One of my fondest memories of my father is when he told me I had to get up early, at 6 AM, because something special was going to be on television. I was six years old, and he knew I loved dinosaurs, monsters, and such. I woke up sleepy, dad made some of that good Navy hot chocolate that he got from the base exchange store, and for the next hour-and-half I was spellbound. The film, of course, was the American version:
Godzilla, King of the Monsters. A few years later I would see
Gigantis, The Fire Monster (aka
Godzilla Raids Again) on a daily movie matinee hosted by, of all people, actress
Frances Farmer. That big, radioactive beast has always been one of my favorite movie monsters.
And I have collected many of the soundtracks composed by the late Akira Ifukube, who created the original Godzilla theme and so many other classic Japanese movie scores. My favorite soundtrack:
The Mysterians, the Japanese sci-fi thriller, a
War of the Worlds alien invasion spectacle. You can hear a sample from the Mysterians soundtrack here:
THE FIRST BATTLE - I've always dreamed of hearing a big symphony orchestra play some of his works. In 2007, the Austin Wind Symphony Orchestra in Texas did just that. Wish I had been there!
One of the most memorable G scenes:
Godzilla vs. The Thing (Mothra), 1964 -When Godzilla enters Nagoya after being buried under tons of mud and silt by a hurricane, his tail accidentally becomes entangled in the base of the huge Nagoya TV tower. He lunges forward to free himself, and the tower slowly crashes down onto him, causing him to roar out in pain. A rare G-film moment that I appreciated even as a youngster - Godzilla acting like a real beast, instead of a cartoon character, as he was depicted in the later, lesser films. You can see the sequence in still screenshots (and the great Ifukube score) here:
GODZILLA RAIDS NAGOYA
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