Music Box Gives Us 24-Hours of Godzilla and More!

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Got Godzilla Fever?

Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series 2nd editionWith the release of the latest Godzilla film, maybe you’re new to the whole Kaiju sub-genre and want to learn more about it. I mean, it’s only been going on for well over 50 years, so it must have some sort of impact, right? There’s no time like the present to dive into one of the most entertaining and enlightening genres around. I grew up watching Big G on the small screen and though they might have been cheesy back then, I still loved them. In the ’90s and ’00s, they definitely lost the campy feeling and were more series. But again, pretty entertaining.

So if you’re looking to do a little Kaiju homework, here is a good place to start.

These are 3 titles from McFarland that cover different aspects of the Kaiju films. I would especially recommend David Kalat’s book, since not only is it a great book, but will give you more information than you thought possible. You can get more information or order these titles from McFarland’s website, by just clicking HERE.

Book Review: Apocalypse Then

Apocalypse ThenApocalypse Then
Published by McFarland, 2017. 316 pages
Written by Mike Bogue

Anybody who picks up this book thinking that it is just another book of reviews of our favorite giant and mutated monsters from the ’50 and ’60s will be sadly mistaken. Yes, there are plenty of reviews within these pages of movies like Tarantula, The Monster that Challenged the World, Them!, Godzilla, Mothra, and so many more. But there is so much more here, both at face value and much more at a deeper level to really make you think.

Bogue has done an incredible job here going over these movies that many of us love and hold dearly in our fandom. But he also shows how these movies came about, through the use of atomic and nuclear power and the effects that it has. Not just on the cinematic monsters, but what it had done to humanity, and more importantly, what it still does. Even the novice of fans knows about the connections between Godzilla and the bombs that were dropped on Japan in the ’40s. But Bogue goes deeper is how the cinematic influences were different between Japan and the US.

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Any Kaiju Soundtrack Fans?

This might come as the good news/bad news little bit of information. If you’re a fan of Japanese composer Akira Ifukube and love Frankenstein Conquers the World and The War of the Gargantuas, then you will now have the chance to own both of the soundtracks for these. Each of them have been digitally re-mastered from the master tapes. For Frankenstein, you’ll get to hear the howling voice and the heartbeat, and with Gargantuas, it will contain previously unreleased music.

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