Think I mentioned this before, but one of my first big passions as a kid was for the famous TOHO tokusatsu series starring GODZILLA and the other monsters of Monster Island.
The very first movie I saw was Godzilla VS Mothra and my earliest memories are of the huge egg and the subsequent caterpillars that came out and gave Godzilla and Rodan a run for their money, and from there I was enraptured and needed to see more!
Fortunately for my 7 year old self, one of the local stations decided to have a MONSTER WEEK and amidst movies of mushroom people and killer crabs I was able to see a bunch of Godzilla flicks like GHIDRAH THE THREE HEADED-MONSTER and re-viewings of the original Mothra movies as well!
Next was the theaters and I managed to see “Godzilla’s Revenge” (what I called the “Son Of Godzilla” movie) for the first time along with a screening of Ghidrah, and I have fond memories of walking down to the old Kapahulu Theater for a viewing of GODZILLA VS MEGALON, the latter of which I saw twice!
Back then my bedtime was 9:00 (with special allowance to stay up to 9:30 on Mondays to watch “All In The Family”), but whenever a Godzilla movie would show up in the TV guide on “Nite Owl Theater”, I was allowed to stay up to 11 to catch it!
This was back in the days when the town turned off after 9 (24 hour convenience stores like 7-Eleven were years away) and it seemed like when I would be watching those movies that I was the only one alive! Gave me a magical feeling which is partially why those movies still hit me so hard with nostalgia whenever I think of them!*
I hadn’t seen ANY of those old classics in YEARS, and so I was thrilled when my friend Jas picked up a whole bunch of Godzilla classics on DVD!
The original GODZILLA, GODZILLA VS MOTHRA, GHIDRAH THE THREE HEADED MONSTER, GODZILLA’S REVENGE, GODZILLA VS MEGALON and the all-star DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, he had ‘em all, and once he let me borrow them, I wasted no time checking them out!
Diving in, the first thing that hit me was the backgrounds and clothes. Oh MAN, did this take me back! As a 70’s kid, there is something about Japanese flicks from the 60’s and 70’s that seem so nostalgic- like I grew up there!
Also didn’t realize how damn FUNNY the original flicks were- VERY fun and witty! Like, whenever the Faries (the Peanuts) would speak with their tiny voices, one character would turn to the other and say, ‘Hey, stop speaking in funny voice!” “Huh? That wasn’t me!”, the other would say, and then they’d see the girls.
And probably the biggest surprise of ALL while watching the two Mothra-related flicks is realizing that the cute and genki actress performing was none other than YURIKO HOSHI!
What! Had no IDEA she had tokusatsu history! I've always known her as an older lady, as introduced to me as the dominating Mother-in-Law to poor Agri Mochizuki in the excellent 1997 NHK Asadora AGRI which I generally consider my favorite J-drama of ALL TIME!
Yuriko Hoshi had passed away only very recently, in 2018, and it was such a happy THRILL seeing her so young, spritely and CUTE! I don’t know HOW I didn’t know this cool bit of pop-culture about her!
Below: With Akiko "You Only Live Twice" Wakabayashi
The liner notes say that GODZILLA’S REVENGE was the first Godzilla movie aimed towards children, and maybe that’s why I loved it so much as a kid. The tale, told from the point of view of a bullied boy who fantasizes about being friends with the Son of Godzilla against his bullies, really hit home for me and it still holds up rather well!
GODZILLA VS MEGALON was, as mentioned about a particular sentimental fave as it was the one that I saw in the theater when it was new, additionally, as a huge fan of Japan Heroes, it was an added kick to have Godzilla teaming up with heroic robot Jet Jaguar, and just seeing him again brought back such memories!
Now, about DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. This was the one movie I never saw on TV or in the theaters as a kid. The first time I ever knew about it was through an ad in the back of STARLOG magazine selling 8MM reel movies, along with other monster/hero flicks like GORGO, THE BEAST FROM 20,00O FATHOMS and INFRA-MAN, seeing the poster for Destroy all Monsters with the image of ALL those classic Godzilla monsters slugging it out had me in a DAZE! How I wished I could have seen it back then- Now I finally had my hands on it!
Gotta say, this movie didn’t disappoint, and seeing all the Thunderbirds-style spaceships, Secret Agent Space Cops, and ALL those terrific Monsters gathering up to take on King Ghidorah knocked me out, even as a jaded adult!! I can’t begin to imagine how BLOWN AWAY I would have been if I saw it as a KID- would have ROCKED MY WORLD!
WELL! It has been quite a week full of nostalgia and for a brief time I was transported right back to my childhood!
* An aside note: I remember staying up to watch a Godzilla movie, and right before it started, I saw the ending credits to the movie before it, which was the Roger Moore James Bond flick “Live and Let Die”, and the image of the flaming skull REALLY creeped 8 year old me out!!! Being the only one up in the whole household didn’t help!
Ah, those innocent days of youth....
