Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

Hmm, my actual introduction to Godzilla was tv ads for G'85. I feel like I remember watching the trailer, but I would've only been 2.5 yrs old when the film came out, so it's more likely I saw ads for an upcoming tv broadcast a couple years later.

Then nothing, until I rented the NES game Godzilla Monster of Monsters in the early 90's which immediately led to me heading back to Blockbuster to rent a Godzilla movie.

Anyway, the pics aren't mine, but they are the exact same versions that I saw/had.

First seen:


First owned:


First subtitled (bootleg VHS)


First theatrical

First Seen: Godzilla 1985
First Owned: Godzilla vs The Cosmic Monster
First Subtitled: Godzilla Final Wars
First Theatrical: G'98 (or G2K if you dont count the former)
First Love: Godzilla vs Gigan

First seen: King Kong vs. Godzilla (circa 1980 on TV)
First owned: Godzilla Raids Again VHS (1990) (prior to this I was taping them off TV, the first I got of Broadcast TV was Son of Godzilla sometime in 1986)
First subtitled: I am honestly not sure, but I saw Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. Biollante in Japanese with no subs in 1991
First theatrical: Godzilla '98 unfortunately... (I still resent that my parents didn't take me to see G1985 when it was in theaters...)

First Seen: Probably Godzilla's Revenge.
First Owned: Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster
First Subtitled: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
First Theatrical: Godzilla (1998)/Godzilla 2000

And just for fun, and to test my memory:

Last Seen: Shin, of course, but the last non-brand new Godzilla movie I saw* was my subtitled bootleg of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II.
Last Owned: G'14, with the last "classic" film being Godzilla Raids Again.
Last Subtitled: Godzilla vs. Biollante; otherwise Shin Godzilla would be the answer to all of these.
Last Theatrical: Shin, then G'14.

*I saw each Millennium Godzilla film in order, usually the summer after each was released in Japan. At the time I saw them, each new film was still the latest Godzilla movie. I guess you could argue that MGII was still "brand new" when I first saw it as I got my bootleg just before it had been officially available on video here. So, that in mind, the answer would be Raids Again.

First seen: either Godzilla vs. Gigan or Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, but leaning toward the former.
First owned: don't know, but probably one of the Simitar releases. I'm a little surprised at how many people remember their first.
First subtitled: Godzilla Raids Again
First theatrical: Godzilla (1998), or G2K if I'm not feeling generous.

First Seen: Mothra vs. Godzilla
First Owned: King Kong vs. Godzilla
First Subtitled: Terror of Mechagodzilla (before I could read)
First Theatrical: Terror of Mechagodzilla (see above)

First Seen: Mothra vs. Godzilla
First Owned: Godzilla, King of the Monsters
First Subtitled: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 1993
First Theatrical: Godzilla 98 or Godzilla 2000 for Japanese produced films

First seen: Son of Godzilla, as far as I remember. I know it couldn't have been THE first, since i already knew and loved Godzilla, but that's the first one I have a concrete recollection of.
First owned: Terror of Mechagodzilla (VHS)
First subtitled: Godzilla vs Biollante
First theatrical: Godzilla 1985

First seen: Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster or Son of Godzilla (not sure)
First owned: One of the above I assume (I was really young)
First subtitled: Godzilla 1954 (one of the first subtitled films I ever watched)
First theatrical: Godzilla 1998 (and if that doesn't count, Godzilla 2000)
(I also saw Godzilla 2014 [twice] and Shin Godzilla)

Haha. It didn't even occur to me that I saw G'98 theatrically first. I guess when I think about Godzilla movies, that one doesn't even enter my subconscience. Lol.

First seen: Godzilla 1985, or Godzilla vs. Sea Monster, I can't remember which one it was... first kaiju flick I actually saw was "War of the Monsters" when I was very little.
First owned: The old Video Treasures Godzilla vs. Sea Monster
First subtitled: Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla (1993) or Godzilla Vs. Destroyah, I can't remember which, rented boots of them from some anime shop at the same time.
First theatrical: Godzilla 2000

Seen/Owned: Sea Monster
Subbed: Gojira
Theatrical: 1998....or G2K...OR Gojira, depending on what you mean/are willing to accept. (Obviously 98 was first, but G2K was the first Toho film, and Gojira was my first experience seeing a 'catalog' release in a theater)

Who would have thought "theatrical" would have been such a hard question to answer

^ well considering that in the last 39 years (eclipsing the lives of many people here) there have been a total of 5 Godzilla films released theatrically in most countries outside of Japan... it starts to make more sense.

I mean technically I was alive in time to have seen the Cinema Shares U.S. circulation of On Monster Island, Megalon, and Mechagodzilla, and Bob Conn's release of TOMG, but my parents did not take me, and even if they had, I would have no memory of it. I very vividly remember my first cinema experience as The Empire Strikes back in 1980, I was 4.

First Seen: I saw pieces of Mothra vs. Godzilla, Monster Zero, and Godzilla's Revenge on TNT one night in the mid-'90s.

First Theatrical: I saw GINO on the big screen in 1998, which prompted me to rent other Godzilla movies from video stores, starting with Terror of Mechagodzilla. Godzilla 2000 was the first real Godzilla movie that I saw in a theater.

First Owned: I bought of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla from a Toys R Us store, also in '98.

First Subtitled: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus followed immediately by GMK when Sony released them on DVD in January 2004. I never got to see Rialto's release of the original film so the first subtitled Godzilla movie that I saw in a theater was Shin Godzilla.

^Let's not muddy the waters too much.


(Godzilla '54 for me)

First seen: Godzilla vs The Sea Monster via TBS Super Scary Saturday (IIRC)
First owned: Godzilla 1985 VHS (which I still have)
First subtitled: Gojira (Rialto restoration), though I have watched most of them subbed by now via DVD.
First theatrical: Godzilla 1985, my little eyes were watering near the end...

First seen: No idea. They used to marathon them on TV a lot in the early 80s.
First owned: Commercial copy would be King Kong vs. Godzilla. I'd previously taped both Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla vs. Megalon off of TV.
First subtitled: Gojira (bootleg)
First theatrical: Godzilla 1985. Those opening credits will stay with me forever.

Never realized how some of you guys are just youngsters!

First seen (from complete to end) Monster Zero in 1974 (KTLA Channel 5, showed it for a full week on prime time!)

First owned - going on a technicality, Ghidrah, The Three-Headed Monster, but in 8mm form that my folks bought for me at K-Mart back in the mid 1970s. However, Ghidrah, would also be my first owned VHS (from Video Treasures) that I bought around 1989.

First sub - Godzilla 1954 (bootleg)

Theatrical - Godzilla vs. Megalon, Labor Day weekend 1976 (which I also saw on a double-bill with the original King Kong, in a theater that is now long gone).

A movie playing twice on weekends was much more of a regular occurrence (at least here on So. Cal) than them playing the same feature all week long. The very first time I saw "Terror of Mechagodzilla" was indeed twice on a weekend in 1980.

Of course, one of the biggest dilemmas back then, was when different channels were playing Godzilla movies at the same time! These were the days before VHS, and one (meaning I), had to pick a movie and settle on it (the folks were not going to appreciate back and forth channel changing! ).