#Pulgasari

[rhetthammersmithhorror]

Pulgasari | 1985

[chernobog13]

PULGASARI (1985)

The North Korean kaiju film produced by Kim Jong Il (before he became dictator of North Korea, and father of current dictator Kim Jong Un), directed by a kidnapped South Korean filmmaker, and featuring Godzilla suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma as the monstrous Pulgasari.

Additionally, some Toho special effects technicians, most notably Teruyoshi Nakano, were duped into making the film. They were led to believe they were going to China for a project.

Pulgasari is a remake of sorts of Bulgasari (1962), South Korea's first kaiju film which is now considered lost. Both films were based on the same Korean myth about a giant iron-eating monster.

[aggrondaily]

If you thought Aggron was based on mecha-godzilla, you would be wrong! They are based on the metal eating Korean kaiju Pulgasari. :)

[vermilllionsands]

On set of Pulgasari, 1985

[namesisfortombstones]

Let's put this to bed:

For some reason, there's a rumor going around online that the suit from Godzilla (1984) was stolen and to this day, nobody knows what happened to it. I don't know how this started or where it came from, but it's wholly untrue. Firstly, there were two Godzilla suits made for the film. One for the main shooting, the other for "stunts" and water scenes and such. One of these suits was taken by Teruyoshi Nakano to North Korea and transformed into Pulgasari for Kenpachiro Satsuma to act in again. How it started: https://becominggodzilla.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Return_1984_Screenshot_03.jpg How it ended: https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/pulgasari-span.jpg The other suit was at some point sent to America to do a publicity tour for the release of Godzilla 1985. Svengoolie (then, "Son of Svengoolie") even did a show back then with the suit on hand! https://64.media.tumblr.com/c8236ab23914497cf118f8eb312ba504/6bbc7811252ac46b-d8/s1280x1920/e1b8d137ed6755413b7a76d05aefa093fcdc87a0.jpg https://64.media.tumblr.com/f3e50da5f2a184a518b76946f6d460dc/6bbc7811252ac46b-3c/s1280x1920/c5cef9f0d70d59675b6304020fdad67675e7b2e8.jpg https://64.media.tumblr.com/fd9a7a33db0b3174f18c1186b67b58c2/6bbc7811252ac46b-64/s1280x1920/6209fdef0043a0d37820ec0fbb38a156a70421a7.jpg After that was over, the suit was sent back to Toho where it was used in several commercials. Since nobody's ever mentioned it, I presume Pulgasari was left over in North Korea where it eventually rotted away. The only Godzilla suit ever actually stolen was the 1989 Biogoji, refurbished and used again in 1991. It was somehow swiped in mid-1992 just before shooting of Godzilla vs. Mothra began. Koichi Kawakita fully intended to use the Bio/Gidogoji suit yet again for the entire movie, even with its aging, floppy plates. But when it was stolen, he was forced to have a new suit made. The effects staff were relieved when the suit was stolen because there was some kind of problem with it and they didn't want to deal with it anymore. The suit was eventually discovered discarded in a ditch, probably because the damn thing was just so unwieldy (keep in mind, the lightest Godzilla suit for shooting ever made was still like 100 pounds). Kawakita ordered it repaired and it was used as like a stunt suit in vs. Mothra, which would be the final onscreen appearance for it.

[briefbestiary]

The unkillable beast. Some say that the Bulgasari actually was successfully killed, yet others say that it could not be killed, and instead wanders the forests of Korea today.

[schlock-luster-video]

On July 22, 2000, Pulgasari debuted in South Korea.

[indragonsaur]

Realms of Goliaths: Pulgasari

[blazescompendium]

From what I've known, the special effects team, along with the monster suit actor behind Godzilla series, was hired for the North Korea Pulgasari movie, so no wonder there's a pokemon based on this one 😆 After all, it's technically a collaborate project between North Korea and Japan! BTW, the original director of Pulgasari movie was actually kidnapped from South Korea, and he later escaped during the Berlinale, which is the reason why the international release got delayed. They later erased his name and promote the vice director as the director instead. Crazy stuffs.

Oh man this stuff escalated so quickly. I was like, hey how cool the original monster suit actor from Godzilla was there, hey how cool it was a partnership between two countries that usually hate each other, and then.... THEY WHAT!? But yeah, i knew for some time this movie has some problems related to it, but i never dive deep in it. I really like kaiju movies, i think they are essentially modern folklore, or at least they build towards it. And mostly are created by the same cultural forces that created myths. My favorite Kaiju has to be Mothra! But i think Pulgasari is almost there haha.

[rhetthammersmithhorror]

Pulgasari | 1985

[chernobog13]

Bulgasari, the Iron-Eating Monster (1962)

This was the first monster film, as well as the first film utilizing special effects, made in South Korea.  The film is based on a medieval Korean legend, and was inspired by Godzilla (1954).

The film itself is considered lost.  The only thing that remains are posters like the one above, a copy of the script, and tons of negative reviews archived in libraries in South Korea, where it was universally panned.

However, at least one person the Korean peninsula thought it was good enough to warrant a remake.  Kim Jong-il, father of current North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, had the film Pulgasari (1985) made with a director kidnapped from South Korea and some staff from Toho.

[nothingeverhappenstome]

Aside from Tetris, do we have many more examples of "Socialist games"? Does the DRPK produce a lot of AAA titles?

if we lived in a socialist society, phone games would be better

[schlock-luster-video]

On July 12, 2015, Pulgasari debuted on the Internet in Germany.

[mirkokosmos]

Pulgasari [1985]

[likecrapthroughagoose]

I FORGOT I FINALLY THOUGHT OF MORE SHIPS

Pulgasari & Yongary - Reunification is possible through a sick gay kaiu makeout sesh Guilala '08 & Gigan '04 - Total freaks Gamera & Kamoebas - It was nice of Gamera to get his boyfriend a cameo in Tokyo SOS Minilla '67 & Daigoro - I like to imagine they met as teenagers and Daigoro retired from movies while Minilla went on to take over for Godzilla in some of the late showa films or something King Caesar & Sanda - Bonded over a common protective nature and love for humanity Gyaos '67 & Gaira - Bonded over a mutual desire to just fuckin eat people Godman & Megaloman - Opened a salon together (duh) Dagahra & Hedorah '04 - Eww. Mechagodzilla '74 & Moguera - Sometimes you have to go with the obvious Redman & Greenman - You can't stop me King Kong '76 & Frankenstein '65 - I actually think this would be kind of cute Krystalak & SpaceGodzilla - Crystalllssssssssssssss Godzilla '54 & Shimo - Couple'a silver foxes and you know it

My Godzilla Ship List*

60′s Godzilla and 60′s Mothra - He’s a single dad… she’s a single mom… there’s a little somethin’ there, y’know what I’m saying?

Gigan and Megalon - Met at a non-binary kaiju meetup in college

Orga and Megaguirus - He just has big “guy who simps for the tall vampire lady from the new Resident Evil game” vibes and she seems like she likes a man who wants to be stepped on

Anguirus and Varan - They’re both actually ace aro, but like, they’re really good friends, so they went ahead and got married for tax purposes. But y’know, they have fun.

90′s Mothra and Biollante - So Mothra’s like, divorced from Battra cuz he was kind of a douche. She did some soul-searching and met Biollante who was an out lesbian and they kinda hit it off and Mothra ended up coming out and honestly they just make a really sweet couple.

Zone Fighter and Jet Jaguar - Semi-open relationship. Met through the sizeplay tag on FetLife.

Gezora and Hedorah - Terrible couple. Absolutely horrible to be around. They’re just awful, but they’re totally obsessed with each other, so there’s something weirdly admirable about their relationship.

60′s King Ghidorah and 60′s Manda - long bois

*AKA, I Consumed Enough Controlled Substances Last Night To Come Up With a Good Shitpost About My Weirdo Hobby/Obsession

[blazescompendium]

BTW Bulgasari can also mean starfish in Koeean, and in this case, the meaning probably leans more toward the unkillable one lol.

And since we are here, it is cool to mention that the Bulgasari is also probably the inspiration for the evolution line of the Pokémon Aron, Lairon and Aggron! While they all eat iron, Aggron is the one most strongly based, specifically by the North Korean 1985 kaiju movie version of this legend, which i find absolutely fascinating.

This is a cult classic kaiju movie, which is an adaptation of this tale, and its very interesting. I find very cool that often times Pokémon have amazing and complex depictions of folklore. As someone living in Brazil, Aggron was my first contact with the Pulgasari legend. Some kids saw on TV or in the internet about Aggron origins, and the Pulgasari myth spread around neighborhoods of kids living in the other side of the world, just because of that.

I think that's a fascinating event!