The Classic Kaiju Topic: GODZILLA'S 70TH ANNIVERSARY!!!
Posted: Wed May 01, 2024 8:25 am
Oh man look at My Header, I love it So, I've been saying that I'm going to start My own Kaiju Topic that focuses on classic monsters. The time period is the 1920s thru the 2000s which is the Classical, Showa, Heisei & Millennium Era. I consider 2006's Gamera the Brave the last original Japanese Kaiju film and 2008's Cloverfield to be the last of the classic American monster film even though it would be later part of a Multiverse storyline in the 2010s. Anything that came out in 2010 and beyond talk about that in My MonsterVerse Topic here ---> http://www.dctoyrevolution.org/general-discussions/monsterverse-let-s-talk-godzilla-vs-kong-t1085.html or if you prefer Packer's Movie Trailer Topic here ---> http://www.dctoyrevolution.org/general-discussions/this-thread-has-not-yet-been-rated-movie-trailers-t1254.html because there's a lot of good stuff that the majority is by us and I have provided a lot of great content there and besides, Packer is the one that sparked the interest of this subject cause Monsters & Kaiju has always been a fun thing for Me since I was a youngster. Once I see people talking about stuff I like cause most of the time I'm alone in My fave subjects just not here on this board but in general then I begin to talk about them
I know i covered a lot in PB's Movie Trailer Topic and so did he but I felt with most of those entries were incomplete and out of order and with a genre that is so exciting as this there is so much more to say and to show the excellent visuals. I love visuals and surely you know that by now With Monster & Kaiju films, there's a lot of great stuff, I love the music of course, the posters of Japanese Kaiju films which your gonna see a lot of'em plus much more including specials of UNMADE FILMS and trivia which I love that category So this topic will have a different beginning. I'm not going to begin it with 1954's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, nope I'm going to start it with one of the first monster films...no no no, not 1922's Nosferatu, Monsters like that will be elsewhere
No, it's 1925's The Lost World that paved the way for countless monster movies for about a century
It was originally written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1912 who was a very brilliant man that so many people nowadays don't mention. My Grandma MiMi really liked his work
The film is about paleontologist & Professor George Edward Challenger Challenger leading an expedition of scientists & adventurers to a remote region with an epic plateau far deep within the Amazonian jungle to confirm his claims that the original rulers of the planet Earth...DINOSAURS still exist
While this may seem like a first Cryptozoogical film, indeed it maybe but it was the first of the kind to present Dinosaurs and they're not presented like animals but since this was still the classical age of truly not knowing much about most of the few amount of species discovered, they are like monsters
Now I said in PB's Movie Trailer Topic that I never seen the movie, only clips. Well just recently I finally watched it and it was very good. I like silent movies, such a focus on music which sadly most of today's society tunes it out or never acknowledges how great music is in films and because of that they miss such extra fun...its always been a great fun part for Me ever since I was a youngster and I'm glad of it Now the film is made excellently with such a great story that is all-too familiar by now but this was the first time it was ever done on film I love the stop-motion special effects and the posters & artwork was done rather well, in fact during these classical times were some of the most extravagant
What I plan on doing for each movie entry is to have bios & stats of every creature within them. I have done a similar thing in the MonsterVerse Topic so if you have seen that then you'll know what to expect here. Here's some cool stills, pictures and small bios for the fauna from the movie I know a lot about Dinosaurs, I've considered Myself an amateur Paleontologist The creatures that is depicted in this film are stop-motion were based on the artwork of Charles R. Knight. Some of the dinosaur models however that were used in the film came into the possession of famed collector Forrest J Ackerman. On many occasions, Doyle has mentioned that Professor Challenger was his favorite character that he created, NOT Sherlock Holmes
Here's a sketch of an Allosaurus near the beginning of the film which was based on a sighting
The unknown region of the continent did have the landscape what one would imagine that of prehistoric times
A 23 foot wide Pteranodon is the first animal that the explores seen confirming that Challenger was correct It caught & ate a baby Toxodon which is an ungulate mammal similar like a cross between a Rhino & Hippo.
The team along with the Chimps (only Monkeys are in South America, not Apes) is also being spied on by Homo Erectus aka The Ape Man This was a prehistoric human
If you know classic Universal Monsters then you can clearly see that this is the precursor to all of that great makeup
Trachodon or Anatosaurus which is synonymous with Edmontosaurus is seen in the film. they are depicted as bipedal and not all fours being a quadruped as well as a biped. Their size looks accurate about 25 feet in length and is depicted as a plant eater like it is theorized to be.
Agathaumas & Stegosaurus are seen in the film as well as Triceratops. These actually look pretty accurate in size & design
One thing they knew already was that the specie was a caring parents
The iconic Sauropod (Lizard Feet) that is known as Brontosaurus is a major player in the film. This is a long while before the controversial name & specie change however the name is now valid as another species again in recent times It looks fairly accurate of how it would appear for the next several decades.
The Allosaurus is the first Theropod (Beast Feet) that is seen as a major monster meat eater and really doesn't look as accurate as others. The size of 25 feet long & 15 feet high looks about right however.
The dino fights Agathaumas in a big battle
The Tyrannosaurs Rex is presented as an even bigger monster and is way bigger than the specie's known length of 47 feet and being 7 tons. It's presented with three fingers like in future films including 1933's King Kong. Allosaurus has three figures however scientists would find T-Rex cousin species Albertosaurus and Gorgosaurus with two fingers but it wasn't confirmed till they found a complete skeleton with a forelimb with two fingers till 1989, 35 years ago this year
A Brachiosaurus appears in the film and fights the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The specie is about the actual size about 80 feet tall but he is missing his nostril bump on his head.
So the big part happens where Challenger captures a Brontosaurus to prove to the world that Dinosaurs still exist. The unthinkable happens as the animal escapes
So this might seem like an age old scenario which it is but this predated 1932's novel of King Kong by Delos W. Lovelace which was requested of his good friend Merian C. Cooper which they hurried and it into a film as a major epic in the now era of sound
The Brontosaurus runs amok causing havoc which again, he is presented as a monster, I personally believe this wouldn't happen. Sure, they would be aggressive if provoked but they would be more scared than anything IMO.
Here's the trailer
If you want to see this masterpiece of a first Monster & Dinosaur movie then look no further as here it is for free
Here's a much longer colorized & enhanced version
Now there has been remakes & inspirations of this fine story including 1960's The Lost World as well as 1997's Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World
In fact, the Jurassic Park sequel had a similar situation of a Dinosaur escaping into a large city scenario however the climax was far different then the 1925 version as is was written by famed iconic author Michael Critchon plus the animal differed as well as it was a T-Rex
I hope you liked & enjoyed this first entry within My Kaiju & Monster Topic. There will be a lot of great content and stuff to come, a lot of it your not gonna expect which I plan on updating this topic like once a week or so which hopefully I can can keep up to plan here My next entry will be 1933's King Kong & Son of Kong