Dec 02 2008
Review: Godzilla and Other Movie Monsters
Godzilla has been dubbed the “King of the Monsters” not only by the distributor of the Americanized 1954 film, but by fans and critics alike all over the world. The character has become a popular culture icon and has his own place in film history. The documentary Godzilla and Other Movie Monsters pays homage to the character and explores its place relative to monster film history.
The documentary begins with an overview of Godzilla as a character and a movie franchise. The modern history of Japan is then recounted; ancient dragon legends worldwide are discussed. Long before Godzilla and the Showa-era series of films (1954-1975) are revealed and analyzed, a sequence of clips from many dinosaur films and trailers are shown (from the silent era up through the 1960s). The process of stop-animation (used in films like The Lost World (1925), King Kong (1933) and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)) is explained. A “Godzilla Rap” shows up several times throughout the documentary, featuring the exact same compilation of clips; it even makes an encore appearance during the closing credits.
Godzilla and Other Movie Monsters is a good attempt at an overview of the monster movie industry. There is a lot less Godzilla footage than would be expected from a video branded as a Godzilla documentary. The footage (which includes a great deal of theatrical trailers) is accompanied by deadpan narration and a few lines of flat humor in the commentary.
The DVD features a short film titled “A Lost World,” and a couple of features from the main documentary – The Godzilla Rap and the odd Bambi Meets Godzilla cartoon. This documentary is for Godzilla enthusiasts, giant monster movie fans and even general science fiction fans. The budget price tag will make for an easier decision to buy.
Sounds interesting, it would be fun to watch this documentary. I like seeing how technology has progressed when you compare older movie monsters with today’s, who are so realistic.