Une commémoration épique du 70e anniversaire de Godzilla, explorant tous les aspects de la création, de la conception et de l’évolution du Roi des Monstres dans les films et les séries télévisées des studios Toho, de 1954 à aujourd’hui. Godzilla : The First 70 Years est une histoire narrative et visuelle du roi des monstres japonais, qui retrace les triomphes, les défis et la signification de sept décennies de destruction de villes et de destruction de kaiju. C’est aussi un hommage aux créateurs et aux acteurs de Godzilla - les cinéastes, les magiciens des effets spéciaux, les acteurs, et même les cascadeurs dans le costume du monstre - et une appréciation de l’art en coulisses qui a permis de donner vie à Godzilla au cinéma, hier et aujourd’hui. Des images détaillées montrent l’évolution de la conception des kaiju, ainsi que la contribution créative et les développements des effets spéciaux au cours de sept décennies de cinéma exceptionnel et d’innovation. Photographies exclusives des coulisses, documents de production, affiches et photos d’exploitation pré- sentent : • The Showa Era films (1954–1975) • The Heisei Era films (1984–1995) • The Millennium Series (1999–2004) • Animated works • Shin Godzilla (Japan’s Picture of the Year, 2016) • Academy Award–winning 2023 box-office phenomenon Godzilla Minus One
Steve Ryfle is coauthor, with Ed Godziszewski, of
Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. His writing has been published in
Cineaste,
Criterion Current,
TheLos Angeles Times, the
Virginia Quarterly Review,
Zyzzyva, and other publications, and he has contributed audio commentaries, essays, and other material to numerous home-video releases. He is cowriter, with Joal Ryan, of the documentary feature film
Miracle on 42nd Street, which won the 2020 New York Emmy Award for Best Documentary. He is also coproducer and cowriter, with Ed Godziszewski, of the documentary feature film
Bringing Godzilla Down to Size.
Ed Godziszewski is coauthor, with Steve Ryfle, of
Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. He is the longtime editor-in-chief and publisher of the independent genre magazine
Japanese Giants and was an original contributor to
Fangoria magazine. He has contributed audio commentaries and other materials to numerous home video releases, and is coproducer and cowriter, with Steve Ryfle, of the documentary feature film
Bringing Godzilla Down to Size.
John Carpenter has brought to the screen some of the most popular and influential films in history, beginning with his 1978 breakthrough,
Halloween. He directed such horror classics as
The Thing,
The Fog,
Christine and
In the Mouth of Madness, as well as
Assault on Precinct 13, Escape from New York and
Escape from L.A., the Oscar-nominated
Starman,
Big Trouble in Little China,
Village of the Damned,
Vampires,
Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Ghosts of Mars, and
The Ward. Carpenter is the recipient of dozens of awards and honors, including the Le Carrosse D'Or (Golden Coach), from the French Directors Guild during the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, and lifetime achievement honors from the Bram Stoker Awards, the Online Film Critics Society, and the Saturn Awards (George Pal Memorial Award).
Megumi Odaka portrayed psychic Miki Saegusa in six consecutive films, from 1989's
Godzilla vs. Biollante through 1995's
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. As Miki, Ms. Odaka has made the most appearances and had the greatest longevity of any character in the Godzilla film series. A former idol, singer, and actress, Ms. Odaka won the Japan Academy Film Prize for Newcomer of the Year for her debut in
Princess from the Moon (1987) opposite Toshiro Mifune. She retired from acting in 2000.
Shogo Tomiyama originally joined Toho in the film promotion department, eventually assuming the role of film producer. Tomiyama assisted Tomoyuki Tanaka on the Godzilla series starting with
Godzilla vs. Biollante in 1989 and eventually succeeded Tanaka as executive producer for all of Toho's science-fiction and monster films through 2004's
Godzilla Final Wars. He also served as president of Toho Pictures from 2004-10.
