INGRID PITT
ISHIRÔ HONDA
"Ishiro Honda took the assignment to make a Japanese giant monster movie and did two things with it that nobody could have imagined. The first was to start a trend and genre in Japanese film that continues to this day, the second was to create a great piece of art. Honda's great eye, somber black and white and social conscience infused by both being the son of a Buddhist priest and a veteran made
Gojira both unnerving and breathtaking.
Unlike previous giant monster films, Honda focused on the devastation and the personal consequences of a monster attack in addition to the moral lapses that created it. He made a man in a rubber suit feel like a real threat.
Though the horror content of the sequels was not as great, with all of them that he directed, Honda did something else that would be relevant to fan history: he turned Godzilla into a monster you could trust your six year old with, a reluctant protector looking out for the consequences of oppression and environmental destruction. Godzilla continues to turn many kids into monster kids who grow up to be impassioned fans and contributors to the genre. We can thank Ishiro Honda for this." -
Doc Faustus
JACQUES TOURNEUR
JAMES WHALE
JAMIE LEE CURTIS