Episode 369: Godzilla, Pt. 1 (Patreon)

Godzilla is depicted in many films as a being of chaos, an unknowable and uncontrollable force beyond human control. And that perfectly describes this episode! Or rather, the production of this episode. My original hope was to have this up in advance of the new King Kong Vs. Godzilla, but folks, trying to arrange a call with four people in three different time zones across the planet is not as easy as you might think. And even once we all managed to line up our schedules, our conversation quickly broke free from the bounds of its proscribed outline and took its own course. Just like Godzilla would.

Anyway, all of this is to say that this might be the first episode of Retronauts ever in which video games go almost completely unmentioned... but it does establish the groundwork for the inevitable follow-up episode while also further laying out the origins of another earth-shaking property that has proven to be a foundational element of video games and pop culture in general. 

Don't worry, this sort of episode won't become the norm. But as we've seen time and again, only a fool would think he can manage the uncontainable fury of Godzilla... and the same goes for the Chaos Boys. Even with Diamond backing me up, there's just no controlling those guys. And it's an entertaining, informative conversation in any case, which is what we're all really here for.

Description: Jeremy Parish summons Diamond Feit, Matt Alt, and Bill Mudron to help destroy (or maybe just commemorate) all monsters with a look back at the cultural origins of the king of kaiju, Godzilla—a beast (and topic) too big for a single episode!

Cover art by John Pading; edits by Greg Leahy. 

Music this episode:

06:47 - Godzilla (1954): Storm on Odo Island

14:42 - Godzilla (1954): Godzilla Under the Sea

21:46 - Godzilla (1954): Attack Godzilla!

32:45 - Gamera March

45:17 - Godzilla (1954): Godzilla Comes Ashore

1:00:37 - Destroy All Monsters (1968): Missile Operations to Protect a Capital / Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964): Main Title

1:11:56 - King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962 Japan Version): Main Title

Closing - Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971): Ending