Kaiju Appreciation

[Angilasman]

Just finished the Ultraman Orb Movie. It was overall a pretty fun movie, I think it falls short though. Ultraseven only had a few scenes, I guess they wanted to make the plot more unexpected compared to last year's X movie.

Doesn't Dan/Seven just show up at the end to bail the heroes out?

Because there's so much kaiju content coming out in the next few years I thought I'd do this handy-dandy summary of the slate:

Airing now - Ultraman Geed (simulcasting in the US on Crunchyroll), Kaiju Club (a dramedy about a group making a kaiju fanzine in the '70s, made with cooperation with Tsuburaya)
Recently released on home video - Shin Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, Colossal
November 2017 - Godzilla: Monster Planet Part 1 (to drop on Netflix worldwide after the Japanese theatrical release, possibly as early as late December)
March 2018 - Pacific Rim: Uprising
Sometime in 2018 - Godzilla: Monster Planet Parts 2 & 3
March 2019 - Godzilla: King of the Monsters
May 2020 - Godzilla vs. Kong

Of course, some of these titles may change: while everyone's calling it 'King of the Monsters' Godzilla 2 has no official title as of yet. Also, we don't know if Monster Planet is the title of the first anime movie or the entire trilogy. Even 'Monster Planet' is in question: it's also been translated as 'Kaiju Planet' and 'Planet of Monsters.'

Naturally, I expect there to be a new Ultraman series every year, likely with theatrical spin-offs and the occasional miniseries. The series is doing very well in Japan, successfully targeting kids and old fans. They've also recently commissioned English dubs of several recent Ultra movies, but besides limited theatrical showings months ago there's been no word on a wide release in the US. The movies aren't available on Crunchyroll, where all recent Ultra shows have been simulcast in the US and many other territories.

An adaptation of the arcade game Rampage, starring The Rock, also comes out next year, but we don't really know if the monsters there will be more in the kaiju mold or more in the American monster-on-the-loose vein.

The Cooper Estate, who have partial rights to the King Kong rights, are trying to make a Kong TV series. They've attempted may Kong projects in recent years, but this one seems to have gotten a bit further along.

... yeah. It's a lot of stuff!

[BeastieRunner]

The Cooper Estate, who have partial rights to the King Kong rights, are trying to make a Kong TV series. They've attempted may Kong projects in recent years, but this one seems to have gotten a bit further along.

Netflix had a Kong show. My son liked it. I thought it was ... meh.

[The Negative Zone]

Doesn't Dan/Seven just show up at the end to bail the heroes out?

Yeah pretty much, however I worry since Tsuburaya is in another legal battle..

[Angilasman]

Netflix had a Kong show. My son liked it. I thought it was ... meh.

Certain aspects of Kong fall in the public domain, so as long as you make your Kong a bit off-brand you can essentially make a giant gorilla called Kong for free. The Netflix cartoon is one of several animated series and direct-to-video movies that have done this in the last few years.

Yeah pretty much, however I worry since Tsuburaya is in another legal battle..

They've been having these battles for going on 20 years now. From what I've read on the Sci-Fi Japan article things are looking good for the court case in the US and Tsuburaya is optimistic about getting the worldwide rights back to the initial six Ultra shows as well as clearing up any confusion about who owns Ultraman.

Fun fact: Tsuburaya has been using the similar looking Ultraman Neos as a substitute for the original Ultraman in foreign music videos and commercials and whatnot for the last few years because of the murkiness over whether they can actual license out the original Ultraman.

Oooh, and I left a super important piece of news regarding kaiju in the US: a decade ago Media Blasters released many of the non-Godzilla Toho kaiju/sci-fi films on DVD and they've since gone out of print and have been fetching high prices. Recently they apparently discovered some unsold stock or something and titles like Frankenstein Conquers the World, Atragon, Matango, Dogora, The Mysterians, Space Amoeba, and Latitude Zero have popped back up on Amazon. Who knows how long they'll last, so if you're interested get 'em now!

[Angilasman]

Okay guys *rubs hands together* favorite kaiju!

Favorite Toho kaiju (besides Godzilla)

Okay, now I adore the classic, most iconic Godzilla opponents/allies: King Ghidorah, Rodan, Mechagodzilla, and Mothra (of those, probably Mothra most of all - being a more beautiful, feminine monster broke the mold and established kaiju can be anything) but I'm gonna give the honor to a sentimental favorite: Angilas (also rendered in English as Angurius). Angilas is a cute, tenacious puppy dog of a monster who left a big impression on me as a youngster. He's Godzilla's best friend and tag-team partner in Godzilla vs. Gigan, constantly throws himself at a far more powerful opponent in Destroy All Monsters, is cruelly injured by Mechagodzilla in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (a traumatic moment as a kid), and also was Godzilla's very first opponent back in 1955's Godzilla Raids Again!

Favorite Daiei kaiju (besides Gamera)

This one has to be a tie, has to. I simply can't choose between Legion and Daimajin. Both are totally unique. Legion is the most well thought out alien menace in a kaiju film, dangerous to Earth only because of its life cycle. It's a triumph of suit design; wonderfully hiding the shape of the two actors inside, cutting an iconic and totally unique silhouette, all the while not losing mobility. Daimajin is just so badass, and is the ultimate mystic kaiju with no sci-fi basis at all: you look at him and instantly know he's a fantasy character.

Favorite Tsuburaya kaiju (not counting Ultraman - yes, I think the Ultramen are technically kaiju)

So many terrific ones, but I think I have to go with Jamilla. Love how he's shaped, and I love his backstory of being a mutated human who's come back to Earth to get revenge for being abandoned in space. Because Jamilla has never had a starring role past his episode in the original Ultraman series (though he's often used in marketing and such with other iconic villains) gives him and extra bit of mystique, too.

[AnimalSquabbles]

Thread has been moved to TV & Film, with a permanent redirect in the Independents section so people can still find it there too!

Awesome, thank you very much

[The One and Only]

One particular Hasbro property that I've been pining for its return since the early 2Ks, when G.I. JOE and THE TRANSFORMERS made their returns to the comics pages, and toy store shelves.

INHUMANOIDS, the toyline featured a team of high tech scientists, adventurers ,Earth Corps, who battled a group of giant monsters called the Inhumanoids, powerful monsters from beneath the Earth's surface. The toyline didn't achieve the success of Joes or Transformers, and only one series of figures was released before Hasbro ceased the line. The animated series, equally short-lived, originally spun out of serialized segments on SUPER SATURDAY/SUNDAY, for its own series. Considered rather dark for American animation, the show developed quite a strong following. Especially with this guy who's always been going when it come to IDW's Hasbro titles, "When you going to bring back the Inhumanoids ?", repeatedly.

[Jackmando7]

Is Jurassic Park: The Lost World, or any from that franchise, considered a Kaiju movie?

[AnimalSquabbles]

Is Jurassic Park: The Lost World, or any from that franchise, considered a Kaiju movie?

I dont think it is intended to be but, by definition, yes. Like JAWS, intended to be a suspense thriller but i think the giant shark could technically be considered a kaiju

[Angilasman]

Is Jurassic Park: The Lost World, or any from that franchise, considered a Kaiju movie?

I think kaiju, even though they often have sci-fi explanations, are more like gods. They're big, they're smart, they can only stopped in highly specialized ways (fights with other monsters mostly, but also experimental weapons and convoluted plans). Because what we think of kaiju started out in Japanese films (and then TV and anime) there's also a kind of lineage in modern kaiju; even if they're CGI and produced outside of Japan, they still have thatt element (in design or behavior) of being inspired by what came before in Japan.

The dinosaurs in JP are more like big animals. Like, I don't really consider any of the Harryhausen monsters (a bunch of which are mystical) kaiju; but big animals and fantasy characters. They only ones that hit the kaiju benchmarks for me are Talos, the Kraken, maybe the Rhedosaurus (since it inspired the creation of Godzilla we might as well include him!). I wouldn't really consider the original King Kong a kaiju either, but since he was made into one in two Toho films and the new MonserVerse Kong is clearly more kaiju-y he's grandfathered in.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I dont think it is intended to be but, by definition, yes. Like JAWS, intended to be a suspense thriller but i think the giant shark could technically be considered a kaiju

If MEG (from the Steve Alten novels about a gigantic, 60 foot long prehistoric shark emerging from the Marianas Trench to commit mayhem) had been made into a film, I think Megalodon would've been classified as a kaiju.

[hulahulk]

Meg's coming to theaters sometime next year.

[AnimalSquabbles]

I think people are getting too caught up on the word "kaiju"

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Meg's coming to theaters sometime next year.

Well, damn! That's awesome! Here's a link from IMDb as it lists August 10th as a release date:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4779682/?ref_=nv_sr_2

[BeastieRunner]

If MEG (from the Steve Alten novels about a gigantic, 60 foot long prehistoric shark emerging from the Marianas Trench to commit mayhem) had been made into a film, I think Megalodon would've been classified as a kaiju.

Meg's coming to theaters sometime next year.

Well, damn! That's awesome! Here's a link from IMDb as it lists August 10th as a release date:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4779682/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Never thought I'd get book recommendations from this thread!