Happy Birthday, Godzilla!

                       The Birthday Project: Episode 11: HbG

What does one get Godzilla for his birthday?! Doesn’t he have everything?

                    This project is an ongoing one on my family blog where I celebrate the birthdays of family members and friends. I figured I'd include Godzilla in the mix!

💚Happy Birthday Godzilla!💚

I was first introduced to Godzilla as a 7th grader. We met during the 4:30 Movie’s “Monster Week,” and we’ve been friends ever since. I’ve always supported him and understood him when many people who were trying to exterminate him did not. It wasn’t always clear if he was here to help us or harm us, but I was always on his side. I don’t always agree with his actions (those poor people on those trains), but I do think that he’s here to help in some way or another. Not his fault he was awoken by an atomic blast. That’s on us. 

Let’s take a look at how I celebrated the O.G.’s day!

🎬Movie Time🎬

 

I knew which four films I was going to screen in honor of the big guy today, the only question was the order in which I would watch them. I finally decided to go reverse chronological order.

My “Godzilla Expert” helped me design a rubric with which to score all of the Godzilla films as part of a much larger project that may be ready by the end of next year. I tried the rubric out with these four films and it worked quite well! More on that later…

Movie #1: Shin Godzilla (2016)

Over the years, Godzilla has exhibited an array of weaponry that varies from film to film. This is referred to as “Godzilla Flair” in the rubric. Shin Godzilla has so much flair, he could work at a T.G.I.F.

The G-Man has an underlying red to him for most of this. He also pukes some kind of napalm that incinerates the city. That napalm then changes to a blue laser. Added blue lasers emit from his back scales. Just as destructive. Nice touch. 

I did think he was showboating when he had the laser come out of his tail as well.

“Deploy all train bombs! Do it now!”

“This is going to be disastrous.”

Movie #2: Godzilla (2014)

When I first saw this movie when it came out, I remember being underwhelmed by it. Then it showed up rather highly ranked on a few Godzilla lists, so I thought I’d give it another chance. It failed.

A majority of this movie is darker than a pocket. It’s so annoying when you can’t tell one kaiju from another! I understand that some CGI requires a darker screen to work, but it doesn’t make it any less annoying. 

The bad guys in this one are MUTOs, and they are super creepy. It was great fun watching them tear up Las Vegas. Kaiju should target Vegas more often. 

Movie #3: Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

When hearing that Godzilla is on his way to Tokyo, the Prime Minister exasperatingly says, “Couldn’t he have picked another country? Why always here?” Self-awareness points there.

This movie is also highly rated on the overall Godzilla list (36 movies and counting), but I never like the ones that set up Godzilla as the bad guy. He’s the bad guy in this. I don’t buy all that Mothra hero stuff. 

Decent flair though, blue glowing scales that lead up to a blue menthol-like flame breath. 

“What the hell is going on? It’s like a monster convention around here!” Well put, Mr. Prime Minister!

Movie #4: Godzilla (1954)

“Oh, no. There goes Tokyo,” as Blue Oyster Cult once said…

No Godzilla celebration would be complete without a screening of the O.G. Goji! 

It’s the first, and it’ll always be the best. This is no mere kaiju movie. This is a political movie, an allegory, an environmental movie, and…well it IS a kaiju movie! 

The signature Godzilla roar unleashed over the opening credits remains one of my favorite cinematic moments. 

🥡What’s on the MENU?!?!🥡

We went takeout from Feng Shui for the O.G.’s birthday meal!

Scallion pancake, spicy edamame, gyoza, shumai, and spicy volcano roll! Everything was delicious! Kudos, Feng Shui!

A signature cocktail was created for the occasion!

The “Gojira O.G.!”

That’s green goodness fruit juice (🥝🍍🍌🥭🍏) with white rum and vodka. Fresh kiwi as a “Godzilla Eye” garnish. You can’t really notice, but it’s in my etched Godzilla pint glass!

I hope you had a good day, old (very old) friend! Already looking forward to celebrating again next year with a new assortment of treats!

This version of Jenga should have the block explode when they fall. Just an idea. Like melting the facilities in the Godzilla Monopoly game. Missed opportunities, people!