The other weekend, "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero" was on television. I wasn't paying muchin to it until I heard Nick Adams' voice come across the TV and suddenly it hady full attention. He's an actor from a western TV show called "The Rebel" and for the rest of the movie, I couldn't help but imagine Johnny Yuma mixed up with an alien plot to take over the world, giant monsters, flying saucers, and all. It took the movie to a whole new level of awesome. I shared this with one of my friends and talked about how it was one of the weirder of the Godzilla films I've seen, though I've never seen "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" and I've heard that one takes the top. He told me I'm crazy for not seeing it.
So, I found it on Hulu, and I loved it. It's got everything from rock and roll music to animated cards thrown in the middle of things, to a subtle yet sure message that pollution is bad. You'll have to pay attention to get the message though, it's very subtle. The fight coreography wasn't anything revolutionary, but seeing Godzilla pick up and body slam Hedorah repeatedly was satisfying as fuck.
I'm watching "Terror of Mechagodzilla" on Hulu as I type this. Out of all of the recurring characters, Mechagodzilla has always been my favorite, though I'm more of a fan of the Millenium Era version, Kiryu. He bad ass.
I could go on and on about Godzilla, how I used to have "Godzilla vs. Gigan" and "Godzilla vs. Megalon" on VHS and watched them both so much the tapes fell apart. How I only got a chance to see "Godzilla 1985" once but how it left the impression on me that they pushed the reset button for the dude, suddenly making him feel bad ass and modern as hell. How the comic, "Godzilla: The Half Century War" is in my top ten list of comics to recommend to people because it's a quick, fun one shot and James Stokoe's art is nothing short of mind blowing. How I had the chance to buy all the Godzilla films on DVD a few years ago for less than $100 but my friend talked me out of it and I still regret that.
I'll just say I love Godzilla. The dude rocks. That said, re watching these movies as an adult, they feel totally different than when I was a kid.
Isn't Ultraman kind of like Power Rangers and Masked Rider, where they have decades of shows under the same title with a ton of reboots? Cause I know he's a classic, but I think I've seen screen shots that look a lot more modern too. Also, ever heard of Johnny Socko? That's on Hulu and I think it's from around the same era.