Hey there, kaiju lovers! Like I did with the Monster Hunter review I did on the Forever Classic Podcast, I’m re-uploading this episode of Kaiju Weekly for any of you who missed it. While I experimented with a “Special Report” episode on season one of Netflix’s Pacific Rim: The Black, I couldn’t find time in MIFV’s schedule to make to make a proper episode on it. Then I had the chance to sub for Travis Alexander, one of the co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly, on their review of it. So, with their permission, I’m re-sharing it here. I highly recommend listening to Kaiju Weekly because it’s a fun and entertaining podcast, and the one in the kaiju community with whom I have the closest ties.
The original show notes:
We continue “Mecha May” with a look at the 2021Netflix anime series, Pacific Rim: The Black featuring returning guest and friend of the podcast, Nathan Marchand of The Monster Island Film Vault.
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Set after Pacific Rim: Uprising, Kaiju have ravaged Australia, two siblings pilot a Jaeger to search for their parents, encountering new creatures, characters, and allies.
In the first of a double-whammy of “Year of Gamera” episodes that continue to chip away at Nate’s sanity, today’s movie is 1968’s Gamera vs. Viras. Nate is joined by returning guest (and Jimmy From NASA nemesis) Jack “GMan” Hudgens and Jack’s friend J.R. Villers from The Drift Space podcast to discuss this outlandish but imaginative kaiju flick. It’s near and dear (haha!) to Jimmy’s heart because, believe it or not, it dramatizes an exciting chapter of his childhood. Yes, MIFV’s intrepid producer is one of the precocious “Kennys”! In order to survive, Nate makes many Star Trek references/comparisons and several puns. The discussion also includes talk about hentai (don’t ask) and how the Rocky films stole the Gamera series’ formula—and it includes Sly Stallone impersonations. The Toku Topic is the Scout Association of Japan since the Gamera kids in this—again, including Jimmy—are both Boy Scouts.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
Flower, James. “A Guide to English Language Gamera.” (Arrow Video Gamera: The Complete Collection)
Galbraith IV, Stuart. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992.
Gamera: The Complete Collection, Disc Three Special Features.
Gamera vs. Viras Commentary by Carl Craig and Jim Cirronella (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection)
This is a re-release of the most recent episode of The Forever Classic Podcast, which is hosted by my GigaGeek Magazine colleague, Alex McCumbers. Given that I’m the “kaiju academic,” as Alex puts it, and he’s as hardcore a gamer as you can get, we figured we’d combine our knowledge and fandoms to review the 2020 Monster Hunter movie starring Mila Jovovich. This secret Toho movie (for real) is based on the monstrously (ba-dum-tssh) popular video game series from Capcom. So, if you wondered what I thought of this film, here you go! I might even start playing the games now!
Alex’s original show notes:
With the release of the Monster Hunter film, Alex employs the expertise of his good friend Nathan Marchand, a Kaiju Academic, Writer, and Podcaster. Does the monumental game Monster Hunter World translate well into film? Not really, but that doesn’t stop it from being fun.
After the Serpentera Mk. 1 flies by, Nate is joined by his two most popular guests yet: Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins and Brandon “Up From the Depths” Jacobs. These two YouTubers were invited to the Island because they’ve produced several insightful and, above all, positive videos on 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. While Legendary’s much-hyped kaiju epic was loved my audiences and hated by critics, it’s lately become popular in the Godzilla/kaiju fandom to hate on it. Nate, Ryan, and Brandon discuss how there is more going on below the surface in what many decry was an empty summer blockbuster. You’ll hear them debunk its “nuclear narrative,” discuss its spiritual depth (“Godzilla, messiah of the monsters,” anyone?), and hear how the eco-terrorists aren’t as farfetched as you might think. Meanwhile, Ryan’s sidekick, Snazzy, joins MIFV’s intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, and Jet Jaguar in the crowded “sidekick central,” er, producer booth. Snazzy keeps pushing random buttons. Hilarity ensues.
(Don’t tell the Monster Island Board of Directors that we went over their mandated time limit!)
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
Nate and his guests, MIFV MAX members Michael Hamilton (co-host of Kaiju Weekly and The Kaiju Groupie) and Damon Noyes, reach the peak of the Showa Gamera series—which isn’t as high as Nate wants it to be. (Or does he just want to get high?) Once again as part of the Board-mandated “Year of Gamera,” the Tourists get to watch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring this film while Nate must view the original Japanese version to compare notes. Even so, Nate riffs his way through the episode so the Stockholm syndrome doesn’t set in. Michael sighs almost as much as he talks with all the jokes Nate and Damon drop about “gassy Gyaos nipples” and “plane murder.” You’d almost think Nate was enjoying himself. It’s a great act.
The Toku Topic for this episode is the Sanrizuka Struggle, which was a movement against the construction of Narita Airport. It inspired a key plot element in this movie and helped Nate prove to Michael and Damon that there was a social commentary in the film. It’s also the last social commentary in a Gamera movie for years, so enjoy it while it lasts.
Before the broadcast, Nate tries to tell his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, how he plans to be a small thorn in the Board’s side only to be interrupted by Raymund Martin, the head of the Monster Island Legal Action Team, who promptly tells Nate why he can’t do that.
Raymund Martin was created and voiced by Damon Noyes.
Prologue written by Nathan Marchand with Damon Noyes.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
Flower, James. “A Guide to English Language Gamera” (Arrow Video Gamera: The Complete Collection).
Galbraith IV, Stuart. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992.
Gamera: The Complete Collection, Disc Two Special Features.
Gamera vs. Gyaos Commentary by Stuart Galbraith IV (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
The Beast! The Beast! THE BEAST! From 20,000 Fathoms!
Nathan is joined by his friend and regular Monster Island Tourist Nick Hayden for the first Ray Harryhausen film covered on MIFV: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. This 1953 classic—the Jaws of its time, as Nick says—is one of the seminal films in the kaiju genre. It was the first “atomic monster” movie. Without it, we may have not gotten Godzilla in 1954. It was “suggested by” a Ray Bradbury story, which delights Nathan and Nick as both writers and classic lit nerds. Also, if you’re looking for quirky band names, this is the episode for you! So, join them for the final full-length film discussion of the season—despite Jimmy From NASA’s claims of a special Godzilla vs. Kong premiere on the Island in a few weeks.
The Toku Topics are a brief history of nuclear tests and a brief history of amusement parks since both factor into this film.
We’re kicking off 2020 with the Eighth Wonder’s return to Hollywood in a film brought about by Italian producer Dino de Laurentiis. Writer/podcaster Ben Avery joins Nathan to discuss the 1976 remake of King Kong starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange, which is firmly entrenched in its time and was touted as “the most exciting original motion picture event of all time.” What’s interesting is it straddles the gritty cynicism of early ‘70s films like Dirty Harry and the more hopeful films of the late ‘70s like Star Wars (because no MIFV episode is complete without mentioning that franchise). This was the first time Nathan had seen Kong ‘76 in years, and while he didn’t like it as a teen, he softens to it thanks in part to Ben’s love of it. Their discussion also touches upon the weird love triangle between Dwan, Jack, and Kong; the great but sometimes wonky special effects; and how modern audiences may feel about the film’s climax on the World Trade Center post-9/11. The Toku Topic is the 1973 Energy Crisis since it directly influenced the filmmakers’ decision to have the characters’ expedition be about finding untapped oil reservoirs.
A podcast seeking entertainment and enlightenment through tokusatsu.
Join host/curator Nathan Marchand and his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA (who miraculously survived the infamous War in Space), as they and a rotating roster of Monster Island’s best and brightest Tourists dive deep into the films starring the Island’s most famous kaiju residents!
This is a film appreciation podcast that chronologically and critically examines films from the kaiju and tokusatsu genres. Episodes rotate between round table discussions that feature the film’s production info and an explanation of its historical and cultural contexts; and “mini-sodes” that will include interviews, comedy sketches, and audio essays, among other things. Episodes will drop the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, starting in September 2019. Listeners have a fun and fascinating journey ahead of them.
