Book Review: GODZILLA--THE FIRST 70 YEARS

 

My birthday was a couple weeks ago, and my brother Robert sent me an Amazon gift card. I used it to help purchase GODZILLA--THE FIRST 70 YEARS, a mammoth hardcover tome that is 432 pages long and weighs almost six pounds. 

Published by Abrams, this book covers the entire Japanese film history of the King of the Monsters, starting with Godzilla's debut in 1954. Every single one of the Godzilla films produced by Toho Studios gets a concise and informative history, including those made during the Heisei Era (1984-95) and the Millennium Era (1999-2004). SHIN GODZILLA, GODZILLA MINUS ONE and the Anime movies featuring the character are thoroughly discussed as well. 

The book's authors are Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski, two major Japanese cinema experts who were responsible for the wonderful Ishiro Honda biography a few years ago. 

I've barely started delving into this magnificent volume, but I already know more than enough to give it my highest recommendation. It's filled with hundreds of photos, many of them in color, and some taking up an entire page. Many of these pictures are new to me, and trust me, I've read (and own) plenty of books about the world's most famous Kaiju. 

The text isn't just a generic & basic summation about each of the films--The authors take a deep, deep dive into every production, dealing with the genesis of the storylines, the FX involved, and each title's reception and impact on the box office. What I've always appreciated about the authors (who have done a number of audio commentaries for various Godzilla home video releases) is that they put the films into the context of their being Japanese--which seems an obvious thing to do, but many look at them from an English-speaking point of view. One must remember that Toho's Godzilla series was not made specifically for American audiences. 

(Speaking of an American point of view--the 1998 Tri-Star GODZILLA and the so-called "Monarch" series of films which have a creature called Godzilla are not covered in this volume. That doesn't bother me one bit, but I figured I better let folks know in case someone pays the major amount of money for this book expecting to see something about those movies.) 

The book also has introductions by filmmaker John Carpenter and actress Megumi Odaka (who appeared in six Godzilla films during the Heisei Era), and an afterword by Toho executive Shogo Tomiyama. 

This is a volume truly worthy of the massive subject it covers. If you're looking for a perfect holiday gift for a hardcore film geek, you can't do better than purchasing GODZILLA--THE FIRST 70 YEARS.