The hardback Godzilla – The Art of Destruction from Titan Books is a 168-paged geeky compliment to the newly released Godzilla film.
The news today is that a sequel is on the way. Godzilla did well at the box office and this Toho fan gives the movie two thumbs up. Sure, there’s mixed reviews about the movie but the most negative ones I’ve seen complain about it taking a while before Godzilla turns up. There’s no such problem in this book.
Godzilla: The Art of Destruction is introduced by Gareth Edwards himself. This is the Monsters director who’s carefully filmed and budgeted movie caught the attention of Legendary Pictures and earn his chance at this blockbuster. No one better could have introduced the book.
After the introduction author Mark Cotta Vaz steps up to blend together insightful text and pictures. There are some illustrations in here that have never been seen before. These strong visuals are wrapped around interviews (with Edwards and others) and proper insight.
Godzilla: The Art of Destruction is more than just snaps of the movie. We’ve costume design here, concept art, photographs from filming and a host of details from the marathon project of a film.
Without a doubt this is a book that speaks to both collectors and fans of the movie. This is a hardback you can buy for a geeky member of your family, a friend or even yourself. If they’ve given Godzilla the thumbs up; whether they’ve hardcore interest or just a casual one, then they’re appropriate for this composite gallery.
Part of the joy with a book like Godzilla: The Art of Destruction is the tour experience. This is a hardback that is fun to flick through. Sure, use the phrase coffee table book if you want. The truth is you can pick this up for a few minutes, leaf through the pages and enjoy it. The layout is spot on. Equally, if you’re going to brave the monster and dig a bit deeper then the carefully balanced layout allows that too.
It may be because I’m still in the afterglow of enjoying the movie but I really liked this tome. Titan Books has a good track record with these official movie supplements and I’m reminded why with Godzilla. The book is an experience.
The video tour below is a set of photograph clips (not whole pages) shown under with the vintage filter as an auto-awesome movie created by Google+. It is hoped that without giving away the copyright material the little clip can provide a fair teaser of the high quality content. As it happens Amazon.co.uk’s look inside feature is currently giving an even more generous peak of the content.
Tempted? You should be.
Disclaimer: My copy of Godzilla – The Art of Destruction was provided for review. Mark Cotta Vaz, Titan Books, £29.99.
