The First Time You Saw... Showa Part 1

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

I've been wanting to do this topic for awhile now; I did it once before over at the Atari boards when I posted their several years ago.

Basically in this topic we discuss the first time we saw each of the Godzilla films. This is a fun little topic last time I did it I did each film individually but since there is so many of them I figured I'd lump a few together. Each week I'll create a new topic with the next set of films. When we get to the Heisei series I might do an individually thread for each film since the Heisei and Millennium films don't have as much as the Showa.

For this week we'll Focus on Godzilla/KOTM-Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster

Godzilla King of the Monsters The first time I remember seeing KOTM was on Super Scary Saturday in the late 80s or early 90s. I loved that show and it was the first time I saw a lot of movie. I remember sitting in my parents bedroom glued to the screen watching KotM for the first time.

Gojira The first time I saw the originally Japanese version of Godzilla was on bootleg VHS back in 2001. I ordered it along with Megaguirus from a source I won't mention. I just remember being spellbound by the film at how much different it was from KotM.

Godzilla Raids Again The first time I remember seeing GRA was on VHS, I went to some random store and saw the Video Treasures release and as was the norm when I saw a new G flick I didn't have I would bug my parents to get it for me. Well they usually obliged since VHS tapes wheren't super expensive. I went home from the store and popped the tape in and loved it.

Godzilla Raids Again (J) The first time I saw the Japanese version of GRA was on the CM DVD. I really didn't care for it as much as I did the American version in fact I fell asleep during it.

King Kong vs Godzilla The first time I saw KKvsG was on VHS I got it from the local K-mart and went to my aunts house to watch it because my dad was helping my uncle at the time building something. I remember getting scared during the octopus scene so my aunt had to fast forward through the film for me she ended up skipping a good chunk of the movie. It didn't take me long to get over the octopus scene.

KKvsG (J) The first time I saw the Japanese version of KKvsG was on the R2 Toho DVD back in 2004. I decided to buy a few R2 DVDs and watch them despite not knowing a word of Japanese. Needless to say it was odd watching the film with out the Unviersal stock music.

Godzilla vs Mothra aka Godzilla vs The Thing The first time I saw this was when my parents recorded it on TBS. That was my main GvsM version for quite awhile until I asked for it for my birthday one year just because my recorded copy was wearing out and I was tired of the commercials. I got the Paramount release with the cool artwork of Godzilla fighting Mothra in the Tsunami and he had the bloodied mouth.

Mothra vs Godzilla First time I saw this was on the CM DVD I really don't remember much about it except I watched it late one night and almost fell asleep; not because it was boring like GRA's Japanese version but because it was late and I was tired. I should watch the Japanese version again soon.

Ghidrah The Three Headed Monster Like KotM the first time I saw Ghidrah was when it was recorded on Super Scary Saturday; the day it aired I went sleding with a friend so I couldn't watch it till we got back and like GvsMothra this was my go to copy until I got the Simitar reissue VHS that came out in 98 for GINO.

Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster (J) The first time I saw this was when I watched the R2 DVD I bought; I followed Tokyo Monsters subtitle guide and burnt myself a copy with subs to watch it the first time.

So that's it for this week I look forward to reading your responses and also I hope you guys get a bit of a nostolgia trip from this topic. Oh Mods/Admins if you feel this would be better in the Showa forum please feel free to move it.

[Legion]

Already created a thread like this several years back...

http://www.clubtokyo.org/discuss/viewtopic.php?t=14677

Here was my response...

Godzilla 1954: My parents insisted I saw this film long before I saw any of the others and that I didn't respond to it at all. I don't remember that. When I did finally see this movie for a second time it was after I had already seen several other Godzilla films - probably sometime in 1987. I saw this one via the old Vestron Video that we rented from a local Rite Aid (before Blockbuster became a monopoly). However I really didn't appreciate the movie at all until I was much older and finally saw the Japanese version.

Godzilla Raids Again: Weird story with this one. Back in the 80s my local syndicated station (WPIX, later WB) would show monster movies every Saturday on the "Morgus Presents" show. Morgus was a creepy mad scientist who would host lots of old monster films, many of which were kaiju movies. Godzilla Raids Again was one of the later Godzilla movies that I had yet to see. However, a scheduled airing of the film was replaced by an airing of Rodan and I remember having to wait several more weeks before they actually did air it. I don't recall liking this one much either, and it bothered me to see Angilas so brutally killed by Godzilla. Toho had reissued the movie by the time this aired so I didn't see this one with it's original "Gigantis the Fire Monster" title until I got ahold of the Video Treasures tape a little while later.

King Kong vs Godzilla: I caught this one on another syndicated station (WWOR, which would later become UPN) on Thanksgiving weekend along with King Kong Escapes. I remember being really sick that weekend, and this film brightened my day.

Godzilla vs the Thing: Don't remember much about this one other than my grandmother having taped it one weekend and - in an effort to find a copy of the film on VHS at the local video store - I accidentally picked up the original 1961 Mothra thinking it was the same film. At that point I thought all Japanese monster movies had Godzilla in them. Rude awakening, that. Like the original Godzilla, I didn't really like this one til I was old enough to appreciate it.

Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster: I don't remember this one ever airing on TV in the mid-to-late 1980s. I saw this one thanks to a public domain VHS tape. I loved it at the time, and I still have a soft spot for the American version no matter no inferior it is to the Japanese original. Next to Destroy all Monsters and Godzilla vs the Smog Monster this was one of my favorite Godzilla movies growing up.

Monster Zero: This was the second Godzilla I ever remember seeing. I caught this one about a half hour in one Saturday on (you guessed it) another local station. I don't remember much of it - and I didn't see it again until I got the Paramount video years later - but I do remember tuning in just as the Xian saucers were retrieving Godzilla and Rodan. Having never seen Rodan before I wondered why they were pulling a big rock out of the mountain side. This was my first exposure to King Ghidora, and I LOVED him.

Godzilla vs the Sea Monster and Son of Godzilla: These two I saw at the same time thanks to a friend of my father who was nice enough to tape them off of cable (TBS I believe) since my family wouldn't have cable until I was in high school. I don't remember liking Sea Monster much at the time but I adored Son of Godzilla. In fact, I remember being very upset at the ending the first time I saw it. Today the ending still brings out a little internal emotional response in me.

Destroy all Monsters: Probably the fourth or fifth Godzilla movie I ever saw. This aired on the local WNYW station a few years before it became the FOX network. On weekends they'd show "The Drive-In Movie", which had a neat little neon logo and a very catchy saxaphone tune. I saw several Godzilla movies this way, but Destroy all Monsters is the only one I still actually have on tape after all these years, sandwiched between the ALF pilot and an episode of Small Wonder. I really, really hope the tape never wears out, but I know some day it will. Upon seeing it for the first time it instantly became by favorite Godzilla movie - despite not knowing who half the monsters even were. It's still my favorite to this day.

Godzilla's Revenge: This one was one of the last Showa Godzilla movies I saw, sometime late in 1988 or early 1989. This one aired on the Morgus show and since the film itself was so short the Morgus host segments were longer than normal. It was unbearable since I just wanted to see more Godzilla. I loved it at the time and I still get a big kick out of it.

Godzilla vs the Smog Monster: I think this one may have been the third Godzilla movie I ever saw. Like Destroy all Monsters I saw it on the Drive-In Movie on WNYW. I was obsessed with it for a long time and today I'm still fascinated by every aspect of it. It's trippy as all hell, off beat, insane, odd, bizarre and just plain weird and I loved every damn second of it. I still do. And when I was a kid I wanted that giant Bullmark Godzilla sooooo badly.

Godzilla vs Gigan: This is the Godzilla movie I thought I'd never see. By the middle of 1989 I had seen every Godzilla movie. But at the time this one was considered a lost film. That is, until New World Video put out the international version in 1989. Maybe it was the mere fact that it took me so long to see it but I loved it despite all it's flaws. It's still high on my list of favorites.

Godzilla vs Megalon: I got this one via the Goodtimes VHS from The Wiz (remember them?) Sadly the tape crapped out before the big battle, which annoyed the living hell out of me because I had never seen Gigan before and I was dying to. Thanks to that atrocious Jim Harmon book (which didn't caption any of it's photos) for a long time I thought Zone Fighter, Spilar and Wargilar were Jet Jaguar, Megalon and Gigan. Hey, back then good info was hard to come by.

Godzilla vs the Cosmic Monster: Another one I saw via the "Drive-In Movie" but in this case I saw it a little later than most of the others. I loved it for a variety of reasons. I was fascinated by the graphic Mechagodzilla vs Angilas fight (even though I didn't like seeing Angilas get hurt), the music was enjoyable and I couldn't get enough of that King Seasar song.

Terror of Mechagodzilla: Aside from G'54 (which I don't remember) this was the first Godzilla I ever saw back in 1986. On a whim my grandmother taped it for me one Saturday afternoon and I remember walking into her house just as Godzilla popped up for the final battle. I was instantly hooked for life. This airing also had the original prologue attached to it and believe it or not I still have a copy of the original tape this was on. Like the tape with Destroy all Monsters I know one day the tape will stop working and I'll have to throw it out. I keep an original Japanese poster for the film right above my computer monitor because of how significant the movie is to me.

[jellydonut25]

[Gwangi]

[O.Supreme]

Godzilla-King of the Monsters- Not exactly sure, probably on a San Francisco Bay Area TV station around 1980-1982

Gigantis The Fire Monster- Goodtimes VHS 1990

KK vs Godzilla- Not exactly sure, probably on a San Francisco Bay Area TV station around 1980-1982

Godzilla vs the Thing- Not exactly sure, probably on a San Francisco Bay Area TV station around 1980-1982

GTTHM- KTSF-26 San Francisco @1983

G vs Monster Zero- WTBS Super Scary Saturday @1987

Godzilla vs The Sea Monster- KTSF-26 San Francisco @1983

Son of Godzilla- KTSF-26 San Francisco @1986

Destroy All Monsters (bootleg VHS obtained in 1991) -I could never find this film on TV in the Bay Area despite searching TV guides from about 1986-1990

Godzilla’s Revenge- WTBS Super Scary Saturday @1987

Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster- Not exactly sure, probably on a San Francisco Bay Area TV station around 1980-1982

Godzilla on Monster Island- KTSF-26 San Francisco @1983

Godzilla vs Megalon- KTSF-26 San Francisco @1983

Godzilla vs The Cosmic Monster-- KTSF-26 San Francisco @1983

Terror of MechaGodzilla KPIX-5 San Francisco @1980-1982

I know Bob Wilkins/John Stanley's "Creature Features" (KTVU Channel 2) aired Godzilla movies fairly regulary, but of course my parents woudl never let me stay up until midnight to watch a Godzilla movie at such a young age.

[The Real McCoy]

Most of the early Showa Godzilla movies I saw came from Monstervision on TNT, mostly between the ages of five to ten. I remember finding Godzilla raids again and King Kong vs. Godzilla on VHS at a grocery store.

[MekaGojira3k]

[The Real McCoy]

[H-Man]

I'm pretty sure my first time seeing Godzilla was in GODZILLA'S REVENGE on TV (probably TNT). I'm not sure if I saw the whole movie or just a promo for an upcoming broadcast, but either way, I made such a fuss over it that my parents bought me SEA MONSTER for a birthday or Christmas.

Most of my stories about how I first saw the Godzilla movies are probably only interesting to me, so I'll just share my favorite memories.

---

GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN - This was my lost Godzilla movie, along with SMOG MONSTER. Both were out of print by the time I got into these movies (around 1995 or 1996), and coincidentally, I saw both for the first time after renting them from the public library. Anyway, GRA was -I think- the last Showa Godzilla movie I needed to see. If not, then it was DAM. I remember being very confused by the mixed roars in the US version, especially after Anguirus had been killed. I expected another Anguirus to fight Godzilla during the climax!

GHIDRAH - This one was also pretty hard to find. I was introduced to it by the awesome theatrical trailer in FANTASTIC DINOSAURS OF THE MOVIES, and I knew I needed to see the whole movie. Disney had a Godzilla marathon one night when I was sick and I talked my parents into letting me stay up through the night to see this. Actually, I tuned in to this one when the scientists were trekking through the mountains to find the meteor. That Christmas, my dad got me the film on tape and the first thing I did after opening presents was pop this in the VCR.

SEA MONSTER - As I mentioned, this was the first Godzilla movie I owned, and I'm pretty sure now that it was also the first full Godzilla movie I watched.

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS - I can remember finding most of the Godzilla movies in stores or getting them at Christmas, but DAM is one of the few I remember watching for the first time. My family and a friend of mine had just seen the 98 movie and were at Target/K-Mart/whatever. I knew this had just been released on video and found it, along with KING GHIDORAH and MOTHRA (92). My dad fortunately bought all three for me, which I watched as soon as we got home. As a seven year old, this was the most exciting of the four Godzilla movies I watched that day.

GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER - I mentioned above that this was one of the last I needed to see. The local library had the Orion tape, but it was always checked out when I wanted to see it. I finally got to rent it, and boy was it weird! I liked it, but I know I wasn't expecting anything so weird. Later on, some jerk stole this from the library, so I taped the international version from Sci-Fi. My one specific memory of watching this for the first time was scene. The fourth stage of Hedorah is depicted by a question mark, and I remember thinking that since Hedorah started as a tadpole, he'd eventually turn into a giant frog.

GODZILLA VS. MEGALON - Despite this movie's popularity, I wasn't aware of it until I watched Godzilla win the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award. My aunt taped that and showed me the Godzilla part, and I remember thinking that the giant robot shaking Godzilla's hand was really cool. Not long after that, I found MEGALON at K-Mart, bought it and was happy to see this was the movie with Jet Jaguar.

TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA - I don't actually remember watching this for the first time, but I know I was introduced to it by the . Even though I could read, I was convinced the movie was called "Godzilla vs. Titanosaurus".

[elfnogg]

[MekaGojira3k]

[lhb412]

Godzilla KOTM - rented from the local Mom n' Pop video rental place, a few years before I got a videocassette copy myself for my (I think) seventh Birthday.

Gojira - G-Fest theatrical screening in '01

Godzilla Raids Again - bootleg in 2002

King Kong vs. Godzilla - My first Godzilla film, which I saw while visiting my cousin's house when I was four or five ('92-'93). Got my own copy that very week!

Mothra vs. Godzilla - I'm sure I'd seen it before, at least bits and pieces, but remembering actually sitting down to watch it all-the-way-through was when a local affiliate showed it during an afternoon around the time of GINO's release.

Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster - Like the previous, I don't have a very clear memory of watching it on TV or video until '98, when I won a little money in a drawing contest and bought a set of Godzilla videos.

[Joseph Goodman]

The first kaiju film I remember seeing was Gamera Vs. Barugon when I was three or four (it may have still been "War Of The Monsters" at that point); I had no idea what it was until I saw it again years later, and recognized the bad guy getting tongued by Barugon

There isn't much of a story behind my first viewing of any of the Godzilla movies. I had grabbed that old Crestwood House "Godzilla" book from the local library (those things were still ubiquitous in libraries at the time, the spring/summer of 1989) quite some time before I actually saw a single Godzilla movie. Naturally, it made me want to track down the whole lot of them. The first Godzilla movie I saw was G'85 (remember, this is actually a "Showa" era film), while the first of the original wave of films I saw was "Sea Monster". I remember it being a "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" and a half to find a video store in my area that had a copy of KOTM for rent or sale; I did eventually find it at a local Erol's (DC/MD/NoVA residents my age or older will remember them). Winning $500 in a Nickleodeon sweepstakes went a long way towards satisfying a budding Godzilla addiction; about the only one I don't remember grabbing a copy of was "Smog Monster" (don't ask me why). I never did see DAM until the Sci-Fi Channel airings of the International dub years later.

[MekaGojira3k]

Godzilla vs. Hedorah - A guy who worked at my dad's store had Scifi and recorded it off of tv. It was the week before GINO came out. Scifi was showing these hosted by Peter Boyle.

Godzilla vs. Gigan - I received this on Christmas Day in 1995. I remember instantly loving the film. I watched it as soon as we finished opening presents.

Godzilla vs. Megalon - I knew how to read before I ever went to school. I was like 2 and I was reading and writing. However, I refused to participate in a lot of reading lessons in Kindergarten because I felt they were beneath me. So, in order to get me to participate my Kindergarten teacher said she'd give me an old Video Treasures Godzilla vs. Megalon she found while cleaning. So the first thing she did is pull out a novel she was reading. She had me read 5 pages. I did so, and I got to take Godzilla vs. Megalon home. It was one of my least favorite films because it was hard to see and the sound was awful.

Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla - As I mentioned with Sea Monster, I got this film in a 3 pack on Christmas Eve 1995. It was under the title of Cosmic Monster. I watched it right before I went to sleep. Another of my favorites as a kid.

Terror of MechaGodzilla - I got this on the same Christmas Day as Godzilla vs. Gigan. I remember I took it to my grandmother's house. We ate Christmas dinner, and I rushed to clear my plate so I could go watch the tape while everybody else finished eating/ate dessert.

[MosugojiNoGyakushu]

[Gwangi]

[MosugojiNoGyakushu]

[Gwangi]

[jellydonut25]

[Reaper G]

[O.Supreme]

[MosugojiNoGyakushu]

[eabaker]

[Gwangi]

[MekaGojira3k]