I won't pretend that some of the Godzilla movies aren't complete garbage, especially the hideous GODZILLA VS. SPACE GODZILLA, but it does ruffle my feathers when they're dismissed out of hand. When one considers the vagaries of English dubbing, and the fact that all the sixties and seventies pictures were shot in widescreen -- often quite beautifully, and by industry veterans -- it vexes me to consider that television and most video prints are so cruel to what the filmmakers were actually attempting. I HAVE sensed, especially in the past ten years, a change in this attitude, not least because of the diligent efforts of a handful of self-appointed American ambassadors (myself among them) who actually WENT to Japan and did some hard research. My respect for these guys and what they accomplished only shot up a thousandfold.

There are surprisingly few worthwhile sites to visit -- it's amazing how much misinformation is still being distributed, even by self-proclaimed fans -- but here's an oddball one that inadvertantly gets part of it right (discussing the original GODZILLA) --

http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/godzilla.htm

Follow the "page 2" and "page 3" links for some rather interesting user comments.

Here is a similar one for RODAN:

http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/rodan.htm

This guy really ought to get around to MOTHRA, which has far more overt Christian imagery in it.

The Japanese version is significantly better -- GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN is one possible translation, although previously it was more commonly called GODZILLA'S COUNTERATTACK; another possible translation is GODZILLA STRIKES AGAIN.

Having said that, the Japanese version isn't that good either -- thrown together a few months after the first one was a surprise hit, and it looks it. Beautifully photographed by Seiichi Endo, however (who didn't work on any of the others) -- not so much "black and white" as a symphony of greys. Never considered one of the industry's top cameramen, he nonetheless did a gorgeous job on this. Composer Masaru Sato did an interesting score, even though when I met him, he derided it, and admitted that he was petrified of following in Ifukube's gargantuan footsteps. His later scores for the series (which sometimes subtly reinterpret the GODZILLA'S COUNTERATTACK music) are far bolder, and he mentioned that by then he was confident enough by then to put his own stamp on the series. (Sato and Ifukube were basically the Goldsmith and Williams of their time, although I think musically, Sato more resembles Maurice Jarre, and certainly Ifukube's music sounds nothing at all like John Williams', although he is commonly called "the Japanese John Williams" over there, probably more because of the KIND of pictures he did than the style he used.)

Boxoffice-wise, however, the second GODZILLA film was nearly as big a hit as the first one. Toho Studios wasn't quite sure what to do with this weirdly successful genre however, and sat on the Godzilla character for seven more years, producing some hits (MOTHRA) and many misses (THE MYSTERIANS was a boxoffice disaster, although it's considered a classic in Japan now. I personally can't warm up to it.) The back-to-back successes of MOTHRA and KING KONG VS. GODZILLA -- and the simultaneous flop of GORATH, a good movie, I think -- alerted Toho to the fact that giant monsters were the way to go.

Mark, I'm aware of the DVDs, but don't have any, nor have read reviews. I have a buddy in New York who has one of those rare DVD players (he was wise to buy it in 1994) that can play anything, regardless of region. I think Ifukube has done commentary for them, but doubt it's anything we haven't heard from him before. I am sorely tempted to buy a Japanese DVD player just so I can treat myself to these and upcoming releases from Toho, but I'm nowhere near that financially solvent as yet.