Godzilla (2014) Part Three (NON-SPOILER DISCUSSION)

[jellydonut25]

[Jinzo Ningen]

Pac Rim's problems of not connecting had nothing to do with the front-loading at the film's start. And that whole sequence involved a bunch of expansive visuals and ran for several minutes that, arguably, were more (or just as) interesting than the rest of the film. What we're talking for Godzilla are couple of flashback shots and a few lines of expositional dialog from one or two characters; (hopefully Takarada. )

And honestly, I think it's a LOT harder to swallow the whole "dinosaur hibernating somewhere for 70 million years and is exposed to nuclear bomb testing, but instead of being incenerated he absorbs the radition, grows to 350 feet and now spits fire" thing, than simply acknowledging the fact that the Big Guy has just been laying low (perhaps hiding in the deepest areas of the Pacific Ocean (Marianas Trench?) for a few decades. I mean what's 60 years to a 70 million year old dinosaur??? And perhaps he was not being hunted / tracked / sought after simply because he was believed to have been disintegrated by Serizawa's prototype Oxygen Destroyer device.

Obviously, this postulating is all academic until we get to see the movie... but I doubt it will be treated as an official direct "sequel." However, it would seem from the reports we've been reading that the era of the original film will certainly be a plot point in the new film, so of course we fans are gonna indulge ourselves and wonder if some type of re-shot flashback scene or at least some dialog will make reference, indirectly or otherwise, to the '54 film.

[jellydonut25]

Alright, this is going to be my last attempt to put into perspective just how few people have seen Gojira, and why I think that alone would make it a horrible idea for this new film to have any overt references to the 1954 film (as I've said, I'm cool with nudges and winks and a little bit of fan service, but any sort of plotting that's directly referencing Gojira is gonna just confuse the average moviegoer):

Gojira has been out for nearly 60 years, and IMDb has existed since 1990. During that time, a total of 11,454 people have taken it upon themselves to rate Gojira on IMDb, 147 have posted reviews there, 128 critics have reviewed it, and the discussion boards there have spawned 47 topics.

by contrast, The Dark Knight (something popular), has been rated by 1,073,568 people, been reviewed by 3,819, and 614 critics have reviewed it. The discussion boards on IMDb have 740 topics on The Dark Knight. (Pacific Rim, something somewhat unpopular, has massively inflated numbers in comparison to Gojira as well, though they pale in comparison to The Dark Knight).

in further contrast, fellow "film icon" Frakenstein (1931), has been rated by 37,313 people with 383 reviews, 158 critic reviews, and 80 discussion topics.

Nobody has seen Gojira, Nobody cares about it, and Nobody will get the happies if the new film spends any length of time overtly referencing it.

And with that, I've said all I can about why making a sequel to a 60-year-old niche foreign language film is a terrible idea.

[Jorzilla]

[Jorzilla]

[Gojiraknight]

[Gojiraknight]

[angilas]

[Gman2887]

[Gojiraknight]

[DannyBeane]

Jorzilla pretty much covered everything I would have said. I mean the likelihood of Fukushima mutating a dinosaur on Japan is unlikely which is why I like atomic testing in uninhabited islands. If a prehistoric dinosaur is going to be anywhere near Japan then its going to be in an uninhabited island no where near any nuclear radiation. If Godzilla is going to be a product of bioengineering then where do they get the dino dna? Why have radiation included at all? Why not just completely change the character into GINO again? 50s nuclear testing is as important to godzilla's back story as Bruce Wayne losing his parents or Superman being raised by hicks after his planet explodes. If Godzilla is a product of 50s radiation then might as well say he attacked Japan and was named after some island's god. The entirety of the film Gojira doesn't have to be canon just the base idea. It can all be summed up in the opening credit sequence even so we don't have to waste valuable film time explaining stuff everyone already knows.

[Gargantuan Gargantua]

their facebook page (not Godzilla-movies) just said "Godzilla is coming"

or the UK facebook page... now im confused. how much f*cking facebook pages does this movie need?

https://www.facebook.com/GodzillaMovieUK

[Cookie]

Now, I think we've heard something that there's going to be a reference to a period piece... whether or not that's 1954 or not..... who cares? They will not DIRECTLY reference the 1954 FILM, but it's possible in this Legendary Godzilla UNIVERSE, that they will reference to Godzilla being alive at some time prior ot 2014...but again, I highly doubt they will actually be a direct reference to the 1954 FILM or any other prior film.

[Jorzilla]

I think most of the replies to the 'pro-54 sequel' crowd are advocating for a soft sequel, same-universe, or period piece plot elements. Not a straight-up sequel.

[jrichreturns]

^Exactly what Jor said in the last post.


(BAN on nuclear weapons testing for what 20 years? )

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... 2919,d.cGU


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/2 ... 92813.html

http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB200/

And there have been the North Korean ones and some alleged secret Russian ones.

[Jorzilla]

[Benjamin Haines]

I think the notion that every Godzilla movie must exist in the same continuity as the 1954 film is one of the main things that has held the series back for so many years, along with the insistence on realizing Godzilla through suitmation. Don't get me wrong, I love me some rubber monster suits, but when it comes to making the character relevant to modern audiences the filmmakers need to be willing to let go of the shackles of the past. We're getting an all-CGI Godzilla for the first time with this new movie. Now it's time to accept that we're getting a complete continuity reboot for the first time too. The franchise is finally moving forward.

Making this new Godzilla a sequel to the '54 film would be as inane as making the upcoming Mummy a sequel to the 1932 movie. It would be the exact same pitfall that hindered Superman Returns, selectively acknowledging certain older film incarnations of the character as canon for the new story, leaving filmgoers who came in expecting something fresh feeling alienated and unattached to the proceedings.

This new movie needs to be a complete reboot of the character for the sake of connecting with modern audiences. Godzilla may be a well-known and instantly recognizable character in popular culture but that doesn't mean casual moviegoers are familiar with the monster's background. Most people know that Superman was sent to Earth as a baby from his doomed home planet, or that Batman witnessed the murder of his parents as a child, or that Spider-Man was a nerdy recluse who got bitten by a radioactive spider. Most people either don't know Godzilla's origin or have the memory of a bunch of iguanas in Polynesia being exposed to nuclear testing by the freaking French.

Sure, most everyday folk have a passing familiarity with the core premise of the character (giant reptilian monster wrecks cities) because he's been so ingrained in popular culture for so long, but that doesn't automatically make Godzilla relevant to the point where you can throw modern audiences into a world where the monster already exists and just assume they're going to roll with it. Spider-Man and Batman have that kind of relevance. Godzilla does not.

For this new movie to be successful it needs to appeal to mainstream moviegoers, the vast majority of whom have never seen an actual Godzilla movie for themselves. The human characters are key to getting people invested in the world of the movie. Audiences will see the events unfold from the characters' point of view and that's what will make them care about everything that transpires, including the presence of Godzilla himself. Godzilla's existence in this world needs to be as fresh of a concept for the characters to digest as it is for most people in the audience, otherwise they're not going to care. That is why this new movie needs to be a solid "Issue #1" for people, not a tangential "Issue #2" that abstractly connects to a 60-year-old Japanese film they've never seen.

We've got 27 sequels across 50 years that all tie back to Godzilla (1954), and those movies aren't going anywhere. Now it's time to move on.

[mrbluehair]

So on Tohokingdom, there is an insider of sorts Chris55, seems very reasonable and I enjoy discussing the movie with him, and he just got some merchandise from Legendary....nothing revealing but shirts, windbreaker, hat, poster....like a crew member would have.

There was also a letter thanking him for being a superfan and to get ready "For the king of monsters to return"

That struck me and probably not intentionally, but I actually like that subtle change to Godzilla: King Of Monsters, drop the "the," still the same but different and more modern because really the word THE is not needed and it's got more punch.

King Of Monsters

I like it....and so do you so don't argue with me!!!

LOL

[Jorzilla]

[Benjamin Haines]

[Cookie]

[angilas]

[Benjamin Haines]

[lhb412]

.... mmmmm, what are we talking about?

[jellydonut25]

I'm happy to see Ben has taken up the , because instead, I'd like to talk about how best to sneak into The first few seconds of The Hobbit to be able to see the Godzilla trailer.