TALKBACK #23: Godzilla 2000

[jellydonut25]

[king_ghidorah]

[MouthForWar]

I guess I must be an odd man out because I've never felt Biollante was boring and I've always liked all the characters (not just Gondo). I have a particular soft spot for Shiragami and the reluctant young SX2 commander.

And say what you want about Kawakita, but his work in this film is NOT an "automatic fail"- Biollante alone is a masterpiece of a creature and the other effects and miniatures are really solid.

And I think Kawakita at his worst is STILL better than the effects in GxM, at least most of the time. GxM has the worst effects in a G-movie since Megalon.

[Mac]

I think Godzilla is wonderfully portrayed in Godzilla vs Megaguirus. His movements and expressions during the final fight are very entertaining to watch. Keith once mentioned that Suzuki intentionally didn't use a facial mechanics to give it a more performance art feel, and I really like how it turned out. While in Godzilla vs Biollante, the only expressions we ever get are Godzilla's head robot roaring. Though there are some amazing expressions in GvsKG, so I'll give Kawakita credit there.

I agree that Biollante is cool, but I like Megaguirus a lot too. He's a monster that totally outclasses Godzilla in speed, and it gave the fight a whole different dynamic. I really love the final fight scene.

EDIT: No way Kawakita's effects are better than Suzuki. I remember the POV shot of Mecha-King Ghidorah where the entire unfinished back of the Shinjuku buildings are exposed. No excuses.

[jellydonut25]

[king_ghidorah]

[jellydonut25]

[MouthForWar]

[Mac]

[MouthForWar]

[king_ghidorah]

[MouthForWar]

As much as I hate it, Kawakita is also the only thing good about Gunhed.

So he was very solid at the beginning. Its once he got into the 90s and became an alcoholic that everything went down the crapper.

[king_ghidorah]

[MekaGojira3k]

[MouthForWar]

[kiryugoji04]

I love Megaguirus' miniatures, personally. I also adore the miniature work in the 1970s Ultra series though, to be fair. The problem with Kawakita's miniatures is that they generally lack the finagle-y little details that bring a miniature set to plus and then, to make matters worse, they're usually filmed at these shoulder-height, God-perspective shots. It's bland. The 1970s Ultra series' miniatures may be rough around the edges but they're FAR more interesting to look at when you're constantly being given wonderful shots like these:

[MouthForWar]

But for a movie made in 2000, there's absolutely no excuse for such shoddiness, even from a Godzilla movie.

[kiryugoji04]

I'll agree with pretty much everything when it comes to the execution of Megaguirus herself but I have few to no issues with the sets themselves.

[Goji 84]

MEGAGUIRS and GODZILLA 2000 "better" than BIOLLANTE?'Fraid not.

The other two have some redeeming qualities, but I'll take the "bloated" elegance of a film like BIOLLANTE over the rushed, TV-movie feel of the early Millennium entries..especially GxM.

[H-Man]

You could actually re-write GXM as a better movie by removing Megaguirus entirely.

The Meganulon and Meganula show up because the DT opened a door to another dimension. What do they do through the course of the film?

*Kill people (not a concern to the filmmakers, the audience, or the characters)
*Flood Shibuya (only a temporary concern, forgotten entirely after Godzilla shows up in Odaiba)
*Attack Godzilla and screw up the DT's aim (padding)
*Injure Kudo (his injury only provides a couple of laughs at the end of the film)
*Megaguirus battles Godzilla (padding - forgotten entirely after Godzilla wins and not essential to the heart of the story)

Megaguirus does screw up the Dimension Tide, which is really the only thing she does that truly affects the story. If you removed Megaguirus from the story, you could still have the DT come crashing down by having Godzilla hit the antenna with his tail or something. Easy fix.

The whole movie is about Kuriko trying to avenge her former CO. Megaguirus and her swarm don't have any effect on that. Then you have the corrupt politician that uses the plasma energy despite everyone's warning. Megaguirus has nothing to do with this either.

[Benjamin Haines]

Godzilla 2000 > Godzilla vs. Biollante > Godzilla vs. Megaguirus

[Goji 84]

Well, at least you've got GxM last. Had BIOLLANTE been ranked last, I'd question your sanity.

[Irish Gfan]

[jellydonut25]

[eabaker]