The Godzilla Thread - Plus other giant monsters, no matter how popular or obscure

Tsukasa Kadoya said:
If Minus One wasn't released in the US to begin with and Japan hoarded it, then I'd agree with you.
But over HALF of the total ticket sales came from the US. Forget Nationalism, its just good business to explore routes that were successful in the past. Its practically leaving money on the table by ignoring US fans, and that is what is causing the spike in piracy. If it was released in the US on blu-ray and streaming by now sure SOME would still pirate the movie, but Toho is practically encouraging piracy by telling the US "Thanks for the support, now fuck off"
Nationalism or not this was a gigantic fuck up on their part, and a lot of the good will Toho garnered was wasted. All because they acted like retards.
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Japan is basically gaslighting the USA to try to prove their point there it's because of us that piracy is so vampid when they don't make the damn movie available for home media in the first place. Why else these big people go in Pirate anime and have their own fan subs to it. Especially the environment with Crunchyroll changing the dialogue to make a political agenda.
 
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Tsukasa Kadoya said:
If Minus One wasn't released in the US to begin with and Japan hoarded it, then I'd agree with you.
But over HALF of the total ticket sales came from the US. Forget Nationalism, its just good business to explore routes that were successful in the past. Its practically leaving money on the table by ignoring US fans, and that is what is causing the spike in piracy. If it was released in the US on blu-ray and streaming by now sure SOME would still pirate the movie, but Toho is practically encouraging piracy by telling the US "Thanks for the support, now fuck off"
Nationalism or not this was a gigantic fuck up on their part, and a lot of the good will Toho garnered was wasted. All because they acted like retards.
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For real.

By the time the movie gets an official release for the US, the normies will not be nearly as hyped, and the sales aren't going to be as good as they would have been a couple of months ago.

If I were Toho, I'd want to release it all in North America ASAP, especially after the Oscars hype.
 
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Finally watched G - 1, it was meh. Felt it was way too melodramatic and too obvious in how its plot would go, especially the protagonist being fucking hounded by Godzilla who seems to want to enact holy revenge on him for no real reason. "War is bad and never really ends" is a century old trope by now and was overused to the point it starts becoming its own brand of propaganda. The monster itself is alright, it's clear they harken back to the original design and style but it goes from being absolutely brutal to completely retarded depending on the scene.

I don't really get the symbolism of it. The protagonist definitely represents post war Japan in being a loser who's perceived as not going the full mile despite obviously not making a difference. So Godzilla is America? The past? The world countries? If it was the former then Godzilla being beat by "the private industries" is absolutely retarded gloating of a country who is still fucked economically but has somewhat of a media presence now. In general the protagonist is motivated by being personally affected by a tragedy, which is pretty selfish justification.

I liked Shin Godzilla better.
 
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TVB said:
but I'm not crazy about his composition in New Empire
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Wait, New Empire have a soundtrack?! Man, I need to re-watch that shit, because I can't remember any composition, OST or anything for New Empire. Its fucking weird. Its was almost like the movie as deadly silent for most part, except when the character talk (and I want to kill them) or Godzilla roars...
 
StarkRavingMad said:
For real.

By the time the movie gets an official release for the US, the normies will not be nearly as hyped, and the sales aren't going to be as good as they would have been a couple of months ago.

If I were Toho, I'd want to release it all in North America ASAP, especially after the Oscars hype.
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I get they had their hands tied legally, because of a non-compete with Warner Bros so that g&k wouldn't lose money, but they should have A: given a solid release date for the US, or B: wait for the japanese release.
Like you said this sank any momentum or hype for the US release. Toho can whine and bitch about pirates, but they don't have anyone but themselves to blame.
 
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wtfNeedSignUp said:
Finally watched G - 1, it was meh. Felt it was way too melodramatic and too obvious in how its plot would go, especially the protagonist being fucking hounded by Godzilla who seems to want to enact holy revenge on him for no real reason. "War is bad and never really ends" is a century old trope by now and was overused to the point it starts becoming its own brand of propaganda. The monster itself is alright, it's clear they harken back to the original design and style but it goes from being absolutely brutal to completely retarded depending on the scene.

I don't really get the symbolism of it. The protagonist definitely represents post war Japan in being a loser who's perceived as not going the full mile despite obviously not making a difference. So Godzilla is America? The past? The world countries? If it was the former then Godzilla being beat by "the private industries" is absolutely retarded gloating of a country who is still fucked economically but has somewhat of a media presence now. In general the protagonist is motivated by being personally affected by a tragedy, which is pretty selfish justification.

I liked Shin Godzilla better.
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Godzilla is the embodiment of everyone's post-war trauma in Minus One.

And at no point in the movie did I see an anti-American message, personally. I did see a complete criticism of the Japanese government though-- going into a war they knew they couldn't win, and how their arrogance brought Japan's innocent people to their knees ... And how they willingly sacrificed soldiers with the kamikaze aircrafts in the name of "losing a war with honor."

I think this movie criticizes the Japanese government just as much as Shin Godzilla did ... Just in a different way.
 
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Hikaru86 said:
Wait, New Empire have a soundtrack?! Man, I need to re-watch that shit, because I can't remember any composition, OST or anything for New Empire. Its fucking weird. Its was almost like the movie as deadly silent for most part, except when the character talk (and I want to kill them) or Godzilla roars...
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TVB said:
Yes. It's composed by Tom "Junkie XL" Holkenborg, who had previously composed GvK a couple years back
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Junkie XL doesn't like Godzilla movies or their music, so he doesn't use the traditional memorable themes. It's mostly generic epic swelling capeshit wallpaper with a slight dose of retrowave wubwub, good luck identifying any of it after the movie ends. He's done some soundtracks I like but I think the Monsterverse guys should quit hiring him, everything he's turned in for them kinda sucks. Minus One dabs on the GxK score even harder than its story or special effects.
 
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Bear McCreary definitely needs to come back. The KOTM soundtrack is top tier, and it deserves more recognition.

While I don't mind a soundtrack with 80's synths, it doesn't feel quite right for Godzilla ... Or Kong. The Mad Max: Fury Road soundtrack (probably Junkie XL's best work) fits better with a character like Kong for sure. When I think of Godzilla music, I think of big bombastic horns, percussions, etc. And when I think of Kong, I imagine primal war drums.

GxK: The New Empire has a soundtrack that just doesn't fit.
 
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So I finally watched GxK and I liked it. Not that my opinion is anything special, but has a Godzilla fanboy (and Mothra simp) I just wish the G-man had more screen time. I'm going to artistically give my thoughts on on the Reiwa era films in spoilerd sections.

So, I'll be real with you, I don't remember most of the human cast outside of Buff Elijah Woods (the army guy) and Bryan Cranston. This movie played it very safe and gave us kaiju from a human perspective. I think all the shots for the most part were ground level. The Titans looked like absolute behemoths and they walked like they had weight to them. This movie gave us the MUTOs and I think they're design is cool. They're like flying EMP staple removers. It set up some lore, which I don't think continued about MUTOs being a predator of Godzilla's species, and there being a larger Godzilla named Dagon out there who got killed by the Mutos. It also had the iconic, "Let them fight" moment by Serizawa. As for the OST all I remember is the main theme which is decent. I think it's more memorable than anything from GvK and GxK. I really liked the part where Godzilla took a quick rest and he and Buff Elijah Woods locked eyes. Godzilla is portrayed as like an old warrior and seemingly he's set up in the Monsterverse as a preserver of balance. Genuinely like two warriors acknowledging each other. Then there's the kiss of death at the end. If you noticed his Beam looks blurry and not as concentrated. I like to think over the past few movies he had to shake off the rust with his breath as the graphics of the movie improve. The OST at the end is also super triumphant, and it fits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvjDoDYKOno

Hands down my favorite Monsterverse film. Bear absolutely slays the OST. I'll rant about this later. I liked Doughtry's approach to how animalistic they Titans are. Godzilla flaring up his dorsal plates as a warning sign. Ghidorah and Goji sizing each other up. This movie had Rodan, Mothra, Godzilla, and Ghidorah; how could you not like this? Understandably the humans were dumbasses and used the shoehorned Oxygen Destroyer in which set Godzilla back, but we ended up with the absolute best scene in Monsterverse and that is Serizawa's sacrifice. There's so much emotion you can see in Godzilla's eyes when Serizawa goes to help him. I love this scene. Such few instances of dialogue but so much emotion. Then Godzilla fucking erupts with renewed vigor from the depths of Hollow Earth for Round 2 on Ghidorah.


Mothra's design in the Monsterverse is amazing. I love it. Her reveal is stunning and once again Bear's OST killing it. She's so majestic, but also fierce looking which is perfect as she's not afraid to throw hands as evidenced when she stabbed Rodan's bitch ass. She gave everything in her fight against Ghidorah and Rodan and her sacrifice went on to embolden Godzilla again to give him what is basically burning Godzilla. And then when Godzilla pulses at Ghidorah you can hear Mothra's roar and see her wings. It's absolute perfection by Doughtry.


After Ghidorah is defeated we then see Godzilla display his dominance to all the other titans as they bow to him. The expression in Goji's face is great when Rodan lands and he's basically like, "Yo dog, we cool?" "You tell me". It's great. This is the Monsterverse film I've seen in theaters on multiple occasions and it's still my favorite.

Bear's OST is so good I had to give it it's own section. I'm primarily just gonna analyze what I think about the four main titan's themes produced by him.

Godzilla: I'm going with the main title theme and consider that his theme. Not the one with the lyrics which is like his theme song. Anyway, It sounds like the battle song of a warrior. Not just any warrior, but an esteemed one. You hear the end during Godzilla's alpha roar in the KotM and the heavy bass absolutely sells it. I'm almost disappointed there's no roar at the end of the song. The chanting is also really cool and adds to it greatly. Like a song passed down about an incredibly strong warrior.

Mothra: Mothra's theme is majestic, elegant and beautiful. It really encapsulates what we saw on screen for her. The song alone lets you know she's not as violent as the other Titans out there, and she carries some regality with her. Then there's a part with heavy strings and some humming which is played during her hatching.

Rodan: This one is weak, but still so good. I consider this one to be volatile. It's a very fast paced song with fast percussion drums and an ominous string instrument. The song builds tension really well and it fits perfectly. Rodan erupts from a volcano and wreaks havoc on that little island. Basically summoning hurricane force winds as people struggle to seek shelter. Around 2 minutes the heavy strings take a backseat to the percussion drums, and a super ominous horn blows and while listening to this I can immediately picture in my head Rodan's battle with Monarch when he was doing his flips and spins and shit. I say it's weak, but that's only in comparison to the absolute bangers that's Mothra and Godzilla. Kind of reminds me of G14's theme in a very loose sense.

Ghidorah: The song starts with some strange chanting that's alien, not unlike Ghidorah himself in this movie. It almost makes me thing of some sort of rite or sermon being performed by a cult so summon an extremely powerful being from another plane of existence. There's heavy bass notes that eventually start playing and the chanting continues. This theme is just mysterious in all the good ways; it invokes a sense of dread because it's not super hardcore like you would expect some big villian to have rather I would say it amplifies Ghidroah's screen time as he's dominating in the first half of the movie.

GvK introduces the directorial shift where we see the Titans from their heights. Movements more free in this one, and overall they're more agile and less lumbering. The best human character is Jia, probably because she doesn't talk. The movie, in fact both Wingard movies are very Kong centric. First of all Monarch by now should understand Godzilla isn't gonna go full kill everything mode unless there's a reason. I think it was also a shame in terms of writing to have Serizawa's son of all people be the one to be an antagonist. Seems disrespectful to the character of Serizawa. Kong is easy to personify cus Monke, but Godzilla has some decent moments, but I wish he had more screen time. I adored how Godzilla laughed after he singed Kong. What Wingard did well was have Godzilla's savagery on full display when he went on all fours while fighting Kong. This Mecha Godzilla design I think is really cool. I don't mind that it's basically a ghost of Ghidorah, it's not like Godzilla franchise hasn't explored ghosts before (most notably Godzilla Raids again). I did like the parallel when MechaG tried to end Godzilla with his own kiss of death. The little truce at the end between Kong and Goji was nice. It was like real recognizes real moment.

Another thing to note is that this is when we lose Monsterverse's stoic warrior Goji, and he's basically now Showa era Toku star again.

I enjoyed this movie, but I have an issue with the marketing. Scar King was made out to be basically a super villian, and he was just a tyrant with a whip. I guess Shimo was his super secret weapon, but still Shimo didn't get to do much either. He's a good antagonist, and Wingard did well in this movie to have the Titans convey emotions and their actions without any dialogue. That's great. Suko was a little shit, but I'm glad he came around to help Kong. Once again Kong centric, but it was really cool seeing Godzilla show what's up to Scyillia and Tiamat. Granted they got there asses kicked in seconds, but I wish more background was given (as in not in the comics). I think it was nice seeing Shimo conflicted in the Brazil battle, and then choosing to side with G&K. Shimo seems fun, speaking of this movie we also got Mothra back! To think that Mothra was almost replaced with some generic titan is a sin. Once again the music is unremarkable. It was awesome seeing Mothra in action as well, she didn't use her stinger though. We also got to see Mothra be gentle with the humans in their little vehicle.

As for Godzilla and Kong, I enjoyed how on sight Godzilla was with Kong. He was ready to throw down. Kong used his alpha roar to challenge Godzilla to get him to the pyramids. I also enjoyed how Godzilla looked happy to see Mothra too. Honestly, the scene where Goji and Kong erupt from the ground and Kong rides on him is super fun. The movie was fun overall and we had tons of monster fights. I would like to see Doughtry and Wingard work together for the third in the G&K trilogy. Also, I think the ape army should have had more relevence. We maybe needed a scene of ape titans terrorizing cities and whatnot via other portals, and Monarch could have broadcasted Scar King's death world wide. The final thing I want to see is what Scar King thought of his death in the novelization. I still have yet to get it.

IDK It's been a while since I watched this. The human element I think would be better if I was a Japanese citizen though, because of it's critique of the government during the reactor disaster they had. Now I will talk about Godzilla's design. I love the concept of an evolving Godzilla. He starts off as a sea creature and slowly gets larger into the form we know. This Godzilla is a creature with no internal thought process. Just move forward and survive. You can see this in his eyes, how cold they are. The one scene where he channels his breath is super cool. Like everything works for that scene. I've seen some videos where it discussed Shin Goji was supposed to evolve and spur off little creepy humanoids.

This was hands down my favorite film of 23 (not that I saw any other movie in 2023), but holy is it good. Godzilla only has like four minutes of screen time total, and it's great. Unlike 2014, he wasn't obscured by anything either, except maybe in the very beginning of the movie. The characters were likeable and I was fully engrossed in their stories. The human element in a Godzilla film was finally done well. Speaking of Godzilla, this incarnation he's just angry. He's pure spite and malice. While Shin was unfeeling and cold, this Goji hated everything in his path. I hope a sequel does this film well. I regret not going to watch Minus One Minus Color - this was the only movie I felt rivaled KotM for me. For different reasons, but man this was a great film. You can also enjoy this film as a non Godzilla fan, because Godzilla is only like a pushing force to drive the plot forward, he isn't the center of it. The focus of the film is more about the human story

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
 
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Hikaru86 said:
Wait, New Empire have a soundtrack?! Man, I need to re-watch that shit, because I can't remember any composition, OST or anything for New Empire. Its fucking weird. Its was almost like the movie as deadly silent for most part, except when the character talk (and I want to kill them) or Godzilla roars...
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I agree 100%. I remember some 80's hits, I think. Is this the first Gman movie where we don't get some iteration of his classic theme? I might be wrong there.
 
girldaniel said:
I agree 100%. I remember some 80's hits, I think. Is this the first Gman movie where we don't get some iteration of his classic theme? I might be wrong there.
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I vaguely recall some classic goji theme elements from the movie. It was very subtle, just the horns from the beginning none of the strings.
 
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Looks like the next monsterverse film is going to have a new director.
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Hopefully it means that Junkie XL won't be back as well.
 
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