memories of Godzilla vs the Thing (1964

after posting two articles about Gamera (sorta, I know) I realized I had not written a thing (pun intended) about Godzilla at all. so I am rectifying that right now, with the best Godzilla movie ever made. not my favorite, but it's the best one- acting, effects, music, even the dubbing is all top notch here.

however, let me tell you a little story. I believe the first time I saw this was in about 1978. odd to some as it may seem, back when I was a kid there was no video on demand. it was up the gods as to what movies you would see. I was in WV when this showed up in the tv guide. the capsule review promised "four super monsters battling for world domination". I knew from pictures Mothra would be in the movie, but two more monsters? how great would that be?
in 1976 I saw Godzilla vs Megalon, which also had four titanic beings battling. it's funny now, but that's the kind of Godzilla movie I thought they ALL were. I was ready for a monster bash that Saturday afternoon! I also knew Godzilla would probably be the villain, but wasn't sure just yet. at age 11, I definitely preferred my Godzilla as hero.

For reasons that escape me now, I came in about a half an hour late. regrettable, but still it was better than nothing. who knew when I would get to see this movie again?

so I watched, enjoyed Godzilla and the effects. and I waited for two other monsters to show up. and waited. then... with Mothra dead, the Shobijin hatched the egg and two grubs appeared. grubs? GRUBS? these are the last two titanic super monsters?

now I know it's the tv guide that lied to me, but then I was extremely disappointed. how could anyone think grubs (larvae) were any kind of monster, Mothra's offspring or not? and how could they be a match for this rather evil incarnation of Godzilla?

OK, so they worked it out pretty well. but by the end of the movie I was far from satisfied. I don't think I saw the movie again for about ten years or so, on cable. I liked it more then, since I got to watch all of it, and was a bit older. it came out on VHS not long after that.

now, with the perspective of knowing more about the movie than I ever thought I would, I can recognize it for the work of art it actually is. it's still not my favorite Godzilla OR Mothra movie, but I do enjoy it a lot.

and it will always be Godzilla vs the Thing to me, no matter what Toho or anyone else says (is it redundant to say 87% of user comments on IMdB are ridiculous?).