2/2/17

Godzilla vs the Bionic Monster Sales Brochure (Cinema Shares, 1977)

A very interesting item, made even more so by the fact that this film's title was changed quickly after its initial release (from BIONIC to COSMIC, as we have covered previously).  In fact, a photostat of this brochure's synopsis accompanied the set of COSMIC MONSTER stills I purchased from a theater-owner (as seen here).  
This four-page brochure is printed on thick, glossy paper, and is oversized at 8.75 x 11.5 inches.  One interesting part to me is the word "TELEVISION" in the upper-left corner of the front cover.  This, along with the early title, tells me that Cinema Shares was working on eventual TV distribution as the film was hitting theaters. 
Page three is a better-quality version of the photocopy we have seen (at the above link), although in that case, somebody had scratched out "BIONIC" and written in "COSMIC," amusingly.
It's interesting to me that the synopsis here gives a complete overview of the film, and tells you the ending, where a piece made purely for advertising purposes would leave you with some unanswered questions to generate your interest:  "Will Godzilla be able to defeat the alien menace?"
The back cover of the brochure uses one of those great Toho combo images, although it sort of makes it look like Angilas is on Mechagodzilla's team.  It also has a blank space for an employee to stick a business card, or write in some contact information...which thankfully, wasn't done to this brochure.

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