Godzilla, King of the Monsters (documentary)

**Running time** | 40 minutes

***Godzilla, King of the Monsters*** is a 1998 BBC documentary on Godzilla's history and the character's allegorical meaning. In a pre-title sequence, Godzilla rampages through London, tearing off the top of Big Ben and targeting the Television Centre (then the BBC's headquarters) with his atomic breath. It first aired on July 11, 1998, six days before *GODZILLA* premiered in the United Kingdom. Though never released on home video, interviewee Tony Luke uploaded an 480p archive copy to YouTube on April 20, 2014.

## Films and TV shows featured

* *King Kong* (1933)
* *The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms* (1953)
* *Godzilla* (1954)
* *Godzilla Raids Again* (1955)
* *Rodan* (1956)
* *Mothra* (1961)
* *King Kong vs. Godzilla* (1962)
* *Invasion of Astro-Monster* (1965)
* *Ultra Q* (TV 1966)
* *Ultraman* (TV 1966-67)
* *Ebirah, Horror of the Deep* (1966)
* *King Kong Escapes* (1967)
* *Son of Godzilla* (1967)
* *Destroy All Monsters* (1968)
* *Gamera vs. Guiron* (1969)
* *All Monsters Attack* (1969)
* *Godzilla vs. Megalon* (1973)
* *The Return of Godzilla* (1984)
* *Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah* (1991)
* *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II* (1993) [behind the scenes only]
* *Godzilla vs. Destoroyah* (1995)
* *GODZILLA* (1998)
* *Rebirth of Mothra III* (1998) [behind the scenes only]

## Staff

Main article: Godzilla, King of the Monsters (documentary)/Credits
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

* Produced by   Nick Freand Jones
* Cinematography by   Mark Molesworth, Roger De Giacomi, Tony Bragg
* Edited by   Jan Deas, Nick Carroll

## Interviewees

* Fiona Bull, visual effects producer
* Alex Cox, director
* Dean Devlin, producer
* Roland Emmerich, director
* Jun Fukuda, director
* Stuart Galbraith IV, author and film historian
* Kimi Honda, wife of director Ishiro Honda
* Akira Ifukube, composer
* Akira Kubo, actor
* Tony Luke, mangaka and director
* Haruo Nakajima, kaiju suit actor
* August Ragone, tokusatsu historian
* Kenji Sahara, actor
* Kenpachiro Satsuma, kaiju suit actor
* Koichi Takano, special effects director
* Patrick Tatopoulos, creature designer
* Kazuo Tsuburaya, president of Tsuburaya Productions from 1995 to 2003
* Yoshio Tsuchiya, actor
* Noriaki Yuasa, director

## Trivia

* *Godzilla, King of the Monsters* erroneously credits Haruo Nakajima with playing Godzilla from 1954 to 1975; his final film as the character was 1972's *Godzilla vs. Gigan*.
* Tony Luke erroneously states that Godzilla destroyed Tokyo Tower in his original film; the structure would not be completed until 1958.
* In his YouTube upload of the documentary, Luke states that Jun Fukuda "[sneaked] the [BBC] camera crew onto Toho's backlot," presumably to shoot behind-the-scenes footage of *Rebirth of Mothra III*, which had yet to be released when the documentary premiered.

**Gamera films**
*Gamera* (1965) • *Gamera vs. Barugon* • *Gamera vs. Gyaos* • *Gamera vs. Viras* • *Gamera vs. Guiron* • *Gamera vs. Jiger* • *Gamera vs. Zigra* • *Gamera: Super Monster* • *Gamera: Guardian of the Universe* • *Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion* • *Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris* • *Gamera the Brave* • *GAMERA* (2015)
**King Kong films**
*King Kong* (1933) • *Son of Kong* • *King Kong vs. Godzilla* • *King Kong Escapes* • *King Kong* (1976) • *King Kong Lives* • *The Mighty Kong* • *Kong: King of Atlantis* • *King Kong* (2005) • *Kong: Return to the Jungle* • *Kong: Skull Island* • *Godzilla vs. Kong*
**Other Toho films**
Invisible Man *•* Half Human *•* Rodan *•* The Mysterians *•* The H-Man *•* Varan *•* Battle in Outer Space *•* The Three Treasures *•* The Secret of the Telegian *•* The Human Vapor *•* Mothra *•* The Last War *•* Gorath *•* Matango *•* Atragon *•* Dogora *•* Frankenstein vs. Baragon *•* The War of the Gargantuas *•* Latitude Zero *•* The Vampire Doll *•* Space Amoeba *•* Lake of Dracula *•* Daigoro vs. Goliath *•* Horror of the Wolf *•* Submersion of Japan *•* ESPY *•* Evil of Dracula *•* Prophecies of Nostradamus *•* House *•* The War in Space *•* Magnitude 7.9 *•* Bye-Bye Jupiter *•* Princess from the Moon *•* Gunhed *•* Mikadoroid *•* Reiko, the Psyche Resurrected *•* Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon *•* Rebirth of Mothra *•* Rebirth of Mothra II *•* Rebirth of Mothra III *•* Rosetta the Masked Angel: Rosetta vs. Freia *•* Go! Godman *•* Super Fleet Sazer-X the Movie *•* Sinking of Japan *•* Attack on Titan the Movie: Part 1 *•* Attack on Titan the Movie: Part 2 *•* Shin Ultraman
**Other Daiei films**
*Invisible Man Appears* • *Warning from Space* • *Invisible Man vs. Human Fly* • *Kujira Gami* • *Daimajin* • *Return of Daimajin* • *Daimajin Strikes Again* • *Yokai Monsters: Along with Ghosts* • *The Great Yokai War*
**Other Japanese films**
Japanese King Kong *• *The Great Buddha Arrival* (1934) •* The King Kong That Appeared in Edo *•* Kwaidan *•* Magic Serpent *•* The X from Outer Space *•* Gappa *•* Goké, Body Snatcher from Hell *•* The Last Dinosaur *•* Giant Monsters Appear in Tokyo *•* Negadon: The Monster from Mars *•* Reigo: King of the Sea Monsters *•* Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit *•* Geharha: The Dark and Long Hair Monster‎ *•* Demeking, the Sea Monster *•* Death Kappa *•* The God of Clay *•* Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo *•* Jellyfish Eyes *•* Kaiju Mono *•* The Great Buddha Arrival *•* Howl from Beyond the Fog *•* Monster Seafood Wars *•* The 12 Day Tale of the Monster that Died in 8 *•* Nezura 1964
'*Miscellaneous*
!---- *Mighty Joe Young* (1949) • ---->*The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms* • *The Giant Claw* • *The Giant Behemoth* • *Gorgo* • *Reptilicus* • *Yongary, Monster from the Deep* • *A\*P\*E* • *War God* • *The Mighty Peking Man* • *Pulgasari* • *Zarkorr! The Invader* • *Kraa! The Sea Monster* • *Reptilian* • *D-War* • *Cloverfield* • *Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus* • *Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus* • *Pacific Rim* • *10 Cloverfield Lane* • *Colossal* • *The Cloverfield Paradox* • *Pacific Rim Uprising* • *Rampage* • *Monster Island* • *Notzilla*
'*Documentaries*
Toho Unused Special Effects Complete Collection *•* **Godzilla, King of the Monsters** *•* Bringing Godzilla Down to Size *•* Kaiju Gaiden