Hello, Kaiju Lovers! “Godzilla Redux” kicks off with not one but two “gatekeepers” in the kaiju fandom: Jack “GMan” Hudgens and Elijah Thomas (Kaiju Conversation). They along with Nate spend nearly four hours(!) talking about why they effing love the final Showa series film, Terror of Mechagodzilla. It was Nate and Elijah’s first G-film and is one of Jack’s perennial favorites. While many regard it as Ishiro Honda’s weakest Godzilla film and barely give it more credit than the rest of the 1970s G-films, your hosts unpack a laundry list of deep themes and potent symbols. They sing the praises of the wonderful script by Yukiko Takayama (the only woman to write a full Godzilla screenplay), the exciting explosions of Teruyoshi Nakano (who considered this some of his best work), the grossly underrated kaiju Titanosaurus, and the nuanced performance of Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Mafune, among many other things. No stone is left unturned in this epic discussion! Then in the most entertaining Patreon shout-outs segment ever of all time, a certain Mr. Trump (by way of Elijah) appears….
Additional Music: “Main Title [Terror of Mechagodzilla]” by Akira Ifukube
“Meister Titano’s Counterattack”: https://www.tohokingdom.com/blog/2075-meister-titanos-counterattack-story-translation/
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, and Francis Chopin.
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:
- Introduction: 0:00-18:25
- Main Discussion (synopsis, background, analysis): 18:25-3:44:22
- Culture Box Ad (Geek Devotions): 3:44:22-3:45:29
- Outro (listener feedback and housekeeping): 3:45:29-3:58:34
- Credits: 3:58:34-end
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, #Podcast, #kaiju, #MIFV, #Godzilla, #GodzillaRedux, #TerrorofMechagodzilla
© 2025, 2026 Moonlighting Ninjas Media
Bibliography/Further Reading:
- Barr, Jason. The Kaiju Film: A Critical Study of Cinema’s Biggest Monsters. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. 2016.
- Brothers, Peter H. Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda. AuthorHouse, 2009.
- Commentary by Keith Aikan and Bob Thomas (Classic Media DVD).
- 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.
- Kalat, David. A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series (2nd 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 1: 1954-1982 (2nd edition). Bicep Books, 2017.
- LeMay, John. Writing Japanese Monsters. Bicep Books. 2020.
- Ryfle, Steve, and Ed Godziszewski. Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press, 2017.
- Skipper, Graham. Godzilla: The Official Guide to the King of the Monsters. Welbeck Publishing Group. 2022.
- “Terror of Mechagodzilla.” IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073373/.
- “Terror of Mechagodzilla.” Toho Kingdom. https://www.tohokingdom.com/movies/terror_of_mechagodzilla.htm.
- “Terror of Mechagodzilla.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_of_Mechagodzilla.
- “Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975).” Wikizilla. https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Terror_of_Mechagodzilla.
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Episode 97: ‘Godzilla vs. Gigan’ | Ft. Daniel DiManna | Godzilla Redux
Hello, Kaiju Lovers! In the longest MIFV episode ever (of all time), Nate is joined by Daniel DiManna of the Godzilla Novelization Project (no surprise why it’s long) to discuss the most underestimated of G-films: Godzilla vs. Gigan (aka Godzilla on Monster Island). They discuss every possible aspect of this film, from its under-funded production to its quirky yet iconic dub and everything in between—and we do mean everything. But the most surprising part of this epic episode is Nate and Danny’s discussion of the historical context in which it was made—a time of market penetration by foreign corporations and the explosion of the popularity of theme parks—the fascinating unmade drafts of its script written by both Shinichi Sekizawa and Takeshi Kimura, and the brilliant meta commentary it makes on Godzilla as a pop culture icon. “There’s something funny going on” in today’s episode of MIFV!
Here’s the Sekizawa and Kimura panel Danny and I hosted at G-Fest 2019: https://youtu.be/D3fROnC-Sso?si=SJjlQ5kie_XYuDRA.
Jimmy’s Notes on this episode COMING SOON!
Additional Music:
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 MIFV MAX patrons Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, Ted Williams, Wynja the Ninja, Christopher Riner, The Indiscrite One, Eli Harris, Jake Hambrick, Matt Walsh (but not that Matt Walsh), Jonathan Courtright, Leon Campbell, and Michael Watson! Thanks for your support!
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:
Podcast Social Media:
www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com
#JimmyFromNASALives #MonsterIslandFilmVault #GodzillaRedux #Godzilla #GodzillaVsGigan #kaiju
© 2024 Moonlighting Ninjas Media
Bibliography/Further Reading:
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