Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

by Toho Co. Ltd

"A stunning art book... Lavish with illustrations and praise" – Library Journal



Known as the 'King of the Monsters', Godzilla is one of the most famous creatures the cinema has ever known.



The Ultimate illustrated Guide unites fascinating information and stunning imagery from more than 60 years of movie mayhem to show off the Earth's most enduring monster as never before.



This book is the ultimate illustrated reference work to all things Godzilla, from the early days in black and white in Japan to the biggest blockbusters of the 21st century. Never before has a work united the full gamut of Godzilla incarnations. Facts and figures, actors and locations, co-starring monsters and plenty of superb illustrated material add up to make this a rampaging beast of a book!

Genres: Media Tie In

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 8, 2022

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the major caveat that I read the Kindle Edition, which is formatted AWFULLY, this is is a pretty informative and genuinely engaging overview of the King of the Monsters. It made me want to revisit a lot of the films in this series, and treats each individual effort as worthy of serious consideration in a way that I found refreshing.

Although, again, do NOT buy the Kindle copy. It's cheaper because it's not formatted properly, and I'm sure this is worth every penny in hardcover form (especially seeing how it's ultimately more of a reference book to return to over time anyway).

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Godzilla films, preferring the older Japanese ones. Give me a guy in a rubber suit knocking over model buildings and stomping on toy tanks and I'm pretty happy. This book gives brief overviews of all the films which are less detailed than I'd like. I'm the weirdo who actually enjoys the human parts of Godzilla films which the book skimmed over. Without the human stories, kaiju films can get depressing due to too much death and destruction. The book also has a great selection of behind the scenes and publicity stills from the films.
All that being said, the Kindle version is horrible. Each page is actually a two-page spread stuck in portrait mode. No turning into landscape to increase the size. It's pinch to zoom instead of tap meaning a lot more mucking around on the screen to see everything. I had to zoom to the maximum amount to read the text since it had a bit of shadowing that made the text fuzzy. A bad reading experience all around.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of great pictures but with limited information. This volume is a missed opportunity. Superior books about Godzilla are available that are more indepth and more critical where the criticism is deserved. Check out books by Steve Ryfle, David Katat, Ed Godziszewski, John LeMay, and Stephen Brothers.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some factual errors and a little bit of pandering to Toho's preferred version of events.

Still this has some gorgeous photos and reminded me of the fun days of the Crestwood House Monster books.

A great starter if you aren't familiar franchise or if you just want to enjoy a celebration of the character.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up having and reading over and over again the official Godzilla compendium, while I feel like that went a little more in depth with each film than this one did, it was nice seeing the newer films included and seeing some BTS photos from the last few Toho produced films.

[Jordan Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Finding the history of the different Godzilla movies was absolutely enthralling and helps me to enjoy the movies more. The wonderful photographs and illustrations from the Toho archives only added to my enjoyment.

[doctorlike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

Pros lots of pictures
Very colorful
Nice little essays
Cons
Overpriced for 120 pages
It needs more essays
Overall, did not regret purchase and great book

[Steve Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice Book

Lots of pictures, original posters, very nice for Godzilla fans , been a Godzilla fan for many many many years

[Piotr Gurkenos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent quality for the pages and the photos included.