Tokyo Lives Giant Monster Apparel Now Available

Big news for the site and podcast as our Merch Store is now open for business! This is a part of the site that I've been working on for the last few months since I've gotten a lot of emails from our podcast listeners asking how they can support the show and our website. This is a way that makes the most sense to me, since you actually get something cool out of it, instead of just donating money. Check out the designs below or click on the shop link at the top of the page to get yours today and help support everyone who makes Tokyo Lives the fastest growing giant monster news and entertainment website on the internet!

Here are the first three designs ready for purchase. I'd like to design new products fairly regularly, so check back or subscribe to our RSS feed for updates in the near future. 

This one of a kind t-shirt brazenly displays the Tokyo Lives: A Giant Monsters Podcast logo across the chest. Whether you're a long time fan or a first time listener, kaiju fans will go crazy when they see you walking down the street in this comfortable, fitted mark of your allegiance.

I went to Monster Island and all I got was this stupid t-shirt... Bring home this one of a kind greeting card from the famed mystical island where giant monsters roam free. Every card comes with a unique radioactive signature, guaranteed!

They did things differently back in the 30's. Where you and I might strap on our virtual reality headsets and drive around in our flying cars, people back then were just hoping to not get stomped on or kidnapped by strangely aroused giant apes. I think this t-shirt really captures that era.

I hope you all think the designs are rad and I can't wait to show you the others I have in mind. If there are any that you'd like to see in the future, send your ideas to tokyolivescast@gmail.com and we'll see what we can do. Thank you for supporting the site and the podcast, we'll have even bigger updates to Tokyo Lives coming soon, so make sure you've subscribed to our twitter and facebook to keep up to date with all the latest giant monster news.

Coming Next Week - Episode 9: Daikaiju Gamera

This was an episode I was really looking forward to, as I really haven't seen that many of the Gamera films and have been dying to jump into them. We had a lot of fun discussing this introductory film to such an iconic giant monster and I think it's a great episode whether you're a longtime fan, or like me, want to jump into the series for the first time.

We also had a chance in this episode to discuss what became a pretty heated topic on the site last week: how should a website like ours that writes about entertainment news handle rumors and speculation? We also discuss all the upcoming 4K releases of giant monster films, many which are seeing their first modern American release. All of that along with our main topic of the night should keep you waiting for us to drop the episode as soon as possible, and we'll let you know the minute it goes up.

What do you think our reaction to Gamera's first film will be? Let us know in the comments and maybe we'll jump in and get a discussion going.

Kong And Godzilla Barbecue On Monster Island In This Raunchy Stop-Motion Short

We've waited so long for King Kong and Godzilla to share the screen again, but didn't expect it to be like this. Filmmaker and self described monster fan Harry Chaskin has joined up with Justin Michael and Dan Lippert to create this new stop-motion animated short: 'Monster Island.' Described as "upbeat and rude" by its creators, this stunted Daikaiju film brings together the two biggest names in giant monsters and puts them on beach to shoot the shit while they barbecue and curse like sailors. Check out the obscene and hilarious video below.

So, outside of the 'Clerks' meets 'King Kong v.s. Godzilla' elevator pitch, this short film actually has a lot of nods to giant monster fans. From Kong bursting out of a theater (and showing up for most of the film paralyzed because of his tumble off the Empire State building) to the fact that Monster Island is depicted in full Toho fashion, I thought the filmmakers went to a lot of trouble to make this something for the fan base, and did a lot more than just tell a few clever jokes (which are definitely there as well).

I'd love to see more filmmakers tackle giant monsters in the short format, as it's more accessible to a low budget scenario, but there are tons of angles to be explored that could lead to feature film representation down the road. It's funny little comedic videos like this that lead to more public interest and an explosion of the genre into more mainstream appeal, which is what we should all want. If you haven't seen it, Chaskin previously made a great short about an aging movie monster in his twilight years, and it's definitely worth checking out as well. Here you go:

'Pacific Rim 2' - Can The Apocalypse Be Uncanceled?

Ah, you've gotta love 2013's 'Pacific Rim.' Guillermo del Toro created a wonderful new kaiju universe to play around in as a love letter to giant monster fans everywhere, and the film was generally well received by them around the world. Now that we officially can squint and see a sequel on the horizon, I thought it might be fun to do some speculating on the plot of Steven S. DeKnight's follow-up and also dive into some additions that I would like to see in the future film. Keep in mind that some of these speculations are based on rumors floating around when the sequel was known as 'Pacific Rim: Maelstrom,' and was still going to be directed by del Toro. Also keep in mind that this article will contain SPOILERS for 'Pacific rim.' 
 

THE PLOT: WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE DUST SETTLES?

In an interview with the website Collider way back in 2014, Guillermo del Toro stated that the sequel would not be a direct follow-up and would take place several years after the end of the the first film. The rift is no longer spitting out Kaiju, and every single usable Jaeger has been destroyed. How would the world rebuild after this war of attrition finished? Would the government even restart the Jaeger program completely?  These questions definitely seem like they would at the core of the opening info dump to explain what has happened in the last few years (narrated by Charlie Hunnam again).  I think it would be really cool if the governments of the world went back to their normal petty squabbles and started creating more and more deadly Jaegers to keep each other at bay. The world would not be united (or prepared for the second onslaught of Kaiju) and we could see some pretty cool Jaeger v.s. Jaeger battles in the opening section of the film leading up to the title crawl.

Having the countries not be a united front whenever the new rift(s?) start popping out Kaiju would really help all the pilots start from square one, as well as, give some interesting opportunities for character interaction and development. Yes, you did read that right, I said that I would like multiple rifts to appear in this film. I want to see a full on invasion of Kaiju from the aliens this time around. In the last film, most of the monsters shown were just scouts, and when Gypsy Danger entered the alien world you could see millions of Kaiju waiting to be sent through the Rift. Now, I'm not saying that I want to see that many, but I think you get the general idea. The world must be forced to reunite and stand together against the insurmountable horde of Kaiju that would be able to appear.
 

THE CHARACTERS: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

Obviously, I would like to see most of the surviving members of the cast from the original 'Pacific Rim' return in some form or another, but that does not mean the main characters, Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi), should be the protagonists of this film. I would love to see a new set of Jaeger pilots that look up to Raleigh and Mako as legendary heroes and who would unite behind a rebuilt Gypsy Danger in the third act. Give me a new group that all have personal motivations and interesting dynamics that make me care when some of them eventually bite the dust. The biggest failing of the first film is that you barely get any time devoted to the other Jaeger teams, and thus, in the big battle with the Kaiju Otachi and Leatherback, most viewers have a hard time caring when two of the four last remaining Jaegers are destroyed in an instant.

I definitely think that the two scientists, Geiszler (Charile Day) and Gottlieb (Burn Gorman), should be given as much screen time as possible. The interplay between these two characters were some of the best parts of the original film and it would be great to see their friendship grow. There was a rumor for 'Pacific Rim: Maelstrom' that a half Jaeger/half Kaiju was going to appear, and I believe that these two characters would be a great team to pilot the monstrosity. We know they are drift compatible, and I can already imagine the jokes passing between the two, as they attempt to fight a Kaiju.
 

THE KAIJU: ALL THE REFERENCES!

 Most of the Kaiju in the original film use design elements from popular movie monsters of the past (Knifehead looks straight out of a Gamera film). I would hope that they keep this trend going in the sequel and even create a few Kaiju that are even closer to their heritage in design and abilities. Wouldn't it be mind-blowing if we ran into two "Category 5" Kaiju that look kind of similar to Godzilla and Gamera? Speaking of the category system from the first film, I would like to see an escalation of powerful Kaiju that eventually leads to a, previously unheard of, "Category 6" Kaiju that is basically a planet destroyer. When the aliens realize that they cannot take over the planet, they simply send a "Category 6" Kaiju to destroy it (if we cannot have it, then no one can). This could be brought into the plot naturally through Geiszler and Gottlieb drifting with the Kaiju-Jaeger hybrid to help destroy it alongside the newly rebuilt Gypsy Danger. A modern 'Destroy All Monsters,' if you will.
 

THE JAEGERS: ADAPTING TO THE NEW WORLD

Continuing my original idea that the Jaegers are now being built as deterrents instead of used to fight Kaiju, I would like to see it reflected in the design elements of the new Jaegers. Bring back Gypsy Danger, but give it some new abilities like a larger sword and/or some sort of propulsion system to make it able to move faster. Also, I feel like a four-legged artillery Jaeger could lead to some pretty intense sequences where Jaegers are defending a coastline against more and more incoming enemies. I think, just like the Kaiju, you should simply look at the history of giant robots for a lot of the design elements. Del Toro pulled design elements from things like 'Mobile Suit Gundam' and 'Evangelion' for the Jaeger designs in the first film, and those two series alone have so many details they could borrow for revamped mechs. Maybe a Metal Gear Rex like design with a huge rail gun? Just my personal wishful thinking.
 

FINAL THOUGHTS: DIRECTION AND STYLE ARE KEY

Steven S. DeKnight has not really worked on anything of this scale in his career as of yet, and it would be nice to see him make a name for himself with this movie. Obviously, he has a hard road ahead of him, since he is taking over the reigns from one of the most visionary filmmakers of our time and it will be tough to match Del Toro's unique style. I think DeKnight really should try to add his own flair to the film visually, and definitely set a different tone for the film from what's already been done. I'm not saying they should get rid of the campiness (since that is basically what sets this series apart from Legendary's Godzillaverse), but maybe tone it down a bit for the sequel and try to keep everything fresh. Interesting characters also need to step into the spotlight and we need to care about them this time around. All of them.

Overall, I think a sequel in the Pacific Rim universe has plenty to pull from, since Del Toro really created a unique and interesting world with the first film. Do not shy away from what made the original a fun time, but definitely try avoiding some issues the first film had (again, weak characters and lengthy exposition dumps).

Are you excited to see the apocalypse happen again? What do you want to see in the new film? 

First Look At 'Power Rangers' Suits On Set, Future Franchise Plans

If you saw the news that there would be a new 'Power Rangers' reboot and thought to yourself: "One is fine, but it'd be nice if we could get six or seven films," then you're going to love what Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said this week. 

We've also finally gotten our first look at these shiny new costumes in broad daylight, and I think you'll be surprised how much better they look. Check those out and exactly what Feltheimer was quoted saying below. 

First off, the pictures:

While I still think the suits have some very odd design elements, they already look much better off the pages of Entertainment Weekly. They really nailed that iconic fighting pose in the last shot. Hopefully they don't go overboard with the CGI aspects of the costumes. 

On to the quote from Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer: 

 “We are really, really excited about the ‘Power Rangers’ movie. We could see doing five or six or seven.”  

This was said over a conference call with industry analysts, so you could chalk it up to enthusiastic business talk. Feltheimer was apparently encouraged by positive fan reactions to the costume reveal which prompted this optimismistic outlook.

Of course, future sequels will actually be greenlit by wallets and general audience's reception to this hard reboot of the classic 90's children's show. We're eagerly anticipating the first trailer, and hope that it reveals a smart, action-packed film that we'll want to rush out to on opening day.

'Power Rangers' opens on March 24, 2017. 

Another Distributor Steps Forward To Release 'Godzilla Resurgence' Outside Of Japan

A new trailer for 'Godzilla Resurgence' just dropped, but don't get too excited. As far as I can tell, there isn't any new footage shown and a lot of what we've seen already actually got cut. The trailer is actually out to promote the Chinese release of the film, and we've just got our first news of who will be handling it. Foreign distribution news. Is this what we're supposed to get excited about nowadays with the drought of information that Toho has been greedily keeping to themselves? No, I think there is a larger story to this trailer release than just the back end of a film's business model. Check out the most recent trailer below and my thoughts on why this matters to you seeing 'Godzilla Resurgence' as soon as possible.

Here's the "new" trailer:

Right there at the beginning you can see who will be distributing the film to Chinese audiences: Intercontinental Film Distributers (H.K.) Limited. They've handled some major film distribution for the country that includes: 'Transformers 4,' 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,' 'Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation,' 'Terminator: Genesis,' 'The Wind Rises,' 'World War Z,' etc. Their home video distribution arm includes 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' if that helps give you an idea of how massive a company this is and what that means for 'Godzilla Resurgence.' It looks like the film is going to get a wide theatrical release in one of the most important film markets in the world.

Is it starting to make sense why I'm treating this as major news? If Toho has sought out a distributor of this size in the second largest movie market in the world, it is now ridiculous to think that they don't have major plans for an American release. They're not going with a smallish company just to push this into another Asian country and make a quick buck, they accepted the bid of a huge distributor based in an integral region. Legendary's 2014 'Godzilla' was the number one movie when it opened in China and it did great business during it's run. The only place the film did better? Domestically, here in the United States.

I can't imagine a scenario after hearing about this where a major distributor like Sony doesn't pick up the film for an western release at some point. There's no guarantee that we'll get a day and date theater opening with Japanese audiences, but I think we'll see it in theaters and definitely in homes carried by a large company we know and trust. That's a lot more than we could say even yesterday.

Sorry New World Cinemas. 

'Godzilla Resurgence' will release in China on August 25th, 2016.

[Updated] Rumor Control: 'Godzilla: Resurgence' Story Details Leak?

UPDATE: So, the user who originally posted the story came clean on the Toho Kingdom forums and announced that it was made up. We've gotten a lot of flak for posting the rumor to begin with, but I personally love fake rumors like this one when it's obvious that someone put a lot of effort into it. The story they laid out was incredibly interesting and they went the extra mile to include details that sound like they would be plausible coming from the filmmakers involved and their previous works.

Kudos to the user JetJaguarPaunch, and I hope everyone arguing about this can just take a deep breath and enjoy these next few months when we truly don't know anything about Toho's new film and can get this excited about the many possibilities the movie has in store for us. What follows is the confession to making up the rumor posted a few minutes ago on the Toho Kingdom forums and our original article on the rumors.

"So, I think it's time to come clean on a few things. 

A few of you, a very select few, would know me best as Burkion from KaijuPhile/Rodans Roost. I've been a member of Godzilla communities online for most of my life at this point, since 2000. Maybe 1999. 

I have seen a lot of stuff in that time, a lot of rumors and 'leaks' and ideas and just total and complete bullshit across the board. I was contacted by a long time friend of mine, who you all should know as Monster Master, about a supposed 'leaked script' by our good friend LSD Jellyfish. I thought it sounded wrong from the get go, as did he, and we worked together on our own 'leaked script' designed to be maximally accurate to what LSD did, while also pushing the limit on what should have been believable. 

It has proven an overwhelming success, to my dismay, but it also drawn out some interesting things from LSD himself. I'm not saying his script is a lie, or that his sources are lying to him, I honestly Do Not Know myself -but he only brought up the existence of 'Yudas' after we did. That is incredibly suspicious. 

Once upon a time on KP, we had a magical event occur. It was late 2003, and one guy came on with spoilers for EVERYTHING in Final Wars. Absolutely everything. GINO, Minya, Monster X becoming Kaiser Ghidorah- every single thing he knew about. 

We called bullshit on it immediately and gave him utter Hell until the movie actually came out. 

But that was a once in a life time thing, and the moral of this story is- please do not believe everything you read. 

There are a lot of assholes out there who will post blatantly false information just for kicks and giggles. 

Like us."

Take the following information with a huge grain of salt, but we may have just gotten a lot of major story details about 'Godzilla: Resurgence' from a possible script leak. A user on the Toho Kingdom forums (JetJaguarPaunch) regaled everyone with an amazing breakdown of some major secrets in the film that Toho has been trying to desperately hide from audiences. This leak does seem extremely fishy, but there is so much here that makes sense with the information we have on 'Godzilla Resurgence' so far. Keep in mind that what follows is a verbatim transcript and could be considered getting into extreme SPOILER territory, so read at your own peril.

"Okay, after looking through this thread after hearing about it, I find this very interesting. I've also seen the script. LSDJ’s description is very close to what I've seen as well. Before I go, I want to make clear that what I have may not be the final script, and may not even be the same script as he has. I will not give up my source, reveal my true identity (no, I am not an active member on these forums or ever have been), nor will I get into a massive argument about how I got this script and why you should believe me. The movie comes out in a few months, we will see then.

So without further ado, POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD
Spoiler:
First off, KAIJU A –

The script references this monster as very basic in design. I can not verify if what LSDJ said about its creation is true or not. However, from what I gather, the monster isn’t very spectacular. It seems to be a somewhat quadrupled design and a dark olive green in color. The script references it as having a “Arrow-Shaped” head, possibly like a snake’s. If what LSDJ said about its reasons of existence are true, I personally believe they could get away with recycling the GMK Baragon suit for the creature. Godzilla does fight it very early on just as his mutation is setting in. It is not a very long fight, but the monster is referenced as “Alphagon” in the script. I do not know if it is also referenced as such in LSDJ’s copy. During the fight, the monster manages to hit Godzilla’s jaw and something happens, either the jaw is dislocated or gets horribly maimed by its “mole-like forelimbs.” Godzilla is to then release a much different roar than what we’re used to, hinting that he is not in complete control of himself. At this point, Godzilla destroys “Alphagon” with his atomic ray.

Start opening credits which includes news reports on both old atomic bomb testings and the Fukushima disaster.

GODZILLA MUTATED FORM –

As LSDJ said, and as we have all seen, Godzilla is in a highly ravaged form. This is not a result of the Oxygen Destroyer from 1954 or anything of the sort. It is a parasite. The human characters are not aware of this until about half way through the film when, after a fierce battle with the self-defense forces (which utilizes napalm for the first time in the series excluding Megalon), Godzilla’s body slumps forward. His spines begin to separate and a large gash or cut appears down it. While it is described as a “man exiting a suit”, it also gives details on pieces of Godzilla’s flesh falling from it in the process and gives excessive details on Godzilla’s arms flattening out, as if all the bones and muscle are being pulled out of them. Godzilla is left as a skin as the new monster, called Judas, emerges.

This name also keeps in tradition with Anno taking inspiration from Judeo Christian mythology.

At this point, the monster is described as being humanoid with extremely lanky arms and legs. It is said to have a skull-like face. This immediately sounds like the monster Sachiel from Evangelion. It is also said to have large, bulbous red eyes and a pair of wasp-like wings. Its tongue is also long and tends to dangle from its mouth and is tipped with a pair of snapping jaws. Think Alien. The flesh is said to be black and “wet”. I imagine it’ll be a lot like a salamander or a frog’s skin.

At this point in the movie, Judas is standing within the remains of Godzilla and the self-defense forces have no idea what just happened. Judas flies into the air and one of the characters, which has had a due amount of time making it clear she is not religious, looks up and makes the statement “It looks like an angel.”

From a tonal standpoint, the movie completely shifts. The film starts to feel and act more like a traditional Godzilla versus a monster movie. Judas is now the focus and engages the military in much faster paced combat and dog battles over Japan. At the same time, Godzilla is regenerating. By the time he has recovered, most of the self-defense forces are gone and America is debating whether to deliver a nuclear strike to Judas (it plays a lot like a homage to the 1984 film, the first film Shinji Higuchi worked on for Toho), despite the Prime Minister’s objection. Godzilla returns to life and is on a warpath directly for Judas who is now in the heart of Tokyo. The Americans try a military blockade with several lines of tanks and ground-to-ground missile launchers. Unlike other movies where Godzilla stomps and blasts them, he now walks through the attacks not even paying attention. After numerous failed blockades, the commander simply orders “Everyone and everything, get out of his way.”

It should be noted that the script now calls for this Godzilla to “look more like the original”, so he won’t have the mangled look he had before. He is now black with his spines being bone white. From what it reads as, he seems to be a design cross of 1954 and the Heisei Godzilla.

When Godzilla reaches Judas in Tokyo, the new monster spots him and tries to run away. Keeping with what LSDJ has said about Godzilla using his tail more than his beam, he swats it out of the sky and breaks one of its wings. Judas falls and Godzilla begins a lengthy battle against it in which this Godzilla displays a much different fighting style, thanks to his long tail. Near the end of the fight, Godzilla begins to stomp the back of Judas’ head into the ground repeatedly. After several stomps, its entire body is stated to “disintegrate into a black mass of spider-like creatures.” This swarm of what I presume are babies (like how a spider can explode into a bunch of babies once hit) begin to swarm Godzilla and the surrounding area. Godzilla’s flesh begins to change like it did before, implying that whatever Judas did to Godzilla originally, it is doing it again.

The disintegrating Judas could be a reference to actual babies as a way to propagate itself or something like Destroyer breaking down into its smaller forms. We never see these before this scene happens.

At this point, the UNITED STATES decide to use a miniature nuclear weapon on Godzilla and Judas with or without Japan’s approval in order to secure the safety of the rest of the country and the world. The Japanese government only agrees with this if they’re allowed to rebuild their military power (also keeping with LSDJ’s sentiments of this being a key issue) so that they can take future matters into their own hands, monsters or otherwise. The strike hits Tokyo and seems to kill Godzilla and Judas, along with destroying all of Tokyo in the process.

At this point, just before the movie ends, one of the characters is seen with documents concerning Alphagon, Judas, and Godzilla. The character closes a blue and white folder which has an “M” marked in the corner. Hinting that it could take part in the same timeline as Legendary’s Godzilla.

I can't confirm nor deny if Judas is suppose to be suitmation or CGI. The same goes for Alphagon, but I will not be surprised if Alphagon is a modified GMK Baragon suit, also coming from a movie that Shinji Higuchi worked on, tying it together with the earlier Return of Godzilla allusions.

Take all of this as you will. I can not confirm if the script I have and translated is the final one or what, if anything has changed. If mine is an earlier, or later, iteration of LSDJ's, I wouldn't know. They are extremely similar however. We will just have to wait and find out until the movie comes in July."

I love this breakdown so much that I think I will be almost disappointed in the film if none of this is true. Godzilla's design oddities and how stiffly he moves make a lot more sense if the whole thing is a play on the creature himself being a meat suit for this new creature, "Judas." What really caught my eye, is that this seems like a Godzilla film that Hideaki Anno would make. This story (if true) would also kind of make the weird Godzilla Vs Evangelion marketing make more sense in retrospect, with "Judas" seemingly taking a lot of design elements from the "Angels" of the Evangelion series. I have wanted a new solo Godzilla outing for a very long time, but this movie's story and plot progression have eluded my senses for so long that I would be perfectly happy if this becomes a versus film in the last act. Also, this story possibly taking place in the Legendary Godzillaverse is intriguing, but I'm gonna bet that is just wishful thinking and the scene will probably be cut from the final film.

A little validity can be found for this leak if you look hard enough. The first revealed toy information from Resurgence actually listed two mysterious products called "Kaiju A" and "Kaiju B" respectively, as "coming soon." Could these two toys be "Alphagon" and "Judas?" Also, remember the potential leak during the production of this film that Godzilla would have "multiple forms" over the course of the movie? Toho came out and denied the rumor that he would be regenerating into a fully-fleshed Godzilla, but they technically never denied the multiple forms angle. Also, they seem to want to keep this incredibly secret, so wouldn't they just deny that anyway?

Maybe this leaked script is real... maybe it's not. Regardless, this makes me a lot more excited for the film itself, since it is quite possible that the trailers have only shown us a glimpse of what truly is going on in this reboot.

IDW Announces New Godzilla Comic Written By Jeremy Robinson

We all know Godzilla as a destroyer of cities, other kaiju, and aliens, but apparently now he is rampaging through time as well. A few weeks ago IDW Publishing announced their next comic book miniseries in the Godzilla universe: "Godzilla: Rage Across Time." Japan's green goliath will trek through the past leaving all sorts of temporal devastation in his wake.

Each issue of the five-part miniseries will be tackled by a different creative team, advancing the story through fresh eyes and a unique look each time. This formula seemed to work in IDW's recent miniseries "Godzilla in Hell."  Issue one takes place in feudal Japan and is co-written by IDW Godzilla artist Matt Frank and acclaimed author of Project Nemesis, Jeremy Robinson (More on Project: Nemesis can be found in ep. 07 of Tokyo Lives: A Giant Monsters Podcast). Honestly, we couldn't ask for a better team to produce the first issue of this miniseries!

Issue one will feature one of two variant covers by Matt Frank (mentioned above) and Bob Eggleton. Two very different art styles, but absolutely stunning none the less. Bob Eggleton's cover imitates the early 1830s painting "The Great Wave of Kanagawa" by Japanese artist Hokusai and Matt Frank's cover seems to be referencing a painting from a series entitled "The Legend of the Grand Minister Yuriwaka" from 17th century Japan.

Other than a release date slated for August later this year, not much else is known about "Godzilla: Rage Across Time." Stay tuned here for future updates as I'm sure this will be a wild ride.

What do you think about this new series? Will Godzilla add time travel to his resume or do you think the series will feature ancient ancestors of our atomic colossus? Let us know what you think!

Coming Next Week - Episode 8: Road To Godzilla Resurgence

This is an episode of the podcast that you absolutely don't want to miss! We had a whole line-up of topics ready to go for the next few episodes, but we couldn't help ourselves in inserting an entire episode dedicated to Toho Picture's upcoming 'Godzilla Resurgence.' We go through the history of Godzilla films focusing on past breaks and reboots of the iconic giant monster, before diving into the new directors Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno and their influential impact on Japanese entertainment.

This episode marks a turning point with the podcast where hosts Coleman and Kyle hope to give insight and behind the scenes details into the company and filmmakers who created the upcoming new Godzilla film. Besides covering that in the main topic, they also go into recent news concerning Gareth Edwards leaving 'Godzilla 2,' the new Power Rangers reboot costume reveal, and IDW's new Godzilla comic written by Jeremy Robinson.

You will not be disappointed if you, like us, are incredibly excited to see what Toho does with their incredibly divergent new inclusion to the Godzilla franchise. Keep a look out for the episode to drop early next week.

'Return of Godzilla' Releasing On Blu-Ray And DVD For The First Time In America

Breaking news! Kraken Releasing (the company behind the recent Bluray/DVD releases of 'Godzilla vs Hedorah,' 'Godzilla vs Gigan,' and 'Ebirah Horror of the Deep') has just acquired the rights to release the uncut Japanese version of 'The Return of Godzilla' (some of you may know this film by the name 'Godzilla 1985'). This is huge news, as this uncut version of the film has never made it over to U.S. shores. Fans rejoice!

 'The Return of Godzilla'  served as a reboot to the Godzilla franchise after poor box office returns from the last Showa Godzilla film, 'Terror of MechaGodzilla.' Godzilla came back in 1984 with better special effects and returned to the serious tone of the original 'Gojira.' The US version of the film ('Godzilla 1985') was heavily re-edited and had many new scenes added superfluously into the film. There were about twenty minutes of footage from the Japanese release removed to add in the new scenes with Raymond Burr reprising his role of Steve Martin from the American version of 'Gojira' ('Godzilla King of the Monsters').  

Most of us die-hard fans have previously had to import 'The Return of Godzilla' because of a major rights issue with the film. New World Pictures still owns the rights to the American version of the film due to a strange contract that was signed when the film was originally released in North America. The company has since gone out of business, and due to the rights of 'Godzilla 1985' still being in their clutches, we have not had a DVD version of the film, much less seen the original unaltered version natively.

The new Blu-ray and DVD from Kraken Releasing will include a Japanese language track with subtitles and the English dubbed version. Interestingly enough, I do not think the dubbed version will be the American cut due to the aforementioned rights issue with 'Godzilla 1985.' I think that the dub being used for this release may be from a different English-speaking country where the film was not re-edited on release.

The new Blu-ray and DVD finally arrive in America on September 13th, 2016.