Growing up in Northern Minnesota in the 1970s, we only had three t.v. stations that would come in on our trusty rooftop antenna. (Maybe four if conditions were right and Thunder Bay, Ont. came in.) One of them was WDIO in Duluth. Every weekday at 3:30 p.m. they had an afternoon movie matinee. Getting home from school was rushed to make sure I was able to secure a seat in front of the only color tele in the house to see what was on that day.
Thanks to their matinee, I saw pretty much every Abbot & Costello film, every Laurel & Hardy film, the various iterations of Tarzan, Charlie Chan, Hope & Crosby, and even some classics like the 1956 version of Moby Dick starring Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart, and Orson Welles. Mixed in amongst those was also some of the great Japanese monster movies. The many Godzillas, Rodan, Mothra, Gamera, Daimijin, et. al.
The original Japanese version of Godzilla, called Gojira, was released in 1954. It was two years later it reached America, where it underwent, shall we say, a bit of a makeover. Renamed Godzilla: King of the Monsters, several minutes of scenes featuring a pre-Perry Mason Raymond Burr were added. Other scenes were taken out completely, and others shuffled in order. Unfortunately for me, I did not realize this as a kid. I had heard there was an original version out there, but it was not until the 50th anniversary of the movie’s release that I finally got the chance. And damn was I glad I did. Long story short, it was far superior to the the American release.
As the years rolled by, I began to realize there were far too many examples of these classic Japanese monster (aka, kaiju) films that were “Americanized”. Some were well-known, like Gojira/Godzilla. Or how Godzilla vs. King Kong was so butchered that American audiences did not get that it was a satire. Others were not, such as Varan (also had American actors spliced in) or Matango, which got re-titled as Attack of the Mushroom People, and had the ending dialogue changed when dubbed.
Before I go much further, let me say this — you are not looking at an expert on all that is Kaiju. I just have a nostalgic sweet spot for those many movies that thrilled me as a youth. Learning later how so many of them were Americanized was disheartening. And I’ve spent many hours catching up on the real versions. The original versions. The ones with a social message or three.
Turner Classic Movies will occasionally run specials on these and many other classic monster flicks. I don’t always get to catch them, but when I do, it is enjoyable for sure.
Oh, and I better not forget Green Slime, The Time Travelers (seriously, the LA Lakers played the mutants), Them!, and Voyage to the End of the Universe. Yeah, they were’t all Japanese movies, but I liked them nonetheless.
Thanks for making it this far through my semi-rant/trip down memory lane.