Customer Reviews

A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla® Series

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There are, of course, any number of books providing Godzilla's fans with critical filmographies of the movies and behind-the-scenes histories of their production. But David Kalat has done added something different to the tale.

"A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series" (McFarland & Company, Inc.) is a book that might well have been called "A Cultural History . . ." In it, Kalat goes beyond the familiar telling of "how they did it" to tell the story of what the Godzilla has come to mean to his two biggest audiences, the Japanese and the Americans. The format of the book is familiar enough - a chapter for each film, beginning with a synopsis and continuing with the story of it's production and a critical appraisal. But each chapter is not meant to stand alone. This book has a running narrative describing the different ways the films have been received on opposite sides of the Pacific up to "Godzilla vs. Destroyer."

The story of the often profitable, but often tense, relationship between the Japanese producers and American viewers is detailed here as in few other books. And the tension that often exists between Japanese producers and Japanese viewers, and among the producers themselves, has never been described in as much detail as in Kalat's book. (Not in English, anyway.) For instance, in the second half of the Heisei series, Toho began actively pitching it's kaiju stories towards women, who make up the majority of Japan's moviegoing audience. Did you ever think of "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2" as a chick flick? This is how Toho planned and presented it.

Kalat provides seperate chapters for the first King Kong, Rodan and Mothra films, to show the reader how they blended into, and influenced, Godzilla's world. Other chapters throughout the book describe Godzilla's "extracurricular activities" in television and merchandising. One chapter, "Godzilla vs. Ultraman,"

shows how Toho fell under the influence of it's own televised imitators in the early '70s, and how this influence showed up in the movies.

"A Critical History . . ." was published in 1997, when TriStar's "Godzilla" was still in production. But there is a chapter describing the various false starts of an American Godzilla film up to that time. It is a longer story than many fans might suspect.

David Kalat does an excellent job of telling the story of how the Godzilla's films came to be. He provides a bibliography and hundreds of reference notes, which is a good thing, because there will be many times when you find yourself flipping back to the notes to find out "where did he learn that?" But he's done something more important than that. He tells us why anyone should care about Godzilla. He shows us what the films mean, from more than one point of view. The tension between the points of view is the focus of his book.

I am not a Godzilla fan (I don't dislike them; I am neutral towards them). But this book is amazing even if you don't care about the movies, because like them or not, Godzilla movies are an important part of our modern culture. This book is detailed, interesting, always enlightening, and very often hilarious to read. A great book can be a pleasure to read even for those who would not be interested in the subject. This is such a book.

This is an amazing book and I am absolutely fascinated by it, from both the standpoint of a film buff as well as a Gojira fan. I certainly hope Mr. Kalat does a follow-up now that G is enjoying a rebirth in Japanese cinema (from Godzilla Millenium to GMK and beyond) and the book itself stops at Godzilla v Destroyah, his supposed "death" in Japan. (The plan was to turn the reins over to Tri-Star in the USA, but since the '98 American Godzilla stunk so very much, fans worldwide convinced Toho to revive it in their own image).

Excellent book for both film fan and Godzilla lover. No pictures, no diagrams, no schlock; just great writing and amazing detail.

Several books have been published in the last year or two. Some only ok, a few quite good. This volume stands as the best, mostly on the strength of the authors well thought out critical evaluations of the movies. Unlike "The Monsters are Attacking Tokyo" and Japans Favorite Mon-Star" (both fine books ) Kalats writing is less fannish.more ballanced.Not as prone to regard the original films (at least the Honda Movies made between 1954-1969) as above more than the most gentle form of critical evaluation. Lets be honest here. Of the original 15 movies made up to 1975. Only 4 can be regarded as good to excellent. The original, Godzilla vs Mothra, Monster Zero and Destroy All Monsters. And the last two are quite silly (but Fun) The rest are a mixed bag, to say the least. Kalats book gives a mature look at all the godzilla films, Without an automatic dismisal of the more recent films as "lesser. His writing is excellent. His facts plentiful. A terriffic Read and a MUST for any fan of Godzilla, or Films in gereral. Great job!!

Quite Simply the best book on Godzilla. Thoughtful, Informative, insightful, Never stooping to the level of "gee, I loved this film when I was 12 so it MUST be great!" A type of "critical " writing too often encountered in fan oriented reviews, as well as a few more recent books to come out.If you love godzilla, the good AND the bad (yes children, there is such a thing as a BAD Godzilla Film...just watch Megalon, Gigan,godzillas revenge, King kong vs...ETC..)Get this book Now!

This is a great book for any Godzilla or Japanese film fan. It is written by someone who is obviously in love with Godzilla films and that is actually part of it's charm. You get such an in depth read into the history of each film that it makes watching them a second time a natural reaction. I really like the format too. I own no other filmbook on Godzilla (many on Japanese films though) and I am glad this is the only one as it is very good.

It's one fault in my eyes is the extent the author goes to try and point out racism from Americans in regard to the films. He states in the Introduction he does not want to "accuse anyone of racism" but does so throughout. Examples of critics who find the Godzilla films cheap and American or British films made with similar effects as "good" is hardly an example or racism. Or that since the American release of the original Godzilla had a character "clearly implied" by Raymond Burr as dying early in the film (in which he really didn't) and then pops up later is from the American producers belief that no one would notice since they "all look alike". This after describing several times the lead characters in King Kong as greedy "white guys" but does not describe the color of other race's skin when adressing the Japanese films. I felt it may have been an attempt to make the book more socialy critical, P.C. or maybe just a Japanese aplogist but it kind of took me out of a great attempt to legitimize a "lesser" film genre.

Anyway, still well worth getting even if the Mcfarland $50 tag is a bit steep.

As a long time fan of Godzilla films, I'm always on the lookout for new books on the subject. I must say that Kalat's book is among the best I've ever seen, and is unique in that it studies the films from a cultural and sociological standpoint. Kalat's text is clear, his facts are correct, and his observations are interesting and often enlightening.

This book is GREAT! The KING of any and all Godzilla books. Kalat does a great job of showing how the American press and America in general missed much of what Godzilla is all about thanks to the way the movies were shown in America. He explains who godzilla is in the context of Japanese culture. A great index covers everything.

This was a great buy worth every penny! This book is amazing for anyone who is interested in Toho's Godzilla series. The book really help me understand more about the Godzilla movies, and what was going on in Japanese and American culture at the time. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants more than just the movies.

David Kalat writes in a manner that is both scholarly and conversational; he never talks down to his reader and manages to convey his genuine enthusiasm for the subject matter. Impeccably researched with fascinating insight, Kalat's book is the standard to which all other books on the subject must try to match. He brings to light the immense significance of the subject matter: how "Godzilla" is really a treatise on the atomic bomb, and how so many of the Japanese fantasy films have deeper meanings to them other than the purely visual effects.
Seen in their original versions, Kalat explains the films have much to offer both the casual viewer and the film buff. Easy to read and comprehend, Kalat is simply a wonderful writer who has written a wonderful book.
---Peter H. Brothers, Author of "MUSHROOM CLOUDS AND MUSHROOM MEN - The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda."