In keeping with my current Kaiju obsession here are two gifs from Ishiro Honda’s 1976 film Terror of Mechagodzilla. Eyes and lasers! Look out!
Katsura Mafune (Tomoko Ai) once a lovely human lady is transformed into a cyborg by the aliens.
Mechagodzilla!
I do love my special features; it is an aspect I missed desperately when I watch films online. It is amazing to me that a label like Something Weird Video who charges a mere $10 for a DVD can include so many goodies. Another label I have been impressed with is The Toho Masters Collection; like Something Weird it is also affordably priced. There isn’t a massive selection of features but they make it count with what they do include. I went on a real Japanese film splurge over the weekend. I watched Zero Woman Red Handcuffs, Female Prisoner Scorpion Jailhouse 41 (review pending) and two Toho selections; War of the Gargantuas (review pending) and Godzilla Raids Again. The Godzilla Raids Again DVD included a great little poster and lobby card gallery but even juicier was this mini-documentary; Godzilla: The Art of Suit Acting. Half of the fourteen minute long documentary was dedicated to Toho’s most prolific suit actor and the man who played Toho’s first monster Godzilla in 1954; Haruo Nakajima. Nakajima was featured in twenty-nine of Toho’s science fiction and horror classics with the vast majority of those being giant monster movies. He had no idea what he was getting into when he accepted the role. Toho had never made a monster movie before Godzilla and surely Nakajima did not envision “a stiff two-hundred pound dinosaur-shaped sweat box with virtually no visibility!” The dedicated actor took his lunch to the zoo daily so he could examine the movements of the larger animals! He learned to move quickly in the heavy suit which was later slowed down in the editing room to give the effect of a large laboring creature. Nakajima treated the job with the utmost respect and made himself indispensable; he never refused a request no matter how insane it was. He was buried alive, had explosives designated under his balls, neck and shoulders, set on fire and nearly drowned. Once when playing Rodan the wire supporting him broke and he went plunging unexpectedly into the water in the heavy suit. So indispensable was Nakajima that when he received an offer to do suit work in America; Toho asked him not to go. He had close contact with the suit makers not only to ensure the costume fit him correctly but to test the suit for movement and determine whether modifications were needed. Toho also relied on Nakajima to choreograph the monster battles and advise other suit actors on movement. Besides his work on the original Godzilla he felt his best work was Gaira the green Gargantua in The War of the Gargantuas; it was the only suit he donned where his own eyes could be seen. The suit partner he favored most Yû Sekida would play alongside him as Sanda the brown Gargantua. Early in the Toho days they did not like to reveal the identity of the men in the monster suits so Nakajima’s work was uncredited for years. The man who would labor under a couple hundred pounds of latex would work in anonymity for years. Nakajima portrayed Godzilla from 1954 until his retirement in 1972 along with several other characters including Rodan, Baran, Baragon and of course Gaira the Green Gargantua. Suit acting is dangerous and difficult work, not to mention underappreciated! Suit acting requires immense patience, strength and fortitude and Nakajima had those characteristics in spades! Below is Haruo Nakajima’s Toho Science Fiction and Horror resume along with several behind the scenes pictures of him on the various Toho sets.
Godzilla vs. Megalon (stock footage – uncredited) (1973), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971), Yog: Monster from Space (1970), Godzilla’s Revenge (1969), Latitude Zero (1969), Destroy All Monsters (1968), Son of Godzilla (1967), King Kong Escapes (1967), Godzilla Versus the Sea Monster (1966), The War of the Gargantuas (1966), Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965), Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965), Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964), Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), Matango (1963), Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (1962), Gorath (uncredited) (1962), Mothra (1961), The Human Vapor (1960), Daikaijû Baran (1958), The H-Man (1958), The Mysterians (1957), Rodan (1956), Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), Jû jin yuki otoko (1955), Godzilla Raids Again (1955), Tomei ningen (1954), Godzilla (1954)
I thought I outta have at least one video review in costume to celebrate the season; so here I am as a ghost with ten of my favourite Japanese horror films…
Godzilla theme music with a Godzilla slideshow! Akira Ifukube did the original music for Godzilla, I do not know the source of this particular version.
Godzilla made his first appearance in Ishirō Honda’s 1954 film Godzilla and has since been featured is 27 other films; not to mention becoming a worldwide popular culture icon! He has inspired, toys, video games, books, comics and an animated television series; Hanna-Barbera’s The Godzilla Power Hour. Godzilla’s name was apparently a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla and whale. Godzilla is a pre-historic creature whose size and power are the result of mutation from atomic radiation. His abilities are impressive! Besides his massive size, strength and incredibly functional tail; he can release an atomic blast, has amphibious qualities that allow him to breath on both land and water, and impressive healing abilities. While fighting Godzilla employs martial arts techniques and is shown to possess intelligence and occasionally emotion. One of Godzilla’s most unique qualities is his trademark mighty roar! Over the course of his film appearances he was portrayed as both a destructive menace and a hero. Of course, even as a hero the results were nonetheless of a destructive nature! While Godzilla’s appearance has changed over the years there is no mistaking Tokyo’s greatest monster. Below is a list of Godzilla’s Toho film appearances.
Godzilla Filmography
#1 Godzilla (Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, Gojira) (1954) Directed by Ishiro Honda
#2 Godzilla Raids Again (Gigantis, the Fire Monster) (1955) Directed by Motoyoshi Oda
#3 King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) Directed by Ishiro Honda
#4 Mothra vs. Godzilla (Godzilla vs. the Thing, Godzilla vs. Mothra) (1964) Directed by Ishiro Honda
#5 Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster) (1964) Directed by Ishiro Honda
#6 Invasion of Astro-Monster (Monster Zero, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero) (1965) Directed by Ishiro Honda
#7 Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (Ebirah, Horror of the Deep) (1966) Directed by Jun Fukuda
#8 Son of Godzilla (1967) Directed by Jun Fukuda
#9 Destroy All Monsters (1968) Directed by Ishiro Honda
#10 All Monsters Attack (Godzilla’s Revenge) (1969) Directed by Ishiro Honda
#11 Godzilla vs. Hedorah (Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster) (1971) Directed by Yoshimitsu Banno
#12 Godzilla vs. Gigan (Godzilla on Monster Island) (1972) Directed by Jun Fukuda
#13 Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) Directed by Jun Fukuda
#14 Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (Godzilla vs. Cosmic Monster, Godzilla vs. Bionic Monster) (1974) Directed by Jun Fukuda
#15 Terror of Mechagodzilla (The Terror of Godzilla) (1975) Directed by Ishiro Honda
#16 The Return of Godzilla (Godzilla 1985) (1984) Directed by Koji Hashimoto
#17 Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) Directed by Kazuki Ohmori
#18 Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) Directed by Kazuki Ohmori
#19 Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth (Godzilla vs. Mothra: Battle for The Earth) (1992) Directed by Takao Okawara
#20 Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) Directed by Takao Okawara
#21 Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) Directed by Kensho Yamashita
#22 Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (Godzilla vs. Destroyer) (1995) Directed by Takao Okawara
#23 Godzilla 2000: Millennium (Godzilla 2000) (1999) Directed by Takao Okawara
#24 Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (Godzilla x Megaguirus) (2000) Directed by Masaaki Tezuka
#25 Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) Directed by Shusuke Kaneko
#26 Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (Godzilla x Mechagodzilla) (2002) Directed by Masaaki Tezuka
#27 Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (Godzilla x Mothra x Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS) (2003) Directed by Masaaki Tezuka
#28 Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura
GOREGIRL'S DUNGEON 