Unable to fall asleep during one of my overseas long-haul airline flights, I stumbled upon the first three episodes of AppleTV’s “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” (Thanks for nothing #AmericanAirlines, for not including the others…) While I had not seen all of the MonsterVerse films produced by Legendary Pictures up to this point, as a childhood fan of Gojira/Godzilla I felt it was my obligation to see how the Gigantic Green Guy (G3) was treated in the series. Long story short: I liked the Monarch series.
Once I got back home to Nuketown (a.k.a. Albuquerque), I dug for my long-lost DVD collection of Toho Godzilla films, purchased during a drunken haze while wandering around BestBuy circa 2004. I truly believe the DVD set came with a helluva lot of Godzilla films, though I could only find two: “King Kong vs. Godzilla” and “Mothra vs. Godzilla.” This drove me to look at an unlikely place for additional movies: the local library. Through a stroke of Green Lizard Luck, the Albuquerque library system had a few films, including the 1954 Black & White masterpiece that started it all: “Gojira.”
I felt it was my duty as a father who often misses the mark at “good parenting” (whatever that is…) to show this classic film to my children. So last weekend, after minor groveling and a “kitchen pass” from Household-6, I sat down to watch the other DVD that came in the set – the 1956 “Godzilla, King of the Monsters.” I didn’t feel it was fair to subject my kids to the original just yet, and the American bastardized version gave enough narration for the Elementary school set to follow along.
Fictional reporter “Steve Martin” (actor Raymond Burr) did a great job at showing zero emotion as G3 was hopping around Tokyo City like a big playground, making my two Little sidekicks ask “Why isn’t this Steve Martin as funny as the other one?” No clue, Little one… no clue.
After trying to explain the leitmotif of nuclear horror in the Japanese psyche to the Littles, brought forth by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I gave up and said “Just watch him smash Tokyo. It will be enjoyable, I promise.” Once the movie was finished, I saw the original premier date on the back of the case: 3 November 1954.
Now, I’m not great with numbers (the Tax Pogue’s who work at the IRS can wholly agree with that), but “easy math” taught within the Las Cruces Public School System made it clear that 2024 was Godzilla’s 70th Anniversary… or maybe it was the advertisements that brought it up. Who knows… but, I quickly sketched out how many movies I would need to watch before the November date: 37… because I don’t count that horrible 1998 trainwreck version with Matthew Broderick and the mutated T-Rex.
One week in and starting with a total refresh – not counting past viewing with Joe Bob Briggs on TNT’s “MonsterVision” showings or DVD rentals, I’ve finished:
- 1954 Gojira
- 1956 Godzilla, King of the Monsters
- 2014 Godzilla (MonsterVerse)
- 2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters (MonsterVerse)
Barring any unforeseen circumstances – like a MUTO attack or complete bankruptcy – I think I can pull off watching all 37 movies. And if I feel like getting a true Halloween scare, I’ll suffer through the 1998 Broderick-borne crap-fest again. <Shudder>.
If you’re needing some motivation, here’s some music to get you in the mood to start the Godzilla 70th Anniversary Marathon 2024. The Blue Öyster Cult version rock’s a 1970s feel that’s hard to top; however the 2019 remake by Bear McCreary featuring Serj Tankian gives a shout-out to Queen Mothra in the lyrics while rocking the scene.
See you on the MonsterVerse’s flip side.
Joseph T. Page II 