Godzilla: The First 70 Years

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Angilasman
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Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by Angilasman »

Very exciting development in the newfound world of official English language Godzilla publishing. Two years ago we had "The Official Illustrated Guide," which was a pretty simplistic overview, seemingly for a younger readership, but now we're getting (from the sound of it) a more in-depth series overview - and it's going to be written by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski! Those two are responsible for some of the best scholarship the service has ever had!

https://a.co/d/cjJuzaB
Godzilla: The First 70 Years is a narrative and visual history of the King of the Monsters, chronicling the triumphs, challenges, and meaning of seven decades of city-trashing, kaiju-smashing mayhem. It is also a tribute to Godzilla’s creators and costars—the filmmakers, special-effects wizards, cast members, even the stuntmen inside the monster suit—and an appreciation of the behind-the-scenes artistry involved in bringing Godzilla to cinematic life, then and now.

Exclusive behind-the-scenes photography, production materials, posters, lobby cards, and collectibles will illustrate this overview of The Showa Era films (1954-1975); The Heisei Era films (1984-1998’s Godzilla film produced by TriStar); the Millenium Series (1999-2004); Legendary Films’s Monsterverse; and the Reiwa Era (2016-present), including the 2023 box office phenomenon Godzilla Minus One. Extensive visuals detail the different evolutions of kaiju design, as well as profile the creative contribution and SFX developments across seven decades of filmmaking and innovation.
Last edited by Angilasman on Mon Aug 19, 2024 2:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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JAGzilla
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by JAGzilla »

Well, this is big. Looks like GMO really changed the game. I'll definitely support this if it lives up to the description.
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by Dyrakro »

Damn, that title kinda gets me hyped for another 70 years. But thinking about how much of a time that is it also makes me sad. I surely won't be alive till then

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Angilasman
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by Angilasman »

Just saw Ryfle's name on the page for the e-book, but looking at the page for the hardcover I now I see Ed Godziszewski listed as well! Updated the first post.

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Angilasman
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by Angilasman »

Whoa!
Steve Ryfle (Author)
Ed Godziszewski (Author)
Shogo Tomiyama (Afterword)
John Carpenter (Foreword)
Megumi Odaka (Foreword)

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ebirahsmeg1
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

This could every well be one of the best bits of news to come down the pike in awhile. I've been opining for years to see a follow-up to Ryfle's Japan's Favorite Mon-Star. Ditto in regard to Ed G's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Godzilla as well as some sort of follow-up to Japanese Giants (still holding out hope for the long rumored Frankenstein Conquers the World dedicated issue will see the light of day in this lifetime). To no one's surprise, their Honda Biography was excellent, so I'd expect nothing less from this title.

From this description on Amazon, it sounds like this may actually have the potential blessing of TOHO as well. Let's hope TOHO doesn't muzzle and restrict Ryfle and Ed G. too much regarding critical analysis as well.
The Official Illustrated History, 1954–2024

The Official Illustrated History, 1954–2024

Godzilla: The First 70 Years is a narrative and visual history of the King of the Monsters, chronicling the triumphs, challenges, and meaning of seven decades of city-trashing, kaiju-smashing mayhem. It is also a tribute to Godzilla’s creators and costars—the filmmakers, special-effects wizards, cast members, even the stuntmen inside the monster suit—and an appreciation of the behind-the-scenes artistry involved in bringing Godzilla to cinematic life, then and now.

Exclusive behind-the-scenes photography, production materials, posters, lobby cards, and collectibles will illustrate this overview of The Showa Era films (1954-1975); The Heisei Era films (1984-1998’s Godzilla film produced by TriStar); the Millenium Series (1999-2004); Legendary Films’s Monsterverse; and the Reiwa Era (2016-present), including the 2023 box office phenomenon Godzilla Minus One. Extensive visuals detail the different evolutions of kaiju design, as well as profile the creative contribution and SFX developments across seven decades of filmmaking and innovation.
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

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ebirahsmeg1
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

A cover has now appeared:

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GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by Legion1979 »

I really hope that's some sort of demo cover because if it's not...yeeesh!

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JAGzilla
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

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Yeah, I like the orange and green color palette, but the picture isn't exactly representative of Godzilla's "First 70 Years," is it? How about giving us a preview of the history and variety the book is allegedly going to be covering? But that wouldn't be a very Toho thing to do.
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by GigaBowserG »

JAGzilla wrote: Fri Aug 23, 2024 10:34 pm But that wouldn't be a very Toho thing to do.
Could very well be due to guidelines set by Toho, but there've been numerous Japanese books that have much more appealing covers that give a better idea of their contents. The "All Kaiju Illustrated Encyclopedia" comes to mind.

Regardless, excited for this release, even if it's still so far off.
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ebirahsmeg1
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

The cover is rather fugly (though the release date isn't until 2025, so it could change between now and then), but as long as the contents are up to the same standards as previous works by Ryfle and Ed G., then a subpar cover is very small potatoes in the grand scheme of things...
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

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Emperor Scarlet
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by Emperor Scarlet »

Definitely agree that the cover isn't the best, though it's not bad, just unremarkable. Should have been something more representative of the series as a whole rather than just -1 Goji.

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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

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Emperor Scarlet wrote: Sat Aug 24, 2024 6:40 am Definitely agree that the cover isn't the best, though it's not bad, just unremarkable. Should have been something more representative of the series as a whole rather than just -1 Goji.
Guarantee if this was a Japanese book the 1954 Godzilla would be on the cover, or some cool collage of various Godzillas. But when it comes to pushing Godzilla internationally they're only going to stick to the newest, coolest version, because heaven forbid they risk someone not taking the franchise seriously. I don't mind Minus One being on the cover at all. But can we get a better image please?

Ed and Steve are THE best possible people to be working on this. But as a piece of official Godzilla merchandise, I'm worried about how sanitized and Toho-approved the text is going to be. The Ultimate Visual Guide was an absolute dud, with text that read like studio marketing material. I don't expect this new book to go very deep but with Ed and Steve at the helm I hope it has some substance to it.

Regardless, I'm still waiting on a unofficial book going deep into the history of this franchise, and bad and good, and not having to worry about Toho approval or hiding behind lots of photos.

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ebirahsmeg1
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

Some interior shots have popped up:

Image

Image

Image

Image
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by Tyrant_Lizard_King »

Looks nice. Finally getting more high quality English language Godzilla books crawling out of the woodworks. This next year and the Nishikawa kaiju encyclopedia coming out in a couple weeks.
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Angilasman
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

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The spread of DAM shots is pretty dense with info, and it looks well designed!

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ebirahsmeg1
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

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Tyrant_Lizard_King wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2024 12:43 am Looks nice. Finally getting more high quality English language Godzilla books crawling out of the woodworks. This next year and the Nishikawa kaiju encyclopedia coming out in a couple weeks.
I am also looking forward to this book tremendously (though I hope they change the awful "Derp!" cover...good lord :roll: ). Having said that, I share the same concerns Legion mentioned earlier in regard to TOHO potentially muzzling Steve Ryfle and Ed G. from giving true meaningful film analysis of each film of the series....let's hope this doesn't turn out to be the case and it becomes a worthy follow-up to Ed G's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Godzilla /Japanese Giants and Ryfle's History's Greatest Mon-star....
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by UltramanGoji »

I'm much more interested in any potentail new behind-the-scenes nuggets than more film analyses. I've heard practically every take on the older films in the series, I'd much rather the page space be spent on telling us how these films came to be, the circumstances surrounding their creative decisions and the people behind them.
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Angilasman
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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

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Re: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Post by B34sT »

I’m definitely interested to read about the alternate ending they had for KKvG. This looks to be an absolute must for people who want to know more about the history and behind the scenes stuff of the movies.

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