More Godzilla movies would be great. Everyone reacts to these new ones, but there are so many others. I would recommend The Return of Godzilla, from 1984, and Godzilla vs. Biollante, from 1989, if you haven’t seen them. More Harryhausen would be cool too. I’m glad you guys like Gwangi, that movie is very underrated in my opinion.
I like your sister's open-mindedness towards the movie as a whole. She didn't just dismiss the earlier forms of Godzilla as "stupid" or "ridiculous". She just said that it was interesting. And she's open to the satire/black comedy nature of it instead of deeming it as "boring".
The American Monsterverse Godzilla is like a juicy hamburger while the recent Japanese Toho Godzilla is like a gourmet steak - both are “delicious” depending on your mood. * The latest American “MonsterVerse” Godzilla movies were full of CGI “eye candies,” and did not require me to think very hard. In licensed “monster” movies such as Godzilla vs Kong (2021) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), I just “kicked back” and enjoyed the CGI spectacles. More importantly, these two big-budget (over 130 million USD each) “popcorn flicks” were hugely profitable globally. This contractually restricts when and where the Japanese Toho could release or stream its Godzilla movies. * The latest Japanese “Toho” Godzilla movies were allegories of Japan’s traumas, which required me to think deeply. In Shin Godzilla (2016), the bureaucratic Japanese government failed to address the 2011 (rapidly unfolding) triple disasters of earthquake -> then tsunami -> then nuclear plant meltdown using an “evolving” Godzilla as an allegory. In Godzilla Minus One (2023), the people-led effort defeated Godzilla (temporarily) as Japan rebuilt after World War II (post-1945) with a compelling human story of “survivor guilt.” These two low-budget (under 12 million USD each) “monster” movies won numerous awards including Best Picture in Japan (both) and Godzilla Minus One won an Oscar in the US for Best Visual Effects (the first-ever for a low-budget monster movie).
I love the bureaucracy aspect of this movie, and though it took me a while to get over the fact that this wasn't the Godzilla I'm used to, Shin Godzilla is creative, treads new ground, and has some really interesting monster designs, . It's also the most terrifying and alien that Godzilla has ever been (at least that I've seen). I do wish that there was a bit more setup/explanation for Godzilla, rather than him just appearing all of a sudden, then evolving at breakneck speed. At the very least, they should've lampshaded it. The "American" woman who wants to be president is ridiculous. They should've just had her speak in Japanese, or at least had her growing up in Japan before moving to the US and serving as a diplomat for them (and just drop the president thing, because: come on). I didn't really buy the way they took out Godzilla. It was too convenient, and there were too many reasons it should've never worked. So I guess I'm a bit mixed on the movie (though not quite as conflicted as I am with Minus One). Overall, I enjoyed it, but the things I didn't care for nag at me.
I think I'm the odd one out on Minus One. The human drama is really good, but I just don't care for the depiction of Godzilla. I don't much like the way he looks (and I really hate his dorsal spines popping out when he's charging up his atomic breath) or acts. He seems too background to me, and I think I would've preferred a post-WW2 movie with some kind of semi-realistic danger they had to deal with. I think I was least into things when Godzilla was on screen. Overall, I respect the movie for what it does right, but it's hard for me to get too excited about a Godzilla movie where I don't care for Godzilla.
Not like the old days, when the JSDF would deploy at the first Godzilla alarm. Per your comment on military force: I think every JSDF anti-Godzilla mission should be called 'OPERATION: PISS HIM OFF.' I love the POV from the camera in the car driving past him and looking waaay up. COVID was part of what derailed this film's sequel. In my opinion, they also kind of wrote themselves into a corner with this ending: Godzilla was just starting to evolve into the Godzilla Sapiens shown emerging from the end of his tail, at the end; so the next movie would have dealt with large numbers of evolved G Sapiens, not necessarily one enormous monster.
More Godzilla movies would be great. Everyone reacts to these new ones, but there are so many others. I would recommend The Return of Godzilla, from 1984, and Godzilla vs. Biollante, from 1989, if you haven’t seen them.
More Harryhausen would be cool too. I’m glad you guys like Gwangi, that movie is very underrated in my opinion.
I like your sister's open-mindedness towards the movie as a whole. She didn't just dismiss the earlier forms of Godzilla as "stupid" or "ridiculous". She just said that it was interesting. And she's open to the satire/black comedy nature of it instead of deeming it as "boring".
Exactly. First time saw Someone say that to earlier Shin forms
The American Monsterverse Godzilla is like a juicy hamburger while the recent Japanese Toho Godzilla is like a gourmet steak - both are “delicious” depending on your mood.
* The latest American “MonsterVerse” Godzilla movies were full of CGI “eye candies,” and did not require me to think very hard.
In licensed “monster” movies such as Godzilla vs Kong (2021) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), I just “kicked back” and enjoyed the CGI spectacles.
More importantly, these two big-budget (over 130 million USD each) “popcorn flicks” were hugely profitable globally. This contractually restricts when and where the Japanese Toho could release or stream its Godzilla movies.
* The latest Japanese “Toho” Godzilla movies were allegories of Japan’s traumas, which required me to think deeply.
In Shin Godzilla (2016), the bureaucratic Japanese government failed to address the 2011 (rapidly unfolding) triple disasters of earthquake -> then tsunami -> then nuclear plant meltdown using an “evolving” Godzilla as an allegory.
In Godzilla Minus One (2023), the people-led effort defeated Godzilla (temporarily) as Japan rebuilt after World War II (post-1945) with a compelling human story of “survivor guilt.”
These two low-budget (under 12 million USD each) “monster” movies won numerous awards including Best Picture in Japan (both) and Godzilla Minus One won an Oscar in the US for Best Visual Effects (the first-ever for a low-budget monster movie).
I love the bureaucracy aspect of this movie, and though it took me a while to get over the fact that this wasn't the Godzilla I'm used to, Shin Godzilla is creative, treads new ground, and has some really interesting monster designs, . It's also the most terrifying and alien that Godzilla has ever been (at least that I've seen).
I do wish that there was a bit more setup/explanation for Godzilla, rather than him just appearing all of a sudden, then evolving at breakneck speed. At the very least, they should've lampshaded it.
The "American" woman who wants to be president is ridiculous. They should've just had her speak in Japanese, or at least had her growing up in Japan before moving to the US and serving as a diplomat for them (and just drop the president thing, because: come on).
I didn't really buy the way they took out Godzilla. It was too convenient, and there were too many reasons it should've never worked.
So I guess I'm a bit mixed on the movie (though not quite as conflicted as I am with Minus One). Overall, I enjoyed it, but the things I didn't care for nag at me.
I think I'm the odd one out on Minus One. The human drama is really good, but I just don't care for the depiction of Godzilla. I don't much like the way he looks (and I really hate his dorsal spines popping out when he's charging up his atomic breath) or acts. He seems too background to me, and I think I would've preferred a post-WW2 movie with some kind of semi-realistic danger they had to deal with. I think I was least into things when Godzilla was on screen. Overall, I respect the movie for what it does right, but it's hard for me to get too excited about a Godzilla movie where I don't care for Godzilla.
Not like the old days, when the JSDF would deploy at the first Godzilla alarm. Per your comment on military force: I think every JSDF anti-Godzilla mission should be called 'OPERATION: PISS HIM OFF.' I love the POV from the camera in the car driving past him and looking waaay up. COVID was part of what derailed this film's sequel. In my opinion, they also kind of wrote themselves into a corner with this ending: Godzilla was just starting to evolve into the Godzilla Sapiens shown emerging from the end of his tail, at the end; so the next movie would have dealt with large numbers of evolved G Sapiens, not necessarily one enormous monster.
Let's have a new Gamera movie.