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2/28/17

Godzilla vs. Gigan ("Mission Apocalypse") Poster (Belgium, 1972)

I am not really a collector of foreign Godzilla movie posters (I think I have one other, and a few lobby cards), but I have been obsessed with this particular poster for quite some time.  This is a 22" x 15" poster from Belgium, from 1972, where GODZILLA VS. GIGAN was shown, under the much-more-dramatic title of "Objective Terror: Mission Apocalypse".  The dullness of the colors, the composition, and just overall style really speak to me.   

However, it's actually an artistic "paste-up;" a collage of sorts, where the artist borrowed (read here as stole, in the sense of "Immature poets borrow; mature poets steal" --T.S. Eliot) from several existing sources, resulting in a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts...or something like that, because all of the originals are wonderful as well. A quick look at these ingredients:

First, Godzilla came from the American poster for GODZILLA VS. THE THING, by Reynold Brown.  This picture is the original painting, with no text, which was printed once in a magazine.

Next, Gigan and Angilas (as well as inspiration for the flames and the road) came from this publicity photo, which was here used on a Japanese lobby card for GODZILLA VS. GIGAN.  

Lastly, King Ghidorah came from the international artwork for INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER, which is here shown in the half-sheet poster variety.  

Good stuff.  Now I just have to frame it...and find wall-space somewhere.  

3 comments:

  1. This is actually a Belgian poster (though it does use the same artwork as the French release)

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  2. I see what I did--I had the French & Belgian posters swapped on my hard drive of Godzilla Archives. So OBJECTIF TERRE MISSION APOCALYPSE is Belgium, and LA PLANETE DE GODZILLA is France. Right?

    Add to this that I bought it from a seller in France, and I was really confused!

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  3. lol, unfortunately La Planete de Godzilla is also Belgium (and released by Cosmopolis Films, but that one is printed by Wagram, where this one has no printer named). Welcome to the mixed-up world of European movie posters. France used the Objectif Terre... title also

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