A Trip To My Childhood With GODZILLA Classics!

Think I mentioned this before, but one of my first big passions as a kid was for the famous TOHO tokusatsu series starring GODZILLA and the other monsters of Monster Island.

The very first movie I saw was Godzilla VS Mothra and my earliest memories are of the huge egg and the subsequent caterpillars that came out and gave Godzilla and Rodan a run for their money, and from there I was enraptured and needed to see more!

Fortunately for my 8 year old self, one of the local stations decided to have a MONSTER WEEK and amidst movies of mushroom people and killer crabs I was able to see a bunch of Godzilla flicks like GHIDRAH THE THREE HEADED-MONSTER and re-viewings of the original Mothra movies as well!

Next was the theaters and I managed to see “Godzilla’s Revenge” (what I called the “Son Of Godzilla” movie) for the first time along with a screening of Ghidrah, and I have fond memories of walking down to the old Kapahulu Theater for a viewing of GODZILLA VS MEGALON, the latter of which I saw twice! 

Back then my bedtime was 9:00 (with special allowance to stay up to 9:30 on Mondays to watch “All In The Family”), but whenever a Godzilla movie would show up in the TV guide on “Nite Owl Theater”, I was allowed to stay up to 11 to catch it!

This was back in the days when the town turned off after 9 (24 hour convenience stores like 7-Eleven were years away) and it seemed like when I would be watching those movies that I was the only one alive! Gave me a magical feeling which is partially why those movies still hit me so hard with nostalgia whenever I think of them!*

I hadn’t seen ANY of those old classics in YEARS, and so I was thrilled when my friend Jas picked up a whole bunch of Godzilla classics on DVD!

The original GODZILLA, GODZILLA VS MOTHRA, GHIDRAH THE THREE HEADED MONSTER, GODZILLA’S REVENGE, GODZILLA VS MEGALON and the all-star DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, he had ‘em all, and once he let me borrow them, I wasted no time checking them out!

Diving in, the first thing that hit me was the backgrounds and clothes. Oh MAN, did this take me back! As a 70’s kid, there is something about Japanese flicks from the 60’s and 70’s that seem so nostalgic- like I grew up there!

Also didn’t realize how damn FUNNY the original flicks were- VERY fun and witty! Like, whenever the Faries (the Peanuts) would speak with their tiny voices, one character would turn to the other and say, ‘Hey, stop speaking in funny voice!” “Huh? That wasn’t me!”, the other would say, and then they’d see the girls.

And probably the biggest surprise of ALL while watching the two Mothra-related flicks is  realizing that the cute and genki actress performing was none other than YURIKO HOSHI!

 

What!  Had no IDEA she had tokusatsu history! I've always known her as an older lady, as introduced to me as the dominating Mother-in-Law to poor Agri Mochizuki in the excellent 1997 NHK Asadora AGRI which I generally consider my favorite J-drama of ALL TIME!

Yuriko Hoshi had passed away only very recently, in 2018, and it was such a happy THRILL seeing her so young, spritely and CUTE! I don’t know HOW I didn’t know this cool bit of pop-culture about her!

 Below: With Akiko "You Only Live Twice" Wakabayashi

The liner notes say that GODZILLA’S REVENGE was the first Godzilla movie aimed towards children, and maybe that’s why I loved it so much as a kid. The tale, told from the point of view of a bullied boy who fantasizes about being friends with the Son of Godzilla against his bullies, really hit home for me and it still holds up rather well!

GODZILLA VS MEGALON was, as mentioned about a particular sentimental fave as it was the one that I saw in the theater when it was new, additionally, as a huge fan of Japan Heroes, it was an added kick to have Godzilla teaming up with  heroic robot Jet Jaguar, and just seeing him again brought back such memories!

Now, about DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. This was the one movie I never saw on TV or in the theaters as a kid. The first time I ever knew about it was through an ad in the back of STARLOG magazine selling 8MM reel movies, along with other monster/hero flicks like THE BEAST FROM 20,00O FATHOMS, INFRAMAN, and GORGO, seeing the poster for Destroy all Monsters with the image of ALL those classic Godzilla monsters slugging it out had me in a DAZE! How I wished I could have seen it back then- Now I finally had my hands on it!

Gotta say, this movie didn’t disappoint, and seeing all the Thunderbirds-style spaceships, Secret Agent Space Cops, and ALL those terrific Monsters gathering up to take on King Ghidorah knocked me out, even as a jaded adult!! I can’t begin to imagine how BLOWN AWAY I would have been if I saw it as a KID- would have ROCKED MY WORLD!

WELL! It has been quite a week full of nostalgia and for a brief time I was transported right back to my childhood!

 An aside note: I remember staying up to watch a Godzilla movie, and right before it started, I saw the ending credits to the movie before it, which was the Roger Moore James Bond flick “Live and Let Die”, and the image of the flaming skull REALLY creeped 8 year old me out!!! Being the only one up in the whole household didn’t help! 

Ah, those innocent days of youth....

Five Favorite James Bond Movies

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

This movie has it all for me…there are so many great scenes one after another…good story and pacing, good female lead in Melina, good partner in Columbo and a KILLER theme song by Sheena Easton!

     From the very beginning, the movie seems different from the others. Bond is shown placing flowers at the grave of Teresa Di Vicenso Bond, his one time wife, slain at the hands of SPECTRE.  He is then abducted by a sinister bald man with a white cat who of course is meant to be Bond’s old foe, the SPECTRE leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

  This is pretty significant in that it clearly linked the Roger Moore James Bond with his predecessors, as if to show, “Yes, this is the same guy”. I remember as a kid having my older cousin explain to me about how his wife was killed by Blofeld in an earlier movie, and even then I could feel the “history” of the James Bond character.

 In any case, although the opening degenerates into slapstick comedy, I think this was meant to mark a point as if to say the older movies were like TV shows, and the movies were going to be more “realistic” from that point on. Too bad they didn’t stick with it in the future endeavors!

   Favorite scenes include the first meeting on Bond and Columbo. Villain Kristatos has tricked Bond into thinking that Columbo is the bad guy. Columbo confronts Bond and tries to assure him that they are on the same side. In an act of good faith, he returns Bond’s Walther PPK to him, proving that they should be acting together. Bond points the gun in Columbo’s face, then they both relax and laugh - partners against Kristatos!

   There’s this car chase that ends with assassin Emile Locque‘s car crashed and hanging halfway on and halfway off a cliff. One wrong move might tip the car off the edge, and Locque is in a jam as to how he will get out of the car! He has always left a pin of a dove whenever he has killed someone. Bond tosses the pin in the car, and the viewer thinks the pin will cause the car to tip over… …but before it does, Bond simply kicks the car with all HIS MIGHT over the edge!!! Ruthless!

  The movie builds up to the assault on the secret base of Kristatos, high up on the bluffs. There are some exciting moments as Bond and crew sneak up the face of the bluff to storm the headquarters!

   And can we ever forget gushy Lynn-Holly Johnson’s Bibi Dahl? Bond shows his age as he fights her off, telling the sex kitten he’ll “buy her an ice-cream!”

LIVE AND LET DIE

The one that started it all for me and gave me a lasting obsession with Jane Seymour! I particularly love the soundtrack and George Martin’s score. I agree with the reviewer who said Martin’s Take on the James Bond Theme song is one of the best! Listen to the powerful intro as the scope opens up on the United Nations Building. Good build-up in the teaser working to a PERFECT segue into Paul McCartney’s song.

    Interesting Henchmen in Tee-Hee and Baron Samedi, and one of the most off the wall and inspired endings of all! (Supernatural reincarnation, anyone?)

 Besides being a thrilling song that PERFECTLY matched the feel of Baron Samedi’s Voodoo land, George Martin took the three parts of the song and turned them into these GREAT musical scores. The “When You Were Young” segment of the song turned into the lush romantic scene music, the Frantic Horns section turned into the actions scenes score, and the “What does it Matter to You” segment turned into the funky island music scenes. Maurice Binder did an excellent Montage with this song, using Fire and Skulls to add to the Voodoo Theme.

GOLDFINGER

It wasn’t until I saw this movie that I understood the whole “secret agent” concept that so many copied in the 60’s. Brilliant, witty dialog, interesting characters and a story that keeps you glued to your seat up until the Fort Knox showdown. I love the fight with Odd-Job and the fact that (as throughout MOST of the movie) Bonds uses his MIND to survive rather than use gadgets. Connery at his very best here, strong, suave and also realistically brutish (love the scene where he’s attempting to diffuse a bomb and ends up GUESSING which wire to pull!) The scenes shot in 60’s California streets (Felix Leighter at a KFC!) and the Shirley Bassey “Herb Alpert” style theme song give this movie a nostalgic feel about it, too!

OCTOPUSSY

This is a Bond movie that I’ve always felt possessive of, for some reason. During its stay at the local theater, I saw it a total of SEVEN times, dragging different people - and sometimes even making the SAME friends go with me multiple times! I was really trying  to “spread the religion” and I STILL feel this movie isn’t as highly regarded as it should. I think the way they took the stories “Property of a Lady”, “The Living Daylights” and Octopussy” and melded it into one linear story is just fantastic! The movie features an awesome teaser opening (Fill ‘er Up!), good movie set-up (the opening with 009 delivering the Faberge Egg to the British Embassy) and man…once the train starts its course, the movie doesn’t let up until the end! And that Kristina Wayborne….Mmm!

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

I love this movie for its detailed and well paced scenes. Director Terence Young relied closely on the original Ian Fleming Novel, and it shows. Great characters (Klebb and Red Grant) and the first appearance of Q! Everyone was here for this one, but my biggest draw for this movie has to be the character of Tatiana “Tanya” Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) whose innocence and looks just sent me head over heels for her. The scene where she is wearing a black ribbon around her neck (and not much else)…HELL! This movie also featured a terrific instrumental opening song…too bad it is usually passed up in Bond Compilations for the Matt Munro ending song instead.