Rating: 
Summary: Great Information, Yet Highly Critical
Review: Being a long-time Godzilla fan, I was extremely excited that such an information filled book about Godzilla was finally available to his US fans. And although this book is jam-packed with information, the author (Steve Ryfle) is so incredibly critical towards te Godzilla series that it's hard to believe he considers himself a G-fan at all. His attitude goes something like "The first eight Godzilla movies are great, but anything and everything that comes after that (...)". He doesn't even give anything after that a chance! It's like he makes up his mind about a new movie before he even sees it. After "Son of Godzilla", the highest review you'll find has just 3 and a half stars. And that's rare to find a review that high! he definetely favors old movies. However, despite all the critical opinions and Godzilla-slamming, the book is the BEST source for Godzilla behind-the-scenes information out there. While the Official Godzilla Compendium was flimsy, it had great pictures and monster-stats. If you can get past the negativity in this book, it really is the best source for Godzilla information you can find. So, my final opinion is: Buy this book for the information, and get "The Official Compendium" for the pictures and monster stats.
Rating: 
Summary: Big book for a big monster
Review: Despite a shortage of photos (quite understandable, given this book's "unauthorized" status), JAPAN'S FAVORITE MON-STAR is a superb package, with a wealth of behind-the-scenes and other related facts on each of the Godzilla films (up to 1999). With numerous interviews with the filmmakers, actors, and even American distributors, the amount of information in this volume is prodigious yet consistently entertaining. The reviews reflect the author's heartfelt, fannish connection to G films, and help lighten the overall tone of the book with their informal and highly personal sentiments. Godzilla fans will probably find much to agree--and disagree--with here; that said, I found that in most cases the author and I were on the same wavelength in our views of the Godzilla films. Whether this is the definitive volume on the Godzilla series is debatable, but after JAPAN'S FAVORITE MON-STAR, one would be hard-pressed to publish a book on the subject that isn't superfluous.
Rating: 
Summary: I liked the facts, but the reviews not well done
Review: I love godzilla films (Unusual for most women) and I loved all the information in this book. And that made it worth buying. But the writer bends over backwards to not say too much against te original series, ignoring some poor plottig and sometimes embarassing effets work, while nit-picking all the films made in the 1990s. I grew up in the 60s watching all the original films, and I DO love them, warts and all. But I also can look at ALL the movies with a ballanced, critical( not SUPER CRITICAL) eye. This is something that Mr Ryfle seems to be unable to do. He sometimes gushes over some films so much, while slamming others ( almost always the ones made between 1989-1995)that it is insulting to consider it to be a bonifide critical review. more like one of those groups of guys I have seen at conventions, sitting around endlessly carping about how no one has made a film as good as DESTROY ALL MONSTERS! (I do love that film..but it IS one silly movie, with some quite poor effects) I would say that if you are looking for the history on the making of Godzilla films, this is quite good. BUT... beware, you are entering hard core fandom (or perhaps I should say Fan-boy as one other person did)when it comes to the reviews.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you don't need to know about Godzilla!
Review: Japan's Favorite Mon-star: The Unauthorized Biograhy of "The Big G" is probably the best information of Godzilla movies from movie 1 to 22 (Godzilla through Godzilla vs. Destroyer and the stupid fake one, not counting as a series number). This book is chock-full of it, from movie credits to production to unused concepts to everything! Unfortunately, this book loses two stars. Why? Because Steve Ryfle, the author, seems like he just mildly likes the Godzilla series. I mean, he only gives 5 stars to the first one (even though I agree with his opinion, but movies such as Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Godzilla vs. Destroyer get 5 from me), and the average rating for all the others is about 2 to 3 and a half stars. He's really mean to the series, and it's hard to believe he's a "fan" (makes quotation signs with fingers). Anyway, at least the book's informative. Goes good with The Official Godzilla Compendium.
Rating:
Summary: Great behind the camera information,but uneven in it reviews
Review: Perhapse more hard behind the camera facts than any other Godzilla book. The writer is to be congratulated on a great research job. with a nice informal writing style thats enjoyable to read. My one major problem is a uneven ctitical standard that favors the older 1960s films. Rating King Kong vs Godzilla (1962) and Ghidorah (1965) at 3 1/2 stars out of five is more than a little generous when you look at both many shabby effects (the kong suit is a joke and a disaster, as is the revived Rodan in Ghidorah.) as well as the uneven scripts. The story for Ghidorah is a convoluted mess, marking a huge drop from the previous years terrific Godzilla vs Mothra(a.k.a. Godzilla vs the Thing). At the same time , the writers rating of Godzilla vs Space Godzilla as a 1 star movie is absurd. Rating it as the worst of the Godzilla Films says more about the authors some what "Fan Boy" view of these movies than the movies themseves ! Perhaps the author needs to get out more often. However, to end on a high note, the research is great and I highly recommend the book for those in search of the full facts about the Godzilla Series
Rating:
Summary: An excellent history of the all-time greatest movie monster.
Review: Steve Ryfle weaves a heck of a book here. It goes without saying that Godzilla fans will love this, but I'll say it anyway: Godzilla fans will love this. But that's not all. Film fans will like this as well, for it offers an intriguing look behind the scenes of Japanese cinema. And if you've ever been curious about "just who DID create Godzilla," then you should check out this book.Ryfle reviews twenty-two Japanese Godzilla films (the few most recent, beginning with Godzilla 2000, not included), as well as the American abomination. He also gives in-depth profiles of writers, actors, and others who worked on the movies, and gives looks at unmade films (such as Godzilla vs. Frankenstein) and special projects (such as the two Godzilla episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000). A final ironic note: This book was originally held up by studio lawyers, which only gave Ryfle time to review the American monstrosity as well and add his savaging of it into the final product. This book is recommended.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent history of the all-time greatest movie monster.
Review: Steve Ryfle weaves a heck of a book here. It goes without saying that Godzilla fans will love this, but I'll say it anyway: Godzilla fans will love this. But that's not all. Film fans will like this as well, for it offers an intriguing look behind the scenes of Japanese cinema. And if you've ever been curious about "just who DID create Godzilla," then you should check out this book. Ryfle reviews twenty-two Japanese Godzilla films (the few most recent, beginning with Godzilla 2000, not included), as well as the American abomination. He also gives in-depth profiles of writers, actors, and others who worked on the movies, and gives looks at unmade films (such as Godzilla vs. Frankenstein) and special projects (such as the two Godzilla episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000). A final ironic note: This book was originally held up by studio lawyers, which only gave Ryfle time to review the American monstrosity as well and add his savaging of it into the final product. This book is recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Congratulations, Mr. Ryfle...a first-rate effort!
Review: The only minor complaint I have about this book is that it has precious few photographs from the classic (Showa) period Godzilla series. Since this book had no official connection with Toho Studios of any kind, this isn't quite so surprising. However, the sheer amount of detail concerning the production of every Godzilla movie to date (this was published just after "Godzilla vs. Destroyer", and right before the atrocious American "Godzilla") is extremely impressive. This book makes a fine companion to "Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo!", because both fill in many details about classic Japanese monster movies (Kaiju eiga) that many of us western fans could only guess about for years and years. A great addition to the bookshelf of any science-fiction or monster-movie fan.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book, Great Subject
Review: This book is great. It is fun, enjoyable, easy to read and surprisingly moving in places. The lack of photograps of the key Mon-Stars can be a little disconcerting but since this is an unoffical guide quiet understandable. Clearly Steve Ryfle loves his subject and after reading the book I am sure you will too!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This book really took me by suprise! I got it from the library and didn't think it would be much... but I was totally blown away by all the facts and special features that are all crammed into this great effort! It's got at least 5 pages on each of the 23 movies and has special interviews with people like Hauro Naijama (who played Godzilla) and Robert Dunham (who played the leader of Seatopia in "Godzilla vs. Megalon"). It also does a good job slamming the new Godzilla film and also slamming some of the bad Godzilla movies of the early 70's. It tells all the cost cutting measures that Toho took to make thier films cheaper to produce... you know what I'm talking about.... stock footage! Alot of little known facts about this great monster that graced the silver screen. There are not many pictures, but it is so interesting that there are no need for alot of photos. Great book... I really recommend this great book to any classic Godzilla fan!
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