Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record is a two volume series that examines the fight history throughout Godzilla’s film career.
Title: Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record Series
Author: Patrick Kelley
Publication Date:
Pages: Volume 1 – 309, Volume 2 – 430
Genre: Nonfiction/Reference
Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record is a two-volume series that provides a history of all the monster battles
throughout the Godzilla film series. After seven decades and almost forty films, Godzilla has earned the title of King of the Monsters. The Godzilla films have showcased the King’s legendary battles with larger-than-life opponents like the three-headed King Ghidorah, the winged guardian Mothra, his robotic doppelganger Mechagodzilla, and the original giant monster star King Kong. The Monster Fight Record analyzes these titanic battles to determine an informed and accurate win-loss record for Godzilla and all of his monster co-stars. Fans of kaiju and classic science fiction films will enjoy a trip down memory lane while also getting a sports-style analysis of the monster battles, complete with statistics and win percentages for each beast.
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Book Excerpt
Why Godzilla?
What images come to mind when you think of your favorite childhood movies? Some of you might recall specific moments and characters from the films you grew up with, but is your love of those movies so deeply entrenched that even the opening vanity logo is enough to elicit a rush of pure, nostalgic joy? Many adults my age might picture the simple white castle against the blue background and hear the comforting tune for “When You Wish Upon a Star” swell up before the words “Walt Disney Pictures” are revealed. While I do seem like a contrarian from time to time, I must admit that it is hard not to get swept up in the magic of seeing that classic vanity card. Disney’s logo began many childhood journeys of wonder, comedy, and fantasy for me. However, there is another cinematic logo I place above it. This logo holds a special place in my heart that not even the Walt Disney Company could ever occupy.
東宝: Imagine those characters surrounded by a bold white circle illuminated by a bright spectrum of colorful rays of light against a predominantly blue backdrop. It was the emblem of Toho Company, Ltd., and seeing that logo prepared me for what I was going to witness: bizarre, larger-than-life creatures; giant irradiated dinosaurs rising from the ocean depths; alien cyborgs coming to invade the Earth; multiheaded flying dragons raining down lightning bolts from the skies; and powerful gods and goddesses of ancient myth carrying out their age-old rivalries in a world unprepared to handle them. I was about to see monsters! Best of all, there was a great chance I was about to see another adventure starring the greatest of them all, Godzilla, the King of the Monsters.
Before continuing, I should point out that Toho isn’t limited to producing monster movies. Over the years, the studio made comedies, romances, and historical dramas, including some from famed director Akira Kurosawa. However, I can’t help but think of Godzilla as the icon of the studio, like Mickey Mouse is for Disney. My love for the Godzilla character, series, and franchise transformed into a near-lifelong hobby. Some of the most cherished moments of my childhood revolved around discovering, watching, and rewatching the King’s classic movies.
It was not always easy having Godzilla as a passion. Being an American fan before the age of the internet meant that finding all those movies was hard to accomplish. Whether scouring through TV Guides or going through the shelves of old local video stores, my self-imposed scavenger hunt was exhausting at times. However, the search yielded its rewards more often than not.
10 Things You Might Not Know About the Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record
- Work on the books began in 2020. Patrick, who had never felt compelled to write a book before, found himself bored and filled with pent-up energy during the COVID lockdowns. Living alone and unable to go anywhere, Patrick passed the time by watching and rewatching the classic Godzilla movies. This experience triggered memories of seeing a Godzilla win/loss record on the internet back in 1996, which led him to think about a full process for determining a record for the King of the Monsters. Simply put, if COVID didn’t happen, then these books might not exist.
- The original intention for the book was to have a comprehensive scope to include all forms of Godzilla media, including TV shows, comic books, novels, manga, and anything else that could add to Godzilla’s overall fight record. After looking at the full outline, Patrick determined that this scope was so huge that it would make the finished project too long. Because of that, only the relevant films were included in scope.
- The 1st draft of the manuscript was over a 1000 pages long! After receiving critical feedback regarding the book’s length, Patrick decided to trim some unnecessary chapters and sections of the book and then ultimately split it into two volumes.
- Patrick’s goal was to have the two volumes published before the release of the newest Godzilla film. There are two Godzilla films on the horizon: Godzilla: Minus One, set for release in November 2023, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, due to be released in April 2024. Patrick published the books in August, just months before the release of Godzilla: Minus One.
- The scope for the book excludes the King Kong films that do not connect to the Godzilla series. Patrick has considered writing a similar book about Kong’s fight record, but is hesitant to subject himself to rewatching the lesser Kong films, most notably the animated musical, The Mighty Kong.
- In addition to the thirty-six feature length Godzilla films, the scope of analysis includes fifteen non-Godzilla films that include his various co-stars. This list includes Rodan, Frankenstein vs. Baragon, The War of the Gargantuas, The Mothra Trilogy, and Kong: Skull Island.
- Godzilla vs. Kong was the newest Godzilla movie included in the scope of these books. It was also the first movie Patrick saw in theaters after the COVID Lockdowns and was the first movie-night date with Jessica, his then-girlfriend, now wife.
- Based on the analysis performed on Godzilla’s fight history for this book, only one monster has a winning record over Godzilla.
- There are three forewords included in both volumes. One is by Barry Goldberg, webmaster of classic Godzilla fansite, “Barry’s Temple of Godzilla,” JP Lemay, author of several Godzilla books, including The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies 3 volume series, and James Rolfe, head of Cinemassacre.com and star of the famous web series, The Angry Video Game Nerd.
- Be sure to read the footnotes in both volumes. A lot of references, jokes, and sidebars are found there.
Patrick Kelley was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, and is a lifelong monster movie fan. He spent his childhood becoming familiar with the classics like Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, King Kong, the works of Ray Harryhausen, and of course his favorite, Godzilla. His many other hobbies include sports (particularly Football), movies, and television, but when he’s not indulging in those activities, he enjoys spending time with his lovely wife and newborn daughter.
Visit Patrick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/patrickgbook.
Looks cool