The Monster Island Film Vault

Nathan sits down with his longtime friend and now first-time published author, Daniel DiManna, to discuss said first book: G-Cinema: An Exploration and Celebration of Japan's Monster King. Danny is the creator and author of the ambitious Godzilla Novelization Project, but he's also a frequent podcast guest, actor, and full-time goober, as he says. Join us for an exciting (and very nerdy) conversat...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! And happy birthday, Ray Harryhausen! And Nate and Elijah, too. Yes, they’re back for their annual crossover, and this year in their reverse order coverage of Ray’s filmography, they’ve reached an outlier: One Million Years B.C. (1967). While it has a cinematographer and director Ray had worked with, this wasn’t produced by Charles H. Schneer or distributed by Columbia Pictures...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Hello, MIFV MAX members! First-time guest Rob Buck of The Power Chamber Podcast joins Nate for "The Ultra Journey" to discuss the first of its kind in the Ultra Series: Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light. This was the first wholly original tie-in film for a then-current Ultraman show on TV. While the title promises a crossover, behind-the-scenes s...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! It’s been six years since Eric Elliott published issues one and two of his fan comic, Batman Meets Godzilla, but now the epic conclusion is out! He makes good on his promise to return to MIFV in this special interview to discuss the reasons for the delay, the artists who made it possible, and POW-ZAP-ZOOM shenanigans that happen in this comic. Celebrate the 60th anniversary of...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! We meet now...at the end of all things. Or at least the end of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2. Nate gushes over what might be the best episode of the series, discussing the Kong vs. Titan X fight, the show's trademark "drama logic," and the unfortunately spoiled surprise at the end. (Hint: It ties to one of MIFV's most popular episodes ). Then Nate concludes with his the...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! In part 2 of the originally Patreon-exclusive weekly coverage of season 2 of AppleTV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, the show’s valleys start manifesting—but this stretch episodes also includes Godzilla. For one episode, Nate had to look up a Japanese children’s song he’d never heard, for one thing. There is a character death, an obvious revelation, and a gimmicky “meeting” be...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! In this compilation of originally Patreon-exclusive weekly coverage, Nate (and Jimmy From NASA) dives into the first four episodes of season two of AppleTV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Nate argues it starts off strong and starts hitting some valleys relatively soon. He ends up a little disappointed that Titan X isn’t quite like H.P. Lovecraft’s Dagon as much as he wanted. W...

Hello Kaiju Lovers! Because Matt Walsh (no, not that Matt Walsh) is a crazy man who just happened to be on the Island to play Super Mario at a kids party, he jumped to the joke tier on our Patreon called “Jimmy’s Intern” (again). This time, it’s to discuss a 1979 movie directed by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, 1962) that has a pseudo-kaiju bear voiced by Megatron and played by the...

Nate, the secretly resentful host for Ultraman Nu, tries to get back into as normal a life as Monster Island will allow by visiting the Sekizawa Library to conduct research. There, he meets (and is smitten by) Jane, a lovely new librarian, who tells him a notorious T-rex is on display for the library’s “Dinosaur Day.” Nate goes outside to see it, meeting M.A.K.O.’s leader, Captain Darke, just in t...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Nate (technically) reaches the Heisei Era of "Godzilla Redux" with The Return of Godzilla (aka "Godzilla 1984"). He's joined by kaiju author Neil Riebe (who saw it in the theatre!) and the "unapologetic apologist" for the Heisei series, Andrew Wynja "The Ninja." They get into how this is the only true "Cold War" G-film and offers a uniquely Japanese perspective that was almost...

The infamous Rito Revolto (or Rito Bandora, depending on who you talk to) and some dude named Wade once again invade the MIFV podcast feed! They bicker and banter as they read all the important news stories from Monster Island, and then they get a phone from the Island’s resident Ultra Hero, Ultraman Nu. Rito hates it, because he’s had…an altercation with Mr. Nu. Is anyone surprised? Starring: Nat...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! You’re not only getting a double feature in this episode of “The Ultra Journey” but also the long-awaited return of one of MIFV’s first guests, Nick Hayden. Nate also returns to one of MIFV’s original conceits: showing a kaiju/tokusatsu movie to someone who hasn’t seen it. This time, it’s the Ultraman Zearth duology. These quirky parodies feature an Ultraman trying to conquer...

Coming soon from MIFV and Moonlighting Ninjas Media: Ultraman Nu: An Unofficial Audio Drama! A 12-episode saga coinciding with MIFV’s season five theme, “The Ultra Journey,” with episodes written by Nathan Marchand and special guest writers. Featuring the voice talents of Shane Cochrane, Jenessah Schlatter, Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins, and more! Coming soon to a podcatcher near you! Ryan “The O...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! “Godzilla Redux” kicks off with not one but two “gatekeepers” in the kaiju fandom: Jack “GMan” Hudgens and Elijah Thomas (Kaiju Conversation). They along with Nate spend nearly four hours(!) talking about why they effing love the final Showa series film, Terror of Mechagodzilla. It was Nate and Elijah’s first G-film and is one of Jack’s perennial favorites. While many regard i...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers, and welcome season five! It kicks off with the appropriately-titled Ultraman: The Adventure Begins, an animated movie produced in 1987 by Hanna-Barbera. Yes, the studio that brought you Superfriends and Scooby-Doo made the first all-original Ultraman movie! Nate could think of no better guests for this than Drew Dodgen and Jacob Heron (who also created the cover art for this e...

The Ultra Series is celebrating its 60th anniversary, and MIFV is throwing a year-long own party! Join Nate Marchand as he gives on friends new and old to discuss the greatest cinematic outings of Japan’s favorite superhero, Ultraman. Not only that, you get more “Godzilla Redux” and an amazing assortment of Patreon-sponsored episodes! Now, if only Nate can figure out what’s giving him such a heada...

Nate finds himself floating in oblivion. Terror’s teeth tear into his very soul. A bright silhouette reaches for him, and he takes his hand—and wakes up surrounded by Uber-Moguera’s burning wreckage, unscathed. His rescuer, Jet Jaguar, takes him to the Island’s infirmary. Aside from piercing headaches, he has a clean bill of health. But something haunts him. Something that saved him…something that...

Rebecca Reynolds is living the life, as far as I care: she gets to write middle grade books about Japan's favorite superhero, Ultraman. Book 1 of The Ultra Academy, entitled Beware the Baleful Baltan, was published last fall by Sky Turtle Press as part of Tsuburaya Productions push to make the Ultra Series an international brand. I discuss the writing process and why Ultraman is more important tha...

Jimmy From NASA breaks out of Uber-Moguera's last escape pod, which floats in the Pacific near Monster Island. He is rescued by Kaguya on the HEAT Seeker. She tells Jimmy his mecha crashed on the Beta Site, and he demands to be taken there—to find Nate. Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts,  The Henshin Men  and  The Power Trip , and  Henshin Power V3 ! We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX...

Nathan sits down with Dr. Jeffrey Angles for a conversation on his next upcoming kaiju novel translation: The Luminous Fairies and Mothra. This short three-part book was the world's introduction to the "Queen of the Monsters," and it has a potent place in Japanese history and literary tradition. Learn about this and more in this interview! Order the book: https://a.co/d/016Tybg . Watch the origina...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers. Jimmy From NASA here. I’m writing the shownotes for this episode, because, as you’ll hear, Nate had a hard time during this broadcast. In fact, he’s been having a hard time all season; he was just good at hiding it on the air. I wanted to let you know before hearing this. Anyway, Nate discusses a Patreon-sponsored double feature from former (and future?) MIFV MAX member Brad “...

Susan Murphy is dragged by her anthropologist parents to the Arctic so they can study the Eskimo tribe who introduced the world to Gamera. Susan is angry she will miss her last two years of high school while her younger twin siblings, Shawn and Sharon, love that they live closer to the North Pole and Santa Claus. But Susan won’t have any of this “baby stuff” and berates the twins, who run away. Su...

Nate, Jimmy, and Kaguya track down their final quarry on their "world tour": an "Octopus Monster" that escaped back to Mexico. While Nate seethes like a jealous middle schooler at the happy couple, they're ambushed by an even bigger creature, who smashes into Uber-Moguera with a deadly tentacle. But to their surprise, Kaguya takes a stand against it. Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts,  The Hensh...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Nate and company reach the end of their world tour with a jump across "the Pond" to Mexico, where they cover Gareth Edwards' cult classic indie film, Monsters (2010). Mitch and Hayden from Entertain This! join him for the first time on MIFV to discuss the little-movie-that-could that got Hollywood's attention and led to Edwards later directing movies for not one, not two, but...

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! To celebrate the end of Big G’s 70th anniversary on Godzilla Day, I’m publishing an episode of the Patreon-exclusive podcast, MIFV MAX, where I ranked all the Godzilla movies and TV series on a tier list. With Godzilla Minus Zero coming soon, it’s a great way to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly in this incredible franchise. Feel free to leave comments on the YouTube ver...