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Just got back from Godzilla. The last 15 minutes or so are pretty good. The rest... meh.
I get that you don't want to have [I]too[/I] much monster action or it all becomes white noise. But, that being the case, it's therefore essential that the human characters who carry most of the movie should have.. you know... an actual [I]character.[/I] And it's not the fault of the actors. They're just playing the most generic of standard, one-note roles that could have come straight out of a made-for-TV movie.
Yes, the atomic blast is a moment of pure awesome. And there's a couple of other great moments here and there. But that's what they are. Moments. And in a two hour movie, you need more than just moments.
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This is quite interesting.
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27379962[/url]
As I was watching the movie, I actually did think to myself that it was quite Jaws-like, in so much as the monster(s) only appeared sporadically and were not always clearly visible for long (certainly for the first 90 minutes or so, at least). However, what I also found myself thinking, and it seems to be the key aspect that Edwards has missed, is that Jaws (and Close Encounters) films were carried by fantastic actors playing well written, interesting and layered characters. Godzilla, however, has a group of great actors playing what amounts to little more than 'filler'.
[B]SPOILERS - Honestly, don't look if you haven't seen the movie![/B]
[spoil]Sadly, the only vaguely interesting character is killed off in the first 30 minutes. And that leaves Taylor-Johnson with some hefty shoes to fill, which his role simply doesn't allow cos it's never anything more than 'soldier'. And that's it. Likewise, Olson is in the standard hero's-wife-who-is-a-nurse-who-mostly-cries-on-the-phone. [/spoil]
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So, I haven't been checking this thread for fear of spoilers, but one of my favorite movie review podcasts, Digital Noise did an episode with frequent guest Matt Frank (Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, Godzilla Neo) and other fans reviewing the 7 Godzilla blu-rays released this month.
[URL="http://oneofus.net/2014/05/godzillacast/"]Digital Noise: Godzillacast/[/URL]
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[QUOTE=Vworp Vworp;84599]Just got back from Godzilla. The last 15 minutes or so are pretty good. The rest... meh.
I get that you don't want to have [I]too[/I] much monster action or it all becomes white noise. But, that being the case, it's therefore essential that the human characters who carry most of the movie should have.. you know... an actual [I]character.[/I] And it's not the fault of the actors. They're just playing the most generic of standard, one-note roles that could have come straight out of a made-for-TV movie.
Yes, the atomic blast is a moment of pure awesome. And there's a couple of other great moments here and there. But that's what they are. Moments. And in a two hour movie, you need more than just moments.[/QUOTE]
I consider it a deeply flawed film that I enjoyed. I agree that Godzilla needed a lot more screen time, but the mythology and history they built around the creatures was really cool so I dug hearing about them.
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[QUOTE=Vworp Vworp;84703]
[B]SPOILERS - Honestly, don't look if you haven't seen the movie![/B]
[spoil]Sadly, the only vaguely interesting character is killed off in the first 30 minutes. And that leaves Taylor-Johnson with some hefty shoes to fill, which his role simply doesn't allow cos it's never anything more than 'soldier'. And that's it. Likewise, Olson is in the standard hero's-wife-who-is-a-nurse-who-mostly-cries-on-the-phone. [/spoil][/QUOTE]
Yeah, that part kind of pissed me off too, especially considering that they advertised that he would be a huge part of the movie.
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[QUOTE=!Pharozonk!;82855]Also, can some of you hardcore Godzilla fans give me a list of movies to watch? I've been wanting to get into kaiju movies for a while now but have had no idea of where to start.[/QUOTE]
If you are new to it, you might want to skip the 60s/70s camp.
Let's see, I'd start with the original classic Gojira (it isn't dubbed, so if that's a deal breaker go for the English edit Godzilla with Raymond Burr, not as good for the stuff left out, but still pretty great). Then maybe a few of the 80s/90s stuff. The 1985 one is good (think it's 85), and Godzilla vs Destroyah is great. Also check out the three Gamera films of the 90s. And the two featuring Mechagodzilla in the 2000's are good, ending with Tokyo SOS. There are others, probably a lot, but of those I have seen (maybe somewhere between a quarter to half) those are the most serious ones, and therefore best for a new comer (I love the campy stuff, but I'm old school fan since birth).
If you are willing to do a bit of camp, I think Godzilla vs Megalon had some of my favorite monster action. Story isn't good, but for monster fighting monsters I love the big battle scene. Also, although the special effects are kind of cheesy, King Kong vs Godzilla actually isn't that bad from a story angle, usually a lot of camp/cheese comes from the terrible plots, often involving aliens, but this actually has a fairly straight forward, simple plot and that works in it's favor. So that's two.
There's more, but out of the giant monster movies I have actually seen (there's just so many and I'm only one man with limited resources) these are what I'd recommend to start.
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The Post-millenium movies ...
I would recommend
GMK (2001) - this is set in a different continuity from most godzilla movies as this movie is set like 50 years after the original godzilla movie. Godzilla is the villain of the piece , hellbent on destroying japan , all the other monsters are the guardians of earth defending against godzilla. Think this was the first time in the history of godzilla movies that King Ghildorah was actually a good monster.
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohbMHoX2B48[/url]
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (2002) & the follow-up , Godzilla : Tokyo SOS (2003) (the story continued from the first movie to the 2nd) - i loved the redesigned mechagodzilla so it's my fave. The 2 movies are essentially the japanese military (and their giant robot) vs godzilla , the 2nd one added mothra into the mix as a humankind ally against godzilla. (loved the mothra twins and their song to awaken mothra)
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cotXakan9ng[/url]
Godzilla : toyko SOS
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D2c34KDbEk[/url]
Updated Mothra song (The mothra song has been sang since the 60s)
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR7Edk7MUr8[/url]
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Thanks for the suggestions guys! I'll check one out tonight, probably Godzilla 2000 to start off.
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[QUOTE]If you are new to it, you might want to skip the 60s/70s camp.[/QUOTE]
I disagree. The '50s - '60s films are the best - and not just Godzilla, there was a whole series of sci-fi and fantasy films by basically the same team of folks at Toho studios (Ishiro Honda directing, special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, music by Akira Ifukube, written by either Shinichi Sekizawa or Takashi Kimura): straightforward, fairly serious sci-fi in movies Godzilla '54, Rodan, Gorath, and Matango; entertaining crime capers that also have monsters in them like H-Man and Dogora; adventure films like Invasion of Astro Monster, Son of Godzilla, and Latitude Zero; and even a pitch perfect modern fairy tale in Mothra.
Really, the essentials of the kaiju genre are the '50s - '60s Toho films, the Daimajin films (made by rival Daiei studio, also in the '60s), and the Gamera films from the '90s (also from Daiei). If you want the campiest, low-rent kaiju then I recommend the '60s Gamera films or The X-From Outer Space (the sole kaiju film from Shochiku studios).
The '60s was the golden age for the genre, and you had a real variety of films. Since then it's been mostly Godzilla films made, and they've generally aped the older films and... to be honest a lot of them are quite dull. The biggest surprise has been the return of Gamera. Gamera was Godzilla's low-budget equivalent from a rival studio in the '60s, but since he was revived in the '90s his films have generally been superior to the Godzilla films made at the same time.
Why did the films become campy? Well, tastes were changing and there was undoubtedly pressure from the top to conform to what people wanted, but it was also personal. Tsuburaya began putting in a lot humor into the monster scenes because he thought it would be funny, and he wanted to entertain children most of all. Then you had Sekizawa, who revolutionized the genre with his steadfast refusal to do anything that wasn't really unusual. His monster movies were part sci-fi, part adventure, part comedy, part musical (!), part romance - total genre mashups that are way cleverer than they're given credit for. I mean, just the end of Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster is an amazing bit of writing, where you realize the entire movie has been a love story you hadn't noticed up to that point - and it makes perfect sense!
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[QUOTE=Evil Sneak;81665]With the new Godzilla movie about to drop, I'm thinking of doing a mini marathon What would be your top 3 Godzilla movies (not Final Wars)?[/QUOTE]
[LIST=1][*]Gojira (not King of the Monsters with Raymond Burr) [*]Godzilla vs. Monster Zero or Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (now on Hulu!) [*]Godzilla 2000 [/LIST]
[QUOTE=!Pharozonk!;82855]Also, can some of you hardcore Godzilla fans give me a list of movies to watch? I've been wanting to get into kaiju movies for a while now but have had no idea of where to start.[/QUOTE]
If you want to get into the Millennium series (the most recent) and you like your films to have some continuity with only the Big G:
[LIST=1][*]Godzilla 2000 [*]Godzilla vs. Megaguirus [*]Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla [*]Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. [/LIST]
If you want to get into the Millennium series, are new to Godzilla, and don't care about continuity or if it's Godzilla:
[LIST=1][*]Godzilla 2000 [*]Gamera: The Brave [*]Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack [*]Godzilla: Final Wars [/LIST]
If you want to get introduced to giant monster movies and have a nice overview of the history:
[LIST=1][*]King Kong (1933) [*]Gojira [*]It Came From Beneath The Sea [*]Rodan [*]Mothra [*]Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster [*]Daimajin [*]War Of The Gargantuas [*]Them! [*]Gamera the Invincible [*]The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms [*]Ultraman (1967) [*]Godzilla vs. Monster Zero [*]The X From Outer Space [*]Godzilla vs Biollante[*]Godzilla vs. Destoroyah [*]Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (and the rest of the trilogy) [*]Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
or Godzilla: Final Wars [*]The Host [*]Cloverfield [*]Dragon Wars [*]Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers [*]Monsters [*]Troll Hunter [*]Pacific Rim [/LIST]
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[QUOTE=Angilasman;85323]I disagree. The '50s - '60s films are the best - [/QUOTE]
I didn't say anything about the 50's, which honestly were rather serious and straight forward for the time (Gojira and Godzilla Raids Again being the only two I know of), just the 60s and 70s. You have to admit, a lot of what came out of those two decades were cheesy and campy (especially compared against today), and while I like it it may not win over modern audiences. Also, which films are best are entirely subjective. And again, I'm trying to pick something for a new viewer, which is different from what you or I might like to watch to kill an afternoon away, since I'm assuming were both coming from this as fans who started in childhood, whereas someone starting as an adult might not view them the same.
[QUOTE] straightforward, fairly serious sci-fi in movies Godzilla '54, Rodan, Gorath, and Matango; entertaining crime capers that also have monsters in them like H-Man and Dogora; adventure films like Invasion of Astro Monster, Son of Godzilla, and Latitude Zero; and even a pitch perfect modern fairy tale in Mothra.[/QUOTE]
Out of those, I've only seen 54 Godzilla, Rodan, I think Astro Monster (without going to check my DVD collection at home, that was Ghidorah correct?), and possibly Son of Godzilla. Was Son of Godzilla the one where all the Godzilla and Godzilla's son stuff just happened in that one boy's imagination? Because that's usually debated as being one of the worst Godzilla films ever by most fans, even if I personally liked it (it's too cute and innocent a film to dislike). My knowledge outside of Godzilla and Godzilla-related kaiju films is limited, I only saw most of the Gamera stuff in the past year, so no real clue on Gorath, Matango, H-Man, Dogora, or Latitude Zero. Can't remember offhand if I saw the original Mothra or not.
[QUOTE]Really, the essentials of the kaiju genre are the '50s - '60s Toho films, the Daimajin films (made by rival Daiei studio, also in the '60s), and the Gamera films from the '90s (also from Daiei). If you want the campiest, low-rent kaiju then I recommend the '60s Gamera films or The X-From Outer Space (the sole kaiju film from Shochiku studios).[/QUOTE]
The 60s/70s Gamera films are terribly camp, yet oddly they spill more monster blood than most of the Godzilla films at the time I can remember.
[QUOTE]The '60s was the golden age for the genre, and you had a real variety of films. Since then it's been mostly Godzilla films made, and they've generally aped the older films and... to be honest a lot of them are quite dull. The biggest surprise has been the return of Gamera. Gamera was Godzilla's low-budget equivalent from a rival studio in the '60s, but since he was revived in the '90s his films have generally been superior to the Godzilla films made at the same time.[/QUOTE]
I only saw the 90s Gamera films last weekend after buying a legacy collection. Definitely stand outs of the genre.
[QUOTE]Why did the films become campy? Well, tastes were changing and there was undoubtedly pressure from the top to conform to what people wanted, but it was also personal. Tsuburaya began putting in a lot humor into the monster scenes because he thought it would be funny, and he wanted to entertain children most of all. Then you had Sekizawa, who revolutionized the genre with his steadfast refusal to do anything that wasn't really unusual. His monster movies were part sci-fi, part adventure, part comedy, part musical (!), part romance - total genre mashups that are way cleverer than they're given credit for. I mean, just the end of Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster is an amazing bit of writing, where you realize the entire movie has been a love story you hadn't noticed up to that point - and it makes perfect sense![/QUOTE]
Dude, your whole post just made me miss all those Godzilla marathons I watched in the 90s as a kid. Awesome.
Anyone remember which Godzilla film had that monster that looked kind of like a bipedal lion? I want to say he name was like King Cesar or something, but don't quote me on that part.
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If you like to watch a giant kaiju movie , can't go wrong with the 90s heisei Gamera trilogy. Absolutely amazing trilogy. Beats the godzilla movies of that time by a mile.
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY9CVUWW-PA[/url]
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[QUOTE=Vakanai;85580]
Anyone remember which Godzilla film had that monster that looked kind of like a bipedal lion? I want to say he name was like King Cesar or something, but don't quote me on that part.[/QUOTE]
You are close , it's king caesar.
[img]http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110602163355/493titanollante/images/3/3c/King_Caesar_2.jpg[/img]
[url]http://godzilla.wikia.com/wiki/King_Caesar[/url]
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Ceasar showed up in one of the first MechaGodzilla movies right?
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how deep or serious or philosophical do some expect kaiju movies to be?