Return of Godzilla Archives - The Monster Island Film Vault

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! History repeats itself in both MIFV and the Godzilla franchise, because Nate is once again dedicating an episode to a heavily re-edited Americanization of a G-film “starring” Raymond Burr: the notorious Godzilla 1985. Podcaster/writer Ben Avery and YouTuber Autistic Lizard Pro, who both have nostalgic ties to this movie, join him to discuss whether Roger Corman’s New World Pictures helped or hurt The Return of Godzilla (1984) when they imported it. Spoiler warning: Nate says “hurt,” but his guests disagree! Is “Mr. Martin’s” epic speech enough to overcome the poorly-done Regan-era “joke” about evil Soviets? They ask the Legal Action Team’s Raymund Martin, who reads “Uncle Steve’s” speech. The great debate is on!

Additional Music: “Ghost Planet/Steve Martin’s Theme” by Christopher Young

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip, and Henshin Power V3!

We’d like to give a shout-out to our free MIFV MAX patrons on Patreon: Cordell Stevens, John Pannozzi, Jacob Heron, Cool Cat Videos, Bransbow, Sean Sullivan, Frankie Wolf, Russel Hale, FRIEN Jadge, Bob Hard, ArtsieSteph, Robert O’Brien, DD Chief, Kaye, Nobody, The Indiscrite One, Clayton Warden, Enigma, Dave Blanken, Patrick Greenlaw, Mikki, Josh Baughan, Shane Cochran, Francis Chopin, and Geek 3D Art.

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month! (https://www.patreon.com/monsterislandfilmvault)

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic! (https://www.teepublic.com/user/the-monster-island-gift-shop). NEW MERCH NOW AVAILABLE!

This episode is approved by the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Timestamps:

0:00-14:17: Introduction
14:17-53:29: Synopsis and Production History
53:29-1:18:06: Discussion: KOTM56 vs. Godzilla 1985
1:18:06-1:28:32: Discussion: Raymond Burr, Special Effects, Stock Footage, and New Dialogue
1:28:32-1:30:46: Raymund’s Recollections and “Uncle Steve’s” Speech
1:30:46-1:38:16: Discussion: Raymond Burr, Part 2
1:38:16-1:58:54: Discussion: The Evil Soviets and New World’s Other Changes
1:58:54-2:14:43: Discussion: “7 Things Godzilla 1985 Did Better” by Anthony Romero (Toho Kingdom)
2:14:43-2:29:36: Critical Reception and Roger Ebert’s 1-Star Review
2:29:36-2:37:14: Final Thoughts on Godzilla 1985
2:37:14-2:38:05: Culture Box Ad – Retro Rewind
2:38:05-2:56:37: Outro (listener feedback, housekeeping, etc.)
2:56:37-end: Credits

Podcast Social Media:

MIFV Linktree: https://linktr.ee/monsterislandfilmvault
Nate’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/nathan_marchand
MIFV is a member of PodNation (https://podnation.tv/)
MIFV is one of Feedspot’s top 10 tokusatsu podcasts! (https://blog.feedspot.com/tokusatsu_podcasts/)
MIFV is one of Feedspot’s top 20 monster podcasts! (https://podcasts.feedspot.com/monster_podcasts/)

www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com

#JimmyFromNASALives, #MonsterIslandFilmVault, #kaiju, #daikaiju, #giantmonsters, #godzilla, #godzilla1985

Bibliography/Further Reading:

Barr, Jason. The Kaiju Film: A Critical Study of Cinema’s Biggest Monsters. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. 2016.

Ebert, Roger. “Godzilla 1985.” RogerEbert.com. Originally published in The Chicago Sun-Times 20 Sept. 1985. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/godzilla-1985-1985.

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. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. 1994.

“Godzilla 1985.” IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087344/.

“Godzilla 1985.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_1985.

Homenick, Brett. “GODZILLA ATTACKS THE NEW WORLD! Producer Tony Randel on Bringing ‘Godzilla 1985’ to American Shores!” Vantage Point Interviews. 26 June 2018. Updated 19 March 2021. https://vantagepointinterviews.com/2018/06/26/godzilla-attacks-the-new-world-producer-tony-randel-on-bringing-godzilla-1985-to-american-shores/.

Kaijuvision Radio, Episode 22: Godzilla 1985 (US) (1985) (Asset Price Bubble, Japan Airlines Flight 123, Chernobyl). https://youtu.be/ervL-zgZAsI?si=xkhgX9EAhQVYEq9S.

Kalat, David. A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series (2^nd edition). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. 2017.

Lees, J.D. and Marc Cerasini. The Official Godzilla Compendium. Random House. 1998.

LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies, Volume 2: 1984-2017. Bicep Books, 2017.

“Return of Godzilla, The.” Toho Kingdom. https://www.tohokingdom.com/movies/return_of_godzilla.htm.

“Return of Godzilla, The.” Wikizilla. https://wikizilla.org/wiki/The_Return_of_Godzilla.

Romero, Anthony. “7 Things Godzilla 1985 Did Better Than The Return of Godzilla.” Toho Kingdom. 30 Nov. 2018. https://www.tohokingdom.com/blog/7-things-godzilla-1985-did-better-than-the-return-of-godzilla/.

Ryfle, Steve, and Ed Godziszewski. Godzilla: The First 70 Years. Abrams, New York. 2025.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Comments closed

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Nate (technically) reaches the Heisei Era of “Godzilla Redux” with The Return of Godzilla (aka “Godzilla 1984”). He’s joined by kaiju author Neil Riebe (who saw it in the theatre!) and the “unapologetic apologist” for the Heisei series, Andrew Wynja “The Ninja.” They get into how this is the only true “Cold War” G-film and offers a uniquely Japanese perspective that was almost completely lost in Roger Corman’s heavily re-edited Americanized version, Godzilla 1985. If history isn’t your thing, they also discuss the amazing special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano, Kenpachiro Satsuma’s first performance as Big G, and the incredible score by Reijiro Koroku, among other things. Strap in!