I’m being purposefully cheeky with my response to this prompt, but I’m going with the G.O.A.T. of Godzilla films, Minus One.
As a big ‘zilla fan, I waited all 53 years of my life to see a truly frightening and truly inspirational Godzilla movie. Three times, twice in color, the third last week in black and white for the Minus Color re-release. Yeah, I’m that obsessed with this film, which just finally finished its run in either format. The same way I went out of my skull in Blade Runner 2049 worship.
Maybe not the most important invention, but certainly a hallmark experience of my entire lifetime. No cheese, no filler, a powerful story of survivor’s guilt where you root for the humans for a change. Minus One is deserving of the hype, accolades and celebration as the highest-grossing live action movie from Japan. Even gnarlier than my long-gone 1977 Shogun Warriors line Godzilla, as far as toys go, one of the greatest invented with his lever-pushing plastic “fire” from his jowls and his shootable right claw.
Wish I still had my ’77 Godzilla, but I do have one surviving Godzilla figure out of the eight I used to own, and he’s holding sentry in the office I share with my wife. Thank you, TJ, for putting up with my Godzilla geekery, right down to my snagging two Minus One t-shirts and the breathtaking Minus One score from Naoki Satō I ordered straight from Japan.
Classy move of Toho Studios to send a global video thank you to the world which embraced this deserving spectacle of terror and honor.
Arigato for sharing this masterpiece with us all, Toho. Arigato.
–Ray Van Horn, Jr.
Roads Lesser Traveled 