Here at The Movie Buff, we recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Mike Ross of Upstate, NY about all things Godzilla. A fan for years of Godzilla movies, Mike has amassed a vast knowledge of Godzilla, his creators, and has even organized an event titled “60 Years of Godzilla” at a local movie theatre.
Below, Mike talks with us about how he got started, his favorite Godzilla moments, and meeting some of the names behind the monster.
MOVIE BUFF: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? What got you into Godzilla in the first place?
MIKE ROSS: For almost thirty years, many hobbies have obtained my interest, such as superheroes, horror films, and wrestling. As much as I enjoy those, none of those will match my love for Godzilla.
I guess it all began with dinosaurs, even before 1993’s “Jurassic Park” was released. I’ve always been fascinated by them for some reason; then again, I don’t know of any young child doesn’t like dinosaurs at that age. I was first introduced to Godzilla not too long after my introduction to dinosaurs when I received my first toy (The Imperial 12”—which I still have to this day) that my mom brought home to me. I thought it was a unique-looking dinosaur and I asked what this thing was called, and my mom said, “Godzilla.”
Mike at a young age with his first Godzilla
Then I found out about the movies he was in. My first movie that I watched on VHS was “Godzilla 1985,” and I remember being in awe because of how incredible this thing was and the power it possessed. Eventually, I saw more of the movies as time went on; whether it is on video or watching it on TNT’s “MonsterVision” back in the nineties on television.
Godzilla has done a lot for me; he’s given me a hobby that I love and he gave me a best friend that I met in middle school.
MB: What are your thoughts on Gareth Edwards’ 2014 retread of “Godzilla?”
MR: The 2014 reboot is the second attempt at an “Americanized” Godzilla; the first one was released in 1998 under the name of “Godzilla,” but lacked the spirit, personality, and appearance of what the true Godzilla originally was. Most people refer to that one as “GINO” short for “Godzilla In Name Only” or “Zilla.” That monster is more of a representation of a giant lizard that runs from the Army and lays babies in NYC—not to mention Godzilla died way too easily after a couple missile shots.
While it made amazing money at the box office, it failed in the hearts of G-Fans acrossed the world. Even me; I was a twelve year old boy walking out of the theater saying, “Wow, this sucks!” While a sequel was in the cards, it simply never happened; but “Godzilla: The Animated Series” was released not too long after and seemed to be more popular with fans than the movie.
Still from Roland Emmerich’s “Godzilla,” 1998
I think of the movie now as an “ok” monster film, just not a Godzilla film. TOHO Studios (the company that gave us all the original Japanese films) thought it was terrible, so they rebooted the franchise with 1999’s “Godzilla 2000: Millennium.”
Zilla even had a cameo in 2004’s “Godzilla: Final Wars,” as he fought the real Godzilla, and that fight only lasted 15 seconds.
Fast forward sixteen years later, where the new Gareth Edwards movie is released. I really enjoyed the movie! Not my favorite film of the entire series, but enjoyable regardless. Going into the movie, I remember Gareth Edward’s stating that the film was gonna be based off the original 1954 “Gojira” and would be dark. As the trailers came, it looked as if Godzilla were to be ‘the bad guy;’ but as the film went on, we were all mislead, and we got the ‘defender of Earth’ version of Godzilla, which I didn’t mind.
Many fans have a problem with the 2014 reboot, such as Godzilla’s look, the characters, his enemie(s)—The MUTOs—and last, but not least: Godzilla’s screen time. Listen, I’m gonna go on the record in this interview to what I’ve told other people: I do NOT have a problem with the screen time of the title character. Why? Because if you go back and watch some of the Japanese classics, there are some films where he does not appear until halfway through the film or in the third act. The one thing I did NOT enjoy about the movie were the cut away scenes.
Godzilla in Gareth Edwards’ 2014 “Godzilla”
For example, when we see the full reveal of Godzilla when he appears in Hawaii to fight the male MUTO, it cuts right away from the action. That happens twice in the film. I thought Godzilla himself looked good, wasn’t a fan of the feet at first because they looked very elephant-like, but I’ve gotten use to the design and the face and the spines and such. But, I’ll never forget getting goosebumps when I saw Godzilla’s spines slowly lighting up. I totally forgot about his atomic ray, and the crowd went NUTS.
MB: How do you feel this movie compares to the Japanese classics?
MR: I liked the 2014 reboot, I really did, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the original Japanese series. I mean, when we have 28 Japanese films (29 in July 2016), it’s hard to compare. We live in an age where CGI runs rapid and old school SFX are practically dead. The thing that I loved about the originals were that you had stunt men who played Godzilla and the other monsters in rubber suits who practically put their sweat, blood, and tears into making the best film possible. Not to mention the crew at TOHO, who used practical effects such as miniatures and sets. The original movies had heart.
MB: I know this is probably a hard question, but what is your favorite “Godzilla” movie of all time?
MR: See, lately this has been a hard one to answer. Normally, I would say “Godzilla vs. Biollante” is my all time favorite. Yet, at the same time, my very first Godzilla film I saw as a kid was “Godzilla 1985” and I love that movie to death as well.
I guess I love them equally 🙂
I’ll never forget getting goosebumps when I saw Godzilla’s spines slowly lighting up. I totally forgot about his atomic ray, and the crowd went NUTS.”
MB: We’ve heard that you recently hosted a “60 Years of Godzilla” event at the Marquee Theatre in New Hartford, NY. Can you tell us a little about this event? How did it get started? Did it draw many people?
MB: The “60 years of Godzilla” event at the Marquee Cinema in New Hartford was one of the many events I’ve hosted around the area. I had a friend, Billy Bassett, who was a manager at the theater during the time, and asked if I’d be interested in doing something for the release of the film. Naturally, I said “Hell yeah!” So, I started brain storming some ideas of what I could do.
The only thing that I was restricted from doing was “selling” items at the show. So, what I came up with was to bring a majority of my personal Godzilla collection for display purposes and set them up on two tables in front of the large cardboard “Godzilla” theater display, and a TV set up with the old movies playing and we gave away prizes. Every hour we did Godzilla trivia, and gave away toys and movies, but the grand prize was a lottery drawing for a gigantic Jakks Pacific Godzilla 2014, which was won by two kids. The lottery drawing and prizes drew an amazing crowd. It did so well that I was given EVERY Godzilla poster (standard size and gigantic) in stock as well as the enourmous cardboard cut out letters for the movie.
MB: How many Godzilla collectibles do you have? What got you interested in these?
MR: Well, I wouldn’t be able to give out an exact number of all the memorabilia I have, I guess you’ll have to just check out the pictures below haha. My collection ranges from figures, movies, books, movie posters, soundtracks, models, video games, autographs, etc. Hell, even a toilet paper holder, haha!
Still shot of Mike’s Godzilla collection
As a gigantic nerd of the fandom, I guess it comes with the category. Certain fandoms, such as “Star Wars,” all have gigantic collectors, so this is no different. Just to think that it all began with my very first 12” Imperial toy back when I was a young kid, and then it just took off from there pretty much.
Not long after my Imperial, I was introduced to the “Bandai” figures, which are the authentic Japanese toys. I found these toys at a small toy shop at the time and my mom and grandma ended up buying me most of them, in which, years later I ended up selling them for dirt cheap (which I regret doing to this day). Trendmasters came out with their toy line in the early ’90s, which I thought were awesome for what they were, and I collected them. These days, you have vinyl figures that are very stylized and detailed to be “screen accurate.” The popular figures of today would include company lines such as X-Plus, Marmit, and S.H. MonsterArts.
There was a LONG period before I started collecting Godzilla toys again. In 2011, my best friend Joe Astalfa (RIP) and I went to our very first G-Fest. G-Fest is a convention held in Rosemont, IL each July, and is the biggest (and only) Godzilla convention in the United States.
That’s when I started collecting again. I did not anticipate bringing car loads of Kaiju memorabilia home each year; it’s become more of a tradition each year coming home from G-Fest.
Many people ask what my most prized possession is in my collection, and I would have to say that it is the “R/C MechaGodzilla 1974.” The figure is simply amazing! Just watch the video!
Mike being choked by Varan at the G-Fest convention in Illinois.
I’ve become to be known as “The Vinyl Vigilante” because of how much Kaiju memorabilia I own and how much I buy. I’m a Godzilla fan, hate it or love it, I practically buy anything that looks appealing to me. Eventually, I would like to start my own YouTube series just talking about Godzilla.
MB: For the “Godzilla” lay person, can you explain what a Kaiju is? Is Godzilla a Kaiju?
MR: In Japanese, Kaiju means “Strange beast.” Which also translates to “Giant Monster,” which is what Godzilla is. The term “Kaiju” has also been introduced the the main stream American audience because of 2013’s “Pacific Rim.”
MB: Movies like “Planet of the Apes,” “Terminator,” and even “Godzilla” are often looked at as cautionary tales for unchecked scientific advancement. Do you think “Godzilla” is a cautionary tale? What do you think the films are cautioning us against?
MR: Unlike “Planet of the Apes” and “Terminator,” the original Godzilla film is supposed to be a true haunting tale of horrific events that took place after the Atomic Bomb testings, Godzilla being the metaphor for mankind’s mistakes that they created.
MB: We know you are a fan of “Godzilla” costume design/special effects. Have you met anyone from the movies in this area? Can you tell us who your favorites were? What was your experience with them?
MR: I’ve met the majority of people who’ve played in “Godzilla” movies. Haruo Nakajima was the original stunt man who played in the Godzilla suit a total of twelve times. Kenpachiro Satsuma played Godzilla from 1984-1995. Finally, Tsutumo Kitagawa who played Godzilla from 1999-2004, minus 2001. I’ve also met famous names such as Akira Takarada, Koichi Kawakita (RIP), Hiroshi Koizumi (RIP), Bin Furuya (Ultraman!), Kenji Sahara…the list keeps going. The Japanese guests that I’ve met at conventions, whether it be at G-Fest, Monster Mania, or even Chiller Theater, are ALWAYS pleasant to meet.
MB: Godzilla has certainly come up against many dangerous adversaries in his time. What do you think his greatest challenge was?
‘Godzilla’ movies had always been hit or miss when it came to the box office. It seemed like towards the end of each era of ‘Godzilla’ films, the box office of each film seemed to dwindle down and then put Godzilla into hiatus.”
MR: This is a three part answer. Monster wise: most people would say the three headed monster “King Ghidorah.” Even though King Ghidorah is probably his most popular adversary, I am gonna go ahead and say the original “MechaGodzilla” gave him a run for his money back in the seventies. Himself: Godzilla eventually consumed way too much radiation over the years, finally killing himself in 1995’s “Godzilla vs. Destoroyah” when he appeared in Hong Kong, glowing bright orange and ending up melting down. Finally, Box Office: “Godzilla” movies had always been hit or miss when it came to the box office. It seemed like towards the end of each era of “Godzilla” films, the Box Office of each film seemed to dwindle down and then put Godzilla into hiatus.
MB: What are your thoughts on the future of Godzilla?
Still from “Destroy All Monsters”
MR: We are living in a time where Godzilla is back, and popular more than ever before. Yes, it is true that Gareth Edward’s has been reported to return for the sequel to 2014’s “Godzilla” after doing his “Star Wars” spin off. At San Diego Comic Con in 2014, it was revealed that classic foes such as “King Ghidorah,” “Mothra,” and “Rodan” would appear either in the next movie or two.
Not to mention, it’s officially been announced that Godzilla will have a “rematch” with King Kong in 2020, which fans are left itching their head. Because, back in 1962, Godzilla and Kong fought for the very first time, and during that era, it worked. People now are wondering how it’s gonna work because Godzilla is 330+ft tall and Kong is like….30ft-50ft tall (depending on the movie you watch). So, it’ll be interesting to see what they pull off.
Right now, as we talk… we still have quite a few years for “Godzilla 2” in 2018, and “Godzilla vs. King Kong” in 2020. The 2014 reboot made Godzilla popular again, hence, revitalizing the Japanese Godzilla series. TOHO has once again resurrected Godzilla for 2016, called “Shin Gojira,” which translates to True (or New) Godzilla. It has been given the international title of “Godzilla Resurgence” and a teaser poster and a trailer have been released, promising that Godzilla would go back to his original roots. The Japanese tag line reads “Japan against Godzilla.”
Shinji Higuchi, who is most notorious for directing 2015’s “Attack on Titan” and being the SFX director for the ’90s Gamera trilogy, he promised to give the scariest Godzilla yet, something made from your nightmares. It is also co-directed by Hideaki Anno, who directed the “Evangelion” films. The new Godzilla design is based on the original 1954 design and will be a combination of CGI and Suitmation. “Godzilla Resurgence” will be released July 29th, 2016, and at the moment, I am planning on being in Japan and seeing it.
