65 years ago, in 1954, with the horrors of the Second World War still fresh in the minds of many people, a giant monster appeared on movie screens and made himself an icon and has remained strong after all these years despite his ups and downs. The beast's name? GODZILLA!
SKREEEEEEEEEEE-OOOOOONNNNK! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!
AYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEE-OOOOONNNNK!
That's right, we're talking about Godzilla, the King of the Monsters who has been the embodiment of nuclear weaponry, a hero, a monster and everything else in between. This guy has evolved over the years and has stood the tests of time. Nothing can defeat him, even if you find a way, he will always be back to either wreck havoc or face off against other Kaiju. Pit him up against an enemy like King Kong or Biollante or a robot version of himself and I bet you anything he will emerge victorious or will be forced to retreat and then come back to fight and then he will emerge the champion.
When Gojira first hit in 1954, nobody expected this one movie to spawn a franchise. But lo and behold, within a few years, Godzilla was popular and there were not just even more movies, but there were comic books, a few TV shows and, yes, video games. Godzilla isn't just an icon or a warning against nuclear weaponry, he's a staple of science fiction too and has been important in all our lives, including my life too. Allow me to share with you a story of my Godzilla fandom.
It all started in 2006 when I was just a young boy, my pop had just introduced me to science fiction I.E an episode of the Outer Limits and I said that I would love to see a science fiction movie. So, guess what happened? My parents went on Netflix to find a sci-fi movie to watch and their ultimate suggestion was... Godzilla. But not just any Godzilla movie, it was the very first movie albeit the 1956 Americanized version known as Godzilla King Of The Monsters starring Raymond Burr. I remember asking my mum if Godzilla could talk and she told me that he only roared.
About a day or two later, Godzilla King of the Monsters came in the mail and we popped in the DVD and turned it on. The opening scene was really mind-blowing, showing the ruins of Tokyo and I will never forget Raymond Burr's narration: This is Tokyo, once a city full of six million people. What has happened here was caused by a force that, up until a few days ago, was beyond the scope of man's imagination. Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could lash out anywhere in the world with its destructive power. I will never forget seeing Steve Martin, injured but alive in the rubble of that one building.
The hospital scene was thought invoking too, even though it was fiction, I still take pity on those who lost their loved ones to Godzilla. Even that poor crying girl who lost her mum. At one point during that scene, my mum offered to turn off the movie if it gets too scary. This came at a time when I was a bit sensitive, bursting into tears and crying whenever something scary happened on TV that wasn't really real. However, we pushed through and watched the whole movie. Since that day, I was a Godzilla fan and, soon, not only did we watch the 1954 Japanese version, we also got to see the other movies, including all the Showa films, the Heisei films, the Millennium movies and the 1998 film.
I will never forget the day I wrote to Toho when I was 7 years old during my second year as a Godzilla fan. Yes 2006 was my first year and 2007 was my second year, this technically makes 2019 my 13th year. Anyways, I wrote a letter to Toho studios and it went like this:
Dear Toho Productions,
I am a big Godzilla Fan and would like to be involved in making a Godzilla film when I get older. What would I have to do to become a member of your production team. I would like to see more Godzilla movies made. May I visit your studio sometime when we come to Japan?
Thank you,
James
The letter did go through quite an edit since I brought up the idea of a Godzilla-Herbie crossover, this came at a time when I was just watching the Herbie the Love Bug movies and they were awesome. Either way, I eventually got a response from Toho and, as a bonus, I got my hands on some Godzilla brochures, they were fantastic.
As I watched Godzilla more and more, I became more into the monster genre and soon, I ended up watching another popular monster; Gamera. I remember that day at Tower Records, mum and I were looking at DVDs and we came across Gamera the Invincible. Being curious, we got it and it was really good. However, it would be a while before we got our hands on most of the other Gamera movies. That didn't end my Godzilla fandom though. Despite enjoying all the movies, I did become a bit disconnected from the franchise but I would sooner or later reconnect with Godzilla.
I loved the Big G so much it kinda became my favorite subject and I talked about it a lot, if I was obsessed with Godzilla, it was in a good way. I have never been obsessed in a bad way. For a while, dad once told me that he thought it was a mistake to introduce me to Godzilla at a young age, when I talked to mum about it, she said it was not and its never a mistake to introduce me to anything. Sometime later into my Godzilla fandom, I would start a blog known as James Godzilla Page where I would kinda write stories about the Big G, you can check it out in the link here:
https://jamesgodzillapage.blogspot.com/
Godzilla has been an important part of my life and I will never let it all go, I've seen so many of the movies and I have tons of fond memories of the franchise that I will never forget it. The Big G has been awesome and will never be bad. There is a lot to look forward too (as of this post) such as Godzilla's upcoming rematch with King Kong or Toho's World of Godzilla, not to mention so many other great monster movies I've not yet seen.
Thank you Godzilla, for being a part of my life and happy 65th Birthday...
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNK!
was caused by a force...
which, up until a few days ago,
was entirely...
beyond the scope
of man's imagination.
Tokyo - a smoldering memorial
to the unknown...
an unknown which,
at this very moment, still prevails...
and could at any time lash out
with its terrible destruction...
anywhere else in the world.
Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=godzilla-king-of-the-monsters
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