New Replies (Page 676)
^yeah. a little slim.
I think his toes could be longer. I always hated his feet. His dorsal fins must be bigger in Godzilla 2. I feel they left little impression with me and that's a huge part of Godzilla's design in any Godzilla movie.
sure, but I don't think they would want to risk that with destroyah. I think Legendary would introduce there own MUTO kaiju instead of buying the rights to another Toho character. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Destoroyah in this film. Im just not holding my breath.
Seems about right to me. Perhaps the midsection is a bit thinner here but not by much.
Is it just me, or does he not look chubby enough? :P
But seriously, given how thick the rest of him is, I think his mid-section being a bit on the larger side fits better. Or is it just the angled shots tricking my eyes into thinking the figure's thinner than it actually is?
Godzilla In Hell is all kinds of wacky and insane, and quite possibly metaphorical rather than literal.
To this very day, fans and VS. buffs alike can't come to an agreement on whether or not the feats displayed are valid from this comic series. Being predicated on the ethereal planes of existence tends to do that, a lot.
In terms of no-nonsense straight-forward strongest, I think my money's gotta be on the Godzilla iteration from Godzilla: Kaiju Wakusei.
Dude is absolutely gigantic, and Humanity didn't even bother using those two-THOUSAND thermonuclear bombs on him. They used those to CRACK THE TECTONIC PLATES to trap him within. And then he proceeds to melt part of the Himalayas for their efforts and escapes.
Those aren't even theaters. Those are screens. You have to remember, the Japanese film industry is only a fraction of the size of Hollywood. I'm not even counting North America's independent studios. As a result, screens and theater chains are more widespread.
I had no idea there were so few theaters. I thought there would be more.
@riggzamortis yes, but GvK will be a big enough draw on its own to where they can afford to take a chance on a lesser-known kaiju. They don't need a big name kaiju to bring them together since the film already has 2 in the title alone.
Interesting theater facts to add to the information in the original post. It may help put a slightly different perspective on the numbers or at least in a different context. Stats from eiren.org:
The average amount of screens in Japan:
1950s - 6,000
1960s - 5,200
1970s - 2,500
1980s - 2,100
1990s - 1,800
2000s - 2,900
2010s - 3,300
Seating has dropped by 17.5% prior to the multiplex days.
I'm with the guys at the top^, Titanosaurus' roar is awesome! That one, Rodan's roar, and Godzilla's roar are my favorites. I also love Anguirus, Gigan, and Ebirah's roars.
Actually, I think all of the roars in the Showa era were great, especially because they were so unique. None of the monster's voices from the Heisei or Millenium series were very memorable to me, except for Baragon from GMK, that one is really cool.
^!!! Well I know what Im reading instead of working today. thank you very much.
May your horn toot away sir.
But i think these sounds and roars are so much apart of the Godzilla universe that a lot of other monster movies take for granted.
for example, besides Gamera, off the top of my head i couldn't tell you the difference between other monsters back in the showa Gamera series. Not from lack of trying. Guiron I could. He reminds me of an old dog.
riggzamortis,
Getting slightly off topic (though these articles do tend to shed light on the directors' intentions), we're trying to pull together a resource section for articles like that to be easily accessed. But for your benefit, and to shamelessly toot my own horn, here's the stuff I'd recommend you look at:
When Roses Attack: 25 Years of Godzilla vs. Biollante with Ed Godziszewski
Terror of MechaGodzilla's 40th Anniversary: The Making of Titans & Tragedies
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah 20 Years Later-Part I: Making Monsters Meltdown
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah 20 Years Later-Part II: Legacy of a Requiem
Before Shin Godzilla - Retrospect of the Last Era, Part 1: Godzilla 2000
Before Shin Godzilla - Retrospect of the Last Era, Part 2: Godzilla x Megaguirus
Before Shin Godzilla - Retrospect of the Last Era, Part 3: Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah
Before Shin Godzilla - Retrospect of the Last Era, Part 4: Godzilla x MechaGodzilla
Before Shin Godzilla - Retrospect of the Last Era, Part 5: Godzilla: Tokyo SOS
Before Shin Godzilla - Retrospect of the Last Era, Part 6: Godzilla: Final Wars
^It's all good. I got the titles confused.
Ah-ha! That's great. One of these days ill hafta go back to older forums and see any of these articles to keep up with the rest of everybody. Upon reading your article I came across this excert , “At Toho, we can only afford a short time for getting ready and for post production. Toho has their own theaters, so they want to release movies around New Years every year. That deadline is immovable.” I always wondered why Godzilla movies always seemed to come out around December. Especially in the 90's.
That great to know. Thank you.
If Kong does keep the Monsterverse going and Godzilla goes back to Toho, I think the franchise would die out. kong is great and I love him but I don't think he can carry out without another great co-star.
However if Kong does fight other monsters I would love to see him battle other classic giant monsters. This is only a pipe dream here I know but I would pay a lot of money to see King Kong Fight other classic monsters like The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, or The Giant Claw, or THEM! I think that would be great. Not going to happen I know but I would lose it.
But Godzilla wont die (Toho wont let Legendary kill him off) and I think Godzilla has more of a chance to continue this series. I was just trying to say the only monster out of the 2 that would die (contractually) would be King Kong.
By the time the Heisei Gamera trilogy was put in production the Heisei Godzilla movies were averaging just over $10 million per movie. The first Gamera film cost $4.5 million. The budget increased a little bit per movie since they were so successful, but the highest was Gamera 3 in 1999, which cost about $7 million. For comparison, Godzilla 2000 cost $12 million in 1999.
And you're correct that Shusuke Kaneko was turned down in the 1990s. I go into greater detail with that in the GMK chapter of my Millennium series retrospective. Take a gander:
Before Shin Godzilla - Retrospect of the Last Era, Part 3: Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah
U.S. distributors have had to title Gigantis, the Fire Monster as "Godzilla Raids Again" ever since its theatrical release per Toho's request, even though it still refers to Godzilla as "Gigantis." That's why the Classic Media DVD has a bad digitally-generated English "Godzilla Raids Again" title card while the other U.S. versions of the films have their original U.S. title cards.
Sorry, I know it's off-topic, but it just explains why the U.S. version of that film is still called Godzilla Raids Again on VHS and DVD releases.
Okay, but that doesn't mean he will. Both characters have a large role to play in the MonsterVerse's development, but unlike Kong, Godzilla's place in it is shaky given the situation with Toho.
If they DO decide to pull the plug after Godzilla VS. Kong, then it'll be up to Kong to shoulder the MonsterVerse if folks want it to continue. He's the only other big name title character thus far, and he's the only completely safe and surefire bet.
I also must give much love to Shin Gojira's roars being reused from Gojira(1954) and other variations. That and the score and the tank fire, they all bring familiarity to the film as it features Godzilla in a completely different way than we are used to.
@Gman and The King Of The Monsters,
I meant Gigantis, The Fire Monster. Not Raids Again. Sorry for the confusion. I have been watching the American version with my daughter recently and forgot to say the US version. However my VHS version does say Godzilla Raids Again on the sleeve and on the film itself on the opening credits but still refers to Godzilla as "Gigantis" in the film. Very confusing as a child watching it. They misspell all of the Japanese names and give huge props to the re-editor and producer of the US versions.
Thank you both for the info.
^I agree. Dougherty made some great films that where a lot of fun! I really enjoy his pace of filming. I think KOTM will be the greatest American made Godzilla movie ever made(not saying much, but also trying to say its goint to be a lot of fun), unless GvK breaks that too.
^Those 2 movies are great! I think both films shine for both directors. For Fukada GVMG was crazy! Two Godzilla's on the same screen fighting only to reveal one to be a giant robot! A monster armed head to toe(literally) that just pummels Godzilla around! Then TOMG for Honda where we get to see Titanosaurus and MG fight against Godzilla. Along with the return of Mugal and the rest. With a lot of great actors to boot. Im very surprised it didn't do well in the box office. Im getting off topic. Every aspect of that movie screams Honda! From the Shakespearin love ending to the fight between the monsters.
I think that should be another topic for another forum. Which Toho alien race was the deadliest? if they invaded whose planet who would take over who? Your entry brought it up.
What was the budget of the 2 different Heisei series? How much was the Gamera Budget compared to the Godzilla? Im sure to be shocked. I read somewhere the director for the Gamera movies wanted to direct the Godzilla movies in the 90's but Toho said no-go. Im sure they learned their lesson afterwards, since they wanted him to direct GMK.
Also of note:
September 11th is Goro Mutsumi's birthday - Best known as the villain Kuronuma from Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla and his more sadistic (and likely more well known) Mugal from Terror of MechaGodzilla.
He also dubbed Russ Tamblyn's Paul Stewart character for the Japanese release of War of the Gargantuas, as well as played the role of Commander Hell in War of the Planets. (Another Jun Fukuda film.)
He's done lots of anime voice work as well.
He's alive and kicking today at the age of 83. Here's one of my favorite pictures of him working with Ishiro Honda on the set of Terror of MechaGodzilla.
Godzilla 2014's Roar and the original Godzilla 1954 roar
Well I think it's also dependent on the writing. With Boring-stein out of the picture for the most part with KoTM and GvK I think we'll start seeing better results.
^Very true. But as a result they tend to have a shorter span of replay value for me. Especially if they're trying to be dumb fun, but play too much to the Hollywood aspect of things. I think that's why Pacific Rim worked so well. While it's dumb fun, it didn't betray some fundamental Japanese roots--Making it a little smarter than it seemed on the surface. We'll see how the MonsterVerse plays out.
@riggzamortis86 - Very funny observation, re: Gaira, and totally on point! He does indeed sound like he's saying "that".
The monsters' voices were as unique as the designs themselves. It's funny, but in one of the special features on the JP disk, Spielberg is discussing coming up with roars/sounds for the dinosaurs, and it may have been for the T-Rex specifically, but he basically mandates that he doesn't want to hear Godzilla or Rodan! He wants something new and different. Of course, by '93 G's and R's roars had been around for almost 40 years.
I love the sheer variety and originality. Among my faves, G '54, but Godzilla in general, Rodan, Anguirus, King Ghidorah, Titanosaurus, and that potty mouth himself, Gaira.
I agree with Gman, KoTM and GvK will be fun Hollywood films and nothing more. But do they really need to be anything more than that? We've never seen these kaiju or the GvK idea made with the Hollywood flash before, I think it'll be great fun to see.
I think Skull Island is an indicator of what the future of the Monsterverese will be. Fun, over-the-top monster bashes that may trade some of the subtlety of other films for wider appeal. There's room in the Godzilla formula to be just monster movies. They don't have to be masterpieces.
I always liked Mothra, Rodan, Gigan, and Titanosaurus. Other than Godzilla of course.
^I agree completely. Many fans tend to praise the Heisei Godzilla movies for their continuity, but that's also largely their biggest weakness since it was merely cherry picked.
riggzamortis86,
Are you watching Godzilla Raids Again or Gigantis, The Fire Monster? Because the Japanese version Godzilla sounds like himself and so does Anguirus. But for whatever reason, in the awful English cut, WB switched their roars.
Edit:
Beat me to it King of the Monsters.
^ Godzilla only uses Anguirus' roars in the U.S. re-edit of Godzilla Raids Again, a.k.a. Gigantis, the Fire Monster. This was done because the producer wanted to give the impression that "Gigantis" was a separate monster from Godzilla, as he believed a new standalone film would sell better than a sequel. Gigantis, the Fire Monster suggests that "Gigantis" and Anguirus are related somehow, so they decided to dub Anguirus' roars over "Gigantis." In the original Japanese version, Godzilla still has many of his roars from the 1954 film, though he also frequently growls instead of roaring.
I wish that as well. I feel like the Heisei series would have stood up more against the Gamera Films of the 90's if the 80's Godzilla movies stayed with that similar chemistry.
Gaira has one of the funniest in my opinion. He sounds like he saying "SHIT" for those grunts he makes. I love that movie but cant help but laugh every time he gets hit or shocked he starts roaring "SHIT...SHIT....SHITTT!" Go ahead and watch it now with that in your head.
I never understood the reason behind Godzilla in Raids Again(1955). He sounds like Anguirus most of the time and once in awhile he will roar like Godzilla again. Anyone with an answer to that one?
Rodan has a creepy roar. I love his a lot.
I think I hate Varan's and Baragon's the least only because you can tell that they modulated Godzilla's Roar to fit them a lot. They did the same with King Caesar and King Kong also with King Kong and Godzilla's grunts.
The strangest has to be Hedorah.
My favorite is Rodans' roar.
RR44,
Fresh ideas? You mean the same basic story line from the 1970s where Godzilla comes ashore, kicks monsters around and goes back to sea--Just like in the 2014 film? Or reusing Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah for the upteenth time?
Legendary is just regurgitating what Toho's done 100 times. The only difference is they're making it with Hollywood flash. I'd say Shin Godzilla's experimentation with the monster and focus on bureaucracy was a little (a lot) more unique than Legendary following in Toho's been-there, done-that steps.
I'm excited for these films, of course, but Godzilla '14 and Skull Island have already aged so poorly that I'm not expecting much. At best they'll be fun. That's about it.
^Refreshing take as I've come to discover many hate Titanosaurus's roar. I for one love it.
I think most of the roars and sound effects from the Showa era were tops. The Heisei era got really lazy with it--Using Rodan's roar for three different monsters (including Rodan) and just slowing down Gigan's roar for SpaceGodzilla. The Millennium series fared better, but only marginally.
I think Edwards knows how to shoot a gorgeous looking movie that's very atmospheric. Even though it comes up short of expectation, it looks different than most Hollywood blockbusters--Even if it's pretty obvious in his post-Rogue One career that he doesn't have the talent to flesh out an ensemble.
And agreed about Hashimoto! The atmosphere alone is what makes Return of Godzilla stand out so well. I wish the rest of the Heisei films continued with the visceral feel that the two 80s films had.
