TALKBACK: Godzilla (2014) - (OBVIOUS SPOILER DISCUSSION)

[Kailem]

Yeah the first time the cut-away was definitely intended to be a bit humourous, since you can sort of see Godzilla on TV leaping around and trying to bite the Muto that's flying over him and stuff, I just thought it was a very strange choice to build up this big battle and Godzilla's final reveal and then not have the battle, since it wasn't even like they went back to ATJ's character escaping to safety with the boy or anything, they just cut to the aftermath. But either way, basically everything in Hawaii I thought was excellent, and the actual build-up part to Godzilla's reveal, and the reveal itself, was really, really awesome.

Oh yeah, and another thing I liked was how they didn't ever stop to try and explain his atomic breath. There's just a brief bit with a soldier going "what the hell was that?!", and that's it. No pseudo-science explanation for "maybe he can harness the radiation and blah blah blah". He's Godzilla, he breathes blue radioactive fire breath. You know what the deal is.

[Jorzilla]

I think the consensus for this movie is going to be: Really good, but not great. Godzilla wasn't in the movie enough. It's a great world building movie and I look forward to the sequel.

[jellydonut25]

[Kailem]

Heh, it really pretty much is. I like that even though they took a "grounded" approach to the tone and everything, that when it comes to Godzilla himself they didn't fall into the same trap that other movies that have tried to take outlandish/fantastic ideas and characters and show them in roughly the same sort of manner have, by trying to explain every "unbelievable" thing about them so as to make them more "realistic", even when the concepts they're dealing with are often inherently unrealistic by their very nature, and more importantly, the audience already knows that and doesn't care.

They give us just enough to let us know what Godzilla's place is in this film, in this new cinematic universe they've created (at least hopefully it will be if it does well enough for sequels), and then they just give us Godzilla; which is all any fan could hope for.

[Psycho Soldier]

[Dai]

Regarding the fire breath, I really liked the effect they chose. It reminded me of Reign of Fire. I think it worked with the movie's visual style more than the chemical spray of Starship Troopers' tanker bugs would have, or even the traditional Godzilla heat mist or heisei beam. GMK remains my favourite for breath attack effects, but I'd place G14 in second.

I also liked the way they foreshadowed it. Just before, when Ford is trying to destroy MUTO's nest, he floods the area with petrol, and it wells up on top of a statue of a Chinese dragon's head. When Godzilla unleashes his fire breath shortly after, it's like the film is saying, "This is where dragon legends came from."

[Gorjira54]

can anyone tell me how the female supposedly uses a ICBM as a sex object?

[Henry88]

Box Office: 'Godzilla' Opens No. 1 Wednesday in France With $1.6 Million
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/b ... -no-704546

and grossing $1.2m in Australia

[Gojira-2000]

[Henry88]

‘Godzilla’ Invades Weekend Box Office for Potential $70 Million Opening
http://variety.com/2014/film/news/godzi ... 201182786/

[gfan1984]

OK I just got back from the movie and here's my review.... It was AWESOME! From start to finish this movie really felt like a Godzilla movie. Gareth Edwards did a fantastic job bringing our beloved radioactive monster to life. I won't bored you with the review of this movie but just make some bullet points about what I loved about this movie.

First off, the opening title sequence was incredible in my opinion, the fact that the images shown not only give a brief history of the film's Godzilla mythos but reference age old depictions of giant sea monsters. This establishes Godzilla as a monster that has existed.
Second I actually thought the pacing of the movie was quite good, I never found it boring or unnecessary, but good at keeping my and the audiences interest. The characters we well done and for me believable, though most of Bryan Cranston's scenes were already shown in the previews.
Third, Godzilla's screen time was better than I expected, from reading the reviews ahead of time I was very worried that there would be nothing "new" to see but it is handled very well in my opinion.
Fourth, the audience reaction was very positive. Many times the audience was very accepting of the whole plot. But for me (and the audience) was when Godzilla's signature atomic fire, was finally revealed, the whole audience started to clap and cheer!
Lastly, this is a movie I honestly could watch over again and still be amazed and when the end credits rolled the whole audience gave it a standing ovation, finally Godzilla is back!

[HannibalBarca]

Just got back. It was spectacular, in my opinion. Would I have liked to see more of the monsters? Sure, but what we got was absolutely outstanding. The best fight sequences in a kaiju movie that I can think of. Showa fights were great, of course, but the limitations of suitimation, for all its craftsmanship, can't beat the way that these fights are animated and framed. There were a few plot holes, sure, such as the fact that selective plot-sensitive electronics still work despite the EMT, but nothing was completely immersion breaking. The movie does dip ever so slightly in the middle, but I think the complaints about pacing are overblown. If anything, the movie moves along slightly too quickly; I feel like ten minutes or so could be added to give things a bit more room to breathe without the movie becoming too bloated. The acting was fine, I can see why people would say that ATJ's acting was a bit flat, and Olsen's part was a bit underwritten, but these were comparatively minor sins that I could easily forgive. Even though the monsters were used sparingly, their presence is felt often enough in the few suspenseful action sequences that I never really missed them. The CGI was absolutely phenomenal. The Philippine Mines and Janjira looked a wee bit dodgy, but the creature effects were virtually perfect. The sound design was also great; any doubts I had about the score were obliterated. It fits perfectly with what's happening on the screen.

I'll be seeing this movie a few more times over the weekend, during which time my impressions of this movie will become a bit more grounded, but for now I cannot recommend it highly enough. Easily the best Godzilla movie in decades, and one of the best blockbusters I've seen in a good long time.

[GFan]

Wow. Just. WOW. F*cking fantastic. I can't quite gather all of my thoughts yet. But... they NAILED it.

Amazing pacing. The Mutos were sympathetic (I LOVE that the male brings the female the nuke as a nuptial gift like many insects do!), and incredibly well done.

And Godzilla... f*ck yes. Easily one of the best kills in the entire series.

NEED. SEQUEL.

I'm seeing this again tomorrow.

[Hybrid Gojira]

Why are spoiler tags needed in a "obvious spoiler discussion" thread?

:shrug:

You've been warned, I guess..

This movie has been one of the weirdest experiences of my life. We got to the theater early, only to notice a HUGE geyser of water shooting from the parking lot on the side of theater. This also happens to be next to some restaurants, and it was easily shooting some 50+ feet in the air (or more). I then had to to wait for my family and a friend to show up...I was sort of tense all evening. The movie started rolling...and for some reason I couldn't stop wondering what everyone else was thinking. It was such an odd experience.

Anyway, everyone with me loved it.

I felt...sort of indifferent to it I guess?

It wasn't a bad movie, but some of the parts dragged for me a little. Godzilla fighting the MUTOs was a fun ride, but part of me was annoyed at how often they showed glimpses of them versus just gratifying my need for instantaneous, senseless destruction. Of course, this was by design and from that perspective it worked well - the MUTOs were well done and very cool. I have no complaints about them. Godzilla was well-realized and when his beam is used I liked the effect...sort of. It is a new take on it, and one I can live with.

As for the fights, they got the best parts of the movie right - Godzilla's finishing moves (which were ruthless and sort of hilarious at the same time).

The ending served up the camp, and there were a few spots I cringed at.

Except this is a Godzilla movie, so it shouldn't have bothered me...but it did.

Anyway, it's hard for me to say how much I liked it or didn't like it without viewing it again. Ironically, the last movie I felt this way about was Pacific Rim. The first viewing disappointed me, but repeat viewings really grew on me and now I really like it. Right now I'm hovering around a 6 or 7 out of 10....something tells me it will end up higher.

I *did* like the backstory on Godzilla and the MUTOs, as well as the fact that monsters are known to exist. We also have an explanation as to why they feed on radiation. It will be very easy to introduce other monsters into that backdrop for future pictures.

My plan is to see this again soon....but right now I'm all over the place. I don't know if this was a case of misplaced expectations, worrying about what other people thought (it SOUNDS stupid but I'm the super fan and I so wanted this to make them fans) or whatever.

One thing is certain - this WAS a Godzilla movie.

[GoDziLLaX]

I hate that I watched every trailer. That I read the whole leaked script thread up and down.
The spoilers killed it for me but that was my fault not the movie's. This was still the best portrayal of Godzilla to date. I hope for sequels. The mutos were different and interesting.

My favorite part is the airport reveal.. His first roar.. I love how they separate the scream from the bellow (the "shreeee" from the "onnnkkk," if you will) and that the bellow is actually a back pressure or inhale.

10/10 as a Godzilla fan. 7/10 as a general moviegoer. Cranston had passion and ATJ was forgettable. Why they killed off Cranston boggles my mind. As mentioned, the constant cutting away from the fights was lame.

Can't wait to see it again.

[TheMaster]

Hey kids..been gone for 3 years or so. Just wanted to pop in and say me and my two kids saw it..and..its perfect!

[The Great MM]

I just got home from watching for the first time. All I can say is “WOW!” This movie is what the fans have been wanting for decades. Is it perfect? – No. is it flawless? – No. Is it good? Hell yeah. I’ll list out things I loved the most about and some things I was disappointed with…



All in all, I LOVED it. Seeing it again tomorrow. The king is back, people! A new era has begun – The Legendary Era. BRING ON THE SEQUEL...S!

[lhb412]

Too tired to put together a more thorough overview, but long story short: it's good. It's an old-fashioned, '50s style monster-on-the-loose type film that turns into a '60s/'70s Toho film in the third act. Godzilla's back, he feels more alive than he ever has since Nakajima stopped playing him, and (now this may be controversial) he's back to being the hero.

... but there is one thing I'd like to address, it's about how people have been complaining that they cut away from the first two fights:

- We actually see most of the first fight on the TV screen and see that it was really a non-fight, over in a minute: the Muto ran away.
- The second cutaway doesn't skip a fight at all! It's the beginning of the final battle, and we cut to the humans for two minutes and then we're back to the same battle.

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

Just got back.

Quite an interesting but exciting experience.

See, the movie got delayed for 20 minutes because our projector crashed. (._. ) felt bad for that dude, even if it was an annoyance.

BUT HOLY CRAP WAS THIS MOVIE AMAZING!

Easily the best Godzilla film since 1989. As a Godzilla aficionado, can clearly say there was plenty of Godzilla in it, and even more Muto action. And pretty much everyone reacted from what i have been hearing.

What really surprised me was pretty much how Godzilla was the full blown hero. To the point we get a Godzilla vs Gigan/Terror Of Mechagodzilla cheer of victory after Godzilla kills the Mutos and gets back up after complete exhaustion.

1960s Godzilla. Titan of Terror, Hero By Circumstance

Speaking of Mutos, I LOVE THEM. They are really fearsome opponents. Really tough. Are they King Ghidorah and Gigan tough? No. But they're tough enough. Like if Godzilla had to fight a Rodan and Anguirus at the same time, this is the kind of ferocity I'd expect, and their overall design is not as Hollywood as some people say. Having seen them in the big screen, at the edge of my seat, they have a distinct Japanese aesthetic. I still hold firm to their design being similar to a Japanese anime creature, not unlike something seen in Evangelion or on a 2000s era Super Robot show. They fit in remarkably well with the rest of Toho's menagerie. I really have no complaints with this movie at all, save for killing off Bryan Cranston.

(._. ) por que hombre?

Hmmm I plan to watch it again several times this weekend and I hope its successful.

[gojira_fan]

Got back from seeing it with my daughter, we both loved it. Going to see it again tomorrow with the Mrs.

I thought it was very good, I thought the pacing was solid, and ATJ's acting was just fine.

Visually striking and nice to see a film that takes it's time and doesn't constantly suffer from ADD film making that plagues most action films these days.


The only gripes / issues / questions I have are:

[Dr Kain]

In 1998 Sony released an abomination of a movie that was called “Godzilla.” While the movie had some really great effects at the time, the overall results of the movie were less than stellar. It also does not help that the creature called “Godzilla” in that movie never truly resembled the monster everyone knows and loves. That movie was also filled with terrible one liners, dated jokes, and hardly stands the test of time at all. In fact, the only thing the movie had going for it was its hype. As such, it was obvious as to why there would be mass skepticism brought about when Legendary announced they were going to be creating their own Godzilla movie. Thankfully, their take on the king of the monsters is truly one to behold.

The movie’s plot is extremely simplistic and yet, done with care for the monster’s origins in both the world the movie takes place in and in our own reality. If there is one thing Gareth Edwards has proven with this movie, it is that if you care about the original source material enough you can truly create a great experience to go with it. There is also a certain amount of suspense the movie holds to keep the viewer interested without boring them or annoying them.

The characters of the movie are pretty good, even if some of them are underused or seem to have the invincibility shield surrounding them. Bryan Cranston’s character is good while Ken Watanabe plays a scientist named Serizawa and is probably one of the best characters in the movie. It was extremely nice to finally see his talents and acting used in great detail here. Cranston’s son, Ford, is a pretty likable guy but he could have been developed a bit better. His wife, on the other hand, was utterly useless as most females tend to be in the Godzilla universe.

The monsters of the movie were done very well and the new design for Godzilla looks great on screen. He is the biggest incarnation of the monster yet, standing at about 110 meters, which is taller compared to the Heisei Godzilla whose height was 100 meters. The MUTO make for an interesting set of monsters to give Godzilla his motivations. Thankfully, the designs are followed greatly but top notch effects as the CGI never seemed to drop in quality one bit during the movie. In fact, as far as the effects go, despite it being all CGI, they are some of the best the series has ever had, and rightly so.

Some of my favorite scenes cannot be said because of spoilers, but the HALO jump scene from the trailer is truly fantastic to see when you are watching it as part of the movie and it gives great depth to what is transpiring during those moments. The music used in that scene just adds up the tension to it.

If there was anything I needed to complain about it would be the lack of monster action. There is quite a bit of it, but at the same time there is just a tad too little of it. Thankfully the movie is extremely well paced and does a great job at building up the monsters with an added bonus of suspense in the process. It is also one of the few movies in the series to truly treat the story as an anti-nuclear one, mimicking the original’s message. Overall, while there are some nitpicks to the movie, I give it a nice 8/10 as it is one the best Godzilla movies released thus far and I look forward to seeing what Legendary can come up with next in their Godzilla universe.

BTW, there is nothing after or during the credits, so there is no need to stay if you don’t want to.

[jellydonut25]

[jellydonut25]

[XvGojira]

Oh man, I'm in not the right mind space to give an accurate rating. I feel that my love of this movie will fall a bit after some time, but right now, it's out of this world.

There's one thing this movie has done that other movies have failed at for some time, the action is totally on screen and coherent. No up close shakey cam bullcrap. We even get really awesome long shots that really show off the scale of these creatures. And the Mutos are great monsters! A good tag team battle; the big brutish female and the quick hitting flying male. And the fire breath, the crowd flipped when his fins started to light up.

Now the humans are where the movie falters. Joe Brody was a great character with good motivation and room for development, but of course he's not the main focus. We get his son who is pretty bland. He is given nothing to do but look forlorn that he can't make it home and the only way to get home is to follow some nukes into the monster's path constantly. If they gave him someone to bounce off of instead of sticking him with red-shirts all the time he might not have seemed as bland. Ken Watanabe's Serizawa just stares off and says cryptic things, they could have done more with him and his gal pal, or the whole Monarch organization in general.

The only plot hole I questioned right out of the theater was,

Not a negative, but a little quirk. There seemed to be a lack of sound effects at times. Reminded me a lot of the Japanese version of Godzilla 2000, which had a fair amount of muted effects or elements that normally would have had effects. I guess it's better to have it be a bit muted than a whirlwind of sounds.

Man, if I didn't have to get up in the morning to go to a comic-con I totally would have bought tickets to the next showing.

And, yeah, the 3D doesn't do anything. It doesn't tarnish the movie, but it doesn't really do anything. the hugeness of IMAX was cool though.

[davezilla]

Back from my screening too and I really liked it. I won't say I loved it until I've seen it a 2nd time and see if it holds up to repeated viewings. To me that is what makes a good Godzilla movie. You can watch it over and over again.

Ok so I have to get this off my chest. I felt horrible about the Mutos. I thought the figures were terrible and the minute I saw them on the screen I was like....I need a 6" figure of this NOW! I loved them. And when I mean I felt horrible I mean omg I feel really bad what happens to them. I'm not using spoiler tags cause obviously if it's a talk back we don't need them right? Brutal BRUTAL deaths and to me they weren't even bad monsters at all. They were just trying to get together to raise the offspring and along comes Godzilla. When you care about the bad monsters too, that's just such a great touch to the film.

I felt bad after Cranston was gone. That man was completely awesome as the dad. Seriously the lead was miscast a bit. My crew thought he was good. I thought he even looked like he struggled to carry the weight of this role. It needed a stronger actor I think. He was good, just not great.

I liked how kids were played in the film. They were not at all "annoying" at all and totally fit into the picture. The military looked great in the movie as well.

There were some shots that blew me away. Godzilla swimming underneath the carrier was beautiful. The fight in my old home city of San Francisco was well done and I chuckled when the Four Seasons Hotel was demolished...inside joke.

3-D was a waste...wasn't needed at all. I'll be seeing it again Saturday without. I hope I enjoy it as much as I did tonight. Now where can I get those Mutos figures!!!

PS I think jelly's review was spot on. I agree 100%