Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

by **MekaGojira3k** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:11 pm

Well one person did.

by **Henry88** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 1:47 pm

it looks like a bit of an upset right now.

by **MekaGojira3k** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:03 pm

Come on Ultraman!

by **Henry88** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:58 pm

i don't think any one else is going to vote ,serves me right for punting out oddballs for this poll.

by **Alpha OTS** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:59 pm

by **MekaGojira3k** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:19 pm

by **Henry88** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:43 pm

by **The Real McCoy** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:29 pm

I'm glad Tarantula got a vote; I think it's better than The Mantis, but I've never seen The Mantis all the way through.

by **Thomas** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:44 pm

Ultraman got my vote.

by **MekaGojira3k** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:28 pm

A tie! Here's hoping tomorrow somebody else will vote for Ultraman. :lol:

by **The Real McCoy** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:33 pm

What do we do if there's a tie? I didn't see anything about it in the rules.

by **jellydonut25** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:44 pm

by **MekaGojira3k** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:47 pm

by **Alpha OTS** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:55 pm

by **Henry88** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 1:04 pm

by **metal_bryan** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 2:57 pm

by **Henry88** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 7:30 pm

by **MekaGojira3k** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 7:55 pm

by **Henry88** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:36 pm

by **The Real McCoy** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:01 am

There's just something about sitting down with a Coke and a bowl of popcorn (or whatever) to watch a horribly bad fifties American monster movie. There is an eight-part formula for the average American monster movie (I put a lot of thought into this):

1)The monster kills a lot of people.

2)The idiot humans say it's an accident (they always do).

3)The monster is discovered.

4)The idiot humans feel stupid and immediately try to kill the monster and fail miserably.

6)Finally, in the nick of time a crackpot scientists invents a magical invention that will kill the monster.

7)The monster dies.

Then the credits roll, ninety-five percent of the time with no closure in terms of the main characters. The monster literally dies, they show a close-up of him dead, and the words "THE END" appear in the middle of the screen.

This is why The Deadly Mantis was a great choice.

What more do you want?????

by **Henry88** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:15 am

so who would like to do the next poll?

by **jellydonut25** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:14 pm

by **Henry88** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:19 pm

by **Alpha OTS** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:17 pm

by **Alpha OTS** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:25 pm

"For every action... there is an equal.. and opposite.. reaction."

Mantis-sicle! (Captain America can sympathize.

)

Ok, my source on this isn't ideal, and its made a little worse by putting it on my hdtv. So what I'm viewing is a bit pixelated, but watchable. Sound is fine.

"Maybe there's a very ordinary explanation for what happened?"
Mantis claw tip found in the wreckage! Obviously not very ordinary.

Ok, I like how they assume because the pilots are missing that its a meat eater, and therefore it has to be a Preying Mantis. Alright, I admit, I'm letting some rules of entymology to creep into my enjoyment, but I was hoping they would at least give a movie reason for it being so large and for the exoskeleton being able to support it. Usually radiation solves all problems in this area. Or did I miss the line?

The scene with the eskimos escaping is just silly! Is it supposed to look like its in fast motion? Oooo, and the mantis roars too! I've heard that roar before, but from where? The mantis puppet does look pretty cool.

This whole scene with the mantis slowly advancing on the station with the people inside oblivious to it until the last minute is probably the best horror moment in the movie. And there's the 50's damsel in distress scream! The perfect cherry on top!

Yikes, this mantis is eating a lot of people!
"If there is such a thing then why hasn't anyone seen it?"
"Well, those who have are dead."

"Here...to scale...is the Deadly Mantis.."

There's an awful lot of military clips. Is this stock footage?

I notice that they never keep the mantis on screen for too long. This does help keep the suspense, but you can see they're also doing it because the mantis moves so slowly. They're definitely making the most out of the limitations of the puppet.

And the mantis is dead.

This is my favorite shot in the flick with the dead mantis in the background with the people looking on in the foreground. Henry88 already posted the best shot in this scene, but here's another screen grab.

You know, I'm glad this was the pick this week mainly because it's a good follow-up to Varan the Unbelievable. The two are very similar in some ways. They both follow a typical monster movie formula, but mantis is far more by the numbers and therefore far weaker. The miniature work in Mantis is nowhere near the scope and detail of Varan. Mantis has made me appreciate more how well done Varan is.

Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

Weekly Kaiju Movie Viewing Thread #7 (6/24)

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