Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

I think you nailed it right on the head with your Universal comparison. There is something very timeless in the way a Toho film is made, in any era. Your absolutely right, too. I was watching Matango the other day and I could totally feel where you were coming from. It felt like I was watching a movie in a very comfortable surrounding. Even though the characters and actors were unfamiliar too me, and they were portraying the most horrendous people imaginable, it still felt right.

Toho movies also feel like they can all be part of the same universe. Matango can take place in the same universe as Godzilla movies and likewise with the Frankenstein films. When they added the Gargantuans to the story in GXMG it felt totally right. Like they belong in Godzilla's history.

I consider Gamera: Guardian of the Universe to be second only to Gojira as the GREATEST Kaiju film ever made. Yet, it still doesn't have that something special that makes it a Toho movie, because it just isn't, it feels different.

That is my take anyway.

Same as your really.

-Ray

Yeah I think I'm getting some of the vibe and where your headed.
Its sort of that studio characteristic that translates to the films that are
churned out.

Its that element that makes Disney movies Disney and Warner Bros movies, Warner Brothers.

I suppose it has something to do with the actors/actresses, the production staff, directors, spfx directors and such. Generations of those staff training their apprentices to succeed them in the future.

But I think a defining feature that determines the "feel" of the productions
churned out by a film studio is in the hands of the CEO or
president/chairman of the studio.

Without his/her guidance and approval of these various up and coming projects the studio's image would be quite unstable and loose its certain characteristic or as you put it.....that something that makes "the movies have a certain look and feel that just says 'Toho'".

A characterisitic that takes it beyond the moment when that TOHO logo appears on screen.


Of course I must be somewhat right in that the executives at TOHO seem to have a certain taste for kaiju action, massive apocalyptic destruction, zainy scientists, space travel, and samurai movies, rather than animation or drama.

Oh Toho also loves to use miniatures in their films. A defining characteristic of the studio that still carries on today.

I think it's because the guys that were making the movies were great at what they did. Ishiro Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, Sademasa Arikawa, Jun Fukuda, etc., they all may not have been great at anything else, but when it came to the Japanese fantasy genre, the genre that they created, nobody could surpass them. They expressed themselves artistically through films like The Mysterians, Matango and Destroy All Monsters without being true artists. The thing about the Japanese sci-fi and fantasy genre, that I believe sets it apart from all other genres of its kind, is that the guys involved were true, cinematic craftsman. It may be the absolute lowest form of moviemaking, but it's still the right way to do it.

To put it in the most general terms, everytone else looks at Godzilla, and co. and says "this is a giant monster movie," and that's it. Honda/Tsuburaya, etc. may or may not have enjoyed making these movies, but nevertheless, these films best-showcased their passion for filmmaking.

You know, I don't think there's really anything I can add here that hasn't already been stated, so I'm not really going to try. I couldn't agree more with what you guys have stated here (also, with my also being a big fan of the Universal monster classics, I couldn't think of a more appropriate comparison!)...what makes Toho Sci-Fi/Fantasy films FEEL like Toho Sci-Fi/Fantasy films is consistency of quality from one film to the next, whether it be a Godzilla movie, a non-Godzilla kaiju movie, or a non-kaiju sci-fi movie. Certainly some Toho sci-fi films are better than others, but there is always that feeling you get when watching them that this IS a Toho movie, and (as you guys have already stated) that comes from different generations of Toho moviemakers passing on their working knowledge...and LOVE for the art of moviemaking...to the next generation and then the next generation after that... It's a certain continuity of craftsmanship, an eye for quality and simply a LOVE for the work that each director, FX artist, cinematographer, writer, actor, etc. brings to a Toho film that makes it a TOHO SCI-FI/FANTASY FILM