Japanese Monster Movies Sirki’s Summons – March 23: That International Judas! draconicverses, March 23, 2012 Greetings from beyond The Veil, Effendi! It was 9 years ago today that Prince Sirki traveled to the Land of the Rising Sun, to call upon one of Toho’s most versatile character actors. His was a face you could recognize almost instantly, even if you didn’t know his name. In… Continue Reading
Japanese Monster Movies Happy Birthday, Mechagodzilla (Mk 1) & King Seesar! draconicverses, March 21, 2012 Wow. THIRTY EIGHT years ago today, the world was first introduced to the very first Mechagodzilla, as Toho released GOJIRA TAI MEKAGOJIRA (1974). It would be released thre years later in the US as GODZILLA VS THE BIONIC MONSTER (1977). That didn’t go over terribly well with Universal, because of… Continue Reading
Japanese Monster Movies Happy Birthday, GORATH! draconicverses, March 21, 2012 Here’s a BIG anniversary! It was 50 years ago today, that YOSEI GORASU (1962) was released in Japanese theatres. It would see release in the US as GORATH two years later, in May, 1964. This was Ishiro Honda’s third space opera, following BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE (1959) and THE MYSTERIANS… Continue Reading
Japanese Monster Movies Happy Birthday X2 to Gamera (YET AGAIN!!) draconicverses, March 21, 2012 Hot on the heels of YESTERDAY’S double anniversary for Gamera movies, comes TODAY’S double anniversary. I guess Daiei had a thing about release dates. At any rate, today marks the 43rd anniversary of GAMERA TAI DAI KAIJU GIRON (1969) (Gamera vs. Guiron) being released to Japanese theatres. It would be… Continue Reading
Japanese Monster Movies Happy Birthday X2 to Gamera! draconicverses, March 20, 2012 Greetings, Kaiju-fans. Today marks a unique anniversary for the original mutant turtle, Gamera. Back in 1968, Japanese audiences were introduced to the tentacled space villain Viras, in GAMERA TAI UCHU KAIJU BAIRASU (Gamera vs Space Monster Biras) which US TV audiences would see as DESTROY ALL PLANETS a few years… Continue Reading
Movies Happy Birthday, Dr. Lao! draconicverses, March 18, 2012 It was 48 years ago today that George Pal introduced Audiences to the mysteries of the 7 FACES OF DR. LAO (1964). I’m not going to go into details, as I’ve already covered the good Doctor twice now, including my review of the Warner Archive re-release of the DVD. I’ll… Continue Reading
Japanese Monster Movies Happy Birthday, Jett Jaguar! draconicverses, March 18, 2012 It was 39 years ago today, that Japanese audiences were introduced to the Robot Hero, Jett Jaguar, when he debuted in GOJIRA TAI MEGARO (1973) better known to US audiences as GODZILLA VS. MEGALON, which would be seen here (by myself, included) in 1976. Godzilla was now a full blown… Continue Reading
Japanese Monster Movies Happy Birthday, GAMERA Vs. GYAOS (1967) draconicverses, March 15, 2012 Forty five years ago today, saw the release of the third entry in Daiei’s Showa Era Gamera series, Daikaiju Kuchusen: Gamera Tai Gyaosu (Giant Monster Mid-Air Battle: Gamera Vs. Gaos) or, as it was released on TV in the US, RETURN OF THE GIANT MONSTERS. This AIP version is what… Continue Reading
Japanese Monster Movies Happy Birthday, TERROR OF MECHAGODZILA draconicverses, March 15, 2012 It was the end of an era, literally. Toho had announced that the movie that debuted on this day in 1975, MEKAGOJIRA NO GYAKUSHU (1975) (aka TERROR OF GODZILLA & TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA in the US) would be the last Godzilla film in the franchise for the time being. It… Continue Reading
Movies Happy Anniversary, FORBIDDEN PLANET draconicverses, March 15, 2012 It’s been called a masterpiece. It’s been called a seminal title of Science Fiction films. It’s said to have defined a genre to come. Fifty six years ago today, audiences were thrilled as they were introduced to Robby the Robot and the world of Altaire 4, otherwise known as The… Continue Reading