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Megalon
is a kaiju who first appeared in Toho's 1973 film ''Godzilla vs. Megalon'', his only film appearance to date. Overview Megalon is a bipedal, humanoid, burrowing insect resembling a beetle, standing 55 meters (180 feet) tall and weighing 40,000 metric tons (44,092 short tons), and the god of the subterranean nation of Seatopia. While Megalon possesses limited intelligence (he must be led to his destination by the protagonists' robot, Jet Jaguar), he makes up for it with his strength. Megalon has two drill-like front appendages, which it uses both for burrowing and as weapons, and a set of wings usually covered by a beetle-like shell. The creature can fly, burrow, and swim at high speeds. Unlike most kaiju under fire from humans who prevail with brute force, Megalon uses retreat and ambush tactics to defeat human forces in his first encounter. Megalon also has a horn (similar to a rhinoceros beetle) from which it can fire lightning-like bolts of electricity and it is capable of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jet Jaguar
is a 1973 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Jun Fukuda, written by Fukuda and Shinichi Sekizawa, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects subsidiary Toho–Eizo, it is the 13th film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Megalon, and Gigan, along with the mecha character Jet Jaguar. The film stars Katsuhiko Sasaki, Hiroyuki Kawase, Yutaka Hayashi, and Robert Dunham, alongside Shinji Takagi as Godzilla, Hideto Date as Megalon, Kenpachiro Satsuma as Gigan, and Tsugutoshi Komada as Jet Jaguar. ''Godzilla vs. Megalon'' was released theatrically in Japan on March 17, 1973. It received a theatrical release in the United States in the summer of 1976 by Cinema Shares. Due to this release and subsequent home media, the film has become one of the most well-known kaiju films in the United States. The film's popularity might also be a major contributor to w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godzilla (franchise)
franchise is a Japanese media franchise created and owned by Toho, Toho Co., Ltd., centered on the fictional ''kaiju'' character Godzilla. It is the longest-running film franchise, having been in ongoing production from 1954, with several hiatuses of varying lengths. The film franchise consists of 38 films; 33 produced by Toho, one produced by TriStar Pictures, and four produced by Legendary Entertainment, Legendary Pictures. The first film, ''Godzilla (1954 film), Godzilla'', was directed by Ishirō Honda and released by Toho in 1954. It became an influential classic of the genre. It featured political and social undertones relevant to Japan at the time. The original introduced an acclaimed music score by Akira Ifukube, reused in many later films. The 1954 film and its special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya are largely credited for establishing the template for ''tokusatsu'', a technique of practical special effects filmmaking that would become essential in Japan's film indust ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer and distributor of many '' kaiju'' and ''tokusatsu'' films, the Chouseishin ''tokusatsu'' superhero television franchise, the films of Akira Kurosawa, and the anime films of Studio Ghibli, CoMix Wave Films, TMS Entertainment and OLM, Inc. All nine of the highest-grossing Japanese films are released by Toho. Other famous directors, including Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Masaki Kobayashi, and Mikio Naruse, also directed films for Toho. Toho's most famous creation is Godzilla, who is featured in 32 of the company's films. Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla are described as Toho's Big Five because of the monsters' numerous appearances throughout the franchise, as well as spin-offs. Toho has also been involved in the pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jun Fukuda
was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for directing five entries in the ''Godzilla'' series starting with ''Ebirah, Horror of the Deep'' (1966) as well as the spy films ''Ironfinger is a 1965 Japanese action comedy film directed by Jun Fukuda. A parody of James Bond-style spy movies, the film stars Akira Takarada, Mie Hama, and Ichirō Arishima. In the film, an ordinary vacationer is assigned to a dead Interpol agent's mis ...'' (1965) and ''Golden Eyes'' (1968) starring Akira Takarada. Selected filmography References External links * 1923 births 2000 deaths Japanese film directors Deaths from lung cancer in Japan {{Japan-film-director-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tomoyuki Tanaka
was a Japanese film producer. He is best known for co-creating the ''Godzilla'' franchise and its associated spin-offs. Early life Tanaka was born on April 26, 1910, in Kashiwara, Osaka. As a child, he would often walk miles to the nearest theater to watch silent adventure and ninja films in the afternoons. At the age of 14, Tanaka saw the silent Western film ''The Covered Wagon'' and was so enamored by its cinematography that it remained his all-time favorite film. In his youth, Tanaka was once disowned by his parents because he focused more on his interests, films and acting, than on his studies. Career Soon after graduating from Kansai University in 1940, Tanaka joined Taisho Studios which merged with Toho Studios in 1941. After four years with the company, he began producing his own films, and his first effort, '' Three Women of the North'', was released in 1945. In his 60-year career with Toho, Tanaka produced more than 200 films. He is best known as the creator, wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shinichi Sekizawa
was a Japanese screenwriter noted for his immense contributions to several films by Ishirō Honda, including several classic Godzilla films. He also contributed material to the original ''Ultraman (1966 TV series), Ultraman'' series and several Toei Animation, Tōei Dōga films such as ''Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon'' and ''Jack and the Witch''. His very first screenplay was for the independently produced film (though distributed by Shintoho Studios) ''Fearful Attack of the Flying Saucers'', which was also his sole directing credit. His scripts for kaiju films have been noted for their inventiveness and for having a more lightweight, "fun" tone than those written by Takeshi Kimura (aka Kaoru Mabuchi), another leading writer of kaiju films, whose scripts had a darker, more serious sensibility. Before embarking on his screenwriting career, he briefly attended an animation school with famed manga artist and animator Osamu Tezuka. Partial filmography :Note: The films listed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaiju
is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monsters. The ''kaiju'' genre is a subgenre of ''tokusatsu'' entertainment. The 1954 film ''Godzilla'' is commonly regarded as the first ''kaiju'' film. ''Kaiju'' characters are often somewhat metaphorical in nature; Godzilla, for example, serves as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, reflecting the fears of post-war Japan following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the '' Lucky Dragon 5'' incident. Other notable examples of ''kaiju'' characters include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Gamera. Etymology The Japanese word ''kaijū'' originally referred to monsters and creatures from ancient Japanese legends; it earlier appeared in the Chinese ''Classic of Mountains and Seas''. After ''sakoku'' had ended and Japan was opened to for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use. Along its core, the Indian Ocean has some large marginal or regional seas such as the Arabian Sea, Laccadive Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Andaman Sea. Etymology The Indian Ocean has been known by its present name since at least 1515 when the Latin form ''Oceanus Orientalis Indicus'' ("Indian Eastern Ocean") is attested, named after Indian subcontinent, India, which projects into it. It was earlier known as the ''Eastern Ocean'', a term that was still in use during the mid-18th century (see map), as opposed to the ''Western Ocean'' (Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic) before the Pacific Ocean, Pacific was surmised. Conversely, Ming treasure voyages, Chinese explorers in the Indian Oce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its land area.Sayre, April Pulley (1999), ''Africa'', Twenty-First Century Books. . With billion people as of , it accounts for about of the world's human population. Africa's population is the youngest amongst all the continents; the median age in 2012 was 19.7, when the worldwide median age was 30.4. Despite a wide range of natural resources, Africa is the least wealthy continent per capita and second-least wealthy by total wealth, behind Oceania. Scholars have attributed this to different factors including geography, climate, tribalism, colonialism, the Cold War, neocolonialism, lack of democracy, and corruption. Despite this low concentration of wealth, recent economic expansion and the large and young population make Afr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. Comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia, it shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be Boundaries between the continents of Earth#Asia and Europe, separated from Asia by the drainage divide, watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural (river), Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (European part of Turkey), Egypt, Iran, the Levant (including Syria (region), Ash-Shām and Cyprus), Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), and the Socotra Governorate, Socotra Archipelago (a part of Yemen). The term came into widespread usage as a replacement of the term Near East (as opposed to the Far East) beginning in the early 20th century. The term "Middle East" has led to some confusion over its changing definitions, and has been viewed by some to be discriminatory or too Eurocentrism, Eurocentric. The region includes the vast majority of the territories included in the closely associated definition of Western Asia (including Iran), but without the South Caucasus, and additionally includes all of Egypt (not just the Sina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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