Saturday Night at the Movies 8/4/12!

Before we get down to business - I would like to take a moment to announce that this is:

The 450th Post for Let's Get Out of Here!

Huzzah!



Who cares what picture we see?


Well, we can always get a few shots of Raymond Burr saying he does and stick them in, so let's pick this one:

(Weirdly, this is from a TV airing - but it's the trailer I best remember.)

After the original Godzilla film series came to an end in the 70's, the biggest movie star of all languished in forced retirement. It took several years - but eventually in 1984 Toho Studios brought the Big G back in a serious followup to the original classic called The Return of Godzilla. A year after that New World Pictures brought that movie over for American release; retitled it Godzilla 1985; and in a wild case of deja vu - they decided to bring Raymond Burr back as the same reporter character for some new scenes that were dotted into the movie - just like the original Godzilla!

One funny side note - in the original movie Burr's character was named Steve Martin - in the 1950's a good American name with no other connotations - but in the mid 80's one that made you think he might be a "wild and crazy guy!" So in Godzilla 1985 they stick to calling him Mr. Martin for the most part - though there might be a Steven in there - but they never actually call him Steve Martin.

Let's throw in a couple of extras here too - one of the ways New World Pictures was able to finance the new sequences shot for their release was to get Toho to agree to license Godzilla to an American soft drink company for cross promotion.


Here's what aired on TV around the time of the movie's release:

And here's another one of those commercials:

I did say cross promotion - so here's how the deal worked in the other direction - here's a quick clip of one of the new scenes shot for Godzilla 1985:

(And that isn't the only screen time for the Dr. Pepper machine either - it pops up a few more times, and I think I remember Raymond Burr being brought a refreshing beverage from it at one point.)


I got to see this movie in the theater - my first Godzilla flick on the Big Screen - and it was awesome, especially with the goofy new footage sticking out like a sore thumb. I would love to have a big Blu-Ray special edition with the original Japanese version and the American one on the same disc - but until then I have my trusty old VHS ready to roll if you'd like to come take a look at it with me - even this evening!



Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!