Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record is a two volume series that examines the fight history throughout Godzilla’s film career.
Title: Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record Series
Author: Patrick Kelley
Publication Date:
Pages: Volume 1 - 309, Volume 2 - 430
Genre: Nonfiction/Reference
Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record is a two-volume series that provides a history of all the monster battles throughout the Godzilla film series. After seven decades and almost forty films, Godzilla has earned the title of King of the Monsters. The Godzilla films have showcased the King’s legendary battles with larger-than-life opponents like the three-headed King Ghidorah, the winged guardian Mothra, his robotic doppelganger Mechagodzilla, and the original giant monster star King Kong. The Monster Fight Record analyzes these titanic battles to determine an informed and accurate win-loss record for Godzilla and all of his monster co-stars. Fans of kaiju and classic science fiction films will enjoy a trip down memory lane while also getting a sports-style analysis of the monster battles, complete with statistics and win percentages for each beast.
Buy Links:
Amazon Book 1 | Amazon Book 2 | Barnes & Noble
10 Things You Might Not Know About the Godzilla: The Monster Fight
Record
1.
Work on the books began in 2020. Patrick, who had never felt compelled
to write a book before, found himself bored and filled with pent-up energy
during the COVID lockdowns. Living alone and unable to go anywhere, Patrick
passed the time by watching and rewatching the classic Godzilla movies. This
experience triggered memories of seeing a Godzilla win/loss record on the
internet back in 1996, which led him to think about a full process for
determining a record for the King of the Monsters. Simply put, if COVID didn’t
happen, then these books might not exist.
2.
The original intention for the book was to have a comprehensive scope
to include all forms of Godzilla media, including TV shows, comic books,
novels, manga, and anything else that could add to Godzilla’s overall fight
record. After looking at the full outline, Patrick determined that this scope
was so huge that it would make the finished project too long. Because of that,
only the relevant films were included in scope.
3.
The 1st draft of the manuscript was over a 1000 pages long!
After receiving critical feedback regarding the book’s length, Patrick decided
to trim some unnecessary chapters and sections of the book and then ultimately
split it into two volumes.
4.
Patrick’s goal was to have the two volumes published before the
release of the newest Godzilla film. There are two Godzilla films on the
horizon: Godzilla: Minus One, set for
release in November 2023, and Godzilla x
Kong: The New Empire, due to be released in April 2024. Patrick published
the books in August, just months before the release of Godzilla: Minus One.
5.
The scope for the book excludes the King Kong films that do not
connect to the Godzilla series. Patrick has considered writing a similar book
about Kong’s fight record but is hesitant to subject himself to rewatching the
lesser Kong films, most notably the animated musical, The Mighty Kong.
6.
In addition to the thirty-six feature length Godzilla films, the scope
of analysis includes fifteen non-Godzilla films that include his various
co-stars. This list includes Rodan, Frankenstein vs. Baragon, The War of the
Gargantuas, The Mothra Trilogy, and Kong:
Skull Island.
7.
Godzilla vs. Kong was the newest Godzilla movie included in
the scope of these books. It was also the first movie Patrick saw in theaters
after the COVID Lockdowns and was the first movie-night date with Jessica, his
then-girlfriend, now wife.
8.
Based on the analysis performed on Godzilla’s fight history for this
book, only one monster has a winning record over Godzilla.
9.
There are three forewords included in both volumes. One is by Barry
Goldberg, webmaster of classic Godzilla fan site, “Barry’s Temple of Godzilla,”
JP Lemay, author of several Godzilla books, including The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies 3 volume series, and
James Rolfe, head of Cinemassacre.com and star of the famous web series, The Angry Video Game Nerd.
10. Be sure to read the footnotes in both volumes. A lot of references,
jokes, and sidebars are found there.
Patrick Kelley was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, and is a lifelong monster movie fan. He spent his childhood becoming familiar with the classics like Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, King Kong, the works of Ray Harryhausen, and of course his favorite, Godzilla. His many other hobbies include sports (particularly Football), movies, and television, but when he’s not indulging in those activities, he enjoys spending time with his lovely wife and newborn daughter.
Visit Patrick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/patrickgbook.
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