In Memoriam Haruo Nakajima (1929-2017) A horned salute to the man inside the Gojira suit for most of the Showa series of films (from 1954-1972). Nakajima took his work seriously, having studied the movements of large animals in Japanese zoos before striding onscreen as the King of the Monsters in Ishiro Honda’s GOJIRA (1954). The first master of suitmation acting, he had to carefully gauge his movements as they were shot faster than usual so they would appear slower and thus seem to indicate greater mass when the footage was screened at normal 24 fps. Effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya was […]
toho
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On November 3, 1954, Toho released this dark anti-nuclear parable that would become the foundation of a lasting series of films ranging from the serious to the silly. Thanks to Gareth Edwards, Gojira has been resurrected once again to serve as a metaphorical warning concerning mankind’s hubris and rash disrespect for our planet’s ecosystem that could lead to the destruction of our species as well as many others. I celebrate the continuing legacy of the King of the Monsters, a potent archetype that lumbers through the consciousness of many, a cross-cultural behemoth who should goad us towards more responsible behavior, […]