Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: An indepth and introspective tribute to an overlooked genre Review: Ignore those reviewers who harp on the author for dissing their favorite Godzilla movie. Yes, the new 1990s Godzilla movies are inferior to the older, more imaginative movies of the 1950s and 60s in every way except SFX. But so what? If you buy this book for the film reviews, then you've missed the point entirely. This book is a landmark achievement, a look inside the weird world of Japanese monster movies, told in the words of the people WHO WERE THERE. The author has conducted several dozen interviews with the stars, writers and directors of a wide array of Japanese classics, not just the Godzilla films but also stuff like "Monster From a Prehistoric Planet" and the original "Gamera." There are many self-anointed kingpins of Japanese monster fandom in North America, but none of them has even come close to writing something of this magnitude. This book is a great read, a great look (it's loaded with eye-catching photos and art) and it should be around for a long time to come.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Hands Down: The Best 1st book for Godzilla and Monster Fans Review: In an age where every geek with a Laserdisc player is turning out scholarly tomes on the Rubber Monster Movies, Galbraith IV comes along with a delightfully informative, intelligent and factual summary of all those movies we saw on late night TV or in my case, "The 4:30 Movie". Don't be fooled by trash you might read on the Net, THIS BOOK ROCKS and should be on every parent's christmas list if they have a boy under the age of 12 or just want to flip through (or avidly read every page guiltily) it themsleves for oldtimes' sake. Heck, I'm a girl and I loved this book. I suppose the fact that I have a couple of thousand dollars worth of Godzilla toys might help. What I especially liked about this book was it's ability to reach both newbies and those of us who thought we knew everything on the subject. It is clear that the author has done his homework and painstakenly gone to original sources rather than rely on the often-mistaken body of Godzilla Lore that floats out on The Net. If you genuinely love Godzilla and all those other wonderful monsters, you will not be sorry for buying this book. If all you are interested in is Fanboy Delusions of Grandeur there are other more satisfying places to get that. In summary, this is the best "1st Godzilla Book" I have found to date.
Rating: ![3 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-3-0.gif) Summary: great interviews and facts, but too "fan boy" in its reviews Review: like the authors first book,this is a treasure trove of facts, and in addition, some remarkable interviews with the talented people who made these sometimes wonderful,sometimes awful, but always fun movies. I have to agree with others who feel that the reviews are sometimes way off base.Some films are wildly overpraised while others (almost always the more recent Godzilla films) are Dammed. Like too many godzilla fans,the author needs to get over his "the old films are better"nonsense. Its like those sad people dressed up in star trek uniforms arguing over how GREAT William Shatner is and how awful Star Trek is without him. Sad to say this is something beyond many fans. after all, the word fan does derive from fanatic! however... enjoy the books interviews and photos. as for the reviews, don't take them with a grain of salt...take them with the whole salt mine!
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: The Monsters Finally Win Review: Monsters are Attacking Tokyo is a must for anyone who grew up with Godzilla and his many friends from Toho Studios. It is a book that is filled full of hard to find information on Japan's greatest film export. The behind the scenes information on Americans who starred in some of these films, like Nick Adams and Russ Tamblyn, is quite enjoyable. Jamey Moore
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: The Monsters Finally Win Review: Monsters are Attacking Tokyo is a must for anyone who grew up with Godzilla and his many friends from Toho Studios. It is a book that is filled full of hard to find information on Japan's greatest film export. The behind the scenes information on Americans who starred in some of these films, like Nick Adams and Russ Tamblyn, is quite enjoyable. Jamey Moore
Rating: ![3 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-3-0.gif) Summary: enjoyable read for fans,but with a big problem Review: not as good as the authors first book on this subject,the interviews are facinating, but the author lets nostalga rule the day in his reviews.giving mediocre films from the 60s and 70s better reviews than the newer and often better films of the 1990s.he tends to practice "Nostalga reviews" . Rating films more by how he remembered them from his youth than by a realisitic reevaluation.Giving Dreck like King Kong Escapes a better write up than Godzilla vs destroyer or Space godzilla says more about the author than about the films. still,if you ignore the reviews, the interviews are a delight
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: A delightful romp through the world of kaiju eiga. Review: This book has many, many good points, but the best by far is the sheer volume of interviews with classic Toho stars like Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Mie Hama, Akira Kubo, Momoko Kochii, and directors like the great Ishiro Honda, as well as his life-long friend and colleague, the immortal Akira Kurosawa, who nearly breaks down remembering the long years of friendship that he shared with Honda. On another (but no less interesting) note, the book also features interviews with the many American expatriots who served as actors in classic films like "Latitude Zero", "King Kong Escapes" and "War Of The Gargantuas". Without naming names, in general the coarseness and downright crudeness of many of the American "actors" (a term used liberally much of the time in these gaijin's cases) is downright embarrassing, when viewed alongside the dignity and politeness of their Japanese counterparts.This book also has the unusual distinction of being a good book of source material on the subject, and yet the numerous delightful pictures and engaging interviews make it a good coffee table book as well! A fun addition to the sci-fi bookshelf.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Unmissable. Review: This is a five star effort in terms of providing all the insider details about the Japanese monster movies I loved as a kid, shunned as a young adult and am now rediscovering again. For the first time, some context into what those Japanese filmmakers were doing and on top of that, clear coherent explanations of the FX and why to them what American audiences think of as cheap looking was state of the art for its day in Japan (we even learn such gems why the dubbing we hear in English is always so bad, and why the current versions of the original Gamera film no longer contain any of the footage with Brian Donlevy and Albert Dekker). About the only quibble might be some of the author's reviews of the films in one section ("King Kong Escapes" is really a bad film no matter how you cut it) but that's a minor thing compared to the treasure trove of intellectual junk food this book provides. If you enjoyed watching these movies in your innocent youth, then get it!
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Terrific Reference Guide Review: This is a five star effort in terms of providing all the insider details about the Japanese monster movies I loved as a kid, shunned as a young adult and am now rediscovering again. For the first time, some context into what those Japanese filmmakers were doing and on top of that, clear coherent explanations of the FX and why to them what American audiences think of as cheap looking was state of the art for its day in Japan (we even learn such gems why the dubbing we hear in English is always so bad, and why the current versions of the original Gamera film no longer contain any of the footage with Brian Donlevy and Albert Dekker). About the only quibble might be some of the author's reviews of the films in one section ("King Kong Escapes" is really a bad film no matter how you cut it) but that's a minor thing compared to the treasure trove of intellectual junk food this book provides. If you enjoyed watching these movies in your innocent youth, then get it!
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Fascinating book! Review: This is amazing book.The author's extensive research and inteviews are formidable.I wish I could find this in Japanese language. But I would like people in U.S. to know not only Kurosawa's film but also about Japanese films like the ones the author reseaches, becuase there films are also hidden Japanese cultural treasure.
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