Cool Ass Cinema Book Reviews: Japan Edition! The Monsters of Tsuburaya!

EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS

By August Ragone

Hardcover; 208 pages; Color & B/W

One of the most noted authors and experts on Japanese monster and science fiction films, August Ragone realizes a lifelong dream in his exhaustive, massively informative hardback tome on that grand old man of Toho and Tsuburaya productions, Eiji Tsuburaya. Just seeing the book up close and personal it becomes obvious a lot of love and passion went into this book. From the front and back cover, to the thick, glossy pages, to the side of the book opposite the spine where Eiji's name is visible on the edges of the pages, a devout attention to detail has been paid for this undertaking.

One of the most striking attributes of this book are the sheer amount of jaw dropping behind the scenes shots from the various movies and not just the Kaiju films. There are also a handful of surviving shots from Tsuburaya's war pictures as well as images of the man himself in his younger days. The amount of 'making of' images is astounding. Fans will truly be in awe of this book. Not only does it cover all of Tsuburaya's Godzilla movies, but also his many science fiction television works including ULTRA Q and ULTRAMAN and its many spin offs. Other Japanese monster movies are covered as well with a chapter set aside for Gamera and other Kaiju creations.

What's On the Back Cover?

A number of additional writers participate on this book in addition to Ragone. Ed Godziszewski, Guy Mariner Tucker, John Paul Cassidy, Shogo Tomiyama, Akira Tsuburaya, Brad Warner, Norman England and Mark Nagata all contribute chapters to this lavish publication. Quite possibly the single best book out there on the subject, the back cover has a list price of $40.00. While it's worth every penny, the book can be purchased at amazon for $26.40 (see below), or cheaper from amazon sellers. The highest recommendation for Japanese sci fi/monster movie fans.

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