TALKBACK#18: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

[Gman2887]

[jellydonut25]

[Gman2887]

[jellydonut25]

Everything you listed as a positive for the Heisei series was a technical achievement. When there are so many other STRIKING technical negatives, a robotic face isn't gonna win me over.

It's kind of amazing to me that you think that I like the Showa films more only because everyone else does, or because of nostalgia or for whatever silly reason...when the reasons have to do with the films themselves. The 90s films are full of awful. I like almost all of the Millenium films (Megaguirus being the exception), despite lacking the "technical achievements" of the Heisei era. I can't say there's a 90s film that I actually really LIKE. GvsKG comes closest because it has some redeemable parts, and there are actually fairly lengthy runs of time (by comparison to the other 90s films) where I don't want to just go to sleep as an alternative.

And the whole Mechagodzilla's head thing is debatable. Godzilla clearly rips the head off from the side, not just by spinning it around. Also, the head rip isn't what actually DESTROYED Mechagodzilla, it was the magical pipe of mystery.

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

I think there are TIMES when cooler is better, I agree on that front. I just think...even in this particular film, the Heisei series hadn't QUITE gone down that cliched path of "night is ALWAYS cooler and more dramatic". The two kaiju battles in this film take place during the day and to me, they largely work.
If this were any of the other 90s films, that last battle would have taken place at night, GUARANTEED.

It becomes a bit of a trope, and it's one that continued on through most of the Millenium series as well, though in the Millenium series, there never really seemed to be those odd spotlights that call my attention to just how much 'night for the sake of night' is happening.

[eabaker]

I actually quite like the slightly schizohprenic feel of the editing in Biollante, but it really bothered my wife.

As for the over-the-top stylistic touches in the 90s films, such as the big, unmotivated lighting changes for monster reveals/revivals, I have no inherent objection - I have a thing for expressionistic, over-the-top touches. In the context of GvsKG, I think those things really work for the dramatic impact of the movie. However, in subsequent movies, they felt like they were being wheeled out lazily, with no real motivation in the narrative.

[jellydonut25]

[Pkmatrix]

[Legion]

[Dr Kain]

And yet my gf thinks Biollante is one of the only good movies in the series. She really only cares for the two Kiryu movies and Biollante.

[Jorzilla]

[extremedalek]

Absolutely love this one, its one of my favourites (out of the Godzillas I've seen so far!). Sure, the plot is as hokey as hell, and M11 is far from convincing (Mr Data has nothing to worry about), but when a movie is this much fun its hard to care about the flaws. Ghidorah is just awesome, in both his natural and mecha form. In fact, just about any movie would be improved by Ghidorah turning up.

I first saw this one around the time that Godzilla 98 was released. I'd picked up a few VHS tapes to see what this whole Godzilla thing was about (I had this, Son of, Return of, and Terror or Mechagodzilla). Unfortunately, the bug didn't quite catch me at that time but a year or so ago I decided to see if this one was as good as I'd remembered. It was, and spearheaded my investigations into all things Godzilla, which is still ongoing.

[eabaker]

[extremedalek]

[eabaker]

So, right now, I'm basically being treated like a complete lunatic over at Toho Kingdom for suggesting that GvsKG draws parallels between the characters of Godzilla and Shindo, and that Shindo's death scene is open to multiple interpretations, one of which is that Shidno sees that he has, in a sense, like Godzilla, become monstrous in the years following the war.

[klen7]

Ohhhhh. Let me get my pitchfork!!! ::rabble rabble::

[Jorzilla]

[eabaker]

[Benjamin Haines]

^ I agree with your take on it. I also think that, like Shindo, Godzilla himself recognizes that he has become monstrous compared to what he used to be. When he's rampaging through Tokyo and he sees Shindo through the window, both characters have a personal flashback to when they encountered each other on Lagos Island in 1944. Godzilla remembers that he used to be a simple dinosaur who once (inadvertently) protected a squad of Japanese soldiers who subsequently regarded him with honor and gratitude. Although he is momentarily pacified by that memory, he eventually returns to the understanding that he isn't that dinosaur anymore and he can never go back to that time again, which is why he ultimately reverts to his monstrous nature and vaporizes Shindo.

By that same token, Shindo realized that his own illicit harboring of nuclear power was what made it possible for Godzilla to presently tear Tokyo apart before his eyes. He felt just as responsible for the destruction happening around him as the monster himself, which is why he chose to atone for his sin by remaining in the tower and facing Godzilla directly.

[eabaker]

[Gwangi]

[Jorzilla]

There's no doubt that this movie is obviously about the rise of Japan in the modern world after WWII. I think it's interesting that the first place King Ghidorah attacks is Hiroshima.

[Legacy_Of_Gamera99]

[Jorzilla]