TALKBACK #28: Godzilla Final Wars

[briizilla]

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

[jellydonut25]

[MekaGojira3k]

Yeah, it's never as boring as DAM.
I was thinking about this the other day, would people have liked this movie more if the concept had been directed by Tezuka?
I think maybe that would have been something more like what people expected, but I don't know if I'd necessarily rather have than than the
weird ass ride that is Final Wars (keep in mind I love Versus...which is basically a similar treatment of the zombie genre).

[Russzilla]

[Gman2887]

[Russzilla]

[eabaker]

[MekaGojira3k]

I'm not saying it would be a better choice (I really like Final Wars as is, honestly), but I feel like there's a lot of people who probably would have wanted/expected something more like a Tezuka directed Final Wars.

[Gman2887]

I enjoy both the Kiryu movies and Final Wars, honestly. For entirely different reasons, yes, but they keep me engaged despite their flaws. What is disappointing about Tezuka is that I saw so little improvement, stylistically, from Megaguirus to Tokyo S.O.S. In fact I often feel that Tokyo S.O.S. is visually his most bland looking movie. I think the greatest strength in the Kiryu movies is the MechaGodzilla itself and its relationship with specific characters. Even if the characters aren't always that interesting on their own, the relationship between man and mechanical monster has enough pull to keep these movies afloat. Everything else-- It's not particularly bad by any stretch, just rudimentary. I enjoy it within that framework though and appreciate the effort.

But if you add Tezuka to the storytelling train wreck that is Final Wars I don't think Megaguirus would be considered his weakest film by fandom majority. Maybe we would've received more monster screentime. And maybe we would've spent less time with mutants on motorcycles. But what then? Honestly, the only reasons that the characters in Final Wars are watchable is because they do spend time fighting on motorcycles and walking around like over-the-top parodies of action tropes. Take that away and I'd imagine we have a retread on vs. Megaguirus' characters and pace. I can't see the response being any better.

[jellydonut25]

[MouthForWar]

[jellydonut25]

Was a lot of fun, and I've since actually listened to it myself. I cut some stuff out but we are (as of now) planning on doing another G film in the (hopefully near) future so maybe some of that discussion will make it into the next one. There are also talks of possibly doing a bit of a kaiju movie roundtable. My podcast WILL be doing a Godzilla-themed episode sometime in April. There's also I'm sure going to be Godzilla discussion on all of our podcasts when the new film is released.

It's kaiju-time in our extended podcast family!

[Hybrid Gojira]

Gotta say I listened to the podcast today at work (while doing normal work stuff...aka emails, lots and lots of emails). I enjoyed it. I found myself laughing quite a bit and some of the discussion was pretty cool. I especially liked the quotes from Kitamira and David Kalat. It was good stuff and helped the day pass along.

[jellydonut25]

[Hybrid Gojira]

Yeah, I've actually caught a few of your podcasts and I checked out MFW's stuff before. You can tell that all involved have done some research and for the most part the conversations actually go somewhere and have substance. There wasn't a whole bunch of repetition or filler material. There's a local radio guy in Cinnanati whom I love, but he often says the same thing 5 different ways and it's annoying. I didn't have that feeling while listening to this...plus you guys were hilarious. Someone listed Godzilla Raids Again in their top 5 and the reaction was priceless..

I was very entertained, plus I learned a few things about Final Wars I didn't know previously.

[klen7]

[MekaGojira3k]

Downloaded the podcast, gonna save it as I go through the Millennium films in April.

[MouthForWar]

Awesome, Alex. Don't forget to let us know what you think!

[Jorzilla]

Listened to the pod-cast, I don't think GFW is a smart as the two pro guys are giving it credit. I think it's summed up with this movie being tonally inconsistent. For example, the proposed cheapo-Godzilla movie from Sony that used sutimation and took place in Hawaii actually sounds kind of cool. I also liked Big Man Japan. Final Wars is in my bottom 3 Godzilla films for almost none of the reasons the pro side was saying the anti side hates about the Godzilla movie.

Case in point, the comment was that Monster Zero has not a lot of monster action, but is a fan favorite. I could say the same thing about Biollante in terms of fighting but with both movies I had an emotional stake in the outcome of the fight. Godzilla demolishes every monster in this movie in a quick montage. There's never on screen tension and the focus of the entire movie is Ozaki, not Godzilla (including the climax). Watching this movie it feels like Kitamura did the minimum it took to make it through a Godzilla film so he could tell his Alien vs. Mutant story which is really wanted from the beginning.

This movie continue to sink down my list. I think it might be in my bottom 3 at this point. As for the last commentary on why it's so popular with non-fans: I really wish someone had pointed out that this movie basically confirms any stereotype that a western audience member might have about Godzilla. It has:

* "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" inconsistent effects.
* Terrible dubbing on BOTH the English and Japanese version for some reason.
* Terrible writing.
* Over-the-top senseless action.
* An incredible cheese factor.

I know, it's not 10 years ago and it is a ridiculous reason not to like this movie, but in the hype of the original Godzilla being released state side, his sudden media exposure, I really believed that the 50th Anniversary might have been the film to break Godzilla into the mainstream as a 'serious' franchise. At least one that warrants respect unlike the treatment I usually got for being a fan growing up. This film basically "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" on the idea I had in my head of a 'Gojira-Redemption.'

Funny thing is, Godzilla 2014 is doing just this that, which I'm happy. But I'm finding myself in a position on sites like reddit trying to defend the rest of Godzilla's filmography from people making commentary along the lines of, "The original Godzilla is the best giant monster movie ever, second only to Seven Samurai in terms of Japanese cinema. The rest of the franchise is garbage or a stain on his name." I didn't really envision that sort of backlash.

[jellydonut25]

[Jorzilla]

Still wished you would have made your Destroyah criticism: How much of this film's popularity is propped up because it's the 'last' Godzilla film. Especially if Godzilla 2014 is a hit, even the average movie-goer will start picking up the new Blu-Rays and think, "what the hell is this garbage?"

I had forgotten about the Kitamura quote when he warned Toho about the film. I still feel kind of bad for Shogo Tomiyama for trying to manage Godzilla in Tanaka's shadow. Too bad he totally messed up the Millennium series only to swing in the complete other direction when trying to do something different.

[ILL GREEN]

[MouthForWar]

Kitamura coined the term by saying they took the "God" out of Godzilla, so the creature is just "Zilla."

[MekaGojira3k]