My article this week for Black Gate is praise for the 1956 giant monster classic, Rodan, the first of Japan’s giant monster (kaiju) films photographed in color, and only the second kaiju to have its own headlining movie, following the first two Godzilla films. The flying monster Rodan (Radon in Japanese, a contraction of Pteranadon) has a special place in the Japanese giant monster pantheon thanks not only to its auspicious debut, but also its many guest spots in the Godzilla films since: Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster (1964), Invasion of Astro-Monster/Monster Zero (1965), Destroy All Monsters (1968), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993), Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), and now as one of the upcoming quartet of beasts for next year’s big-budget Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The newest trailer shows Rodan in aerial action with destructive power to match the magnificence of the visual effects in the ’56 original.

Continue reading “Rodan Has Always Been Cool” →

It doesn’t make for the greatest screen capture to grace the top of a blog post, but this final image from the new trailer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the best thing I’ve seen in a movie trailer all year. In the closing seconds of the preview, we bear witness to Godzilla and King Ghidorah, legendary adversaries in that Batman vs. Joker and Holmes vs. Moriarty way, charging into each other in glorious modern visual effects action. Since Godzilla is one of my special fandoms, on the same level as Edgar Rice Burroughs and J. R. R. Tolkien, it’s difficult for me to express my reaction to all this without going into hyperbole. Or worse, making a reaction video. (No, I would never do that to anybody.)

Continue reading “King Ghidorah Charges Godzilla Just to Perk Me Up in the New Trailer” →