Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G"
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Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G" is a 1998 nonfiction informative book by Steve Ryfle profiling the Godzilla series.
Description
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Bigger, badder, and more durable than Hollywood’s greatest action heroes, Godzilla emerged from the mushroom cloud of an H-Bomb test in 1954 to trample Tokyo. More than sixty years later, he reigns as the undisputed king of monsters, with legions of fans spanning several generations and countless international boundaries.
Japan’s Favorite Mon-Star is the first authoritative guide to the Godzilla legend published in America. This thoroughly researched volume includes in-depth production details on all 22 Godzilla movies produced by Toho Co. of Japan between 1954 and 1995, including several “unmade” features, plus the 1998 big-budget U.S. Godzilla remake by the producers of Independence Day. The book dispels the myths and illuminates the mysteries of Japan’s enigmatic mon-star, and is loaded with background information, trivia, and interviews with the people who created Godzilla ― then and now. |
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Contents
- INTRODUCTION: The Godzilla Era
- PART 1: GROUND ZERO - The 1950s
- (p. 19) Birth of a Legend: Godzilla a.k.a. Godzilla: King of the Monsters!
- (p. 61) You Can't Keep a Bad Monster Down: Godzilla Raids Again a.k.a. Gigantis: The Fire Monster
- PART 2: GOLDEN AGE - The 1960s
- (p. 79) Clash of the Titans: King Kong vs. Godzilla
- (p. 103) Madame Butterfly: Godzilla vs. The Thing
- (p. 113) Enter the Dragon: Ghidrah: The Three-Headed Monster
- (p. 121) Voyage into Space: Monster Zero
- (p. 133) It Came from Beneath the Sea: Godzilla versus The Sea Monster
- (p. 139) All in the Family: Son of Godzilla
- (p. 145) War of the Worlds: Destroy All Monsters
- (p. 155) Unknown Island: Godzilla's Revenge
- PART 3: DARK DAYS - The 1970s
- (p. 161) Toxic Avenger: Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster
- (p. 173) Twilight of the Cockroaches: Godzilla on Monster Island
- (p. 181) Lost Continent: Godzilla vs. Megalon
- (p. 195) Robot Monster: Godzilla vs. The Cosmic Monster
- (p. 199) Bride of the Monster: Terror of MechaGodzilla a.k.a. The Terror of Godzilla
- PART 4: RESURRECTION - The 1980s
- (p. 215) The Legend is Reborn: Godzilla (1984) a.k.a. Godzilla 1985
- PART 5: SECOND COMING - The 1990s
- (p. 251) The Name of the Rose: Godzilla vs. Biollante
- (p. 265) The Time Travelers: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
- (p. 279) Earth's Final Fury: Godzilla vs. Mothra
- (p. 287) Cyborg: Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla
- (p. 295) Enemies: A Love Story: Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla
- (p. 305) Requiem for a Heavyweight: Godzilla vs. Destroyer
- PART 6. GODZILLA VS. HOLLYWOOD - The Future
- (p. 321) Remade in America: Godzilla (1998)
- PART 7: APPENDICES
- (p. 351) i. Cast and Credits
- (p. 367) ii. Godzilla on Video
- (p. 370) iii. Cyberspace Godzilla
- (p. 371) iv. Endnotes
- (p. 373) v. Bibliography
- PERSONNEL FILES AND INTERVIEWS
- (p. 39) The God(zilla) Fathers: Tanaka, Honda, Tsuburaya, and Ifukube
- (p. 59) The Heavy: Raymond Burr
- (p. 75) City-Smashing to the Beat: Masaru Sato
- (p. 92) Monster Scribes: Shinichi Sekizawa, Takeshi Kimura
- (p. 94) The King's Court: Actors and Actresses
- (p. 127) The Controller Speaks: Yoshio Tsuchiya
- (p. 129) The Rebel: Nick Adams
- (p. 167) Successor to the Throne: Teruyoshi Nakano
- (p. 178) Godzilla in the Flesh: Haruo Nakajima
- (p. 185) White Guy in Monsterland: Robert Dunham
- (p. 261) Modern-Day Monster: Kenpachiro Satsuma
- (p. 315) Swan Song: Akira Ifukube
- (p. 330) New Wave Godzilla: Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott
- SIDEBARS AND SPECIAL SECTIONS
- (p. 24) Godzilla's Birthplace: A brief history of Toho and the Japanese movie industry
- (p. 149) Godzilla Talk: English dubbing in Japanese monster movies
- (p. 209) Godzilla, American Style: Hanna-Barbera's cartoon series
- (p. 243) Pop Monster: Godzilla references in books, music, etc.
- (p. 317) Godzilla Invades LA
- THE G-ARCHIVES: UNMADE AND OBSCURE GODZILLA PROJECTS
- (p. 70) Hot Lava: Synopsis of The Volcano Monsters
- (p. 111) Moth Holes: The evolution of the Godzilla vs. The Thing screenplay, by Jay Ghee
- (p. 119) Godzilla Conquers the World: Frankenstein vs. Godzilla, by Jay Ghee
- (p. 176) Evil Brain from Outer Space: Godzilla vs. The Space Monsters, by Jay Ghee
- (p. 177) Monster for Hire: Godzilla vs. Redmoon, by Jay Ghee
- (p. 188) Ultra-Goji: Godzilla and Japanese TV super-heroes
- (p. 207) The Electric Kool-Aid Kaiju Test: Cozzi's colorized Godzilla
- (p. 224) Godzilla versus... Cleveland?
- (p. 226) Begin the Bagan: The Return of Godzilla, by Jay Ghee
- (p. 227) Synopsis of Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 3-D, by Fred Dekker
- (p. 259) The Giant Rat and the Killer Plant: the original story of Godzilla vs. Gigamoth, by Jay Ghee
- (p. 276) S.O.L. on the Satellite of Love: Godzilla vs. MST3K
- (p. 284) Development Hell, Toho-Style: Mothra vs. Bagan and Godzilla vs. Biollante, by Jay Ghee
Trivia
- The original title was going to be Godzilla: The Unauthorized Biography.
- Toho stipulated that Godzilla's name and image could not be included on the cover or in the title. However, Toho did require a disclaimer on the cover, which Ryfle mentioned was beneficial since it was the only way the word "Godzilla" could be included on the cover.
External links
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