CD Review: The Best of Godzilla 1954 - 1975

This nicely made collection of music from the "Showa Era" of the Godzilla series spans from the very first Godzilla movie to Terror of MechaGodzilla. Most of the music is composed by Godzilla regulars Akira Ifukube and Masaru Satoh. I was pleasantly surprised to find that "All Monsters Attack" was written by Kunio Miyauchi, known for his work on "Ultra-Q" and the original "Ultraman" series.

Akira Ifukube's scores have a very traditional orchestra sound, while all of the other composers have more of a then-contemporary sound. Ifukube's scores have a timeless quality to them when compared to the other scores. It's easy to hear his "voice" evolve from the first Godzilla film (which sounds like it has a much smaller orhestra than the later ones) to the last film on this CD. Besides creating the Godzilla theme heard on a number of tracks, I also like this wailing jazzy-brass motif first heard in the track for "Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster" (at about the 1:24 point) and later in "Destroy All Monsters" and "Terror of MechaGodzilla" cues.

With the music are some sound effects which give this album a genuine Godzilla feel to it. It also comes with a nice booklet with the full track listing, descriptions of all of the Godzilla movies featured in the collection, and some background information. It even has the lyrics to the Mothra's Song, performed by the Peanuts. So now, you too can sing along. There's also a bonus track by Neil Norman and his Cosmic Orchestra.

The only bad thing is that this album skips over "Godzilla VS the Sea Monster." Joe Sena, the producer and liner notes writer, remarks that it is "an unremarkable score." I personally would like to decide that for myself. The movie's even skipped over in the movie summaries! The least they could have done was put one track on the CD. The other thing is that it's a very uneven selection. Some movies get four to six tracks while others only get one track.

But petty complaints aside, it is a great introduction to Godzilla music and while it was made to cash in on the then-impending 1998 American Godzilla movie, it's professionally done and great fun to listen to. B+

TV Review: Ultraman Max Episode One

I got a chance to see the first episode of the new Ultraman Max series during the "Ultramania" festival in California this weekend. The series, at least the first episode, is the anti-Nexus: kid-friendly and a cookie cutter plotline. You can tell who will become Ultraman the minute you meet him: a young twentysomething guy who does volunteer work and likes rescuing kids from rampaging monsters. You'd also be able to guess the love interest pretty quickly. (Hint: the only female member of DASH.)

It was neat that this Ultraman hails from the famous Nebula M-78. It's been a long time since we've seen an Ultraman come from there. I've already discussed my feelings on his design, but he is cool to look at when Max springs into action. The battle between Max and the two kaijus is way too short, and Max already resorts to his signature move to destroy both monsters, which while I'm not a huge fan of "hand waving" is a little lackluster.

While there's a couple hiccups in the plot, "Hey, I suddenly mention that I took an entrance exam to DASH last week and can now fly the ship," it was still pretty enjoyable. All those disspointed kaiju fans who gave up on Nexus will have plenty of reasons to to love this series. While I enjoyed watching the episode, I'm not overly thrilled with it, so that makes it about a... C+

Daredevil 2?

Now that the creature known as Bennifer 2 has married itself, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are said to both want to make a Daredevil 2, since it was on the set of this movie (Well, Daredevil 1) that they met and become the focus of a gazillon tabloids. I have mixed feelings since neither Daredevil (or its Director's Cut) or Elektra were that great, but the hope of a better Daredevil movie gives me strength. Unforunately, this means that Ben Affleck can't be in the sequel...

Ultraman Nexus Soundtrack Review

Click on the picture to jump over to the Godzilla Monster Music web site and read my review of the second volume of Kenji Kawai's Ultraman Nexus score. Here's a hint: I liked it.