How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

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GodzillaFan1996
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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by GodzillaFan1996 »

I grew up in the late 90s/early 2000s in a small town, so we didn't have internet until I was 13/14. For me it was a combination of my Dad and the library. My dad had this idea that my brothers and I should be exposed to as much culture as possible. Before I was born he had recorded multiple films during the 80s and 90s on vhs. So after I was born we would have our own friday night marathons. I still remember seeing clips of Terror of Mechagodzilla being used as advertisement for TNT's Godzillathon on his Godzilla vs. The Thing recording. As time went by my dad saw my love for Godzilla and started renting ones I hadn't seen from the local library (which sadly closed doors a year ago). After the library ran out he would buy them as Christmas presents from thrift stores. Those were good times.
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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by GodzillaXGomoraFight »

I grew up watching most Godzilla films through VHS and DVD releases with the exception of the 90s Heisei films. In the early and mid 2000s, channels like Starz and Encore often played the 90s films, so I grew up watching mostly the Heisei films. My exposure to Showa was.kostly through VHS and DVD collections (Anchor Bay and Classic Media collections to be exact). When the 50th anniversary came, a lot more films became available to watch. By 2009/2010, I finally got my hands on Godzilla Raids Again and Godzilla vs. Biollante, thus I had finally saw every Godzilla film.
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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by H-Man »

I rented Godzilla movies once--G:KOTM and Gvs.Gigan from Blockbuster Video on March Lane and West Lane in the summer of '92.

Beyond that, I generally bought them outright on VHS whenever we visited a Suncoast or Musicland/Sam Goody at any mall in Northern California.


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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by mikelcho »

shadowgigan wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 6:24 am The almighty VHS of course! Thanks Hollywood Video!
For me, it was Blockbuster, but you get the picture.
Last edited by mikelcho on Thu Jan 20, 2022 6:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by misfitsfan83 »

I would go to the drive in with my dad. They always had Godzilla double features.

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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by Legion1979 »

Here's how I saw the Showa, Heisei and Millennium entries for the first time...

Godzilla, King of the Monsters - sometime in 1987, from a Vestron Video rental at Rite Aide, back when pharmacys still did those.

Gigantis the Fire Monster - around 1988 during a WPIX/11 "Morgus Presents" Saturday afternoon airing. It aired under the "Godzilla Raids Again" title.

King Kong vs Godzilla - Thanksgiving weekend in 1986, as part of a yearly WWOR/9 Kong marathon

Godzilla vs the Thing - possibly sometime in 1987, it aired on WPIX/11

Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster - PD tape rental from a local video store, either late 1986 or most likely sometime in 1987.

Monster Zero - my second Godzilla movie, very likely the summer of 1986. Don't remember the station

Godzilla vs the Sea Monster - don't recall the exact time frame, possible late 1987 or early 1988. It was taped from a family friend off a TBS airing.

Son of the Godzila - exact same situation as Sea Monster

Destroy all Monsters - I know the exact date and time(!) of this one - Saturday, September 27th, 1986 at 1pm. It aired on WNYW/5 on their Saturday afternoon "Drive-In Movie" program. This was possibly the last time the AIP version aired on US television.

Godzilla's Revenge - one of the last Godzilla movies I had yet to see. It aired in late 1988 on the WPIX/11 "Morgus Presents" show.

Godzilla vs the Smog Monster - another one I know the exact date and time - Saturday, September 20th, 1996 at 1pm, a week before Destroy All Monsters, also on the WNYW/5 "Drive-In Movie" program. Possibly my third Godzilla movie.

Godzilla vs Gigan - the last Showa movie I had yet to see. Rented the New World Video release in 1989 when it was brand new.

Godzilla vs Megalon. Not sure of the year. Maybe 1987 but also more likely it was 1988. It was from the Goodtimes orange box VHS release purchased from The Wiz.

Godzilla vs the Cosmic Monster - very likely I first saw this in 1988, once again from a WNYW/5 Drive-In Movie airing.

Terror of Mechagodzilla - my first Godzilla movie. It aired on WPIX/11 (I think) on Easter weekend in 1986. It was the edited theatrical version married to the prologue from the TV version. It may have been the last time the prologue ever aired.

Godzilla 1985 - whenever it aired in US TV for the very first time after its theatrical release (86?) Is when I first saw it.

Godzilla vs Biollante through Godzilla vs Destroyah were all bootlegs purchased the year after their Japanese releases. They ranged from the Summer (Biollante, King Ghidorah, Mothra and Space Godzilla), to the Fall (Mechagodzilla) to as early as January (Destroyah, via a theater boot)

Godzilla 2000 - like most of the fandom I saw this on opening day in August of 2000.

Godzilla vs Megagiras - saw this via a Chinese DVD release in October of 2002.

GMK - theater boot, April of 2002.

Godzilla X Mechagodzilla - official Toho DVD release, July of 2003.

Tokyo SOS - surprise G-Fest screening in July of 2004.

Final Wars - went to a screening in NYC in May of 2005
Last edited by Legion1979 on Sat Jun 18, 2022 6:07 pm, edited 5 times in total.

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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by Mac Daddy MM »

Legion1979 wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2022 5:51 pm Tokyo SOS - surprise G-Fest screening in July of 2004.
... Once upon a time, we were in the same building together.


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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by Voyager »

Growing up in the Late 2000s and Early 2010s gave me a lot of ways to watch Godzilla films. The cinema (for G14), DVDs for the Heisei/Millennium/98 films, and whatever was on the TV, like my first ever Godzilla films, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah and Godzilla vs Destoroyah.

Then, of course, was the Internet. I’d watch clip after clip, video after video, hour after hour on YouTube, absorbing all the Godzilla media I could. I’d go on Wikizilla and Toho Kingdom to find out more, too.

I only got to watch the Showa Films in full when I got the Criterion Collection 2-3 years ago (I can’t even remember anymore, these past years have been a trip :lol:)
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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by Count Dracula Clone »

I saw King Kong vs Godzilla on the TV when I was a kid.

My first movie was Godzilla vs Mothra in the 90's via the Manga Entertainment VHSs in the UK.

A big chunk of my original experience was via The Original Godzilla vhs series after that, and since I grew up watching a lot of showa era Godzilla I think thats why I'm also an Ultraman fan. I also picked up the first Mechagodzilla, Hedorah and Godzilla 1984 on VHS also, thankfully it was the dubbed version of the uncut film and not the Dr. Pepper American version.

I began collecting all the movies on dvd in the earlly 00s.

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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by Angilasman »

Mac Daddy MM wrote: Sun Jun 19, 2022 11:05 am
Legion1979 wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2022 5:51 pm Tokyo SOS - surprise G-Fest screening in July of 2004.
... Once upon a time, we were in the same building together.
Teenage me was there, too!

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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by PuzzledAmphibian »

GodzillaFan1996 wrote: Sat Oct 16, 2021 5:05 am I grew up in the late 90s/early 2000s in a small town, so we didn't have internet until I was 13/14. For me it was a combination of my Dad and the library. My dad had this idea that my brothers and I should be exposed to as much culture as possible. Before I was born he had recorded multiple films during the 80s and 90s on vhs. So after I was born we would have our own friday night marathons. I still remember seeing clips of Terror of Mechagodzilla being used as advertisement for TNT's Godzillathon on his Godzilla vs. The Thing recording. As time went by my dad saw my love for Godzilla and started renting ones I hadn't seen from the local library (which sadly closed doors a year ago). After the library ran out he would buy them as Christmas presents from thrift stores. Those were good times.
My experience was similar to you except in my case it was my Mom. She really put time into either recording or hunting down all the Godzilla vhs in existence for birthday and christmas gifts over the years.

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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by Chrispy_G »

I can't remember the first time seeing a Godzilla movie.

G98 came out when I was 5 and going on 6 and at that point I was already well aware of Godzilla.

We had VHS tapes of King of the Monsters, King Kong vs Godzilla, Godzilla vs The Sea Monster, Godzilla vs Gigan, vs Megalon, and vs MechaGodzilla.

Films I rented from my local blockbuster included - Godzilla vs the Thing, Ghidrah the three headed monster, Godzilla vs Monster Zero, Son of Godzilla(a favorite), Godzilla's Revenge, Terror of MechaGodzilla, Godzilla vs Biollante, and Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth.

Funny enough, the first Heisei film I owned was Godzilla vs Destoroyah...and in my young mind I thought it was somehow connected to Son of Godzilla.

Blockbuster.com was the first time I ever had any kind of list of all of the movies...and looking at the year they came out, I was able to write down the order that they were meant to be watched.

Before then, I had to look on the back of the box to figure out when they were made.

That was the first time I ever used the internet to learn more about movies.

I was taken to Godzilla 2000 in theaters by my mom. For my 10 Birthday I received every Godzilla movie on VHS that I didn't already own. I finally had them all.

The day Godzilla vs Megaguirus and GMK were broadcast on the sci-fi channel is one I will never forget. I had waited years to see new Godzilla movies and to get two in one day was thrilling.

From there I just started slowly picking up the DVDs where I could. Faded away from the series for about 4-5 years until G14 was fully on the way. That reignited my Fandom and from then I was completely re-dedicated to the series.
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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by alfredparker360 »

Growing up, I didn't have the ability to watch movies like Godzilla. However, I developed a deep understanding and knowledge about them through the vast repository of information and stories shared by movie enthusiasts, critics, and fans across various media platforms.

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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by Pkmatrix »

Huh, I could've sworn I responded to this at some point...

My first experience with Godzilla was watching the GoodTimes VHS of Godzilla vs. Megalon, which my aunt had put on while I was playing with my cousin when I was...4? 5, maybe? Sometime around 1990/1991. I became a fan because when I was 7 going on 8 I caught a TV airing of Godzilla 1985 on WPIX-11 out of New York in January 1994, followed by a TNT MonsterVision marathon later that month (separate from the better remembered 1994 President's Day Godzilla Bash TNT aired a month later).

A lot of my childhood experience with Godzilla was combing local videostores (my family didn't frequent BlockBuster until closer to 2000, so these are all local mom-and-pop indie stores) and local TV listings, renting or recording off the TV whatever I found. It was like a giant scavenger hunt (I didn't discover G-Fan and find out exactly how many Godzilla movies there were until a year or two later), and I kept discovering new things - there was a ton of mystery, as none of the grown-ups in my life knew anything about Godzilla but were exactly the sorts to believe in word-of-mouth myths (I was told by my parents and aunts and uncles multiple times about "Godzilla vs. Rodan" and "Godzilla vs. Gamera", movies they insisted were real even after I knew better and told them the facts - they would tell me I was wrong because "I was a kid and they were grown up, so they knew better no matter what book or magazine I showed them"). VERY early on, like within 6 months of becoming a fan, I discovered bootlegs and fansubs, which is how I found out about the post-Biollante films and was able to watch Destroy All Monsters. Thanks to a combo of VHS rentals/purchases, VHS bootlegs, and Cable TV I had seen every Godzilla movie by the time I finally was able to see my first movie in a theater: Godzilla (1998). To this day, I have only seen six Godzilla movies in the theater: G'98, G2K, G54, G14, KOTM, and GvK.

My first Godzilla DVDs were the Simitar set of G '54, MvG, Monster Zero, Revenge, and ToMG which I got in, I believe, 1999 when I was in Jr. HIgh. I still collected movies on VHS up through my freshman year of college in 2004 - my final Godzilla VHS was a bootleg of the Japanese cut of G'54 I bought that December. Around that time was when all the movies were getting issued or re-issued on DVD, and I made a point of re-collecting the series on DVD (and later on Blu Ray).

So while my adult experience with Godzilla has been largely DVD/BD and Streaming, my childhood experience growing up was almost exclusively VHS and TV. :)

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Re: How did you watch Godzilla movies growing up?

Post by MrRockett »

Maybe I posted to this...maybe not

In about 1977, I was with my parents at their friend's house. They had no kids, I was 5 so they plopped me in front of the TV. As it happened "The Space Giants" was on followed by Godzilla vs. Mothra and then Godzilla 1954.... I was hooked!!
From then on I'd scour the T.V. Guide and to my amazement there were so many other movies out there. Most times it would be a holiday marathon or summer marathon on channel 6 in San Diego. In the summer they would play 10 movies over the course of the week. Man, when the Mechagodzilla movies came out I was crazy. I found the Crestwood Books Monster Series at my elementary school and would constantly check out the Godzilla book and trace the monsters.
In 1979, it was announced our ABC affiliate Channel 10 was showing KKvG on primetime Saturday TV. That day felt like a year..it was the only one I'd yet to see. It was awesome.
In early 1985 I saw a newspaper article on "Godzilla Returning" and I got to see Godzilla 1985, my first G-Film in a theater at the Santee Villiage 8. I couldn't believe it. From then on it was just a smattering of TV appearances, became a busy teenager then in about 1989 found a place selling Goodtimes Godzilla vs Megalon...I wore that tape out.
1991, saw Godzilla vs Biollante on Showtime (Taped It)
Bought the rest of Heisei in 1999 online through a Japanese company
The rest is history!
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