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HdE
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 Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 6:53 am Post subject: |
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| Void_Master wrote: | | Then again, maybe I'm thinking of the wrong one as the copy I saw was allegedly region free. I'd rather wait for an official release, but I doubt that will happen any time soon. I would love to see Biollante and Godzilla Returns again though... |
Point of caution I like to remind / advise people of wherever possible:
Bootleg DVDs are usually identifiable by their 'region 0 / free / all' branding, as well as dodgy cover art or all-cardboard packaging. So if you see discs bearing this legend, then you can safely assume they're not legit.
My experience of bootlegs is that, more often than not, you know something's dodgy as soon as the movie starts playing. I've encountered a few of these in my years as an anime fanboy.
My advice, peeps: If it looks iffy, don't go anywhere near it.
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Kingoji
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 11:20 am Post subject: |
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First of all, my apologies for not keeping up with this thread. I've not had very much time to myself these days, and haven't sat and watched any of these movies in months. I'll go at it here with my best recollections, but please forgive any inaccuracies due to my thoughts straying primarily to other matters.
| HdE wrote: | | GODZILLA Vs MEGAGUIRUS |
I think that this film is probably the second weakest entry to the Millenium series. It almost feels like they made this particular film just so they could trot one out when they had announced that they would.
Please, allow me to elaborate. When Toho first announced that they would be reviving the Godzilla franchise after the poor reception over the terrible American Godzilla, they told us that they would be making three movies to test the water. Each of them would be comparatively stand-alone, and would head off in radically different directions. The movie which did the best commercially would be the benchmark for any movies made thereafter.
Now, given that the first of these movies was Godzilla 2000, which did indeed feel fresh, exciting and new, yet familiar enough to keep us old-timers comfortable, and Godzilla, Mothra, & King Ghidorah; Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, which was about as big a departure from the traditions and tropes of the franchise as you could get without writing about something else entirely... Godzilla Vs Megaguirus feels too safe. There are never any moments of radical departure, with the exception of explicitly rewriting history... but most of the films leave that ambiguous enough for it to not feel like it's anything new. It even utilizes a previous (though modified) suit. The only film in the series to do so that is not a direct continuation of a prior film.
None of this is to say that the film is bad per se, just pointing out why I feel it's one of the weakest.
The plot itself is pretty dull and uninspiring, riddled with plot holes and nonsensical leaps of logic... but if you can't look past such things in a Godzilla film, when can you?
The child was indeed stupid beyond reason, and if there was ANY logic behind a section of the city flooding so severely with no sign of it anywhere else, then that was not sufficiently explained. The cast mostly ranged from annoying to forgettable. And the wire works... while it makes me smile to think about it, it's pretty unforgivable in this day and age. It's actually worse than some movies forty years older than itself.
That said, this film does have quite a lot going for it. I know I mentioned the reuse of the suit in a negative connotation, but in truth I actually feel that the modifications made are a vast improvement. Thinning up the neck and head, slightly lengthening the snout and straightening the teeth ever so slightly... it took what was appealing about the previous suit and streamlined it.
The movie also has some seriously impressive set-pieces that we've never really seen tried before. The hitching a ride on Godzilla scene was wonderfully effective for displaying the scale of man to monster, something rarely executed to such success (although it must be said that I always have a problem with people getting so close to Godzilla and surviving... peripheral radiation should off a person in minutes when they get that close). The scene on the island with the swarm was also a really impressive scene... and it's quite surprising that such a scene had never been tried before. And the idea of the Dimension Tide shooting a miniaturized black hole at Godzilla is so sci-fi bonkers that I can't help but love it.
And... this is the biggie... this film is the first to be scored by Michiro Oshima. She went on to also score Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, which were, to be fair, more impressive scores all around. But many of her most memorable cues debut in this film, and I think the piece she composed for Godzilla himself is probably my favourite outside of Ifukube's timeless theme. The slow, pounding introduction which gradually builds to more upbeat, yet serious military-sounding march, is delightfully effective at conveying an ominous inevitability and dogged determination. You can almost visualize an entire journey for Godzilla if listening to that piece alone; from awakening, to surfacing, to making landfall and crossing through his varied obstacles and eventually returning from whence he came.
That said, her cues for the G-Grasper unit and Fighter Gryphon were terribly derivative of John Williams' Indiana Jones theme, and the string-heavy theme of the Mega-creatures were a little too basic. Her cue for the actual combat was another highlight, however, and positively evokes nostalgia for some of Masaru Sato's themes from the Showa series.
I wasn't too taken with the Megaguirus creature itself, personally. On the one hand, kudos for actually creating a new monster rather than reinventing an old one, as has become a sad trend for Godzilla movies of the final two series, and it was an admirable attempt at making something more akin to the simpler times of the Showa movies. A giant insectoid with more conventional biological cues which better convey that such a creature *might* possibly exist in nature, unlike, say, Destoroyah.
On the other hand, flying insect opponents have been pretty much done to death and can really offer nothing all that new in terms of spectacle... aside from the afforementioned swarming scene. The strobing shots intended to the view from her perspective weren't a particularly effective decision either, and I think it was my second viewing before it clicked with me that this was the intention. And, ultimately, I think we're beyond marionettes now. But I may have a grudge against them after they sucked all expressiveness and life out of Rodan in Godzilla Vs MechaGodzilla II.
Back to the positives... I really enjoyed the performances given by the monster performers/controllers. Godzilla was almost a return to the seventies with some of his more human deliveries, such as the "aw, shucks" clicking of his fingers after missing a shot. Even Megaguirus, with the rigid limitations of the prop, managed to pull off a few humourous moments. Such as landing on the building which Godzilla had just fallen beneath, and teasingly pointing at the cuboid structure between them in a "Shall I? Shalln't I?" manner before dropping it on him. Godzilla's EPIC BELLY-FLOP was pretty questionable, though.
I do always feel that this movie missed a trick by not staging sections of the climatic battle in the flooded out city, though... THAT would have been something new and interesting to watch, and it really did feel like the film was setting such a scene up. Quite a let down that it didn't transpire.
All in all, Godzilla Vs Megaguirus is a pretty inoffensive entry to the series. Not one that I would heartily recommend to a new viewer, but not one I would put off showing them once they had already had a taste of better entries the franchise has to offer.
I'll try and get back to the next film in the queue in a couple of days.
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HdE
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting that you note Michiru Oshima's score, Kingoji. I first became aware of Oshima's work on the anime show 'Xam'd: Lost Memories'.
For the benefit of those who haven't seen it, it's your classic piece of concept-heavy sci-fi anime, beautifully animated by Studio Bones, let down by a slightly oddball series structure and an infuriating ending. In spite of the gripes, it's WELL worth watching.
But - back on topic: Oshima's Godzilla work did make an impression on me in all three of the movies you mentioned. I like it better in the Kiryu-centric movies, but there are moments in Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus that really work for me.
Excellent post, by the way. Great to see people explaining fully and in a well-reasoned way WHY they think something doesn't work. It's obvious you gave that a lot of thought.
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Kingoji
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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I haven't seen that series you mention either, but yeah... I agree that the Kiryu saga is where she shines musically. This entry feels like a tune-up session in comparison. That said, she really seems to come into her own when scoring a monster's specific theme, and as much as I said I enjoy her theme for Godzilla himself, what she later came up with for both Kiryu and Mothra were equally pleasing. And despite each being unique unto themselves, they segue into each other effortlessly. The very opening of Tokyo SOS is a fine example of this, beginning with Kiryu's repairs, leading into Godzilla reawakening, and finally introducing Mothra in an enigmatic way... But I guess we may get to that film eventually anyway.
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HdE
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Kingoji wrote: | | I haven't seen that series you mention either... |
It's worth a peek. Available in the UK via Manga Entertainment. It's one of those shows where the actual ongoing story sputters and stalls a fair few times (it becomes noticeably contemplative and navel-gazey in the middle) but as an exercise in self-indulgent world building, it's pretty captivating.
Helluva dub cast, too. Luci Christian (in 'Oh My God Is That Really Her mode), Hilary Haag, Monica Rial... lots of other recognisable voices in there too.
WAAA! My otaku reporter aspect just popped out there!
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Rhuen
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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I'd say Xam'd has more of a "WTF" ending, sorry kids might be watching "WTH" ending.
Yeah it focuses alot on world building, and this makes it go all over the place at times, there are major aspects of this world that seem to just come out of no where, and no side of their conflicts can be remotely viewed as good guys (which is semi-realistic in a way).
It falls kind of into the catagory of governments using humans to make monsterous Kaiju super-weapons, but in a strange spirit energy kind of way.
After the ending of the series I just wanted to ask, "How'd she know that would happen" and
[spoiler] now that she has aged six years and he was stone does that mean he is still fifteen and she is 21 now? Sooo...yeah. and really with so many of these guys turning to stone...which was way to easy, for supposedly uber powerful super beings any little damage would cause them to start petrifying, and not turning back how could she even be sure he wouldn't stay that way. Also they needed to have done more with his "rival" that just ended on an unsatisfactory note. I expected him to regenerate after that scene but nope guess he was dead despite not turning to stone like the rest do. [/spoiler] |
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Kingoji
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| Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 11:40 pm Post subject: |
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| HdE wrote: | | Helluva dub cast, too. Luci Christian (in 'Oh My God Is That Really Her mode), Hilary Haag, Monica Rial... lots of other recognisable voices in there too. |
See, I was quite happy to take your word on this series. But then you tell me these three are in it, and now I'm going to hafta look out for it.
(I'm going to try and get back to talk about DAM later today.)
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HdE
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| Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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Okay... I'm sort of itching to get started on another round of discussion.
Just curious, though - are there any movies that everybody else would like to get stuck into? I keep suggesting the movies each time, but maybe you guys are champing at the bit to get talking about something else - maybe even another Toho Kaiju property besides Godzilla?
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Guitar Rodan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 1:04 pm Post subject: |
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| HdE wrote: | Okay... I'm sort of itching to get started on another round of discussion.
Just curious, though - are there any movies that everybody else would like to get stuck into? I keep suggesting the movies each time, but maybe you guys are champing at the bit to get talking about something else - maybe even another Toho Kaiju property besides Godzilla? |
How about Dogora?
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HdE
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| Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Guitar Rodan wrote: | | HdE wrote: | Okay... I'm sort of itching to get started on another round of discussion.
Just curious, though - are there any movies that everybody else would like to get stuck into? I keep suggesting the movies each time, but maybe you guys are champing at the bit to get talking about something else - maybe even another Toho Kaiju property besides Godzilla? |
How about Dogora? |
Go on...
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HdE
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:07 pm Post subject: |
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Okay, so, I decided... let's go with:
GHIDORA, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER
Which I watched last weekend, and found surprisingly more enjoyable than I expected it to be.
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Kingoji
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:29 pm Post subject: |
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AAAGHINEEDMORETIMEINMYLIFEAAAAARGH
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HdE
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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If it's any consolation, Kingoji... Yes, I am trying to break you.
First step is bombarding you with these movies to watch. Second is me bloating teh thread with Mothra, gamera and Varan. Final step is me waiting until you and everyone else here is fatigued to the point of despair... and THEN I make you watch All Monsters Attack!
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Void_Master
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:10 pm Post subject: |
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| HdE wrote: | | and THEN I make you watch All Monsters Attack! |
 The horror... the horror...
Just kidding.  I'll post my thoughts on GTTHM soon. I'm going to be out of town this weekend (alas, not to G-fest, but still somewhere fun). Spoiler alert, this is one of my favorite Godzilla movies!
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Rhuen
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:50 pm Post subject: |
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Gidrah the three headed monster; that's what my box says so that's what I'm calling it. 
but I do call the monster King Ghidorah; this was the third Godzilla movie I ever saw.
first was Godzilla 1985, then Godzilla vs Megalon, and the third was Ghidrah the three headed monster
*I remember this despite my young age at the time because of how dramatic an effect it was to see three very different movies based around the same monster, pretty sure the fourth was Godzilla vs Monster Zero, and probably the same night we rented Ghidrah from the library.
I liked it, Godzilla and Rodan fight a giant three headed dragon while Mothra tries to be the voice of reason (pretty sure not long after this we rented Mothra and Rodan so I could see where they came from, didn't care for the Rodan movie as a child, Mothra I liked)
But Ghidrah I have to say was the one and only time when King Ghidorah was at his best, before they cemented the whole controlled by aliens thing to his mythos, he was just this giant world ending space dragon, that if not for three other giant monsters would have destroyed the world. |
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