:

Index:

"I don't think that any sequels to the first Godzilla movie should have been made."

- Jun Fukuda, director of five Godzilla movies

For this, my third book on kaiju eiga (Japanese monster movies), I find myself thanking many who have assisted me in the past. The kaiju cult is as intense as it is enthusiastic, and while there is a definite polarity regarding which films are one's favorites and why, my eternal thanks goes to those who have given me their cooperation, friendship, and support. First and foremost is my translator Katarzyna Ksiazkiewicz, as well as Allen A. Debus, Anthony Romero, Bela Lugosi, Brian Paul Watters, Brian Solomon, Charles Lee Jackson II, David Schecter , Greg Clausen, J. D. Lees, John LeMay, Lawrence Tuczynski, Martin Arlt, Mike Bogue, and Scott Essman. Thanks also to the gang at Video Daikaiju and various other websites (additional credits can be found in the Bibliography).

In this book I will discuss the Godzilla film sequels made during the years 1955 - 1995 with the exception of those directed by Ishiro Honda, as they have been previously examined in Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda ; I will however briefly touch on these films for the sake of continuity. When discussing the monster itself, continuity becomes a bit of a challenge, since very few Godzillas looked the same during those 40-odd years and 14-odder films (e.g., the Godzilla versions appearing in its first four films were unique designs never seen again). In any event, I will assume it is the same Godzilla we will be watching in those films.

During those years Godzilla went through quite a metamorphosis, from rampaging reptile to doting dad, to Defender of the Earth, to Demonic Devil. Along the way it waged an unending war against smog and space monsters, aliens, giant robots, and of course, Man himself. I will cover each sequel as its own separate entity, but will not go into excessive detail as to the events leading-up to the creation of each film, as that aspect has been extensively covered in greater detail elsewhere. I also will not be covering unrealized Godzilla film projects, as author John LeMay has pretty-much nailed that in his definitive The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monsters: The Lost Films .

Nor will I be delving into the American versions of these films, as frankly, I wish they would all disappear. Although some enjoy and even prefer the U.S. versions and get a kick out of comparing them to the Japanese versions, to me they represent nothing less than mutilations of the original artists' intentions. As far as films titles go, I will be referring to the first sequel not as Godzilla Raids Again , but Godzilla's Counterattack , which is the literal translation of Gojira no Gyakushu and flows much-more trippingly off the tongue. As far as the names of the monsters are concerned, Anguirus seems to be the accepted version (though I personally prefer Angilas), and I will identify Godzilla's first so-called "son" as Minilla. And while we're on the subject of sons, I must address another sticky issue: is Godzilla a "him," "her," or an "it?" I am not the only writer who has wrestled with this topic, but in this book, I will refer to Godzilla as an "it."

Now that I have told you what is not in this book, I will explain what is in it, and the first item will no doubt make many readers groan, as I have included a detailed synopsis for each film. The argument against doing so is a valid one since nearly everyone is totally familiar with their storylines and do not me to sum them up, but during the writing of this book, I found that describing them in detail helped with my analysis; however I have tried to make them as entertaining and insightful as I could. Also included in this book are the opinions and reflections by many who were there, printed in English for the very first time.

During the first generation of Godzilla films very little production information was available and difficult to come by; even Japanese texts did not go into a great amount of detail about them. During the mid-Seventies however, various fanzines came into being with many aficionados writing articles printed either in mimeographed form or on Xeroxed copies. Among the best of these were Japanese Giants , Godzillamania , and the Japanese Fantasy Film Journal , later followed by The Kaiju Review and Monster Attack Team: The Japanese Monster, Superhero and Fantasy Fanzine . Eventually magazines came into being with the short-lived Markalite leading the way, and the Canadian-published G-Fan still going strong in its 25th year.