Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G"

By Steve Ryfle

Bigger, badder, and more durable than Hollywood's greatest action heroes, Godzilla emerged from the mushroom cloud of an H-bomb test in 1954 to trample Tokyo. More than 40 years later, he reigns as the undisputed monarch of movie monsters, with legions of fans spanning several generations and countless international boundaries.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550223488
• ISBN13: 9781550223484
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: ECW Press
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.9" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Pretty much required reading for Godzilla fans.

Whether you agree with Steve Ryfle's criticism of the the later and contemporary Godzilla movies or not (and I do not not, with the exception of the American version, I rate no Godzilla movie lower than three stars), his book remains a fairly exhaustive look at the legendary monster and its decades long film franchise. Just about any question you may have about the still running series will probably be answered in these pages. Sadly legal hassles (i.e. it being unauthorized) prevented more photos of the star attraction appearing in the book, but that it is a pretty nitpicking quibble for such a book as this. If you want cool pictures of The Big "G", then buy the Cerasini/Leeds Companion. If you want an affectionate, yet candidly unvarnished, look that people who created and/or appeared in so many wonderfully entertaining movies, then get this. You will not be disappointed. I can only give it my highest recommendation.

An excellent history of the all-time greatest movie monster.

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.

Big book for a big monster

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.

Congratulations, Mr. Ryfle...a first-rate effort!

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.

A very informative book

This book had been delayed so long many people thought it would never come out, but now it is and I was not dissapointed. Steve Ryfle has written a very informative and interesting book about Japan's Favorite Mon-Star and has included everything in his book from unmade projects to interviews. His reviews of the films are great and in-depth, he obvioulsy has researched Godzilla very well. Anybody who is a Godzilla fan must get this book, it blows away "The Official Godzilla Compendium" as is easily the best made Godzilla book around.