The Official Illustrated History, 1954–2024
The Official Illustrated History, 1954–2024
Godzilla: The First 70 Years is a narrative and visual history of the King of the Monsters, chronicling the triumphs, challenges, and meaning of seven decades of city-trashing, kaiju-smashing mayhem. It is also a tribute to Godzilla's creators and costars-the filmmakers, special-effects wizards, cast members, even the stuntmen inside the monster suit-and an appreciation of the behind-the-scenes artistry involved in bringing Godzilla to cinematic life, then and now.
Exclusive behind-the-scenes photography, production materials, posters, lobby cards, and collectibles will illustrate this overview of The Showa Era films (1954-1975); The Heisei Era films (1984-1998's Godzilla film produced by TriStar); the Millenium Series (1999-2004); Legendary Films's Monsterverse; and the Reiwa Era (2016-present), including the 2023 box office phenomenon Godzilla Minus One. Extensive visuals detail the different evolutions of kaiju design, as well as profile the creative contribution and SFX developments across seven decades of filmmaking and innovation. Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski are co-authors of Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film from Godzilla to Kurosawa (Wesleyan University Press, 2017), which the Times of London Literary Supplement called "a landmark work." Both are leading authorities on Japanese science fiction and fantasy cinema, and together they have recorded numerous audio commentaries for films released on Bluray and DVD. They coproduced and cowrote the feature-length documentary film Bringing Godzilla Down to Size(2008), which the Hollywood Reporter praised for its "gritty details."
