Frankenstein Conquers the World

[August]

[zekend01]

[GFan]

Anyone want to sign my petition to get this movie properly released on DVD?



:color: :color: :color:

[Kaiju Nexus]

you know, G-Fan, you should e-mail Classic Media about your petition so they at least even know about its existence.

[kaijubringer]

There's nothing particularly absurd about FCTW's story -- at least, in relation to the Toho universe as a whole. Fans should remember that even the later Universal Studios Frankenstein movies brought in Dracula, the Wolfman, and so on -- adding to the implausiblity factor considerably, compared to the 1931 film.
The premise of FCTW is not only interesting and original, it seems to - dare we say-- logically continue the saga of the Frankenstein monster. If such a monster existed in central Europe during the 1930s (I am referring to the situation portrayed in the the Universal film series, not the novel) it's plausible that it, or what was left of it, would have ended up in the hands of the Nazis during the 1940s. And as for sending it to Japan to aid their war effort after a defeat for Germany was inevitable, parallels exist in the actual history of WW 2 -- the Germans did send prototypes and/or plans of some of their most advanced weapons to Japan even as the Third Reich crumbled.
Then the whole idea of the monster becoming a giant and heroically fighting a prehistoric monster was just, well cool. And perfectly consistent with the conventions of most of Toho's movies. Comparisons to movies like GvsMegalon seem unjust. There was nothing campy about the fight scenes between Frankie and Baragon.

[zekend01]

Yeah, I tend to agree with you here. Once I got over myself and my expectations of what I thought a Giant monster movie "should" be I have found most of them great fun. I suppose I felt like, and I'm big enough to admit this now, that I had to hold something "perfect" up in front of OTHER people so that my little hobby was something that could be taken seriously by me, and THROUGH others. I feared some sort of backlash from others because of the stigma associated with Kaiju films. What was I thinking??

Now I am proud to say that I really could'nt give a flip over what other people say. It's MY thing, you know? Often times, outside attitudes just get in the way and adherence to them will pollute ya with contridiction. I personally don't care about attitudes, and I don't mind allowing contridiction in my life and in my personality

By the way, I was useing the word "absurd" in a loveing way (in case you could'nt tell ). Also, I found the final battle to be a riot!! How could someone not? These are the Toho conventions that I embrace!! This is what made the Frankenstein monster so likable!!! I get the same feeling, the same excitment, when watching Megalon's little hand (drill-bit??) clap, or Jet Jag's (as it were) hammy portrayl. Frank was all over the place!! Leaping and rolling and bounceing off Baragon... and when his little skinny-azz picked Baragon up over his head and all that... Man that's just funny!! It's f'ing great. When I see physics defied like that I just got to bust a gut

But yeah, that word "camp" is just problematic. What is camp? What isn't camp? Can anything potentially become camp? Is Brittney Spears campy? Maybe not if compared to say Black Sabbath. Maybe so if combared to Mozart. I dunno. It seems that if one doesn't have a taste for so-called "camp" then it's a bad thing. And one might not like the usage if it is used to describe their hobby. It all depends on the context I guess so just create your own!!

[Xenorama]

"Camp" originally meant "unintentionally hilarious". Not everything is camp, or even funny even if cry-ticks- I mean critics use the word like that.

[Rodanex]

[kaijubringer]

[GFan]

[zekend01]

[kaijubringer]

BTW, while the word "camp" may have originally meant unintentionally funny, and still does, there is another meaning: that which is intentionally bad. The classic example is the 1960s Batman television series. The silly dialouge, obviously fake "effects" like the notorious "climbing buildings" scenes, and so on, were not the result of inept filmmaking. It was a deliberate approach. The 1980s Flash Gordon movie is another example of this style of camp.

[zekend01]

[Garasharp K7]

[kaijubringer]

[zekend01]

Yeah K-B, it's all about personal taste I guess. I liked Godzilla originally because my uncles tuned into them at my grandmother's house. I was like 2 or 3 and they were around 10 and 12. I looked up to them then and the impression they made on me when they were like: " 'Godzilla Raids Again' comes on at three, and after that 'Godzilla vs the Bionic Monster' comes on at 5:00!!". Their excitment became my excitment I guess. Now they could care less about the big G, being that they are "grown up", but I will always remember those days when life was good and simple. Godzilla has been encoded in my memory on an emotional level, and hence my taste for, and "forgiveness" toward, all those Toho movies. They are an important part of who I am, and I am better connected to that purer part of myself when I can enjoy a Kaiju movie in spite of what I have "learned" along the way.

Hey Garasharp K7, I took those Batman shows serious too at the time!! I couldn't wait for the concluding episodes to finish those cliff-hangers. And Flash blew my mind when it came out. Me and my pals use to play act like we were the characters from the movie so you KNOW it was important then It was either Flash or Star Wars or Battle Of The Planets, if memory serves, that we were acting out on the school playground... those were fun days