Episode 200: The Godzilla Mega Monster Special

## Show Notes

On this week's patreon, we talk about, guess what? Godzilla! Become a Patreon subscriber for $5 a month and get an exclusive episode every week!
## Films Discussed

* Godzilla movies
	+ *Godzilla* (1954) Dir. Ishirō Honda
	+ *Godzilla Raids Again* (1955) Dir. Motoyoshi Oda
	+ *King Kong vs. Godzilla* (1962) Dir. Ishirō Honda
	+ *Mothra vs. Godzilla* (1964) Dir. Ishirō Honda
	+ *Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster* (1964) Dir. Ishirō Honda
	+ *Invasion of the Astro-Monster* (1965) Dir. Ishirō Honda
	+ *Ebirah, Horror of the Deep* (1966) Dir. Jun Fukuda
	+ *Son of Godzilla* (1967) Dir. Jun Fukuda
	+ *Destroy All Monsters* (1968) Dir. Ishirō Honda
	+ *All Monsters Attack* (1969) Dir. Ishirō Honda
	+ *Godzilla vs. Hedorah* (1971) Dir. Yoshimitsu Banno
	+ *Godzilla vs. Gigan* (1972) Dir. Jun Fukuda
	+ *Godzilla vs. Megalon* (1973) Dir. Jun Fukuda
	+ *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla* (1974) Dir. Jun Fukuda
	+ *Terror of Mechagodzilla* (1975) Dir. Ishirō Honda
	+ *The Return of Godzilla* (1984) Dir. Koji Hashimoto
	+ *Godzilla vs. Biollante* (1989) Dir. Kazuki Ōmori
	+ *Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah* (1991) Dir. Kazuki Ōmori
	+ *Godzilla vs. Mothra* (1992) Dir. Takao Okawara
	+ *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II* (1993) Dir. Takao Okawara
	+ *Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla* (1994) Dir. Kensho Yamashita
	+ *Godzilla vs. Destoroyah* (1995) Dir. Takao Okawara
	+ *Godzilla 2000: Millennium* (1999) Dir. Takao Okawara
	+ *Godzilla vs. Megaguirus* (2000) Dir. Masaaki Tezuka
	+ *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack* (2001) Dir. Shusuke Kaneko
	+ *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla* (2002) Dir. Masaaki Tezuka
	+ *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.* (2003) Dir. Masaaki Tezuka
	+ *Godzilla: Final Wars* (2004) Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura
	+ *Shin Godzilla* (2016) Dir. Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi
* *Son of Kong* (1933) Dir. Ernest B. Schoedsack
* *Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman* (1943) Dir. Roy William Neill
* *Ultra Q* (1966) Dir. Hajime Tsuburaya - TV series
* *Ultraman* (1966-1967) - TV series
* *What's Up Tiger Lily?* (1966) Dir. Woody Allen
* *Frankenstein Conquerors the World* (1965) Dir. Ishirō Honda
* *King Kong Escapes* (1967) Dir. Ishirō Honda
* *Little Shop of Horrors* (1986) Dir. Frank Oz
* *Gunhed* (1989) Dir. Masato Harada
* *Gamera 2: Attack of Legion* (1996) Dir. Shusuke Kaneko
* *Godzilla* (1998) Dir. Roland Emmerich
* *Versus* (2000) Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura
* *Azumi* (2003) Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura
* *Godzilla: King of the Monsters* (2019)

## Discussion Notes

* 200 episode milestone!
* Why do our hosts love the big guy?
	+ Will: as a kid they're "so bad they're good"
		- His epiphany at Godzilla 2000: they're fun!
	+ Justin: everybody loves destruction and giant lizards
* The secret to a good Godzilla movie?
	+ Get good directors who want to direct these types of movies
* *Godzilla* (American version - *Godzilla: King of the Monsters*)
	+ One of three in the series where new footage was added by American distributors
* *Godzilla Raids Again*
	+ Features a fast Godzilla in some scenes thanks to a camera operator mistake
	+ Released in America as Gigantis the Fire Monster
* *King Kong vs. Godzilla*
	+ Originally pitched as Frankenstein vs. KIng Kong by Willis O'Brien
		- Idea was 'borrowed' to create this film
	+ The first playful comedic outing for Godzilla

* *Mothra vs. Godzilla*
	+ Will: this is "one of the perfect Godzilla movies"
	+ What are the basic human plots of Godzilla movies?
		- You need a journalist, a kid, a scientist, a military person, and sometimes a greedy person trying to make money
	+ American cut adds in America helping take down Godzilla
	+ Justin: prefers subs over dubs, though dubs are important to get kids to watch
* *Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster* and *Invasion of the Astro-Monster*
	+ Monster team up movies with Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah
	+ *Ghidorah* has a peace settlement between the monsters, with Mothra presiding
	+ *Invasion* goes to space, and has a dancing Godzilla!
* *Ebirah, Horror of the Deep*
	+ Introduces director Jun Fukuda to the series
		- A modest and competent craftsman who wrote most of the Godzilla films he directed
	+ Originally meant to be a King Kong script
	+ Transition from expensive city-scapes to Pacific island sets
	+ Godzilla smashes planes to surf music!
* *Son of Godzilla*
	+ Introduces Minilla, the big guy's sons
	+ Will opines on the beauty of the alpha Godzilla lovingly raising his beta son
	+ Features two amazing foes - a giant tarantula and a giant praying mantis
* *Destroy All Monsters*
	+ Toho going out with a bang - ten monsters battle it out!
	+ Set in the far flung future of 1999 on Monster Island
	+ Turns out it's pretty boring
* *All Monsters Attack*
	+ Features a Minilla dub that our hosts love
	+ Very depressing footage of real-world Japan
	+ Contains a lot of recycled footage, creating a morphing appearance for Godzilla
* *Godzilla vs. Hedorah*
	+ First and only Godzilla outing for director Yoshimitsu Banno
	+ Updates the genre to the 70s - groovy music, psychedelic effects, animated sequences
	+ Banno's work angered producer Tomoyuki Tanaka so much he wanted it erased from history
	+ Godzilla flies!
* *Godzilla vs. Gigan*
	+ Fukuda returns for a microbudget stock footage romp
	+ Features Gigan, a giant robotic chicken with knife arms and a laser visor
	+ You can see the Godzilla suit visibly falling apart on-screen
* *Godzilla vs. Megalon*
	+ Considered for many years to be the worst Godzilla movie
	+ Entered the public domain in the 90s for a brief window
	+ Silly and cheap, and includes Ultraman rip-off Jet Jaguar
		- Features the undersea kingdom of Seatopia
		- Also includes Godzilla sliding across the land on his tail!
* *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla*
	+ Fukuda's last Godzilla film
	+ The franchise is now fully in it's decline, only regarded as child fare
		- Ultraman and Ultra Q were providing kaiju action on TV, eating into movie interest and sales
* *Terror of Mechagodzilla*
	+ Ishirō Honda's last Godzilla film, end of the Shōwa era
		- Attempt to marry the 70s tone with Honda's earlier films
	+ Story covers an alien invasion and a cyborg love story - and has nudity!
	+ Awesome Godzilla entrance, great monster battles
		- Will: "This is pure cinema"
* *The Return of Godzilla*
	+ Erases all prior films from the chronology barring the original
		- Not that the canon was that strict to begin with
	+ Returning actor Raymond Burr refused to do the comedy bits and ad tie-ins
		- Took his acting role very seriously
	+ The American cut features a Soviet sub firing a nuke at Japan!
		- Thanks right-wing New World Pictures owners!
	+ First Godzilla theatrical outing in 15 years in America
* *Godzilla vs. Biollante*
	+ Justin explains 'Godzilla Stockholm Syndrome" - not all outings are great, but you get enough fresh stuff in a movie and it just works
	+ The Heisei era films featured less monster brawling, more energy blasting
* *Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah*
	+ A wacky and wild time travel space adventure
		- Goes full Bill & Ted by the end
	+ Series chump King Ghidorah gets an upgrade to Mecha-King Ghidorah
* *Godzilla vs. Mothra*, *Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II,* and *Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla*
	+ The series begins to blur for our hosts at this point
	+ The *Gamera* series is now taking up more of the kaiju space at the box office
* *Godzilla vs. Destoroyah*
	+ Came out same year as *Gamera 2: Attack of Legion*, and has the same plot!
	+ Heavily marketed as the movie where Godzilla dies
	+ Darkest of the 90's outings
* *Godzilla 2000: Millennium*
	+ Last Japanese Godzilla film to receive widespread American release
	+ Holds a special place in Will's heart as he saw it in theaters
	+ English dub ends with the line "Maybe Godzilla is inside each one of us"
* *Godzilla vs. Megaguirus*
	+ Last time the series would create a new monster
	+ Godzilla busts out his wrestling moves again!
* *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*
	+ Considered the best outing of the Millennium era
	+ Toho reboots the series by bringing in *Gamera* director Shusuke Kaneko
	+ Evil Godzilla is powered by the souls of the dead killed by the nuclear bombs!
* *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla* & *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.*
	+ Rehashes of older stories
* *Godzilla: Final Wars*
	+ Biggest budget Godzilla movie at $20 million - and the biggest flop
	+ Turns out it's a lot of fun!
		- Godzilla faces off against ten monsters, including the American Godzilla!
	+ Justin: it's "a love letter to the Godzilla films", "a sugar rush"
* *Shin Godzilla*
	+ One of the best - and most atypical - of the series
	+ Justin recommends pairing with the '54 original film and Godzilla vs. Hedorah
	+ Wil: "feels like the first truly post-9/11 Godzilla movie"
	+ A genuinely scary appearance for Godzilla

## Listener Letters

* What are the most emotional scenes in the Godzilla series?
	+ Death of Godzilla in *Destoroyah*
	+ Death of Dr. Serizawa in the original
	+ Godzilla leveling a city area with his fire breath in *Shin Godzilla*
	+ Godzilla sparing the last humans on the planet *Final Wars*
* Who's bettrer: Godzooky, Minilla, or Godzilla Jr.?
	+ It's Minilla!
* Do you ever get tired of Godzilla's roar?
	+ Nope, love it!