Eiji Tsuburaya

Destroy All Monsters (1968)

Posted on by Paul Wilhelm-Aronofsky

The end. Video, that mad killer, was at it again. Not content with the Radio Star, it set its sights on the kaiju eiga genre. With an expansion of variety and programming broadcast directly into people’s homes, Japan’s film industry was on a decline. And an obvious place to cut costs were special-effects heavy films like the Godzilla franchise. Props, sets, models, costumes, and post-production effects all add up, no matter how cheesy they may seem in retrospect. And so rang the the death knell for Godzilla. Deciding to go out with a bang, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka got director Ishiro Honda back together with composer Akira Ifukube and special effects supervisor Eiji Tsuburaya for 1968’s monster melee hit Destroy All Monsters. Sporting a total of eleven monsters, this film showcases all of Toho’s other creatures that never found their way into a Godzilla film like Varan, Manda, Gorosaurus, and Baragon. The team definitely went all-out for this last hurrah.

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Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)

Posted on by Paul Wilhelm-Aronofsky

In 1964, we received a strong message on the importance of international cooperation in Mothra vs. Godzilla, and a year later Toho Studios was practicing what they had preached. Invasion of Astro-Monster was one of three co-productions with US producer Henry G. Saperstein, who claimed to provide half the funding, yet budget restrictions still forced a few shortcuts along the way. In spite of these, Invasion of Astro Monster is a fun beautiful romp and the first in the franchise to introduce an alien race. There’s a whole lot of sci-fi DNA throughout the film, so if you’ve branched out beyond the Godzilla franchise, you’ll recognize some nods to those who came before.

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King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Posted on by Paul Wilhelm-Aronofsky

Well, we’re finally back on track folks, with the most anticipated action movie of the summer, King Kong vs Godzilla! No, not the 2021 super hit Godzilla vs. Kong, King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). Fret not dear readers, we’ll get there. But first, WRESTLEMANIA!

In the 1950s to early 1960s Japanese Pro-Wrestling was starting to take off. Inspired by American counterparts, the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance (JPWA) recruited from Sumo and Judo leagues. The founder, Rikidōzan, was born in Korea and moved to Japan to practice Sumo, then traveled stateside to compete in the National Wrestling Alliance. Originally introduced as a villain, Rikidōzan actually gained popularity and started defeating a ton of his American opponents. This especially endeared him to audiences back overseas as a hometown hero who stood up to the dirty, cheating Americans (his fellow athletes embraced the role as heels, giving audiences a cathartic boost in postwar Japan). Rikidōzan was unfortunately killed by a friggin yakuza gangster in a nightclub in 1963.

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