I just completed Day Three of a five day Godzilla movie marathon

It's currently playing around the US at the moment. From http://www.rialtopictures.com/godzilla.html

Jun 18 - Jul 1   MINNEAPOLIS, MN  Oak Street
Jun 18 - Jul 1   DALLAS, TX  Angelika
Jun 25 - Jul 1   PORTLAND, OR  Cinema 21
Jun 25 - Jul 1   SAN DIEGO, CA  Ken
Jul 2 - 8   SEATTLE, WA   Varsity
Jul 2 - 15   CHICAGO, IL  Music Box  
Jul 16 - 18   DETROIT, MI  Detroit Film Theatre 
Jul 16 - 22   MILWAUKEE, WI  Times 
Jul 23 - 29   ATLANTA, GA  Midtown Art  
Jul 23 - 29  AUSTIN, TX  Dobie   
Jul 23 - 29   MADISON, WI  Orpheum
Jul 23 - Aug 5   PITTSBURGH, PA  Regent Square
Jul 28 - Aug 3   HARTFORD, CT  Cinestudio
Jul 30 - Aug 5  COLUMBUS, IN  Key  
Aug 5 - 9  OKLAHOMA CITY  Museum of Art
Aug 6 - 12   BALTIMORE, MD  Charles   
Aug 6 - 19  NASHVILLE, TN  Belcourt  
Aug 13 - 19   LEXINGTON, KY  Kentucky  
Aug 13 - 19   ST. LOUIS, MO  Tivoli  
Aug. 27 – 28  NEW YORK, NY  Film Forum
Aug 27 - 29  CLEVELAND, OH  Cinematheque 
Aug  27 - 29  PADUCAH, KY  Maiden Alley

x post ah Elvis beat me to it!

well there you go.

as a kid i remember buying "godzilla raids again" and being rather baffled to find myself watching something called "gigantis, the fire monster." it's nice to finally find out why.

!! Actually maybe you HAVE seen this before -- it's featured in a season two episode of MST3K under the title Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, and I do agree it's one of the most bizarre entries in the whole cycle I've encountered.

Yes it is. Godzilla and Rodan spend a lot of time fighing each other and gets chewed out by the Mothra fairies for not cooperating in fighting Ghidrah and for using "such language"

I knew there was a MST3K version, but I haven't seen it yet. Still, in the bizarre contest NOTHING compares to Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster

Trivia -- the Tibetan princess who becomes the spooky alien contact in Ghidrah is most well known in the West for her role as Aki, a Bond Girl in You Only Live Twice (she's the one who dies via accidentally swallowing poison intended for Bond).

Still, in the bizarre contest NOTHING compares to Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster

Ah, now this is true.

Yes, in Godzilla vs. Hedora (aka Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster) the big guy actually takes off and flies under his own power. And as weird as that sounds, that isn't the weirdest thing about Godzilla vs Hedora. Even for a movie about a big anthropomorphic fire breathing reptile fighting a giant pollution eating monster that looks a big pile of blackened teriyaki chicken, Godzilla vs Hedorah is a weird movie.
.....
The movie starts with unusual happenings in Sagami Bay. The fish there are dying and little black tadpoles are showing up in their stead. It further turns out that the tadpoles are actually made of minerals, and grow when exposed to pollution. Soon, giant tadpoles are sinking ships, and finally a huge pollution-spawned monster crawls out of the bay and begins sucking on industrial smokestacks. The monster is dubbed Hedora by the Japanese media, which must employ people day and night just to come up with for names for all the monsters that show up in Japan.

The rest of the movie is devoted to Godzilla and Hedora wrestling around Japan, while the scientist, egged on by Kenny, comes up with a plan to destroy Hedorah. Most of the battles between the two monsters are cautious, with each monster sizing the other one up before launching an attack. It's not the usual wrestling around that goes on in a Godzilla movie. But don't fear, there is plenty of other bizarre stuff going on to keep you occupied.

First of all, there is the music. Forgoing the usual Akira Ifukube score, this movie has a quirky original score that is almost trying to be inappropiate. Gone is any hint of majesty, instead we have a Godzilla entrance theme that sounds like a diesel engine turning over. And who could forget the "Save the Earth!" song that plays over the opening titles and during the movie itself? No really, is there anyone who can forget this song once they've heard it? Because if there is, we want to meet them and find out what their trick is. That darned song has been playing nonstop in our heads (in Japanese, no less) ever since we watched the movie. We have included it as a sound file for anyone who wants a cheap and legal alternative to LSD, but you can't get the full effect unless you see it with the visuals that go along with it: a singer wearing a painted leotard, dancing skeletons that abruptly flip upside down for no reason, and inkblot special effects that look like they are left over from the original Star Trek. And that's before we get to see it through the eyes of hard-drinking hippie hero Yukio, who starts seeing everybody with the head of a fish.

Then there are some really weird, hallucinogenic narrative techniques. Every now and then there are these funky cartoons that serve to educate us about Hedora. There is an unusual sequence that uses multiple TV screens to make some sort of point. A big part of the conclusion has to do with Yukio's plan to have a big love-in on Mt. Fuji while Hedora destroys Japan. We can only think the entire cast and crew were tripping while they made Godzilla vs. Hedora.

Indeed

http://gojistomp.org/movies/ghidrah/mothyrod.jpg

ihttp://southsidecallbox.com/images/spacegodzilla.jpg

http://southsidecallbox.com/images/SpaceGodzilla.jpg

You obviously haven't seen Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster then. But Monster Zero wins for having flying saucers:

http://www.badmovies.org/movies/monsterzero/monsterzero6.jpg

All ya gotta do is look.

New DVD release due in October.

Giant Monster Festival 2005!

my son is v curious about Godzilla. I have seen a smattering of the ouevre over the years but honestly have no idea where to start for a 6yo. (Obviously I am not going to bother with any recent American-made nonsense)

6 (maybe 5) is about when i saw the version of the original w raymond burr spliced in and i remember the fuck out of it-- ideally there's a version of gojira on the dvd now that's un-burred but also dubbed. idk.

what movie is this still taken from?

yeah, I need dubbed Japanese films.

the very first godzilla movie is a great film, but also very dark and not really kid-friendly at all. all of the ones i've seen from the 60s and 70s are pretty goofy and fun -- i watched a lot of them when i was about 8 or 9 and don't remember anything being too scary. i haven't seen any of the recent japanese ones but they seem like they've gone back in the "dark" direction to some extent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzLYHS7IBSA