'Godzilla' Latest News: FilmStruck Streams Hard-to-Find Monster Movie Classics From the Showa Period
Film streaming service FilmStruck has just added 14 kaiju (monster) movie classics to their continuously growing library. The list includes hard-to-find titles from the Showa Period "Godzilla" movies.
The announcement was made on FilmStruck's official Twitter page on Jan. 20, citing Stream Criterion's massive collection of monster movies that even include versions that have never been seen in North America.
Ever since it first appeared on Ishiro Honda's 1954 movie, "Godzilla," the pop culture icon has since appeared in a variety of media, including 29 Toho-produced movies, three Hollywood movies, a series video games, comic book, and television shows, and most recently in its first feature-length animated movie, "Godzilla: Kaiju Wakusei (Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters)."
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Most of the older titles, especially those that were made during the Showa era in Japan (between 1954-1975), have become inaccessible to the younger generation of moviegoers. But with the interest in the King of Monsters newly revived by the recently released animated film, the Criterion Collection has made these older titles available on their exclusive online home in FilmStruck.
These titles include, "Godzilla (1954)," "Godzilla Raids Again (1955)," "Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956)," "Rodan (1956)," "Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)," "Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster (1964)," "Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)," "War of the Gargantuas (1966)," "Son of Godzilla (1967)," "Destroy All Monsters (1968)," "All Monsters Attack (1969)," "Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)," "Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla (1974)," and "Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975)."
"Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster" featured a significant turning point in the monster's character transition from an abomination to a much friendlier and playful antihero. It also served as a launching point for the main antagonist of the series and Godzilla's archenemy, King Ghidorah.
FilmStruck is a film streaming service that was launched in November 2016 as a joint venture between Turner Classic Movies and the Criterion Collection. It offers hundreds of critically acclaimed films, domestic rarities, hard-to-find international titles, and cult favorites that have all been hand-picked and curated by film lovers and cinematic experts.
The basic FilmStruck subscription plan costs $6.99 a month while signing up for both FilmStruck and the optional add-on Criterion Channel, which is needed to watch the monster movie classics, costs $10.99 a month. A year-long subscription is priced at $99. New viewers have the option of trying out the service's two-week free trial first to know which plan suits their needs.
FilmStruck is currently only available in the United States and Puerto Rico.
