TALKBACK #25: GMK

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

You know what, after reviewing the 74 MG movie I came to realize, why the hell was King Ceasar not in this movie? He should have been one of the guardian beasts as it would have fit what was established about him perfectly. He wasn't even considered before Toho forced Mothra and Ghidorah into the thing. WTF?

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

There's a very good reason for that; he's Okinawan.

[Dr Kain]

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

[DannyBeane]

[Dr Kain]

[H-Man]

I don't think Angilas or Varan would have necessarily improved this movie. Varan is only sort of a guardian monster in his original film and Angilas has never been more than a daikaijusaur. Mothra actually works well as a mythological protector of Japan. (Ghidorah does not.) The problem with having Mothra and Ghidorah in this film is that all of us fans were sick to death of them. I'd also argue that these are the worst incarnations of either character. In my opinion, the ideal guardian monsters would have been new creations, although I understand why Tomiyama wanted Ghidorah and Mothra.

It's funny that after nearly 15 years it's still the "Varan and Angilas would have been better" argument that drives criticism of this movie. To me, the identities of the guardian monsters is the least of GMK's problems. The first half is so good and as soon as Baragon is killed the movie falters. The pacing in the second half is awful. The reasonably-well-defined characters suddenly lose their purpose. The first half also shows us the monsters from a human perspective: a man watches Godzilla's rampage through his windshield, Baragon passes in front of a ski lift, the young woman watches Godzilla approach from her hospital room, etc. There are fewer shots like this in the monster-heavy second half. The best human-driven Godzilla movie since the 1960s turns into another rubber wrestling match.

[Dr Kain]

I gotta be honest, as most of you know, I have praised this movie non stop these last ten years. However, the last two times I have watched it, there has been something that has bothered me about it and I'm not sure what it is. I've been trying to stay in denial over it, but as I've been doing my reviews, I'm starting realize I'm not in Egypt.

No, no, it just had to be that I wasn't in a good mood at the time I watched them. Especially since I watched it both times last year, which was the worst year I have lived through since 1998. Yeah, that has to be it.

[Gentleman]

Regarding the inclusion of other monsters, I think that Ghidorah should have been omitted in favor of Titanosaurus. It would have fit the elemental theme better (Baragon = land, Mothra = air, Titano = water), plus - and most importantly - it would have given Godzilla someone to fight against physically. None of the other monsters were able to brawl with Godzilla, which took away a fun part of kaiju battles.

BTW, I'm a huge fan of King Seesar (I have a tattoo of a shisa), and while I'd have been thrilled to see him get some love, I agree that he'd have been out of place in this movie.

[daikaijusaurus]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Dr Kain]

I could do without Giant Condor.

[MekaGojira3k]

[klen7]

[Jared]

[Dr Kain]

So yeah... now that I have reviewed the movie... it's not the masterpiece I thought it once was. It is still in my top 10 Godzilla movies of all time, but it is more my fifth favorite rather than first/second favorite.

[Hybrid Gojira]

I rewatched this tonight.

The first half of the movie is....great. The matte shots are (mostly) well handled, Godzilla's entrance is excellent (especially when he knocks over the crane), and I love the different camera angles Kaneko uses (specifically when Godzilla arrives and it's filmed from inside someone's car). Everything through Baragon's demise, well, really through the jet attack in the forest is well executed. I have some nitpicks, but the real issues I take are with KG's design and how boring the movie becomes after Baragon bites the dust. This is probably the worst KG redesign ever. It sucks. Even worse, they revive Ghidorah 3 times during a rather boring battle. It sucks more that the most interesting fight actually happened 45 minutes into the movie. I'm sort of iffy on this Godzilla suit - at times, he's menacing and exactly what the film needs; others he looks kinda goofy and a little too hulkish. I'm not a huge fan of the giant toe nails, especially when the super close up shot of him kicking Baragon betrays the overall "realness" of the suit.

I'd say this is a middle of the pack effort, 6.5/10. Parts of the movie were really special, but the rest drag it down.

[lhb412]

^I largely agree on the film's merit, but I do give it credit for being far, far more ambitious and creatively successful than the films around it.

[Hybrid Gojira]

[lhb412]

^The astronaut idea is basically a remake of one of my favorite episodes of the original Ultraman.

[Rody]

[lhb412]

I've been thinking about this one the last few days. Despite my ragging on the film lately (i.e. the last few years) I still like it, and if I was told point blank I had to watch a Toho produced Godzilla film made after the Showa era - and for some reason Biollante wasn't available, I'd certainly go for this one.

Get rid of the repetition (Ghidorah being revived again and again) in the final fight, subbing Angilas and Varan for Mothra and Ghidorah, clarifying the mythological elements just a smidgen, and allowing them more time and maybe money for the special effects... well, then you're looking at a classic Godzilla film.

[lhb412]

... and when I rewatched this film in my pre-Shin marathon I enjoyed it immensely! This is probably the most I've enjoyed it since it initially came out and I (many of us) had that honeymoon period with the movie before studio interference and comparisons with the Gamera trilogy dominated with conversation for the next decade plus. Maybe I'm just coming back around to this movie; made peace with the parts I've been critical of and just enjoyed the fun characters (Shiro Sano as the boss of BS Digital Q is amazing), monster battles, and the interesting and unique directions this film takes.

Heck, it may be back in my top ten Godzilla flicks now. I dug it that much!

[klen7]

^ Best double post