Reel Talks: Godzilla: The First 70 Years

Talks on movies, the culture of cinema, and filmmaking.

Reel Talks guest and author Steve Ryflye's Godzilla: The First 70 Years, is a narrative and visual history of Japan’s King of the Monsters, chronicling the triumphs, challenges, and meaning of seven decades of city-trashing, kaiju-smashing mayhem. Focusing exclusively on the Japanese productions from Toho Studios, from the original Godzilla (1954) to the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One (2023), the book is a tribute to Godzilla’s creators and costars—the filmmakers, special effects wizards, cast members, even the stuntmen inside the monster suit—and an appreciation of the behind-the-scenes artistry involved in bringing Godzilla to cinematic life, then and now.

Steve Ryfle is an author, journalist, and documentary film producer. He has written about film, books, and culture for the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Criterion Current, Cineaste, Virginia Quarterly Review, In These Times, Bright Lights Film Journal, Turner Classic Movies, Zyzzyva, POV, Time Out New York, and other publications.

Scott Adlerberg is the author of five novels, including Graveyard Love, Jack Waters, and The Screaming Child.  He has written many short stories and contributes pieces regularly to sites such as CrimeReads and Mystery Tribune.  He was born in New York City and lives in Brooklyn.