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The beauty of Minus One is that you could remove Godzilla and it'd still be a wonderful movie about post-war Japan and the struggle of survivors guilt/PTSD. Too many monster films don't put in the effort to develop their human characters, but Minus One did an amazing job. Nobody had "cry during a Godzilla movie," on their 2023/2024 bingo card.
All great "monster" movies are always about more than just a monster destroying things or scaring people. Like this one. "King Kong" is really a tragedy about greed and animal abuse.
I’m 30 now and I’ve been a Godzilla fan since I was 5, my dad showed me them and we’d always watch them together. He passed away 5 years ago, I wish we could’ve seen this movie. He would’ve loved it! Great reaction like always though!
I know that feeling. I still remember my own late father introducing me to Godzilla (1956): King of the Monsters. If he was still alive to see this film; You can bet your butt he would want to see it again and again!
when he got our first Betamax machine back in 1980, it came with 3 tapes with different movies... Gamera was one of them, the Turtle monster that flew jet style!I lost my father who loved to watch 2 movies with the family every single saturday untill we became teenagers!
i am 53 , fan ...i have ALL THE V HS films , of godzila ...... this FILM , is ...wot , the Director wantred ...years ago.... ONE , of my best monster the THREE HEAD ONE >....
The mechanic's biggest regret is that everything he built, all the machines he fixed, all he did, never helped save people's lives, he was a mechanic at a kamikaze's station. It only helped end them. With that ejection seat, at the end, he finally did. It helped end his war too.
The scene of Shikishima screaming with overwhelming grief and rage after Godzilla destroyed Ginza is absolutely heartbreaking. Everyone in the packed IMAX theater I saw this in was crying at that scene.
@@JakeMacAttack Its okay to disagree and have your favorite but those aren't even the better Monsterverse films 😅 What makes you enjoy those so much? This is a well made film through and through, the Monsterverse stuff for the most part is "turn your brain off" fun and that's the extent of it. You should understand where people are coming from in filmmaking terms. The Monsterverse had an opportunity to have decent characters with the first film but they kill them off and so were left with boring movies where you're waiting for the monsters to come in and wreck shop. Fun... but dumb fun.
The director also being the VFX supervisor really helped make the CGI so good. Every shot was designed with the CGI elements in mind, and the artists were given proper time to get the shots right. Inadequate time and unreasonable demands from the production team are the cause of most of the bad CGI in recent years.
I agree that it's not a prequel to an existing movie, but I would not call it a "retelling" of the original since they are completely different stories. It's like saying every movie with a dog in it is a retelling of "Lassie", or every movie with a lion in it is a retelling of "The Lion King". Also, though you may not mean it that way, "retelling" to me sounds like the original was deficient in some way, so it had to be redone, but the original was a great movie. Everything about the original is different from story to plot to characters, and these are very character-centered movies. The original had no one remotely like Shikishima-san the kamikaze pilot. It's about a paleontologist whose daughter is engaged to marry his colleague, but she falls in love with a salvage boat captain. The only things in common are that Godzilla appears in both of them, Tokyo gets attacked at one point, and Odo island is in both, though completely different things happen there. By the way, GMO focuses on Tokyo right after Operation Meetinghouse, one of the things that is very different from the 1954 story, but no one ever seems to talk about the significance of that in these TH-cam videos. Sumiko's comments when we first meet her invite us to think about how 30,000 people killed by fictional Godzilla pales in comparison to over a hundred thousand people really killed by firebombing in one night. All those people had families, and people like Shikishima, Akiko, Noriko, and Sumiko with family members all killed were very common at that time. I think it's important to think about that as well as the nuclear attacks, and how such attacks on civilians should not be done.
A few history & other facts you'll probably appreciate: • Toho explicitly specifies that Godzilla doesn't eat people, so his attacks are always a reflection of emotion and not predation. It's part of what makes him a continually effective vector for storytelling as he's a thematic reflection of the setting in various ways. • The Tokyo Firebombings were _unbelievably_ devastating attacks on the civilian population with the U.S.'s Operation Meetinghouse causing casualties of 100,000 and leaving over a million homeless in a single attack. (For a sense of scale, that's under ⅓ of the casualties from Godzilla's Ginza attack in the film). They couldn't put out the fires, they had to burn themselves out over days, and the heat & scale of what occurred was utterly incomprehensible boiling away swimming pools with people trying to shelter in them, the air being hot enough to start clothes on fire, raining molten glass, and the oxygen being consumed by the fire. That's where he returns home to at the start of the film and why it's such chaos & pain. • After Godzilla's Ginza attack, the heat from the blast and the ash in the air cause massive condensation and fall back down as black rain. This happened with both of the atomic bombings, and the fallout carried in the rain putting out the fires and cooling the burns was invisibly poisoning everyone it touched. Shikishima & Godzilla both screaming at the sky in that scene are a parallel to the fact that they're both invisibly impacted by the effects of the war in ways that are inescapable. There's an amazing documentary called *_Black Rain_* (released the same year as Ridley Scott's different film of the same name, which is a bit confusing) that really captures this specific era of Japan, as well as dynamics of what single young adults & veterans faced during that time. • The Shinden aircraft he flies was actually built near the end of the war to combat the U.S. bombers, but only two prototypes were completed with the U.S. taking one and the other being scrapped. It was meant to represent a hope against this exact type of utterly inconceivable destruction. This replica was anonymously donated to a WWII museum months before being revealed that it was made for the film. • Godzilla is designed to be like a curse-god in Japanese mythology (Princess Mononoke is probably the best example). The pain in a curse god is a reflection of what the people fighting it experience. Thus Godzilla is attacking Japan and not America for testing the weapons on him. The same power to stay alive that allows Godzilla to regenerate is the reason why you see the black mark on her neck at the end of the film. • The title -1.0 refers to how post-war Japan was left with nothing, but even at that point it's still possible for loss to continue. That post-war trauma is a continual recurring theme and it's also reflected in the bittersweet elements of the ending as one of the famous lines from *_Shin Godzilla_* set in a more modern age is that, _“The post-war period extends forever.”_ You picked an amazing Godzilla film to start on. This, *_Shin Godzilla_* and the original 1954 *_Godzilla_* are easily my top 3 as they're built to be a core message about Japan in various eras, and hit emotions in ways that are just overwhelming. Additionally, the Legendary films, and other Toho Godzilla films that are more just giant monster Vs. movies are also an absolute blast, and well worth watching, especially because they help to emphasize why Godzilla is a really versatile symbol for Japan and what he represents changes depending on the nessage of the film.
Adding onto this comment - Some particular Godzilla movies have a deeper meaning than just a rubber suit or CGI monster destroying Tokyo or other monsters! Minus One, Shin Godzilla as well as the very first Godzilla movie had deeper meaning. - In a "hilarious" but logical explanation. They could've easily added U.S. involvement however because the United States was worried about the Soviets they simply couldn't aid Japan. and asked Japan to basically look out for themselves - Canadian actor Raymond Burr in an interview said specifically he wanted the tone of Godzilla to be kept serious as the message behind Godzilla is important and if they didn't respect the message or he didn't like what he was seeing he would walk away.
Another thing about this Godzilla, he's explicitly MALICIOUS. As in, he goes out of his way to kill people. That is actually unusual. Generally, Godzilla is sort of a natural disaster...he comes through, destroys things, and leaves, with no particular malice and often no goal. He just does what he does. Most of the Godzillas WILL get aggressive if attacked, as in, if something in an army shoots them, they will take out the ENTIRE army before leaving (Shin was a notable exception...pretty much every act of aggression Shin did was reflexive, his body responding to a threat whether Shin wanted to or not. Monsterverse is another exception, generally speaking, MV Godzilla breaks what he NEEDS to break, and not much else, at least on purpose. If he has to throw someone through a building, so be it.) This Godzilla, like GMK Godzilla, explicitly HATES humans and goes out of his way to kill them. In Ginza, you see him doing things Godzilla doesn't normally do, like whipping his body around so that his tail will knock down buildings, or grabbing vehicles in his teeth and wrecking them...those aren't normal Godzilla behavious...most of his destruction is INCIDENTAL. Like how a hurricane doesn't INTENTIONALLY rip buildings apart, it's just a side effect of a hurricane moving through town. This Godzilla does it on purpose.
@@TabathaTMartin Yeah. Like I said, you can count on one hand the Godzillas that are genuinely malicious. And most of those are pushed to that, like Zilla from 98 wasn't flat out against humans until they bombed the nest. But GMK woke up and chose violence, and Minus needed very little prompting to get there. Oddly enough, I think in terms of Japanese Godzillas, Shin was the LEAST malicious, even if he was one of the more destructive. Because I honestly don't think he had control over his own body 90% of the time. The poor creature was in the passenger seat of his own body.
It won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects! Also in Hollywood news, James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader the Mufasa, passed away at 93. May The Force Be With You, James.
@@TabathaTMartin It was considered but Japan picked a different film instead; now had it been chosen for best Foreign Film and/or Best Picture it would've probably one in either/or category
What an amazing movie.. the cinematography, the acting, the music, its perfection! And only 10 million.. I still can't believe they made this movie with only 10 million. Oscar well deserved.
As a Godzilla fan I couldn't believe that this movie was on the poll. I just couldn't believe. And then the movie night happened Thank you to you both for giving Godzilla Minus One a chance
At the end the sailors werent saluting Shikishima for his heroism, they were saluting Godzilla. Paying respect to a worthy opponent the way Samurai would.
The black splotch on Noriko's neck has been confirmed by the director to be "G-Cells". Also. FYI: the battle cruiser, "Takao" was an actual ship that survived the war. The official story is that it was sunk by the U.S. Navy for target practice, but, we, now, know what really happened. (Hehe). Also, the Shinden plane Shikishima flew was an experimental prototype being developed to protect the Island from the bombing raids.
The Takao was a heavy cruiser, not a battlecruiser. Those are two different classes of ship. Also, the four destroyers (ship class) at the end - the Yukikaze, Hibiki, Yuukaze, and Keyaki (which was technically a destroyer escort, not a full destroyer) - were also real ships! In fact, their fates in the movie reflect their fates in real life (as does the Takao's, sort of). The Keyaki was destroyed in the nuclear bomb tests at Bikini Atoll IRL I believe, and here it was destroyed by Godzilla's atomic breath (The Takao was also sunk after the war, but by the British as target practice, and the Yuukaze was scrapped). The Yukikaze and Hibiki were each transferred to other nations after the war - the Yukikaze to the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Hibiki to the USSR. The USS Redfish, the submarine that tracked Godzilla until getting sunk, really existed, and actually showed up in a few American movies ("20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Run Silent, Run Deep"). Indeed, the only warship mentioned in the movie that did not exist is the destroyer USS Lancaster. No ship of that name and type existed. Also, there's a brief mention of "46cm shells" being detonated, right before Godzilla sinks. Those would be shells for the 18-inch (460mm, or 46cm) guns on the Yamato and Musashi.
The thing I love so much about this movie is that it's about the *people* ... Shikishima's redemption arc, the rebuilding of lives, of homes, of families, of the city and country. Overcoming crushing defeat, betrayal (by their own country, by Shikishima [in his own mind]), loss, repeated devastation... Godzilla ends up being a maguffin in his own movie. (But even "the maguffin" is fantastic! This movie won the Oscar for special effects, after all.)
Indeed, I like how the title itself is representative of the situation. Godzilla is pretty much taking Japan -1 than it already was when the air raids happened, Japan is trying to rebuild itself, but Godzilla sets them back
My favorite parts of the attack plan were it was their choice this time and the goal was no one dies. As Doc said, "This isn't a battle to the death, it's a fight for the futre. A fight to live." I also think that mechanic telling the pilot to "Live!" was the only person he'd listen to, the only person he would take that permission from.
It's then heart wrenching with the "we leave you the future," line, because despite their speech about preserving lives, they're going into the mission knowing that they're probably not gonna make it back.
I’m Japanese living in the States. When I heard the Godzilla theme in a theater, I just started to cry. In addition, when I saw many Americans sent applause to this movie at the ending, I cried with happiness. Of course, you know, when Akiko cried, I cried with her.
Nikki, it's ok to cry. When it was playing in Japan I read stories of grown men sobbing outside theaters after it was over. Beautiful film that should have won Best Picture.
@@JakeMacAttack Nothing to do with being soft. When you lived through tough shit, movies that go for your emotions can just punch you there. Totally normal. Like, movies, tv shows, games, many aim at making you feel something. When you lose family, friends, pets, crying is only natural.
@@JakeMacAttackyou seem like the type of guy who would have laughed at war vets having a trauma response to movies like Saving Private Ryan. Let's not be friends.
As a long time Godzilla fan here’s a little background. There is 38 Godzilla films in the franchise. Godzilla started in 1954 and was a metaphor representation of the H-Bomb that dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII. Throughout the years Godzilla has changed drastically. At first he started out as a villain or a destructive threat to humanity wreaking havoc and causing chaos, but later on in the 60s and 70s they would turn more into an anti-hero or a less of a threat to humanity and stopping worse monsters from invading Earth, this era of Godzilla is called the showa series, which is from 1954-1975 Then they would reboot Godzilla in 1984-1995 called the Hesei series and then would turn Godzilla back to a threat to humanity again with a more serious tone, but later on he would slowly morphed into an anti-hero, but he would still cause destruction as a force of nature, this in my opinion is the best era for Godzilla The Millennium series is the next era of Godzilla films from 1999-2004, these are the films I mostly grew up watching as a kid mostly cause I thought Godzilla looked cool in these movies. The Millennium series is known for being kind of an anthology series, showing a different depiction on what happened to Godzilla after 1954 and they have no continuity with each other except for 2 of them and 1954. Godzilla 2014 is the start of the MonsterVerse and the 2nd Godzilla movie made here in the United States while the others were made in Japan. This one is where they made Godzilla strictly an anti-hero, like the showa series, but more modernized and a little more serious Shin Godzilla was the next movie made by Toho. I forgot to mention Toho is the main studio that makes all the Godzilla movies except for the MonsterVerse movies. Shin Godzilla is back to his destructive roots but this time it’s more creepy yet a little sorrow. This is the most unsettling looking for Godzilla and it’ll give you an uneasy feel, great movie though Now these next films in the franchise is the anime trilogy from 2017-2018. Basically in these ones, Godzilla colonized the entire Earth and drove humanity out which made everyone evacuate on ships to live in space until they can figure out a way to stop Godzilla. Not my favorites in the franchise but it has an interesting premise Godzilla: King Of The Monsters is the 3rd movie in the MonsterVerse, I said third because Kong: Skull Island was the 2nd movie in the MonsterVerse. Just like 2014, Godzilla’s an anti-hero keeping balance to the Earth from invasive threats. This movie is just full of nostalgia and fun Godzilla vs Kong is the 3rd Godzilla movie in the franchise but the 4 movie in the MonsterVerse Godzilla Minus One was the next Godzilla movie by Toho since the anime trilogy. Obviously y’all just watched it and know Godzilla was back to his destructive roots And latest one is Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire which is the next film in the MonsterVerse Now the 1998 movie is technically a Godzilla movie because it bares the name but I don’t like to consider it because America/ Hollywood got it wrong the first time they try to do a Godzilla movie back in 1998. The movie itself is entertaining but I don’t really consider it a Godzilla movie Godzilla movies are versatile, a lot of them are mostly fun, some are really good and some and kinda bad, but that’s the fun of Godzilla, there’s a good reason why it’s the longest running franchise
With a budget of 15 million dolars, spoken in japanese, Godzilla Minus One got over 115 million in box office. It won several awards, including an Oscar for Best Special Effects... Godzilla Minus One has a strong message to Hollywood which seems to be unable to film a movie for under 200 million plus marketing. We only watched this one at home, in our tv sets, but it must look great on a theater screen. Good for Japan.
I think it deserved at least a nomination for a Best Film in a Foreign Language Oscar - which seems insane to say about a Godzilla film, but there it is - but it came out too late to qualify.
HOLY CRAP, do I believe the Oscar hype!!!! Minus One was beautifully done and animated. I wasn't expecting Noriko to have survived, but those Godzilla cells literally saved her neck.
It did the most important thing in *every* movie: make you care about the characters. Like if you peel Godzilla out of this, it could easily work as a post-war drama where someone learns to deal with their survivor’s guilt to learn how live again, but on top of it you get a fun story of a group of people pulling together to kill a giant atomic dinosaur. Fun fact: Steven Spielberg LOVED this movie and saw it 3 times and met the director
@@deanthemachine8879 the director of this movie has a trilogu of films called "Always: Sunset on Third Street" about the people who live in a small area of Tokyo through the 50s 60s and 70s. He is very good at creating characters that you would believe are all part of the same community. I highly recommend those 3 films.
You’re exactly right and this is especially important for a monster film, if you’re gonna make the audience take the film seriously you have to make characters are interesting or at least relatable and care about their story with the monster at best being an antagonist or an obstacle to that goal.however, monster films have been hit and miss mostly miss for as long as they’ve existed, with only a few exceptions like the tremors films like Placid Jaws, this film and a few bee movies.
yeah it's normal. The reason he can heal like that is because of the radiation. Godzilla is in constant pain as his body is ravaged by the effect of the nuclear bomb. Godzilla has been a warning against the use of nuclear weapons since 1954. This movie is more true to the original. So, yeah, he can regenerate, but it's not a power he particularly enjoys. In the original movie his skin was painted to be disfigured and falling off. This movie is by far the best godzilla movie in the true spirit of the original.
It's cranked up to 11 in this movie. He normally doesn't heal WHILE YOU WATCH. It's something more like Wolverine's healing factor, where something that should take months to heal takes days instead, kind of a thing. He regrew his face in like 10 seconds
Best Godzilla movie I've ever seen! Never thought that a Godzilla would make me cry! 😥 Watched this nite before our 12 day trip to Japan! We got pictures of the theater that has Godzilla's head on top. 🦖
Hey Nikki & Steven, I really appreciate that you watched this movie, eventhough you have said in previous streams that you don't really want to watch foreign movies again due to sub vs dub debate on the comment. And thank you for choosing the original voice in this case Japanese. Thank you and thank you for stepping up and brave your way into foreign films. I will always recommend to watch the movie in their original language, since the overall sound mix between all the sound effect, soundtrack, and voice were made for that particular mix and of course it will be better experience overall. That's all, keep it up!
I have been a Godzilla fan since birth thanks to my dad and uncle who are HUGE fans. This movie was damn near perfect IMO. They MADE you care about the human cast by telling an amazing story, having engaging characters and portraying PTSD really well. They mad Godzilla go right back to his roots, a pissed off force of nature that looked ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! The emotion, the acting, I watched this movie three times in theater, in IMAX, in Dolby, and in Minus Color.....and EVERY time, there was gasps, there was cheers, there was crying, and in parts ... deafening silence!!! This movie was the total package. And the fact that they did this on a less than 20 million dollar budget is just mind-blowing. As allot of the memes for this go... "Never give up, it took Godzilla 70 years to win an Oscar!" And the fact that it was for visual effects is just icing on an EPIC cake!!!
Godzilla's cells regenerate. At the end of the movie, the mark on her neck at the end are Godzilla cells. They kept her alive and may change her in the future maybe? That's what I've heard anyway.
One of the more interesting theories I've heard - beyond obviously allowing her to regenerate and survive - is that the G-Cells may go away or be subsumed - but leave behind a set of genes. Not enough to make her non-human. But enough that either she - or perhaps her children - may wind up with a sort of "Psychic Connection" to Godzilla. And that this may be used to re-introduce into a new Godzilla series a concept that hasn't been seen since the 80s and 90s Heisei Godzilla - that of someone telepathically able to "talk" to or psychically know where Godzilla is and on some basic level - know what he's doing or feeling.
It really solidifies the differences when there's a visionary with heart and a story to tell, compared to creatively bankrupt studios checking the blocks w/ overused story beats & excessive CGI to garner popcorn sales and butts in the seat.
Yes, this Godzilla is specifically going after humans. He hates humans for what our bombs did to him. His body was never meant to be this big, he's in constant and excruciating pain because of it, also why he walks so stiffly.
Seen Godzilla when I was around 5-6 yrs old (Raymond Version). 49+ years later this movie moved me so much and it's #2 on my favorite Godzilla list (after 1954). Listening to Steve guess the "jaws" part was great. Thanks Nikki and Steve for covering this movie.
@funkymonkey2k425 If it was 'mostly shown in other media' then it hasn't 'always been like that'. And no, it hasn't been like that. Because if it had, they wouldn't have had to explain it in Godzilla 2000, because it would have come up at some point in the previous two ERAS of films. And even if he had always had regeneration, it was almost never seen to operate this rapidly or to this extent. The only one close to this was GMK, and he wasn't regenerating so much as his heart started beating again because he was a literal zombie. If he DID have regeneration to thus extent, Kiryu wouldn't exist, and every iteration of Godzilla would be the 1954 one killed by the oxygen destroyer
Tachibana was a mechanic for the Kamikaze Suicide Squad. He had been maintaining the flying coffins of his friends who took off and never returned. Although it is not depicted in the movie, I think he must have been very sad. Shikishima was also a member of the suicide squad, but he did not take off. Shikishima tried to detonate himself with Godzilla as atonement for the war, but Tachibana gave him a way to live. Tachibana was finally able to make arrangements for his friends to survive.his war is over.
That plane was real, by the way. The Kyushu J7W Shinden, a.k.a "Magnificent Lightning" was originally designed in 1943 as a fast interceptor. Two prototypes were built but the war ended before any production could be made. One prototype was scrapped, I believe, but the other was brought to the US and studied. It was disassembled and kept in storage for years until fairly recently when the forward fuselage and cockpit were brought to the Smithsonian Museum's Udvar-Hazy annex near Dulles Airport in northern Virginia. I hope one day they'll reassemble her completely!
Takashi Yamazaki who was the director, writer, and VFX supervisor for this film was told by Steven Spielberg that not only did he love it, he saw this film in IMAX 3 times. He also confirmed that the black substance crawling up Noriko’s neck in the final shot was in fact Godzilla’s cells, implying that she was able to survive because she had mostly regenerated just like Godzilla. And she likely got those cells because the news voiceover said parts of Godzilla came off him when he was being shot at by the tanks.
As a huge monsterverse fan, it would have been cool to see you guys react to the US stuff first, then this. You guys are starting with "the cherry on top". 👍
It's funny you mention Jaws as the director for Minus One at the Oscars was able to meet with Steven Spielsberg and let him know the inspiration of the ocean chase scene was directly from Jaws. Godzilla is mutated by nuclear radiation to be powered by that same energy. Being able to regenerate and fire off its iconic atomic breath. Its origins has been about the consequence of nuclear weapons and Man's arrogance. Godzilla is great in that he's flexible in being an antagonist, hero, being the representation of natural disaster, to the haunted souls of those lost in the nuclear bombing, to a fun beat em up main character with other monsters.
Quick note, Godzilla at the beginning of the movie had not been exposed to radiation yet. He was a monster but still just an animal. There's a good chance the 20 mm gun could have killed him or at least driven him off.
While this and Shin are amazing, the Monsterverse is good in its own right. The monsterverse covers the more fun and psychedelic side of Godzilla from the showa era and Final Wars.
@@TabathaTMartinthank you. Idk what’s with people not acknowledging anything that came after certain eras like this constantly, same thing happens with transformers people act like anything that’s not g1 doesn’t exist when g1 was the minority of transformers lifespan
Best movie of 2023. I brought my mom to the BnW version in theaters. She was extremely skeptical but loved it! Note: if you plan on watching other monster movies don't expect Minus One. It's pretty special. Other note: The plane had an ejection seat because it was German.
0: That thing on her neck is Godzilla cells. Went into her as Godzilla gets damaged when he uses his breath weapon. The cells in her helped her regenerate and heal. To answer some questions. 1: it was said that the gun plane wouldn’t actually kill Godzilla & he left the MC alone when he didn’t attack. 2: Godzilla during beginning was his natural form before he got mutated by the atomic bomb exposure. 3: Godzilla’s original origins is that he was a species of super funa Dinosaurs from the prehistoric past. But survived through the years, then was changed when he was affected by the nuclear bomb testings. 4: if you look closely at Godzilla’s neck & upper shoulder back on the island, you will notice large claw scars on him. Which means something was able to fight him, but where it is now? Might get revealed in the sequel.
i saw this 2 days after it came out and it was freaking amazing seeing in the theater and watching that atomic breath happen, it was insane i was at the edge of my seat the whole time i was super hyped and it delivered 100%. definitely worth seeing it again, i saw it again in theater with my brother a few weeks later and he loved it too.
if this is your first time watching any Godzilla movie, then you made the right choice! this is movie making perfection: story with amazing writing, acting, directing, special effects, sound effects, music, the overall theme of a disgraced warrior returning home in shame, and ending up the country's greatest hero, and finally getting to live his life with those he came to love!
"Its like a fkg atomic bomb" Godzilla represents the USA during the war against Japan, a monster awakened by the war that destroys everything with nuclear fire, a titanic force guided only by the will to dominate.
Never crosses people's minds, but that is what Godzilla has always represented. The symbolism is more apparent than any movies before it by grounding this movie in a more realistic time frame around the actual war.
I watched it 4 times in theatre's (the second most times I've ever spent on a movie since Inglorious Bastards) and it was my favorite movie of 2023. I've been a godzilla fan since a child and seeing Godzilla actually be a badass force was incredible to see so I took my dad, I took my friends, I went twice by myself. Absolutely love this movie
I would like to see a Godzilla film that takes a longer time, that carefully and slowly ruins a single city, and that slowly and gradually brings terror to the people.
Gojira minus One expresses the angst the Japanese people felt after learning the government and the military had lied to them for years regarding the progress of the war.
* You're doing it! *YOU'RE DOING IT!!* YES!!! This is the ONLY Godzilla movie that made me tear up...and even cry some. * Pilot Koichi Shikishima, going through grief, shame, PTSD...this actor was amazing in this portrayal. All of the cast was SOOO good! * Asking why *Big G* was so pissed off? Humans bombed the shit out out of where he lived, made him all radioactive...then - they DID IT AGAIN. AND AGAIN. Oh, yeah, I'd be way pissed, too. * The airplane in the last battle is the Japanese *Kyushu J7W Shinden,* known as the “Magnificent Lighting.” Very few were made, and maybe 3 still exist.
I've loved Godzilla movies since I was a little kid, and this is probably my favorite one. They just nailed the human element in this movie so well, while keeping the movie grounded enough that it didn't feel campy or silly like most Godzilla movies. And they made Godzilla feel genuinely scary and dangerous. Just a great movie all around.
This is why it won an Academy Award. It was incredible in the theater...the film grading was so good it was hard to tell if it wasn't filmed in the time in history used to tell the story. It really blew me away. Her neck and his regenetation means...😂 sequel sometime TBA.
This was hands-down the best Godzilla movie I have ever seen. In no other movie I cared about the human element. In this one, it is was all I cared about.
Thanks for the reaction! Glad you all enjoyed this movie. It's neat seeing how people react to this movie. They talk about the characters, the acting...not the CGI and destruction.
Fun Fact: So the title Minus One comes from the fact that this is set right after Japan lost the world war, politically economically and socially they are at their absolute lowest they have ever been. And then Godzilla shows up. And THAT’S the Minus One, because just when they thought they couldn’t get any lower, in comes Godzilla. Also, Godzilla‘s atomic breath is inspired by how nuclear reactors work. His back plates are like cooling rods, and when they are pulled out the “reactor“ inside him starts to overheat and as he’s inhaling deeply he’s stoking the fire inside of him, then when the plates drop back in it causes the chain reaction which unleashes his breath. Just like what happened at Chernobyl.
56:28 That's G-Cells (Godzilla Cells) can regenerated Godzilla and fyi this movie cost $15 Million but executed very good. This story setting after Japan lost WWII at the lowest point they have bombed twice and then Godzilla come and destroyed Japan with the 'third bomb'. Those actors is incredible the main character from looser with PTSD then become a hero. And this story also satirized Japan government that do not much help.
This movie DECIMATES the monsterverse movies. Just so you guys know, it's completely separate from the monsterverse. I can't state enough how incredible this movie is, Hollywood should be absolutely ashamed after the 200million they pump into their monsterverse movies that are barely watchable and then you get this on less than15 million dollars making me cry EVERY time I watch it and it is one of the best movies I've ever seen.
What I want to know is what the hell was Godzilla standing on when he was facing off against that ship way out in the ocean? Also, they made this movie for $15,000,000. Hollywood could learn a few things I think.
yooo!!! this one is a banger!!!! This is probably the best Godzilla movie to jump in on. It's just straight forward Godzilla mayhem and gotta love the practical effects on this one. That's literally a dude in a Godzilla costume most of the movie.
37:13 Mark! Oh, good! Reading the CC subtitles informs me that you're seeing the corrected version that doesn't refer to propeller airplanes as jets! 😁
46:00 "The anticipation is killing me..." Man, I saw this in IMAX and the whole ending sequence was nuts. My ears were ringing when the music cut out just before the final plane dive. It was one of the most memorable theatre experiences I've ever had.
You go in to watch a Godzilla movie and really you get an emotional movie about PTSD and survivors guilt. Great visuals. Hands down one of the best Godzilla movies. The weird fish that came to the surface are the deep sea fish trying to flee The Big G on the way to surface, but doing it too fast to decompress properly. This causes everything on their insides to basically balloon outside from their mouths. Killed by severe case of bends.
The Minus One is a reference to where Japan was at the end of WWII, not indicative of a sequel. Japan after the 2nd World War had been reduced to ruins - reset to zero, if you will. Just as they start to put things back together, Godzilla stomps in. 'Minus One' means they had hit thwhat they thoughts was the absolute bottom, and then got taken even lower.
Regarding the plan to stop Godzilla in the end, Godzilla was hurting real bad when he finally resurfaced. He had damage all over his skin. If he hadn't bitten the floats off halfway, it likely would have done more damage. I also don't think the bombs in the plane would have been enough on their own. My guess is it was the one-two-three punch of falling 1500 meters, being pulled back up, then the bombs was the knock-out combo.
Yeah. If you look where the radiation is streaming out of him, it's where his outer skin was damaged by the compression/decompression. That thick skin was probably what helped contain his living nuclear reactor, so when it was damaged, it couldn't hold the reaction anymore. I actually wonder if he would have died the same way even if he had gotten the blast off, because of the stress it puts on his body. But Koichi's bombing run saved the ships and people, as well as ensured Godzilla couldn't control the reaction at all, because, you know, he had no head any more.
29:10 Mark! Korey over at "Double Toasted" said that if he knew he was about to die anyway that he may as well enjoy the visual spectacle because of how cool it is! 😎
I'm 56 and my all-time favorite Godzilla film was Godzilla vs. Hedorah (or "Smog Monster"), for decades and decades, but then Shin Godzilla came along and I thought it was better! Those are both political allegories, but Minus One is really about a love story, and it was amazingly done!
The only problem with this being your first Godzilla movie is that this is as good as any Godzilla movie will get lol especially from the human story perspective
16:27 Mark! "A giant shark" they said! Hehe! 🦈 There's at least two movie franchises about such sea beasts! The "Meg" movies are one such movie franchise. They inspired the knock-off movie franchises! Including those about fighting monsters! 😮😅😊
Godzilla Minus One full watch along REACTION: bit.ly/4dSUR6H
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You guys have got to watch the original 1954 film and Shin Godzilla.....might as well do the whole franchise if possible
Godzilla does look like Killer Croc from Suicide Squad
@@NikkiStevenReact do Godzilla x kong new empire
Godzilla doesn't miss tail day either.
@@GODDynamitethey whould need to watch the other godzilla movies first
The beauty of Minus One is that you could remove Godzilla and it'd still be a wonderful movie about post-war Japan and the struggle of survivors guilt/PTSD. Too many monster films don't put in the effort to develop their human characters, but Minus One did an amazing job. Nobody had "cry during a Godzilla movie," on their 2023/2024 bingo card.
All great "monster" movies are always about more than just a monster destroying things or scaring people. Like this one. "King Kong" is really a tragedy about greed and animal abuse.
I cried at the end of Son of Godzilla (1967).
Oh absolutely. It's a wonderful touching yet heart wrenching story
It’s a war family drama.
@@StephenCice I've seen that one half a dozen times and the ending still wrecks me
I’m 30 now and I’ve been a Godzilla fan since I was 5, my dad showed me them and we’d always watch them together. He passed away 5 years ago, I wish we could’ve seen this movie. He would’ve loved it! Great reaction like always though!
Sorry for your lost ✊
I know that feeling. I still remember my own late father introducing me to Godzilla (1956): King of the Monsters. If he was still alive to see this film; You can bet your butt he would want to see it again and again!
when he got our first Betamax machine back in 1980, it came with 3 tapes with different movies... Gamera was one of them, the Turtle monster that flew jet style!I lost my father who loved to watch 2 movies with the family every single saturday untill we became teenagers!
Same man, same.
i am 53 , fan ...i have ALL THE V HS films , of godzila ...... this FILM , is ...wot , the Director wantred ...years ago.... ONE , of my best monster the THREE HEAD ONE >....
The mechanic's biggest regret is that everything he built, all the machines he fixed, all he did, never helped save people's lives, he was a mechanic at a kamikaze's station. It only helped end them. With that ejection seat, at the end, he finally did. It helped end his war too.
@@Saphthings your comment is honestly one of the best I’ve read. And I’ve read hundreds of comments.
You know, I have watched this movie 25 times and I never thought about that point of view. Brilliant take
@@Saphthings that wasn’t Tachbana, that was a random mechanic.
@@TrungTH1190 Sorry I meant to reply to another thread.
That's exactly right.
The scene of Shikishima screaming with overwhelming grief and rage after Godzilla destroyed Ginza is absolutely heartbreaking. Everyone in the packed IMAX theater I saw this in was crying at that scene.
Yeah man? Everyone in the theater was crying?🙃
@@LoXHumaN yes. Everyone was wiping tears as we were walking out of the theater.
Yup!! We fought those damn onion ninjas....AND LOST!!! I saw this movie in IMAX, Dolby and again in Minus Color....that scene NEVER disappoints.
@@shawnadams1460 onion ninjas?!🤣🤣 I love that. Where did that come from.
@@thedarkknight2221 is from Naruto memes from like 2014
I'm a life-long Godzilla fan, and this is by far the best movie made to date.
easily, a lot of greats but this set the bar so high.
No
@@JakeMacAttack name a better one
@@Dudeamis17 King of the monster
Godzilla vs Kong
@@JakeMacAttack Its okay to disagree and have your favorite but those aren't even the better Monsterverse films 😅 What makes you enjoy those so much? This is a well made film through and through, the Monsterverse stuff for the most part is "turn your brain off" fun and that's the extent of it. You should understand where people are coming from in filmmaking terms. The Monsterverse had an opportunity to have decent characters with the first film but they kill them off and so were left with boring movies where you're waiting for the monsters to come in and wreck shop. Fun... but dumb fun.
4:52 Fun Fact: The Director of the film Takashi Yamazaki actually took inspiration from his cat's tail movements and implemented them into Gojira.
The head movement and following the plane was very animal inspired
fun fact: sumiko committed a felony opening someone elses mail
@@aSSGoblin1488 lol in America...not in post war ..post nuclear bomb 1947 Japan
撮影現場では明子が退屈して泣き出すまで皆んなずっと待っていた。おそらくだが、子役を扱うのが得意な監督であるスピルバーグはそれを知っていた。
FYI: This movie cost less than 15 Million USD to make and all the VFX were done by ... five people ... including their boss.
Looking it up, it looks like the team was a total of 35 people. Although, they do say they had 5 people whos entire job was animating water effects.
@@Vurt.451 Dude, there are car commercials that cost more than that.
The actors weren't asking for 10mil usd a movie. Also, that's 1.5billion yen.
The director also being the VFX supervisor really helped make the CGI so good. Every shot was designed with the CGI elements in mind, and the artists were given proper time to get the shots right. Inadequate time and unreasonable demands from the production team are the cause of most of the bad CGI in recent years.
地味で誰もやろうとしないので監督が自分で木を植えたというエピソードが大好きです。
This is not Monsterverse and it is not a prequel to any existing movie. It's a retelling of the very first Godzilla movie from 1954.
Japan gave us 2 remakes of the first movie in the past 7 years and both are the best ones in the series
@@plaguedoctorjamespainshe6009 yep
I agree that it's not a prequel to an existing movie, but I would not call it a "retelling" of the original since they are completely different stories. It's like saying every movie with a dog in it is a retelling of "Lassie", or every movie with a lion in it is a retelling of "The Lion King". Also, though you may not mean it that way, "retelling" to me sounds like the original was deficient in some way, so it had to be redone, but the original was a great movie. Everything about the original is different from story to plot to characters, and these are very character-centered movies. The original had no one remotely like Shikishima-san the kamikaze pilot. It's about a paleontologist whose daughter is engaged to marry his colleague, but she falls in love with a salvage boat captain. The only things in common are that Godzilla appears in both of them, Tokyo gets attacked at one point, and Odo island is in both, though completely different things happen there.
By the way, GMO focuses on Tokyo right after Operation Meetinghouse, one of the things that is very different from the 1954 story, but no one ever seems to talk about the significance of that in these TH-cam videos. Sumiko's comments when we first meet her invite us to think about how 30,000 people killed by fictional Godzilla pales in comparison to over a hundred thousand people really killed by firebombing in one night. All those people had families, and people like Shikishima, Akiko, Noriko, and Sumiko with family members all killed were very common at that time. I think it's important to think about that as well as the nuclear attacks, and how such attacks on civilians should not be done.
The director loves Jaws and wanted to pay homage. Spielberg congratulated him and said he saw this 3 times. High praise indeed.
A few history & other facts you'll probably appreciate:
• Toho explicitly specifies that Godzilla doesn't eat people, so his attacks are always a reflection of emotion and not predation. It's part of what makes him a continually effective vector for storytelling as he's a thematic reflection of the setting in various ways.
• The Tokyo Firebombings were _unbelievably_ devastating attacks on the civilian population with the U.S.'s Operation Meetinghouse causing casualties of 100,000 and leaving over a million homeless in a single attack. (For a sense of scale, that's under ⅓ of the casualties from Godzilla's Ginza attack in the film). They couldn't put out the fires, they had to burn themselves out over days, and the heat & scale of what occurred was utterly incomprehensible boiling away swimming pools with people trying to shelter in them, the air being hot enough to start clothes on fire, raining molten glass, and the oxygen being consumed by the fire. That's where he returns home to at the start of the film and why it's such chaos & pain.
• After Godzilla's Ginza attack, the heat from the blast and the ash in the air cause massive condensation and fall back down as black rain. This happened with both of the atomic bombings, and the fallout carried in the rain putting out the fires and cooling the burns was invisibly poisoning everyone it touched. Shikishima & Godzilla both screaming at the sky in that scene are a parallel to the fact that they're both invisibly impacted by the effects of the war in ways that are inescapable. There's an amazing documentary called *_Black Rain_* (released the same year as Ridley Scott's different film of the same name, which is a bit confusing) that really captures this specific era of Japan, as well as dynamics of what single young adults & veterans faced during that time.
• The Shinden aircraft he flies was actually built near the end of the war to combat the U.S. bombers, but only two prototypes were completed with the U.S. taking one and the other being scrapped. It was meant to represent a hope against this exact type of utterly inconceivable destruction. This replica was anonymously donated to a WWII museum months before being revealed that it was made for the film.
• Godzilla is designed to be like a curse-god in Japanese mythology (Princess Mononoke is probably the best example). The pain in a curse god is a reflection of what the people fighting it experience. Thus Godzilla is attacking Japan and not America for testing the weapons on him. The same power to stay alive that allows Godzilla to regenerate is the reason why you see the black mark on her neck at the end of the film.
• The title -1.0 refers to how post-war Japan was left with nothing, but even at that point it's still possible for loss to continue. That post-war trauma is a continual recurring theme and it's also reflected in the bittersweet elements of the ending as one of the famous lines from *_Shin Godzilla_* set in a more modern age is that, _“The post-war period extends forever.”_
You picked an amazing Godzilla film to start on. This, *_Shin Godzilla_* and the original 1954 *_Godzilla_* are easily my top 3 as they're built to be a core message about Japan in various eras, and hit emotions in ways that are just overwhelming.
Additionally, the Legendary films, and other Toho Godzilla films that are more just giant monster Vs. movies are also an absolute blast, and well worth watching, especially because they help to emphasize why Godzilla is a really versatile symbol for Japan and what he represents changes depending on the nessage of the film.
Adding onto this comment
- Some particular Godzilla movies have a deeper meaning than just a rubber suit or CGI monster destroying Tokyo or other monsters! Minus One, Shin Godzilla as well as the very first Godzilla movie had deeper meaning.
- In a "hilarious" but logical explanation. They could've easily added U.S. involvement however because the United States was worried about the Soviets they simply couldn't aid Japan. and asked Japan to basically look out for themselves
- Canadian actor Raymond Burr in an interview said specifically he wanted the tone of Godzilla to be kept serious as the message behind Godzilla is important and if they didn't respect the message or he didn't like what he was seeing he would walk away.
Another thing about this Godzilla, he's explicitly MALICIOUS. As in, he goes out of his way to kill people. That is actually unusual. Generally, Godzilla is sort of a natural disaster...he comes through, destroys things, and leaves, with no particular malice and often no goal. He just does what he does. Most of the Godzillas WILL get aggressive if attacked, as in, if something in an army shoots them, they will take out the ENTIRE army before leaving (Shin was a notable exception...pretty much every act of aggression Shin did was reflexive, his body responding to a threat whether Shin wanted to or not. Monsterverse is another exception, generally speaking, MV Godzilla breaks what he NEEDS to break, and not much else, at least on purpose. If he has to throw someone through a building, so be it.) This Godzilla, like GMK Godzilla, explicitly HATES humans and goes out of his way to kill them. In Ginza, you see him doing things Godzilla doesn't normally do, like whipping his body around so that his tail will knock down buildings, or grabbing vehicles in his teeth and wrecking them...those aren't normal Godzilla behavious...most of his destruction is INCIDENTAL. Like how a hurricane doesn't INTENTIONALLY rip buildings apart, it's just a side effect of a hurricane moving through town. This Godzilla does it on purpose.
@@TheKyrix82 MinusGoji is similar to GMK, both are driven by revenge but for different reasons
@@TabathaTMartin Yeah. Like I said, you can count on one hand the Godzillas that are genuinely malicious. And most of those are pushed to that, like Zilla from 98 wasn't flat out against humans until they bombed the nest. But GMK woke up and chose violence, and Minus needed very little prompting to get there. Oddly enough, I think in terms of Japanese Godzillas, Shin was the LEAST malicious, even if he was one of the more destructive. Because I honestly don't think he had control over his own body 90% of the time. The poor creature was in the passenger seat of his own body.
@@TheKyrix82 yeah GMK was possessed by vengeful WW2 souls
It won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects!
Also in Hollywood news, James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader the Mufasa, passed away at 93. May The Force Be With You, James.
R.I.P
This movie in my opinion, should've won best picture
RIP Mr James Earl Jones.
Side note, 2 of my favorite bad guys Godzilla and Vader!!
With a budget of only $15 million.
@@TabathaTMartin It was considered but Japan picked a different film instead; now had it been chosen for best Foreign Film and/or Best Picture it would've probably one in either/or category
Damn right it did, Godzilla deserves more awards.
0:05 Not actually a monsterverse movie, but one of the best movies ive seen.
I'm extremely partial to the Monsterverse, but Minus One is still in my top 5 overall, and my #1 or #2 for the Japanese movies
What an amazing movie.. the cinematography, the acting, the music, its perfection! And only 10 million.. I still can't believe they made this movie with only 10 million. Oscar well deserved.
As a Godzilla fan I couldn't believe that this movie was on the poll. I just couldn't believe.
And then the movie night happened
Thank you to you both for giving Godzilla Minus One a chance
At the end the sailors werent saluting Shikishima for his heroism, they were saluting Godzilla. Paying respect to a worthy opponent the way Samurai would.
You're right.
Japanese people show respect to others, even if they are the enemy.
ゴジラは敵ではなく、日本人の感覚では「タタリガミ（祟る神）」です。「タタリガミ」は善悪を超越した存在で人間が行う何らかの自然冒涜で目覚め荒れ狂いますが、あまりにも強力なため人間は彼が去っていくのをただ耐えるだけというす。彼らの再登場を予防する方法は基本的に神社で祀る以外はないのです。(例えば天満宮となのつくところはそうです）最後の敬礼にはそういう神を人間が小手先の工夫で退場させたことへの怖れがあるように思います。実際、最後のシーンでゴジラは復活していますよね。
Tatarigami, the calamitous bringers of chaos and death, are still divine beings honored and feared for their power.
Godzilla has had regeneration since 1984. It's been explained as why he's so invulnerable, but this is the first time it's actually been shown
Right, the movie technology back then couldn't really portray it properly. My, how times have changed
In Godzilla 2000 they also mention the G-1 regenerator, but here it appears in a faster way
Well, it's not the first time. Most Godzilla's since 84 have this ability but not to this extent.
The filmmaker also said that Godzilla had this fast regeneration before he was mutated. It's how he survived the nuclear blast.
The black splotch on Noriko's neck has been confirmed by the director to be "G-Cells". Also. FYI: the battle cruiser, "Takao" was an actual ship that survived the war. The official story is that it was sunk by the U.S. Navy for target practice, but, we, now, know what really happened. (Hehe). Also, the Shinden plane Shikishima flew was an experimental prototype being developed to protect the Island from the bombing raids.
Thank you for the explanation of the bruise on Noriko's neck. I was confused.
I read that being "sprayed" by the G cells as the blast went past him is the reason she survived because they healed her and prevented her from dying.
The Takao was a heavy cruiser, not a battlecruiser. Those are two different classes of ship.
Also, the four destroyers (ship class) at the end - the Yukikaze, Hibiki, Yuukaze, and Keyaki (which was technically a destroyer escort, not a full destroyer) - were also real ships! In fact, their fates in the movie reflect their fates in real life (as does the Takao's, sort of). The Keyaki was destroyed in the nuclear bomb tests at Bikini Atoll IRL I believe, and here it was destroyed by Godzilla's atomic breath (The Takao was also sunk after the war, but by the British as target practice, and the Yuukaze was scrapped). The Yukikaze and Hibiki were each transferred to other nations after the war - the Yukikaze to the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Hibiki to the USSR.
The USS Redfish, the submarine that tracked Godzilla until getting sunk, really existed, and actually showed up in a few American movies ("20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Run Silent, Run Deep").
Indeed, the only warship mentioned in the movie that did not exist is the destroyer USS Lancaster. No ship of that name and type existed.
Also, there's a brief mention of "46cm shells" being detonated, right before Godzilla sinks. Those would be shells for the 18-inch (460mm, or 46cm) guns on the Yamato and Musashi.
Thanks for details and corrections. You've made me more interested in a deep dive of WWII aftermath.
@@Jetflash6999 Cool info. There must have been a movie's worth of survivors' guilt on the Yukikaze.
The thing I love so much about this movie is that it's about the *people* ... Shikishima's redemption arc, the rebuilding of lives, of homes, of families, of the city and country. Overcoming crushing defeat, betrayal (by their own country, by Shikishima [in his own mind]), loss, repeated devastation... Godzilla ends up being a maguffin in his own movie. (But even "the maguffin" is fantastic! This movie won the Oscar for special effects, after all.)
You are brilliant!!!
Indeed, I like how the title itself is representative of the situation. Godzilla is pretty much taking Japan -1 than it already was when the air raids happened, Japan is trying to rebuild itself, but Godzilla sets them back
Should have been nominated for sound, criminal.
Noriko is a treasure, the actress did such a good job. Everyone did an amazing job, but Noriko's story just almost broke me.
My favorite parts of the attack plan were it was their choice this time and the goal was no one dies. As Doc said, "This isn't a battle to the death, it's a fight for the futre. A fight to live."
I also think that mechanic telling the pilot to "Live!" was the only person he'd listen to, the only person he would take that permission from.
It's then heart wrenching with the "we leave you the future," line, because despite their speech about preserving lives, they're going into the mission knowing that they're probably not gonna make it back.
I’m Japanese living in the States.
When I heard the Godzilla theme in a theater, I just started to cry.
In addition, when I saw many Americans sent applause to this movie at the ending, I cried with happiness.
Of course, you know, when Akiko cried, I cried with her.
Nikki, it's ok to cry. When it was playing in Japan I read stories of grown men sobbing outside theaters after it was over. Beautiful film that should have won Best Picture.
Didn't happen just in Japan. I can testify to that.
Lol are you serious? Wow soft people
@@JakeMacAttack Nothing to do with being soft. When you lived through tough shit, movies that go for your emotions can just punch you there. Totally normal. Like, movies, tv shows, games, many aim at making you feel something.
When you lose family, friends, pets, crying is only natural.
@@JakeMacAttackyou seem like the type of guy who would have laughed at war vets having a trauma response to movies like Saving Private Ryan.
Let's not be friends.
@@jtilton5 How will I ever sleep at night?
As a long time Godzilla fan here’s a little background. There is 38 Godzilla films in the franchise. Godzilla started in 1954 and was a metaphor representation of the H-Bomb that dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII. Throughout the years Godzilla has changed drastically. At first he started out as a villain or a destructive threat to humanity wreaking havoc and causing chaos, but later on in the 60s and 70s they would turn more into an anti-hero or a less of a threat to humanity and stopping worse monsters from invading Earth, this era of Godzilla is called the showa series, which is from 1954-1975
Then they would reboot Godzilla in 1984-1995 called the Hesei series and then would turn Godzilla back to a threat to humanity again with a more serious tone, but later on he would slowly morphed into an anti-hero, but he would still cause destruction as a force of nature, this in my opinion is the best era for Godzilla
The Millennium series is the next era of Godzilla films from 1999-2004, these are the films I mostly grew up watching as a kid mostly cause I thought Godzilla looked cool in these movies. The Millennium series is known for being kind of an anthology series, showing a different depiction on what happened to Godzilla after 1954 and they have no continuity with each other except for 2 of them and 1954.
Godzilla 2014 is the start of the MonsterVerse and the 2nd Godzilla movie made here in the United States while the others were made in Japan. This one is where they made Godzilla strictly an anti-hero, like the showa series, but more modernized and a little more serious
Shin Godzilla was the next movie made by Toho. I forgot to mention Toho is the main studio that makes all the Godzilla movies except for the MonsterVerse movies. Shin Godzilla is back to his destructive roots but this time it’s more creepy yet a little sorrow. This is the most unsettling looking for Godzilla and it’ll give you an uneasy feel, great movie though
Now these next films in the franchise is the anime trilogy from 2017-2018. Basically in these ones, Godzilla colonized the entire Earth and drove humanity out which made everyone evacuate on ships to live in space until they can figure out a way to stop Godzilla. Not my favorites in the franchise but it has an interesting premise
Godzilla: King Of The Monsters is the 3rd movie in the MonsterVerse, I said third because Kong: Skull Island was the 2nd movie in the MonsterVerse. Just like 2014, Godzilla’s an anti-hero keeping balance to the Earth from invasive threats. This movie is just full of nostalgia and fun
Godzilla vs Kong is the 3rd Godzilla movie in the franchise but the 4 movie in the MonsterVerse
Godzilla Minus One was the next Godzilla movie by Toho since the anime trilogy. Obviously y’all just watched it and know Godzilla was back to his destructive roots
And latest one is Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire which is the next film in the MonsterVerse
Now the 1998 movie is technically a Godzilla movie because it bares the name but I don’t like to consider it because America/ Hollywood got it wrong the first time they try to do a Godzilla movie back in 1998. The movie itself is entertaining but I don’t really consider it a Godzilla movie
Godzilla movies are versatile, a lot of them are mostly fun, some are really good and some and kinda bad, but that’s the fun of Godzilla, there’s a good reason why it’s the longest running franchise
With a budget of 15 million dolars, spoken in japanese, Godzilla Minus One got over 115 million in box office. It won several awards, including an Oscar for Best Special Effects... Godzilla Minus One has a strong message to Hollywood which seems to be unable to film a movie for under 200 million plus marketing. We only watched this one at home, in our tv sets, but it must look great on a theater screen. Good for Japan.
It was actually around 10 million and I saw it 3 times in IMAX....
Words can't convey how incredible it was to experience it....
I think it deserved at least a nomination for a Best Film in a Foreign Language Oscar - which seems insane to say about a Godzilla film, but there it is - but it came out too late to qualify.
HOLY CRAP, do I believe the Oscar hype!!!! Minus One was beautifully done and animated. I wasn't expecting Noriko to have survived, but those Godzilla cells literally saved her neck.
It did the most important thing in *every* movie: make you care about the characters. Like if you peel Godzilla out of this, it could easily work as a post-war drama where someone learns to deal with their survivor’s guilt to learn how live again, but on top of it you get a fun story of a group of people pulling together to kill a giant atomic dinosaur.
Fun fact: Steven Spielberg LOVED this movie and saw it 3 times and met the director
@@deanthemachine8879 the director of this movie has a trilogu of films called "Always: Sunset on Third Street" about the people who live in a small area of Tokyo through the 50s 60s and 70s. He is very good at creating characters that you would believe are all part of the same community. I highly recommend those 3 films.
I mean, not only it is an amazing film, it *also* presents a complicated and traumatized father figure, of course Spielberg would fall in love.
You’re exactly right and this is especially important for a monster film, if you’re gonna make the audience take the film seriously you have to make characters are interesting or at least relatable and care about their story with the monster at best being an antagonist or an obstacle to that goal.however, monster films have been hit and miss mostly miss for as long as they’ve existed, with only a few exceptions like the tremors films like Placid Jaws, this film and a few bee movies.
Akiko at the end of the movie-
"You told me mommy was away at work, you lying bastard!"
The music during the train attack and the boat battle is Godzillas Theme, it’s been around since the very first movie.
Literally goosebumps everytime...
If you've never seen a full Godzilla movie, this is arguably the best one ever.
Welcome to the "I cried at a Godzilla movie" club.
They should the original 1954 next, that one is the GOAT
yeah it's normal. The reason he can heal like that is because of the radiation. Godzilla is in constant pain as his body is ravaged by the effect of the nuclear bomb. Godzilla has been a warning against the use of nuclear weapons since 1954. This movie is more true to the original. So, yeah, he can regenerate, but it's not a power he particularly enjoys. In the original movie his skin was painted to be disfigured and falling off. This movie is by far the best godzilla movie in the true spirit of the original.
Regenerator G-1
It's cranked up to 11 in this movie. He normally doesn't heal WHILE YOU WATCH. It's something more like Wolverine's healing factor, where something that should take months to heal takes days instead, kind of a thing. He regrew his face in like 10 seconds
@@TabathaTMartin I love the fact that you know that. That movie, is one of my fav Godzilla movies.
"If this dude was scared to do normal war things, I don't think he is going to step up and fight Godzilla"
OH BOY, WHAT A FORESHADOWING
Best Godzilla movie I've ever seen! Never thought that a Godzilla would make me cry! 😥
Watched this nite before our 12 day trip to Japan! We got pictures of the theater that has Godzilla's head on top. 🦖
Hey Nikki & Steven, I really appreciate that you watched this movie, eventhough you have said in previous streams that you don't really want to watch foreign movies again due to sub vs dub debate on the comment. And thank you for choosing the original voice in this case Japanese. Thank you and thank you for stepping up and brave your way into foreign films. I will always recommend to watch the movie in their original language, since the overall sound mix between all the sound effect, soundtrack, and voice were made for that particular mix and of course it will be better experience overall. That's all, keep it up!
Next? The OG Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy!!!
I have been a Godzilla fan since birth thanks to my dad and uncle who are HUGE fans. This movie was damn near perfect IMO. They MADE you care about the human cast by telling an amazing story, having engaging characters and portraying PTSD really well. They mad Godzilla go right back to his roots, a pissed off force of nature that looked ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! The emotion, the acting, I watched this movie three times in theater, in IMAX, in Dolby, and in Minus Color.....and EVERY time, there was gasps, there was cheers, there was crying, and in parts ... deafening silence!!!
This movie was the total package. And the fact that they did this on a less than 20 million dollar budget is just mind-blowing. As allot of the memes for this go... "Never give up, it took Godzilla 70 years to win an Oscar!" And the fact that it was for visual effects is just icing on an EPIC cake!!!
Godzilla's cells regenerate. At the end of the movie, the mark on her neck at the end are Godzilla cells. They kept her alive and may change her in the future maybe? That's what I've heard anyway.
director did confirm that she did in fact have g-cells.
Essentially Regenerator G-1
One of the more interesting theories I've heard - beyond obviously allowing her to regenerate and survive - is that the G-Cells may go away or be subsumed - but leave behind a set of genes. Not enough to make her non-human. But enough that either she - or perhaps her children - may wind up with a sort of "Psychic Connection" to Godzilla. And that this may be used to re-introduce into a new Godzilla series a concept that hasn't been seen since the 80s and 90s Heisei Godzilla - that of someone telepathically able to "talk" to or psychically know where Godzilla is and on some basic level - know what he's doing or feeling.
This $15MM movie accomplished more than its US counterparts that had $150MM to $200MM budget.
Director said he wish he had 15 million for this.
Said it was around 10 million which is even more astounding
It really solidifies the differences when there's a visionary with heart and a story to tell, compared to creatively bankrupt studios checking the blocks w/ overused story beats & excessive CGI to garner popcorn sales and butts in the seat.
震電は最初は予算不足で操縦席のみで、機体はCGIで再現することになっていたが、九州の戦史博物館がスポンサーになり実物大模型が作られた。
Yes, this Godzilla is specifically going after humans. He hates humans for what our bombs did to him. His body was never meant to be this big, he's in constant and excruciating pain because of it, also why he walks so stiffly.
The entire _Boat Chase Sequence_ is EPIC!!
Picking the first ever Godzilla movie to win an award as your FIRST step into the monsterverse?!
What a choice! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
"I'm not even sure it's safe from strong wind"
This made me laugh way too hard 😂😂😂
Seen Godzilla when I was around 5-6 yrs old (Raymond Version). 49+ years later this movie moved me so much and it's #2 on my favorite Godzilla list (after 1954). Listening to Steve guess the "jaws" part was great.
Thanks Nikki and Steve for covering this movie.
19:50 yeah godzilla has always had crazy regeneration like that, the plots of one or two of the old movies have even centered around that ability
Regenerator G1
Yeah, but not THAT crazy, not 'literally regrow his entire face in less time than it takes to eat a strawberry' time.
@@TheKyrix82 no it's always been like that, it was mostly shown in other media like mangas and comics
@funkymonkey2k425 If it was 'mostly shown in other media' then it hasn't 'always been like that'. And no, it hasn't been like that. Because if it had, they wouldn't have had to explain it in Godzilla 2000, because it would have come up at some point in the previous two ERAS of films. And even if he had always had regeneration, it was almost never seen to operate this rapidly or to this extent. The only one close to this was GMK, and he wasn't regenerating so much as his heart started beating again because he was a literal zombie. If he DID have regeneration to thus extent, Kiryu wouldn't exist, and every iteration of Godzilla would be the 1954 one killed by the oxygen destroyer
@@TheKyrix82 godzilla fans love being pedantic for some reason
I saw it 2 times in the theater…so glad you guys loved it as much as my son and I did.
Love you guys ❤
Tachibana was a mechanic for the Kamikaze Suicide Squad. He had been maintaining the flying coffins of his friends who took off and never returned. Although it is not depicted in the movie, I think he must have been very sad. Shikishima was also a member of the suicide squad, but he did not take off. Shikishima tried to detonate himself with Godzilla as atonement for the war, but Tachibana gave him a way to live. Tachibana was finally able to make arrangements for his friends to survive.his war is over.
That plane was real, by the way. The Kyushu J7W Shinden, a.k.a "Magnificent Lightning" was originally designed in 1943 as a fast interceptor. Two prototypes were built but the war ended before any production could be made. One prototype was scrapped, I believe, but the other was brought to the US and studied. It was disassembled and kept in storage for years until fairly recently when the forward fuselage and cockpit were brought to the Smithsonian Museum's Udvar-Hazy annex near Dulles Airport in northern Virginia. I hope one day they'll reassemble her completely!
Takashi Yamazaki who was the director, writer, and VFX supervisor for this film was told by Steven Spielberg that not only did he love it, he saw this film in IMAX 3 times.
He also confirmed that the black substance crawling up Noriko’s neck in the final shot was in fact Godzilla’s cells, implying that she was able to survive because she had mostly regenerated just like Godzilla. And she likely got those cells because the news voiceover said parts of Godzilla came off him when he was being shot at by the tanks.
15 million dollars. That's the total budget for this movie and it looks far better than most anything from Hollywood. Amazing!
As a huge monsterverse fan, it would have been cool to see you guys react to the US stuff first, then this. You guys are starting with "the cherry on top". 👍
Give em time, hopefully they'll come around
I thought it was strange they started here when they said they hadn't seen any other Godzilla films.
@@Momo_0_othis is a better start than monster verse films.
It's funny you mention Jaws as the director for Minus One at the Oscars was able to meet with Steven Spielsberg and let him know the inspiration of the ocean chase scene was directly from Jaws.
Godzilla is mutated by nuclear radiation to be powered by that same energy. Being able to regenerate and fire off its iconic atomic breath. Its origins has been about the consequence of nuclear weapons and Man's arrogance. Godzilla is great in that he's flexible in being an antagonist, hero, being the representation of natural disaster, to the haunted souls of those lost in the nuclear bombing, to a fun beat em up main character with other monsters.
Quick note, Godzilla at the beginning of the movie had not been exposed to radiation yet. He was a monster but still just an animal. There's a good chance the 20 mm gun could have killed him or at least driven him off.
The Japanese know how to make some of the best cinema. This and the Shin Godzilla films are better than the Legendary Monsterverse series.
While this and Shin are amazing, the Monsterverse is good in its own right. The monsterverse covers the more fun and psychedelic side of Godzilla from the showa era and Final Wars.
@@TabathaTMartinthank you. Idk what’s with people not acknowledging anything that came after certain eras like this constantly, same thing happens with transformers people act like anything that’s not g1 doesn’t exist when g1 was the minority of transformers lifespan
Shin was an over bloated wank fest
@@TabathaTMartinnot psychedelic (I’m an acid head myself) but definitely the funnier and campier side.
Shin isn't godzilla
Best movie of 2023. I brought my mom to the BnW version in theaters. She was extremely skeptical but loved it!
Note: if you plan on watching other monster movies don't expect Minus One. It's pretty special.
Other note: The plane had an ejection seat because it was German.
0: That thing on her neck is Godzilla cells. Went into her as Godzilla gets damaged when he uses his breath weapon. The cells in her helped her regenerate and heal.
To answer some questions. 1: it was said that the gun plane wouldn’t actually kill Godzilla & he left the MC alone when he didn’t attack.
2: Godzilla during beginning was his natural form before he got mutated by the atomic bomb exposure.
3: Godzilla’s original origins is that he was a species of super funa Dinosaurs from the prehistoric past. But survived through the years, then was changed when he was affected by the nuclear bomb testings.
4: if you look closely at Godzilla’s neck & upper shoulder back on the island, you will notice large claw scars on him. Which means something was able to fight him, but where it is now? Might get revealed in the sequel.
When a deep sea fish is forced to the surface, it's air bladder expands and pokes out of their mouth.
i saw this 2 days after it came out and it was freaking amazing seeing in the theater and watching that atomic breath happen, it was insane i was at the edge of my seat the whole time i was super hyped and it delivered 100%. definitely worth seeing it again, i saw it again in theater with my brother a few weeks later and he loved it too.
Before even watching the full reaction, I know you guys will love this movie! All around just a perfect movie
if this is your first time watching any Godzilla movie, then you made the right choice! this is movie making perfection: story with amazing writing, acting, directing, special effects, sound effects, music, the overall theme of a disgraced warrior returning home in shame, and ending up the country's greatest hero, and finally getting to live his life with those he came to love!
Awesome movie who cries at a Godzilla movie? (I did!) and still do after watching everyone's reactions thank you for your reactions
"Its like a fkg atomic bomb" Godzilla represents the USA during the war against Japan, a monster awakened by the war that destroys everything with nuclear fire, a titanic force guided only by the will to dominate.
Never crosses people's minds, but that is what Godzilla has always represented. The symbolism is more apparent than any movies before it by grounding this movie in a more realistic time frame around the actual war.
It's amazing that it was a small team who created this movie and it blows away big budget ones.
I watched it 4 times in theatre's (the second most times I've ever spent on a movie since Inglorious Bastards) and it was my favorite movie of 2023. I've been a godzilla fan since a child and seeing Godzilla actually be a badass force was incredible to see so I took my dad, I took my friends, I went twice by myself. Absolutely love this movie
that movie was better then a huge Hollywood movie
The war never ends, never leaves , it only sometimes goes more silent.
I would like to see a Godzilla film that takes a longer time, that carefully and slowly ruins a single city, and that slowly and gradually brings terror to the people.
18:33 Mark! Whoa! I remember the "next" comment, too! 😮
Gojira minus One expresses the angst the Japanese people felt after learning the government and the military had lied to them for years regarding the progress of the war.
* You're doing it! *YOU'RE DOING IT!!* YES!!! This is the ONLY Godzilla movie that made me tear up...and even cry some.
* Pilot Koichi Shikishima, going through grief, shame, PTSD...this actor was amazing in this portrayal. All of the cast was SOOO good!
* Asking why *Big G* was so pissed off? Humans bombed the shit out out of where he lived, made him all radioactive...then - they DID IT AGAIN. AND AGAIN. Oh, yeah, I'd be way pissed, too.
* The airplane in the last battle is the Japanese *Kyushu J7W Shinden,* known as the “Magnificent Lighting.” Very few were made, and maybe 3 still exist.
I've loved Godzilla movies since I was a little kid, and this is probably my favorite one. They just nailed the human element in this movie so well, while keeping the movie grounded enough that it didn't feel campy or silly like most Godzilla movies. And they made Godzilla feel genuinely scary and dangerous. Just a great movie all around.
This is why it won an Academy Award. It was incredible in the theater...the film grading was so good it was hard to tell if it wasn't filmed in the time in history used to tell the story. It really blew me away. Her neck and his regenetation means...😂 sequel sometime TBA.
This was hands-down the best Godzilla movie I have ever seen. In no other movie I cared about the human element. In this one, it is was all I cared about.
Thanks for the reaction! Glad you all enjoyed this movie. It's neat seeing how people react to this movie. They talk about the characters, the acting...not the CGI and destruction.
Cried several times first time I watched this. Did not expect a Godzilla movie to make me feel like this. Genuinely fantastic film, monster or not.
Some great movies. The legendary Godzilla movies are great.
I haven't clicked a reaction video so fast. I enjoy your content, and this movie is amazing.
This movie is a masterpiece, thanks for reacting to it!
Fun Fact: So the title Minus One comes from the fact that this is set right after Japan lost the world war, politically economically and socially they are at their absolute lowest they have ever been. And then Godzilla shows up. And THAT’S the Minus One, because just when they thought they couldn’t get any lower, in comes Godzilla.
Also, Godzilla‘s atomic breath is inspired by how nuclear reactors work. His back plates are like cooling rods, and when they are pulled out the “reactor“ inside him starts to overheat and as he’s inhaling deeply he’s stoking the fire inside of him, then when the plates drop back in it causes the chain reaction which unleashes his breath. Just like what happened at Chernobyl.
30:44
"Why is he so mad?!"
I mean, he was right next to a nuclear bomb going off.
56:28 That's G-Cells (Godzilla Cells) can regenerated Godzilla and fyi this movie cost $15 Million but executed very
good. This story setting after Japan lost WWII at the lowest point they have bombed twice and then Godzilla come
and destroyed Japan with the 'third bomb'. Those actors is incredible the main character from looser with PTSD
then become a hero. And this story also satirized Japan government that do not much help.
This movie DECIMATES the monsterverse movies. Just so you guys know, it's completely separate from the monsterverse. I can't state enough how incredible this movie is, Hollywood should be absolutely ashamed after the 200million they pump into their monsterverse movies that are barely watchable and then you get this on less than15 million dollars making me cry EVERY time I watch it and it is one of the best movies I've ever seen.
What I want to know is what the hell was Godzilla standing on when he was facing off against that ship way out in the ocean? Also, they made this movie for $15,000,000. Hollywood could learn a few things I think.
yooo!!! this one is a banger!!!! This is probably the best Godzilla movie to jump in on. It's just straight forward Godzilla mayhem and gotta love the practical effects on this one. That's literally a dude in a Godzilla costume most of the movie.
37:13 Mark! Oh, good! Reading the CC subtitles informs me that you're seeing the corrected version that doesn't refer to propeller airplanes as jets! 😁
46:00 "The anticipation is killing me..." Man, I saw this in IMAX and the whole ending sequence was nuts. My ears were ringing when the music cut out just before the final plane dive. It was one of the most memorable theatre experiences I've ever had.
You go in to watch a Godzilla movie and really you get an emotional movie about PTSD and survivors guilt. Great visuals. Hands down one of the best Godzilla movies.
The weird fish that came to the surface are the deep sea fish trying to flee The Big G on the way to surface, but doing it too fast to decompress properly. This causes everything on their insides to basically balloon outside from their mouths. Killed by severe case of bends.
The Minus One is a reference to where Japan was at the end of WWII, not indicative of a sequel.
Japan after the 2nd World War had been reduced to ruins - reset to zero, if you will. Just as they start to put things back together, Godzilla stomps in. 'Minus One' means they had hit thwhat they thoughts was the absolute bottom, and then got taken even lower.
If you don't choke up when the baby asks where her mommy is, you're a bigger monster than Godzilla.
Regarding the plan to stop Godzilla in the end, Godzilla was hurting real bad when he finally resurfaced. He had damage all over his skin. If he hadn't bitten the floats off halfway, it likely would have done more damage. I also don't think the bombs in the plane would have been enough on their own. My guess is it was the one-two-three punch of falling 1500 meters, being pulled back up, then the bombs was the knock-out combo.
Yeah. If you look where the radiation is streaming out of him, it's where his outer skin was damaged by the compression/decompression. That thick skin was probably what helped contain his living nuclear reactor, so when it was damaged, it couldn't hold the reaction anymore. I actually wonder if he would have died the same way even if he had gotten the blast off, because of the stress it puts on his body. But Koichi's bombing run saved the ships and people, as well as ensured Godzilla couldn't control the reaction at all, because, you know, he had no head any more.
Is your war finally over... wow that was an epic line.
26:28 Mark! That train car impact reminds me of similar scenes in both "Twister" and "Twisters"! 😮
Im so glad everyone else loved this movie too! Instantly became my favourite Godzilla movie
30:46 cuz Godzilla was atomic-bombed at Operation Crossroads by human. He is also an atomic bomb victim like people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
If i weren't already sub'd,
"Is it an MLM?? Don't do it."
would have done it! 👏👏, Nikki❤
Simply a wonderful story acted by some amazing actors. Oh and Godzilla is in it as well. Brilliant. Loved it at the cinema.
YES! So glad to see this notification!
29:10 Mark! Korey over at "Double Toasted" said that if he knew he was about to die anyway that he may as well enjoy the visual spectacle because of how cool it is! 😎
I'm 56 and my all-time favorite Godzilla film was Godzilla vs. Hedorah (or "Smog Monster"), for decades and decades, but then Shin Godzilla came along and I thought it was better! Those are both political allegories, but Minus One is really about a love story, and it was amazingly done!
The only problem with this being your first Godzilla movie is that this is as good as any Godzilla movie will get lol especially from the human story perspective
The cinema experience was amazing. What a gambit of emotions. Few movies do this.
16:27 Mark! "A giant shark" they said! Hehe! 🦈 There's at least two movie franchises about such sea beasts! The "Meg" movies are one such movie franchise. They inspired the knock-off movie franchises! Including those about fighting monsters! 😮😅😊