Godzilla’s 70th anniversary celebrated in huge new book with over 900 photos
Godzilla: The First 70 Years is a 432-page book filled with stories, interviews and photos of one of cinema’s most enduring figures
American author Steve Ryfle remembers scouring his TV guide every week to find the monster movies and horror films he loved.
“The Japanese films always appealed to me the most,” says the co-writer of the Emmy-winning 2017 documentary Miracle on 42nd Street. “They were intriguing because they took place in a world that was unfamiliar, a culture that was unfamiliar.”
Godzilla, he says, was especially captivating to a dinosaur-loving kid.
“Of course, when you’re younger, you’re into dinosaurs,” he says. “Godzilla seemed like the greatest dinosaur I’d ever seen, and it did all these crazy things, and I just loved it.”
Along with Ed Godziszewski, Ryfle is the co-author of the massive new book Godzilla: The First 70 Years, a 432-page, nearly 6lb (2.7kg) book filled with stories, interviews, breakout boxes and more than 900 photos of one of cinema’s most enduring figures.
The book, which features introductions by Halloween and The Thing directing legend John Carpenter and recurring Godzilla actress Megumi Odaka, is the culmination of an effort by publisher Harry N. Abrams and Godzilla film producer Toho Studios to mark the anniversary with the ultimate English-language book examining the narrative and visual history of the films, Ryfle says.