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Since the very first dai kaiju eiga, GODZILLA (1954), made its way across the Pacific to U.S. shores, the Japanese originals have rarely made it to America in their original forms. The most famous example of all will always be GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS! (1956) which removed nearly forty minutes of the original footage and replaced it with twenty minutes worth of new scenes starring Raymond Burr (PERRY MASON). The same fate befell many other Japanese monster movies such as ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN (1955) which became HALF HUMAN starring John Carradine (HOUSE OF DRACULA), and GAMERA (1965) which became GAMMERA, THE INVINCIBLE (1966) starring Brian Donlevy (QUARTERMASS 2). Or, if new actors weren't interjected into the films, they might be re-edited and re-scored like GIGANTIS, THE FIRE MONSTER (1959) or GHIDRAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER (1965). This exhaustive filmography analyzes and examines the changes made to over 50 Japanese monster movies exported to America. See GAS HUMAN BEING NO.1 (1960) take on THE HUMAN VAPOR (1964)! See the MIGHTY PEKING MAN (1977) battle GOLIATHON (1980)! Ask yourself, what's more destructive, SUBMERSION OF JAPAN (1973) or TIDAL WAVE (1975)? And, just how much more frightening is LEGEND OF DINOSAURS AND MONSTER BIRDS compared to THE "LEGEND OF DINOSAURS"?
About the author
John LeMay is the author of over a dozen titles on Film History and Southwestern History.
