Ohaiou gozaimasu, Gojira! Ogenki desu-ka?
Still fun! The ‘crunch’ coda is the final chord from ‘A Day In The Life’…
Every so often I get into what I call a ‘G-Loop’ and watch a bunch of Toho Godzilla® movies… the good, the bad and the ridiculous. 29 movies in all so far (not counting the abortive 1998 American attempt with Matthew Broderick) in almost 60 years since the big guy first waded ashore in 1954 from Tokyo Bay into our hearts and collective conscious (and conscience).
The original Nihongo (Japanese) dialogue with English subtitles is the preferred mode of transmission. What tiny smattering of Japanese I’ve learned is from these films and some anime stuff (‘Bubblegum Crisis’!).
If there is a thread of continuity over the years, it is the theme of preserving and caring for the environment… often made explicit but nearly always implied. With the wonderful Mothra® spin-offs, the general themes of Love and Good Will are accentuated. Hard to argue with those messages! But then I’m a sentimental old fart anyway! 
Godzilla® has evolved over the years from a mindless terror to a rather lame comedian to an almost supernatural sort of ‘guardian’ of Japan against evil. In his debut performance though, ‘Gojira’ was the terrifying result of (U.S.) H-Bomb tests in the Pacific. Here’s an extended clip from the original 1954 ‘Gojira’ (‘ゴジラ’):
In 1956, the film was recut with new scenes featuring actor Raymond Burr intercut with the original footage and the whole thing was dubbed into English. It was released that year as ‘Godzilla, King of the Monsters’. This was the film we all saw as kids. Here’s the same general section from the American version:
[please forgive the bad sound sync from a faulty copy]
Perhaps because I grew up with the Raymond Burr version, I tend to prefer it to the original, which I didn’t see until much later. Both are valid films. Maybe the original is a bit more ‘serious’. However, it’s safe to say that it was the American version with Ray Burr that kicked off the worldwide craze for giant Japanese monsters (‘kaiju’) that continues to this day!
‘ゴジラ’ Rules!
The Broderick version was pretty damned awful. Bad writing, bad acting, bleah. Not even bad enough to be fun.
But the Rubber Suit guys — !! Tops, man. I’ll watch these clips later.
I thought you might appreciate this:
Comment on January 3, 2013 @ 12:02 pm
Ronald Reagan was in most respects a very poor President. Regressives paint him as a saint, but most Americans suffered under his leadership. He closed the mental hospitals, creating an army of homeless people overnight. He was an enemy of labour, weakening unions at every opportunity. He hated hippies (‘space’ and otherwise). He DID frighten Russia with his ‘Star Wars’ fantasy but the Soviet system was already well on its way to collapse and was rotting from within anyway.
More on the G-Monster: I would be remiss not to acknowledge the contributions of composer Akira Ifukube [1914-2006], whose scores are iconic to the entire ‘kaiju’ genre. Less well known is the fact that it was Ifukube who created the signature Godzilla ‘roar’, made by (mis)using a string bass and slowing it way down on a tape recorder. It worked better than he could possibly have imagined and that sound is immediately recognised around the world as the unique ‘sound of Godzilla’.
With no Akira Ifukube, there may have been a Godzilla, but he wouldn’t be the charming fellow we’ve all come to know and love!
Comment on January 3, 2013 @ 4:23 pm
They always showed Bambi Meets Godzilla at all the alternative film festivals back in the day.
Remember laser rooms? ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ and little looping red and green and blue laser patterns, man?
If you remember those days, man, you weren’t there.
Comment on January 3, 2013 @ 7:50 pm
I do like the pure Japanese version much, much better.
Raymond Burr is SO FUCKING SERIOUS, though. That is one SERIOUS dude.
Comment on January 3, 2013 @ 8:00 pm
Raymond Burr made his bones playing heavies in ‘B’ gangster flicks. You may also recall he played a wife-murderer in ‘Rear Window’ with Jimmy Stewart. So ‘fucking serious’ was Burr’s stock-in-trade. I never saw him in a ‘light-hearted romp’!
I tend to agree that cinematically, the original ‘Gojira’ is the better film. But Ray Burr’s part helped make it palatable for Western audiences and there are a few other edits which improve the dramatic pacing IMHO.
I saw a couple of laser shows, but never was that impressed. Just not my thing, I guess.
Comment on January 3, 2013 @ 10:56 pm
Do you remember Legend City?
Comment on January 4, 2013 @ 12:21 am
Sure! Cheesy small-time amusement park. Wallace and Ladmo did regular shows there. Only went a couple of times myself.
Comment on January 4, 2013 @ 12:47 am
They had one of those laser rooms. It always smelled like pot, I can’t imagine why. We used to smoke out on the Skyway and then go on the Barrel, or the little Horror-House car ride.
I saw Asia play there, the remnants of Yes. It was not a very good concert, but I still enjoyed it They all wore pastel silk pajamas, trying to be ‘futuristic’.
But I loved Legend City, just because. There’s just nothing left like it; all the unmanaged weird year-round amusement parks have all disappeared.
Comment on January 4, 2013 @ 10:27 am
That’s right. ‘Compton Terrace’ was right over there too.
Comment on January 4, 2013 @ 8:21 pm
‘ギララ’
(‘Guilala’ or in the Japanese Katakana [syllabic] script: ‘ギ-ラ-ラ’ ['Gi-Ra-Ra'])
It’s an unwritten rule that Kaiju names must end in ‘Ra’. I don’t know why – that’s just the way it IS. Japanese cannot differentiate between ‘L’ and ‘R’ sounds (there is no ‘L’ in Japanese), so ‘Ra’ is as close as they can get to ‘La’.
Anyway, this hilariously ham-handed flick from ‘B’ movie studio ‘Shochiku’ was released in America and points west as ‘The X from Outer Space’ in 1967.
First, the opening theme is worth a quick look/listen:
One can only shake one’s head in wonder at the inane (if well meant) opening dialogue and lyrics. And the MUSIC! This was considered very ‘hep-u-cat-o’ in Tokyo at the time. wow. Really rocks out doesn’t it? They’ve come a LONG way since then!
Now on to the monster himself. After an aborted ‘nightcap’ (LOTS of cocktail breaks in this flick – I really can’t blame ‘em!), ‘ギララ’ makes his first appearance and begins his career as a delinquent chicken-lizard-or-whatever-the-hell-he’s-supposed-to-be:
I gotta admit it – I love that aerodynamic head! And those absurd bouncing antennae (for what exactly?) are a nice touch. In these scenes alone ‘ギララ’ seriously depletes Japan’s supply of F-104 ‘Starfighter’ model airplane kits!
Anyway, it’s good for several laughs if you can find a copy. In this case, you might enjoy the English dubbed version for additional unintentional humour. The ‘what I learned from this experience’ comments at the end are almost worth making another clip… I’ll leave the mysterious ‘UFO’ that looks like a slightly underdone chicken pot-pie for another occasion!
I hope this makes your day a bit brighter and didn’t lower your IQ too much!
Comment on January 5, 2013 @ 6:48 am
Truly, truly enjoyed those. It’s gorgeous stuff.
Comment on January 5, 2013 @ 5:13 pm
Man, nothing stops that dude. And it really is the stuff of nightmares, because he acts like a really cranky and malicious asshole.
I would fear this dude. I really would.
‘Atom Boat’ — did I hear that?
Comment on January 5, 2013 @ 5:24 pm
re #12: That’s ‘Atomic Astro Boat Gamma’ or ‘A A B γ’:
It’s our dauntless crew’s ‘ride’ to the depths of outer space! Another pic (from a model kit):
‘ギララ’ strikes me as a rather clumsy pissed-off child badly in need of a nap! The buildings he knocks down LOOK like rather cheap models, don’t they? Clearly not up to the standards of Toho SFX model master Eiji Tsuburaya!
Comment on January 5, 2013 @ 6:40 pm
Very much a mockery of him, actually. They’re almost deliberately awful, except for parts of the air-force strafing runs, where the coordinated wing of jets turn to attack.
That looks like a very cool model.
Comment on January 5, 2013 @ 7:39 pm