Undoubtedly the aspect of FRANKENSTEIN VS. BARAGON which cements it in kaiju legend is the film’s dual endings: US producer Henry G. Saperstein was unsatisfied with the film’s original ending, in which the Frankenstein monster falls into the Earth after defeating Baragon, and requested a new one. Toho filmed a new ending at Saperstein’s insistance, this one featuring the monster going up against a giant “Devilfish” octopus. In the end, Saperstein’s new ending was not used in any theatrical version of the film.
- Animal Icons: It Came From Japan - An Animal Planet special produced in the runup to Godzilla’s fiftieth anniversary in 2004.
- Bringing Godzilla Down to Size - A documentary on the genre’s origins and legacy, originally included on the Rodan / The War of the Gargantuas Classic Media DVD set.
- Godzilla & Hiroshima: The Dawn of the Kaiju Eiga - A documentary that explores Godzilla’s nuclear origin, and the influence of the nuclear scare on the genre.
- Godzilla 1954: The DVD Shelf Movie Reviews - A fairly run-of-the-mill YouTube documentary on the making of the original Godzilla.
- Godzilla 60th Anniversary: The Amazing World of Japanese Special Effects - A 2014 NHK documentary looking at the sixty year legacy of Godzilla and the history of tokusatsu.
- Godzilla and Other Movie Monsters - A documentary feature that explores the history of monsters in storytelling, from the earliest dragon legends to Japanese monster movies.
- Godzilla, King of the Monsters - A documentary produced by the BBC in 1998 during the runup to the first American Godzilla film.
- Hail to the King: 60 Years of Destruction - An independent, crowd-funded documentary by über-fan Kyle Yount (kaijucast) that celebrates the sixty-year legacy of the world’s greatest monster, Godzilla.
- Kaijunited: Japanese Monsters & Us - A fan-made documentary focusing on kaiju fandom in the US, Japan, and France.
- Kaiju Gaiden - A crowd-funded feature that tells the stories of previously-unknown independent kaiju films, and the people who made them.
- SciFi Japan TV - A continuing online documentary series from the folks at SciFi Japan. The focus shifts per episode.
If anyone can think of or knows of any more, please give me a shout!
The North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has a passion for cinema. But he could never find a director to realise his vision. So he kidnapped one from the South, jailed him and fed him grass, then forced him to shoot a socialist Godzilla. Now, for the first time, Shin Sang-ok tells the full story of his bizarre dealings with - and eventual flight from - the world’s most dangerous dictator. By John Gorenfeld.
Pulgasari has gained some popularity over the years because of the shocking story of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee’s kidnapping and strange captivity as the director and leading actress - the latter one excluding this film - of a total of seven films, for which the couple was simultaneously commissioned and forced to do by North Korea’s government.
Kenpachiro Satsuma said he prefers Pulgasari to American Godzilla.
This week’s film is Pulgasari, which was directed under unbelievable circumstances by by Shin Sang-ok and Chong Gon Jo, and originally released in North Korea sometime in 1985, and in Japan on the 4th of July, 1998. This is the Japanese theatrical poster.
- Animal Icons: It Came From Japan - An Animal Planet special produced in the runup to Godzilla’s fiftieth anniversary in 2004.
- Bringing Godzilla Down to Size - A documentary on the genre’s origins and legacy, originally included on the Rodan / The War of the Gargantuas Classic Media DVD set.
- Godzilla & Hiroshima: The Dawn of the Kaiju Eiga - A documentary that explores Godzilla’s nuclear origin, and the influence of the nuclear scare on the genre.
- Godzilla 1954: The DVD Shelf Movie Reviews - A fairly run-of-the-mill YouTube documentary on the making of the original Godzilla.
- Godzilla and Other Movie Monsters - A documentary feature that explores the history of monsters in storytelling, from the earliest dragon legends to Japanese monster movies.
- Godzilla, King of the Monsters - A documentary produced by the BBC in 1998 during the runup to the first American Godzilla film.
- Hail to the King: 60 Years of Destruction - An independent, crowd-funded documentary by über-fan Kyle Yount (kaijucast) that celebrates the sixty-year legacy of the world’s greatest monster, Godzilla.
- Kaijunited: Japanese Monsters & Us - A fan-made documentary focusing on kaiju fandom in the US, Japan, and France.
- Kaiju Gaiden - A crowd-funded feature that tells the stories of previously-unknown independent kaiju films, and the people who made them.
- SciFi Japan TV - A continuing online documentary series from the folks at SciFi Japan. The focus shifts per episode.
If anyone can think of or knows of any more, please give me a shout!
