Buraki the Evil Imoogi hunts on the streets of Los Angeles in DRAGON WARS: D-WAR, coming to theaters across America on September 14.
Photo courtesy of D-War Production Office. © 2007 Younggu Art Entertainment Co., Ltd.

Source: Younggu Art Entertainment, Freestyle Releasing
Official Site: DRAGON WARS.com

Younggu Art and Freestyle Releasing have provided press notes and photos for their upcoming release DRAGON WARS: D-WAR, which opens in American theaters on September 14, 2007. The official website DRAGON WARS.com has also launched. The site is loaded with features including the theatrical trailer, cast and crew profiles, concept designs for the monsters, music samples, downloadable character icons, examples of fx composite shots, wallpaper and poster art downloads, and an interactive “Bulco Hunt” game.
Continued…

A Look Back at the Many Incarnations of AMBASSADOR MAGMA
Author: Bob Johnson
Source: Uchusen, Lakeside Television, Japanese Fantasy Film Journal, Tezuka Osamu World, various
Additional Material: Keith Aiken and Oki Miyano

Goldar (a.k.a. Ambassador Magma) battles the monster Noronda
(Stopgon) in P-Productions’ classic tokusatsu series THE SPACE
GIANTS. © 1966 Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd.

Though the name THE SPACE GIANTS may be unfamiliar to anyone under age 35, for a decade or so beginning in the early 1970s this 52 episode Japanese science fiction series was a popular fixture on syndicated television in the United States. Much like its brethren ULTRAMAN and JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT, each episode of THE SPACE GIANTS featured a gigantic humanoid super-hero battling bizarre monsters and aliens who threaten mankind.

Known in Japan as AMBASSADOR MAGMA (Magma Taishi), the show was Japan’s first weekly special effects TV series to be broadcast in color. The show also made it to American shores, and many older US fans of Japanese fantasy fondly remember THE SPACE GIANTS and long for its return on television or home video.

So blow your supersonic whistle three times, as SciFi Japan takes a look at the the original manga by Osamu Tezuka, the making of the live action AMBASSADOR MAGMA, how it was Americanized into THE SPACE GIANTS, and the copyright dispute over the US version! Plus we present episode guides for both the original series and the 1993 anime remake. Enjoy!
Continued…

An early look at the cover for Teruyoshi Nakano, The Tokugi Director, the new book focusing on the Toho fx director.
Photo courtesy of Daisuke Ishizuka. © 2007 Wides Shuppan

Author: Daisuke Ishizuka
Official Site: Wides Shuppan

Mr. Teruyoshi Nakano is well known as the Tokusatsu (SPFX) director for Toho movies from the 1970s and 80s; his credits include SUBMERSION OF JAPAN, PROPHECIES OF NOSTRADAMUS (a.k.a. CATASTROPHE- 1999 and LAST DAYS OF PLANET EARTH), ESPY, THE WAR IN SPACE, and THE RETURN OF GODZILLA (a.k.a. GODZILLA 1985).

Next month, the autobiography of Mr. Teruyoshi Nakano will be published from Wides Shuppan. The title of the book is Teruyoshi Nakano, The Tokugi Director, and the authors are Mr. Teruyoshi Nakano and Mr. Katsuji Someya.
Continued…

Explaining the Heisei Godzilla Timeline
Author: Keith Aiken
Special Thanks to Oki Miyano and Bruce Goldstein

Godzilla returns, bigger and stronger than ever, in GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH.
© 1991 Toho Co., Ltd.

Nine years after TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (Mekagojira no Gyakushu, 1975), Toho and producer Tomoyuki Tanaka decided to revive the Godzilla franchise. Rather than continue where the previous movie left off, Tanaka chose to make the new film THE RETURN OF GODZILLA (Gojira, a.k.a. GODZILLA 1985, 1984) a direct sequel to the original GODZILLA that would ignore all the other movies in the series. THE RETURN OF GODZILLA in turn began a new series of seven films that ran from 1984-1995. With six of the seven movies being made during Japan’s Heisei Period, the second cycle of Godzilla films are generally referred to as the Heisei series.

The first two Heisei films, THE RETURN OF GODZILLA and GODZILLA VS BIOLLANTE (Gojira tai Biorante, 1989), were moderately successful, but the third movie GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH (Gojira tai Kingughidora, 1991) was a big hit at the Japanese box office. Godzilla battling one of his most famous foes proved to be an irresistible lure for ticket buyers, but the story— about time travelers going back to 1944 in an attempt to prevent the creation of Godzilla— was extremely convoluted and confusing. Sixteen years after GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH was made, many viewers are still perplexed by what the movie was about and how it relates to the other films in the Heisei series.
Continued…

Ad for the Austin Wind Symphony’s “Creature Features”
concert. Advertising art © 2007 Austin Wind Symphony

The First Ever Performance in North America of Akira Ifukube’s Music for the 1962 Film
Source: The Austin Wind Symphony
Special Thanks to Patrick Phillips

Godzilla fans in Texas are in for a real treat. For the first time ever in North America, musical selections from Akira Ifukube’s score to KING KONG VS. GODZILLA will be played in concert by the Austin Wind Symphony on October 19th. The suite of music will be arranged by SciFi Japan’s own John “Dutch” DeSentis.

The upcoming October concert will feature the likes of John Williams and Danny Elfman, but conductor Patrick Phillips was looking for a little something else as well: “As I was preparing and selecting the music for The Austin Wind Symphony’s upcoming ‘Creature Features’ concert, it occurred to me that the ‘King of the Monsters’ wasn’t among them. I have always been a fan of the Godzilla films, and was moved to do an internet search for existing Godzilla music written by the late Akira Ifukube.”
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The History of Yoshimitsu Banno’s Proposed IMAX Godzilla Film
Author: Keith Aiken and Ed Godziszewski
Additional Material by: Steve Ryfle and Robert Saint John

Promotional art for the IMAX film GODZILLA 3-D. © 2005 Toho
Co., Ltd./Advanced Audiovisual Productions

In March 2004, Toho Co., Ltd. announced that their Godzilla series would be going on hiatus following the 50th anniversary film GODZILLA: FINAL WARS. Thirteen Toho monster movies in as many years had led to audience burnout and decreasing ticket sales, so the studio realized the time had come to take a break and let demand build again before making another Godzilla film. While Toho’s decision made good business sense, it was nonetheless a disappointment for many Godzilla fans who had grown accustomed to seeing a new release every year.

Then in August of that year, came word that Godzilla’s retirement may be much shorter than anticipated. At a gathering of Godzilla fans, director Yoshimitsu Banno revealed that he would be making a new 3-D Godzilla movie for IMAX theaters. In the three years since then, there have been long stretches of silence regarding the project— leading to widespread speculation that the film was cancelled— punctuated by occasional updates that would cause brief flurries of “production is imminent” talk. In recent months that back and forth discussion has once again taken a more positive tone thanks to an announcement this past May from Kerner Optical, an American production company now attached to the film.

But what is the current status of GODZILLA 3-D? To give a better idea of where things stand, SciFi Japan takes a look back at the career of Yoshimitsu Banno, his first movie GODZILLA VS HEDORAH, and his film company AAP. We also go into all the incarnations of the IMAX project that have been planned over the years, including the previously unseen first treatment GODZILLA VS DEATHLA TO THE MAX.
Continued…

Author: Loomis (Kim Song-ho)

Korean poster for D-WAR. © 2007 Younggu Art
Entertainment Co., Ltd.

D-WAR opened nationwide in South Korea on August 1. According to news reports, D-WAR marked the biggest opening day record for a Korean movie this year with an estimated 417,298 admissions at 530 screens across the country. In comparison, THE HOST recorded around 450,000 admissions for it first day of release last year— the biggest record then, which was later outrun by SPIDER-MAN 3’s 500,000. Domestic distributor Showbox is predicting that D-WAR will sell 2 million tickets by this weekend’s close.

Early analysis indicates that the high number of admissions is mainly due to family audiences. D-WAR has opened during children’s vacation season in Korea, and records show that males in their 30s and 40s bought an average 2.5 tickets per person and brought their family members to the cinemas. While D-WAR was filmed in English, 15% of all the cinemas playing the movie feature a Korean dubbed version to attract family viewing.

However, audience reactions are mixed and the summer box office war is far from over. It is uncertain if D-WAR will endure after the first week or not. It will be quite interesting to observe box office charts for the weeks to come.

Source: American Cinematheque

Theatrical screening of ULTRAMAN MEBIUS &
ULTRAMAN BROTHERS. ©2006 Tsuburaya Productions

7TH FESTIVAL OF FANTASY, HORROR & SCIENCE-FICTION
August 2 – 26 at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028
In collaboration with scienceplusfiction, Trieste International Science Fiction Film Festival, Italy

After skipping 2006, our Festival of Fantasy, Horror and Science-Fiction is back at the Egyptian with an extra huge helping of genre favorites, classics and rare gems in urgent need of rediscovery. As a result of the resounding success of our Golden Age of British Horror series last year, we’ve included more hard-to-see British horror and sci-fi from the 1960’s – 1970’s (several in new 35mm prints!) with THE DEVILS, BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW, CURSE OF THE MUMMY’S TOMB, KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN, CRACK IN THE WORLD, QUATERMASS AND THE PIT, THESE ARE THE DAMNED, NEVER TAKE SWEETS FROM A STRANGER, MANIAC, CURSE OF THE FLY, THE PROJECTED MAN, HORROR HOTEL and DEVIL DOLL. We’ve also shamelessly indulged our weakness for scary, entertaining 1950’s drive-in masterpieces, including INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, WORLD WITHOUT END (impossibly rare, and we’ve got a gorgeous new 35mm print!), FIEND WITHOUT A FACE, THE RETURN OF DRACULA, THE VAMPIRE, I BURY THE LIVING, THE BLACK SCORPION, THE WEREWOLF and MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS.

Plus a healthy dose of European treasures, some new (the premiere of Lamberto Bava’s latest, GHOST SON, the Swedish vampire film FROSTBITE and French mockumentary OUR EARTHMEN FRIENDS) and some old (Roger Vadim’s dreamy lesbian vampire classic BLOOD AND ROSES, Mario Bava’s SHOCK, Pupi Avati’s ZEDER, a Jess Franco double bill of THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF & VENUS IN FURS and Ovidio Assonitis’ exhilarating - and unintentionally hilarious - BEYOND THE DOOR). There’s a Kurt Vonnegut tribute double bill (SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE), a pair of Peter Lorre’s best (MAD LOVE and THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS), a free admission memorial matinee of Curtis Harrington’s GAMES, the Los Angeles premiere of ULTRAMAN MEBIUS AND ULTRA BROTHERS (for all you Giant Monsters fans!) and three of the best Jules Verne adaptations ever: JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (in a brand new 35mm print!), 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA and MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. Then there’s an evening of exceptional Sci-Fi and Horror Shorts, with several local filmmakers In-Person! Last, but not least, to open up the festival, we’ve got a special treat: the Los Angeles premiere of TRAPPED ASHES, the anthology horror opus produced and written by former American Cinematheque programmer, Dennis Bartok (check out our write-up on the film to see some of the fabulous directors he’s gotten on board!) The film will continue for a week run afterwards in the Spielberg Theatre. Cool down from that oppressive summer heat outside with this great month-long package of chills!

For the complete schedule and ticket info, please go here.