Nick Roy

Contributor at MensXP.com

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Articles

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II - Godzilla’s the Baby, Gotta Love Him

13 hours ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

With the massive success of Godzilla vs Mothra, it was decided to bring another memorable monster back. Toho initially wanted to remake King Kong vs Godzilla, but they couldn’t secure the rights for King Kong to fight Godzilla again. However, Toho decided to remake another famous monster for the Heisei, but this time it would be Mechagodzilla. Kōichi Kawakita was chosen as director of special effects, his most recent work at that time being Gunhed.
Godzilla vs Mothra - Insects and Environmentalism

2 days ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

With Godzilla vs King Ghidorah proving that bringing back classic monsters was a winning formula. The next obvious choice seemed to be Mothra, as from a poll done by Toho proved that she was the most popular monster amongst women. This was also advantageous as a movie called Mothra vs Bagan had been cancelled, allowing this movie to go through. Takao Okawara would be chosen to direct, and he wanted to add something that would be a surprise, a new monster.
Godzilla vs King Ghidorah - Titantic Time Travel

1 week ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

With the disappointment of Godzilla vs Biollante, Toho decided Godzilla’s next opponent would be a classic monster. It was decided King Ghidorah was big enough to help draw in crowds due to his status as Godzilla’s biggest enemy. However, director Kazuki Ōmori had also put some of the blame for the previous film's failure on the release of Back to the Future 2, the time travel element being a part that would be added to this film.
Godzilla 1984 - The King Returns

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

After the financial failure of Terror of Mechagodzilla, Godzilla went into a hiatus for nine years, until Toho decided he was ready to return. This film had a lot of concepts for it, for example one had Godzilla fighting a shape-shifting monster called Bagan, however Toho wanted Godzilla to return to a darker story as the Cold War raged on and the Three-Mile Island accident occured. Godzilla would be brought back as a force of destruction in what would be Godzilla 1984.
Bye Bye Jupiter - Solarize Me

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

With the success of Star Wars in the west and The War in Space in Japan, Toho wanted to make another sci-fi movie. However, only a year earlier Return of the Jedi was released, and Toho wanted to do something a little more original, giving the writing and directing role to Sakyo Komatsu. Sakyo was inspired by both 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Voyager probe going to Jupiter, which inspired his movie, Bye Bye Jupiter.
The War in Space - Toho’s “Star Wars”

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

In the early months of 1977, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka met with the young American director George Lucas with an offer. His offer was that Toho would handle the Japanese release of Star Wars, slapping the Toho logo on the movie. George Lucas declined the offer, to which Tomoyuki Tanaka decided to make a sci-fi movie that would release before Star Wars. After watching the movie in theaters at an early screening, Tomoyuki Tanaka would help create Japan’s own Star Wars, The War in Space.
Terror of Mechagodzilla - Godzilla’s Final Showa Showing

3 weeks ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

Godzilla was not in a good place in the mid-seventies due to a number of factors. The first was the declining sales of Godzilla movie tickets, for example Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, despite debuting Mechagodzilla, was not a financial success. The second was the success of non-Godzilla tokusatsu movies, mainly Submersion of Japan and Prophecies of Nostradamus. So, Godzilla was given one last chance in Terror of Mechagodzilla.
Prophecies of Nostradamus - Toho’s Trippy Apocalypse

3 weeks ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

With the success of Submersion of Japan, Toho moved to make another disaster movie, though this one would become more of a horror movie. Tomoyuki Tanaka was inspired by the novel Prophecies of Nostradamus, where his prophecies were analyzed by Tsutomu Goto. His books would sell out following the 1973 oil crisis, which pushed the novel forward to a movie adaptation. Masuda was chosen as the director of this feature.
Godzilla vs Megalon - Jet Jaguar Punch Punch Punch!

1 month ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

With the success of Godzilla vs Gigan, Toho would continue to appeal to kids through their next movie. Toho would then create the Children’s Monster University, a contest for kids to design a hero who would fight alongside Godzilla. An elementary schooler named Masaaki Sano won the contest, his monster Red Alone modified into Jet Jaguar, who’d star alongside Godzilla in Godzilla vs Megalon. Godzilla vs Megalon had a very rushed filming schedule, only lasting for about six months.
Daigoro vs Goliath - Toho’s Kaiju Comedy

1 month ago | medium.com | Nick Roy

One of the interesting parts of the life of Eiji Tsubaraya before his death was the founding of Tsuburaya, a company that would be famous for making the Ultraman series. Tsuburaya and Toho, due to the closeness of their founders, would often work together on projects. For the Toho Champions Festival, Toho and Tsuburaya would work on a lighthearted comedy, Daigoro vs Goliath. Daigoro vs Goliath started as a Godzilla movie, Godzilla vs Red Moon, the suits of which were recycled for this movie.