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“King of the Monsters—Savior of Our City?” This is what a news channel chyron at the end of 2014’s Godzilla asks. The question appears on a television set in a San Francisco stadium that has been converted into a Fema camp for survivors of Godzilla’s attack on the Bay Area, which climaxed with a battle between the Big G and two Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms (MUTOs). The scale of suffering caused by these creatures, and the shrieks of terror the survivors let out when they see Godzilla rise after defeating the MUTOs and walk to the sea, tell us that the answer is “no.”

To anyone wondering who, then, is the savior of the city, the same scene provides an answer. In a sequence that mirrors countless feel-good videos shared on social media, we follow protagonist Lt. Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) in his tattered fatigues as he carries...

Over the years, Godzilla has been largely depicted as a destroyer. A living and breathing embodiment of death and destruction. The 1960s and ‘70s, however, are a notable exception. After having previously decimated Japan on more than one occasion, the iconic kaijū returned in a different capacity. Godzilla had gone from the planet’s leading ruiner to its greatest savior. This radical change now entailed Godzilla protecting humans as opposed to threatening them upon each landfall. The transformation, weird as it is, was gradual enough that fans were able to acclimate. Or, in the case of those who began their Godzilla education with these “heroic” films rather than the very first, certain G-Fans always saw Godzilla as mankind’s supreme guardian. As if turning the walking metaphor for Wmd into a hulking humanitarian wasn’t bizarre enough, Godzilla assumed an even stranger role early into his career: he was suddenly a single parent.

Welcome to the 27th installment of Page One Rewrite, where I examine genre screenplays that just couldn’t make it. This week, the cancelled follow-up to 1966's Batman: The Movie, the gloriously preposterous Batman Meets Godzilla. And if you have future suggestions, please let me know on Twitter.

The Murky Origins of an Ill-Fated Crossover

Commonly known now as Batman '66, the prime-time adaptation of DC's Caped Crusader has enjoyed a cultural footprint the character can never fully escape, in spite of numerous dark and gritty revamps. ABC placed an order for Batman expecting a mostly serious drama that would appeal to younger viewers, only for producer William Dozier to embrace pop-art camp and slapstick. Adam West's overly earnest portrayal of Batman grated on hardcore Dark Knight fans' nerves for years, but is commonly viewed now as a work of comedic genius.

A wave of "Batmania" followed the show's premiere,...

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Toho Studios were attempting to experiment to replicate the formula established in the original “Gojira” for original monster movies. Experiments ranged from “Rodan” and “The Mysterians” to “Varan the Unbelievable” and several others to varying degrees of success, finally prompting the implementation of one of the most beloved giant monsters in the studios’ canon with their all-time classic “Mothra”.

Mothra is screening at Japan Society, Friday, July 8, 2022 at 7:00 Pm

After rescuing several stranded mariners, Dr. Harada (Ken Uehara) informs reporter Fukuda (Frankie Sakai) and his photographer Michi (Kyoko Kagawa) about the survivors’ ability to return from a highly radioactive area in the South Pacific, without injury. As they claim the result is from the natives on a remote island that was long thought to have been deserted, he hooks up with Dr. Chujo (Hiroshi Koizumi) about the possibility of the story and...

Now this is what we call serendipity! In an interesting counterpoint to the recent news stories about a potential new American version of Godzilla, Trembles' Mpp this week is about Mothra. Let's just hope it doesn't give anyone any ideas about another remake!

For the uninitated, Mothra is a 1961 monster movie from Toho Studios directed by genre regular Ishirô Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. It marked the kaiju eiga debut of screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa, whose approach to the genre grew to prominence during the 1960s. The film stars Frankie Sakai, a popular comedian in Japan at the time.

Its basic plot was recycled in King Kong vs. Godzilla and Mothra vs. Godzilla (1962 and 1964, respectively, both also written by Sekizawa); nonetheless, Mothra became one of Toho's most popular monsters, appearing in seven more Godzilla films and her own trilogy in the 1990s.

Like a moth to a flame!

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