Variety Had Some Harsh Words About Godzilla
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ต.ค. 2024
- Variety recently released its list of Top 100 Greatest Horror Film of All Time. Godzilla made the list.. but they had some concerning things to say about the franchise.
Here is the article: variety.com/li...
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After hearing what Variety said about Godzilla it was like a well constructed insult and that just rubbed me the wrong way. Like look yes there are some campy moments in the Godzilla franchise while other times Godzilla can be deadly serious, hell Minus One won an Oscar that's a hell of an accomplishment.
Well spoken, Goji-friend. To be "fair," Variety typically has the cinematic acumen of a bluegill, so while their opinion doesn't matter to *us* all that much, it does reach a wide audience. There are very few people who haven't heard of Godzilla, and it's very promising that the new, younger generations have Legendary and Minus One to tickle their modern sensibilities when introducing them to the King of Monsters... so I'm somewhat surprised that Variety didn't bring up the fact that the franchise is alive, well, and still flying-tail-drop-kicking.
This is one of the few things that make me proud as a Godzilla fan. When we can come together and point out people who refuse to acknowledge Godzilla as more than a monster it makes me feel good
You know Godzilla only barely cracking top 50 in a "horror" movie list is actually pretty accurate imo because it isn't necessarily even a horror film, just includes horror elements to get across its message about the horrors of nuclear weaponry.
My compliments to Variety stop there though
Completely agree
Yeah, the ranking for me isn't the issue, but the inaccuracy was. Then again what Variety says is basically irrelevant
"Freddy Kreuger is terrifying in the movies, despite the fact that he's clearly just Robert Englund in burn makeup and a dirty sweater."
TBH, I just don't care about what Variety says. Hell, some superhero media can be campy, and some of these people would praise some of those shows/films to the point of parody
I don't think what they say carries much weight, but as a major outlet....
@@DonnyWinter eh, nowadays, most major or mainstream don't seem to matter. Plus, magazines or sites like Variety don't have the same pull as they used to.
@@JacobKaiju I know right? There are TH-camrs with more viewers than Variety has readers 😆
sigh...it's the same old thing with these western media critics, they refuse to see godzilla movies beyond the surface level stuff. that godzilla has a deeper cultural impact on japan and maybe even the whole world then just people in monster suits bashing each other. i would love to shove godzilla minus one and the original 1954 film in their faces and see if they think differently about godzilla then.
Western audiences like to jab at Godzilla's production values but forget that around the same time.........America's 'dinosaur movies' weren't faring much better in that department. Hell, sometimes even worse.
@@DrErikNefarious true, with the exception of the jurassic park movies, most of the dinosaur movies in the US are not that great.
I genuinely think the ongoing unwillingness to suspend disbelief for Godzilla simply because it's aesthetically different than western spectacle is, well, xenophobic.
The special effects and craft in most Godzilla films are incredible. But because it's not recognizable compared to Western media, people call it "cheesy, cheap, kitschy."
I agree with you wholeheartedly!
Except they also ranked other Japanese films higher on the list and had nothing bad to say about them. They're being "too cool for Godzilla," not racist against the Japanese.
@@MonsterKidCory funny how you miss the point.
I hate when people pretend the set and miniature work on Godzilla movies isn’t AMAZING. They don’t look like toys. Many of the buildings look stunningly real and add a reality to Godzilla that breaks through how obvious it is that he’s a man in a suit.
Also, all of the classic universal monsters are obvious costumes. American filmmaking does not hold grand superiority
Godzilla can be campy and scary he’ll always be awesome no matter what
Agreed!!
I don't read Variety, so I don't care what "they" think about Godzilla! I grew up loving Godzilla movies (and Dinosaurs of course), and I was ridiculed about it , and had to hear the criticisms about the franchise growing up, but I don't let it bother me too much! I know how much I LOVE the Character , and Characters related to the franchise! And I was brought to happy tears, when at an otherwise terrible Oscar show, it was announced that Minus One won the Oscar for BEST VISUAL EFFECTS!!! I'm 62 years old , and I will continue to collect and watch the movies, buy the figures, t-shirts, books and magazines!!! GO, GO, GODZILLA!!! YEAH, YEAH!!!
Western critics have had this viewpoint for decades. I don't really think many of their opinions have changed; only their way of wording it softening the language. A lot of them are fairly dismissive of foreign productions and this genre as a whole and I think the surprise reaction so many of them had to Minus One was a bit of a testament to that. Like they couldn't comprehend that a Godzilla movie could be anything more than child fodder.
I think in general the franchise's history is not looked at objectively enough, but that's its own can of worms. People often cherry-pick the silly elements of Godzilla's history as talking points and view them from a modern scope, but don't discuss the context of why those elements are the way they are or what might have influenced those decisions when they were initially made.
HELL YEA! That Variety article is the epitome of "damning with faint praise". The hypocrisy speaking highly of other movie monsters while wallowing in stereotypes with kaiju eiga is deplorable.
First Doctor Skipper with his 'godzilla doesnt work in america' and now this?! Modern imternet truly doesnt know about godzilla actually
These article people have never mattered to me, never will
Similar to Doug Walker the Nostalgia Critic does not understand Jurassic Park, Variety and some terrible Zilla fanboys does not understand Godzilla. No offense to anybody who likes Zilla 1998.
I'm even 50/50 on calling it a horror movie. While I'm glad it's on a Variety list, the original King Kong and Gojira don't really belong in the same category as most of the other movies on the list. Hopefully it'll get readers interested in watching it with fresh eyes.
I'm genuinely tired of western critics and their tired arguments against Godzilla movies. I've been a fan for over 25 years and their opinions were exactly the same in the early 2000 as they're today. The only difference is that now we have Minus One, the second movie in the franchise, after the very first one, worthy of being called good, at least in their eyes.
They'd always go on and on about cheesy special effects, that the monsters are obviously guys in rubber suits. And yeah, superficially there's a point to it. The issue is that there's more to these movies and a lot of the campiness is actually deliberate, especially in the Showa era. It also doesn't mean that there's no artistic merit to those movies.
But honestly, I don't think the special effects are the actual issue. Remember that the Monsterverse films are disliked by the critics as well. I think that on some way they just dislike the idea of Godzilla himself.
Critics and intellectuals alike tend to be very dismissive of monsters, thinking them too juvenile for serious study. J. R. R. Tolkein first came to prominence when he wrote an essay on “Beowulf” where he said that the monsters were important to the poem, and that pretending they were metaphorical missed the point. A hundred years later, and critics still can’t seem to accept monsters. 👹
This is the first time I've thought about Variety in............ever
🤣🤣🤣🤣 fair
Godzilla may be camp- Gojira is a horror classic
I'll be honest: I lived throughout the 1980s and 1990s and I have witness far worse than what variety just posted - it is flippant and with the cliche toy car jokes but at least there was no blatant Japanophobia / direct racism seems to be absent. Plus, 47 for a giant monster film from the 1950s is not half bad considering this is a listing of the 100 greatest horror movies of all time.
Oh I remember it being far worse too. The fact that it's 2024 and them using this minimizing language just seems in bad taste to me. If all the articles followed the same tone, that'd be completely different.
Anything like this doesn’t at all sound or feel like criticism it just sounds like hate just to hate
Variety should stick to being a news outlet.
i just read it. wow. variety misfired with that one
And what do they have to say about King Kong?
I mean this article shows the stupidity and ignorance of this country I love America but let’s be honest we ain’t the best country at anything it’s hard for most Americans to admit that a foreign film does way better than most of these other shit movies they put out Godzilla Minus One to me is the 🐐of movies period it achieved mush more than most movies wish they could do with the budget they had
I completely agree with what you said.
I do not think you are reading too much into this. Godzilla can be two things, but he is at heart a somber reminder that the United States tested atomic weaponry on unarmed non combatants.
Some western people just cannot accept the fact that Gojira stomped on the popularity of their beloved king kong.
Also, the fact that Gojira's existence is a result of what they did to Japan, some of these western fanatics couldn't contain their ego being rubbed on.
First of all, it's Variety. Who gives a crap what Variety has to say? Who cares if non-fans still look down on Godzilla because of a Variety article? Everyone needs to grab some self-esteem and not give a damn what anybody else thinks of the thing we like.
Secondly, Godzilla IS camp and kitsch. No, not all of it. It was unjust to say that about the first one but then be so apologetic for the shortcomings of other movies on the list (but again, it's Variety, so who gives a shit what they say?). But I'm a Showa Era guy and Showa is unmitigated kitsch. That doesn't mean it's not good though.
Thirdly, no, the listing wasn't ABOUT later Godzilla movies like Minus One and Shin, which are objectively good movies. That difference was for those articles, what, a year ago or whatever about how "finally" there's a good Godzilla movie 😆
In summary, yes Godzilla is kitsch, no it doesn't matter, and it REALLY doesn't matter what non-fans think of it anyway.
Who gives a shit about Variety, they don't speak for the audience. They sure as hell dont speak for this moviegoer. You and every other person watching this video and many more are the ones watching these things, supporting them, and buying all the merch to keep this monster alive and going. They can belittle all they want but its clear that this monster and this series is here to stay. 70th years later and still reeling people in for more. Not many fictional characters that can do that. People with a platform can have a dismissive attitude about something as subjective as art but at the end of the day its just one writer's opinion and that opinion won't do much when you got so many people supporting this monster series with the almighty dollar. The audience decides to buy movie tickets and merch, that is what dictates the future. Variety has talked smack about Godzilla plenty of times calling it a tired IP and box office poison. Let me know when Godzilla as a film series finally dies. Let me know when that monster stops drawing in the audience. Let me know when Variety is finally right about something related to the monster you and the rest of your viewers know better than they do.
The history of horror in general in film has been disrespected by Hollywood Syfy on the other hand has been getting all of the glory
There are genres that Hollywood just Will not except As valid. Comic books is another genre. Given the divisive comment by Martin Scorsese about comics as pop corn Cinema. At least via the Internet. And the the Discovery en resurgence of movies that did not do well in the theaters for whatever reason I did very well almost to a cult following on home video and cable/pay tv. It’s a clear case of the people have spoken and the jades over payed critics have Lost their objectivity. Probably the biggest example of that is the Cisco and Ebert review of John carpenters the thing. And the many things that could’ve influenced their bad review. Conservative sponsors. Being compared to another alien movie that came out at the same time. ET the extra terrestrial.
It’s all been back pedaled since. And John Carpenter is considered a god among movie makers
Science fiction and to fight and fight for legitimacy before winning it with Star Wars, and some people will still act too high brow for Star Wars.
You’re on the money about the Hollywood establishment vs these genres, good analysis
Didn’t Ebert also erroneously characterize Godzilla 1985 as a comedy then criticize it for being “too player straight” to be a successful one?
@@Cdr2002 the dub comany was responsible for that impression. Raymond Burr said he would walk away if the did not take the dub seriously
Every one is so comfortable seeing how cheesy Godzilla is
It’s kind of how Saying misogynistic homophobic and racist comments. Thinking well every one believes these things so it’s OK to say. The US premiere of Godzilla versus Megalon did a lot of damage to the Godzilla series. Although because of the Batman TV series everyone was universally embracing and copying camp
I think it Godzilla vs Megalon had made it to the states quicker before trends began to shift it could’ve landed better, but I could be just trying to hope there
I think you’re absolutely spot on about how the ignorance and assumption around Godzilla is very analogous to bigotry in its behavior pattern