The Kaiju Transmissions Podcast

Audio Commentary: King Kong vs. Godzilla w/ John LeMay!

In the lead up to Godzilla vs. Kong, Byrd, Matt, and Tom are joined by author John LeMay (The Lost Films, Kong Unmade, Jaws Unmade) to talk about the original classic showdown!  On this audio commentary, we talk about the surprisingly tragic way the film came about, the sad life of Willis O'Brien, the battle for Kong's rights, the rise of commercialism in post-war Japan, the aborted sequels to this film, Toho's attempts to use Kong in the Heisei series, differences between the Japanese and American versions, and more!  This commentary is loaded, so whether you decide to listen to it along with the movie or by itself, we hope you enjoy the discussion!

More Kongsploitation! Yeti, Konga TNT, Ice Kong and More!

Byrd, Matt and Maser Patrol's Kevin Derendorf scrape the bottom of the barrel for more King Kong rip offs and come back with tales to tell!  This time, we discuss the Italian-Canadian film Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century (1977), the Asylum's King of the Lost World (2005) and Bigfoot (2012), the uber obscure The Abominable (aka Ice Kong, 2006), and the recent micro budget reboot, Konga TNT (2020)!  As always, we'll give our reviews and a fair bit of trivia.  Relax and enjoy!

King Kong Gets Animated!

Byrd and Matt are joined by Kevin Derendorf (Maser Patrol/Kaiju For Hipsters) and Justin Mullis (Man Creates Dinosaurs blog) to talk about King Kong's animated forms, with a spotlight on four "unofficial" animated films that were made without the permission of Kong's rights holders.  We discuss the animated musical The Mighty Kong (1998), two Kong Animated Series sequels Kong: King of Atlantis and Kong: Return to the Jungle, and the feature length pilot episode of Kong: King of the Apes.  But first we discuss the original 60s "King Kong Show", and how the convoluted legal rights to King Kong allowed the original films' novelization go into the public domain, and how that lead to these animated productions being made in the first place.  We also bust some very commonly repeated myths about the availability of the rights to King Kong.  Relax and enjoy the conversation!

Audio Commentary: Gorgo (1961) (W/ The Movie Graveyard Podcast)

In 2018, Byrd and Tom joined up with the Movie Graveyard Podcast for an audio commentary for 1961's UK classic Gorgo!  We talked about the state of the giant monster genre at the time, how it would go on to influence kaiju cinema, its origins as a Japanese/British co-production and more.  Listen along and enjoy the discussion!

Ultraman Z + News Roundup

Byrd and Matt get together with Kevin and Ultra superfan Connor to discuss the most recent Ultraman show, 2020's Ultraman Z!  We talk about its troubled production history, our favorite and least favorite moments, and more!  But first we have a huge kaiju news roundup, as we give our thoughts on the latest for Godzilla vs. Kong, Shin Ultraman, Cloverfield 2, Pacific Rim: The Black, and the upcoming Monsterverse King Kong Netflix cartoon, and Byrd reveals why he's Team Kong!

Love and Monsters (2020)

Byrd and Matt are joined again by Trev and Tom to discuss the 2020 film Love and Monsters!  The film takes place seven years after a giant monster apocalypse, as our protagonist Joel travels across a monster filled terrain to find his high school sweetheart.  The film stars Dylan O'Brien, Michael Rooker and Jessica Henwick, and was directed by Michael Matthews and written by Matthew Robbins and Brian Duffield (Underwater, Spontaneous, and the upcoming Monsterverse Kong animated series on Netflix).  How does the film stack up?  Listen to us argue about it!

Batman in Japan!

We're back with something a little different this time as we're joined by Trev and Tom to discuss some Japanese flavored takes on everyone's favorite caped crusader.  We talk about the heavily anime and kaiju influenced Batman Unlimited animated film, Mechs vs Mutants, and the completely bonkers anime film Batman Ninja!  We're gonna talk giant monsters, giant robots, giant monkeys, giant Batmans and giant... castles!  But first, we discuss the announced Prince of Space remake, and Batman's popularity in Japan, including an aborted crossover film with Godzilla!

Jellyfish Eyes (2013)

Byrd, Matt, and Kevin are joined by Jared Foust (Xenofauna on Twitter/Instagram) to discuss modern artist Takashi Murakami's 2013, film debut, Jellyfish Eyes.  Mostly known for his artwork and design work (including for artists such as Billie Eilish and Kanye West), Murakami decided to try his hand at making a children's film that would combine his aesthetic with other inspirations from kaiju/tokusatsu and video games to tell a story about kids and their monster pets (called FRIENDS) in a post-Fukushima Japan (complete with a rampaging kaiju).  We discuss Murakami's career, why most of the film's practical tokusastsu effects were scrapped, the recently canceled sequels, religious cults in Japan, the film's Criterion release, and more!

Notzilla (2020)

Byrd, Matt and Tom discuss the recent indie kaiju spoof, Notzilla.  After circling Hollywood and going through different hands for years, director Mitch Teemley decided to make his affectionate kaiju parody independently with a tiny budget in Cincinnati, OH.  What happens when kaiju and 50s American b-movie tropes combine with parody?  Join us as we review the film and discuss its origins and the state of the spoof genre.

Kitamura Kraziness!

If you're still not over the end of October, Byrd, Tom and Kevin are here to help with your Halloween hangover by talking about the horror-action mashups of director Ryuhei Kitamura.  Before directing Godzilla: Final Wars, Kitamura had humble beginnings making low budget genre films.  We discuss his early efforts, including the zombie/yakuza film Versus, the sci-fi/horror manga adaptation Alive, and the samurai/yokai battle Aragami.  We also discuss some of his short films as well.  But first, we talk about Kitamura's transition from the world of low budget horror films to Godzilla to mainstream Hollywood films, as well as whether or not he deserves his maligned reputation among Godzilla fans.