Shin Godzilla (2016)

[Jimmy Smith]

A source is reporting July 23, 2016 as the movies Japanese release date

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by Lt. Brannigan

I think most people already know what to expect from a Japanese Godzilla movie.

To be fair I don't think he's referring to the technical aspects of how Japanese monster movies are made but rather just pointing out that Toho can be a pretty terrible company. You know, their history of imposing extremely tight deadlines, interfering a lot in the creative process (like how Kaneko wasn't allowed to use the monsters he wanted for GMK) and so on. These are things that prevent the films from being their best no matter how skilled the filmmaker and how big the budget, so I think it's a fair point to make.

[Infernal King]

Never forget:

[MechaGodzilla]

I actually like the GMK versions of Mothra and Ghidorah (fans are a bit divided on that), but I still can't help but think how much cooler Kaneko's original trio of guardian beasts would have been. Anguirus hadn't appeared in a Godzilla movie since 1974, so he deserved another turn in the limelight more than Ghidorah who had arguably been overused by that point. And seeing Varan in a major part for the first time since his debut in 1958 would have been even more exciting. He would've also made a lot more sense as a water guardian than Mothra. Baragon, Varan and Anguirus also go together so well, three reptilian quadrupeds. It just... makes sense.

[Lt. Brannigan]

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

To be fair I don't think he's referring to the technical aspects of how Japanese monster movies are made but rather just pointing out that Toho can be a pretty terrible company. You know, their history of imposing extremely tight deadlines, interfering a lot in the creative process (like how Kaneko wasn't allowed to use the monsters he wanted for GMK) and so on. These are things that prevent the films from being their best no matter how skilled the filmmaker and how big the budget, so I think it's a fair point to make.

I see, I completely missed the point, sorry about that. But either way as long as I don't get another Final Wars mess, I will be content with whatever they throw at me.

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by Lt. Brannigan

I see, I completely missed the point, sorry about that. But either way as long as I don't get another Final Wars mess, I will be content with whatever they throw at me.

I'm able to get some enjoyment out of almost every Godzilla movie (Godzilla Raids Again and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah are where I really struggle, but even those I don't hate, I can't bring myself to outright hate any Godzilla movie ), so it's unlikely I will actually dislike whatever they throw at us. The better the movie the happier I will be though, of course.

I like Final Wars, but can see why many fans are turned off by it. Especially as it was the 50th anniversary film, many wanted that year to be celebrated by something really special and more dignified. What they got was... well, special at least.

[Lt. Brannigan]

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

I'm able to get some enjoyment out of almost every Godzilla movie (Godzilla Raids Again and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah are where I really struggle, but even those I don't hate, I can't bring myself to outright hate any Godzilla movie ), so it's unlikely I will actually dislike whatever they throw at us. The better the movie the happier I will be though, of course.

I like Final Wars, but can see why many fans are turned off by it. Especially as it was the 50th anniversary film, many wanted that year to be celebrated by something really special and more dignified. What they got was... well, special at least.

My biggest problem with Final Wars is it's edited and shot like an extended length music video, I usually have a headache after watching it. Though I do like Don Frye in it.

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by Lt. Brannigan

My biggest problem with Final Wars is it's edited and shot like an extended length music video, I usually have a headache after watching it. Though I do like Don Frye in it.

I think that's just Kitamura's style. It doesn't bother me personally, but I can see how it could be annoying and I definitely wouldn't want every Godzilla movie to be shot, edited, color timed and scored like Final Wars. It's very '00s.

[Lt. Brannigan]

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

I think that's just Kitamura's style. It doesn't bother me personally, but I can see how it could be annoying and I definitely wouldn't want every Godzilla movie to be shot, edited, color timed and scored like Final Wars. It's very '00s.

I actually loved the score. As for Kitamura's style, I don't like it and don't have plans to seek out his other works.

[Jimmy Smith]

Originally Posted by Lt. Brannigan

My biggest problem with Final Wars is it's edited and shot like an extended length music video, I usually have a headache after watching it. Though I do like Don Frye in it.

Final Wars with its budget over 50% higher than any other Toho Godzilla movie (even after adjusting to inflation) and so many Toho monsters could have been one of the best Godzilla movies. Instead the movie is probably the worst since Godzilla vs Meglon. Where it should have spent its extra money on lengthier more fun monster fights it instead spends money and time various on rip offs of American movies like The Matrix and Return of the Jedi. Also while I don't expect a Godzilla movie to be realistic I at least expect it to be somewhat coherent. I honestly had trouble following its ridiculous nonsensical story

Final Wars was also a flop being the lowest attended Godzilla movie since the 70s and grossing only 12 million on a 19 million dollar budget

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by Lt. Brannigan

I actually loved the score. As for Kitamura's style, I don't like it and don't have plans to seek out his other works.

I like the score too, but I mean, I wouldn't want every film in the series to have music like that. It works for perfectly for Final Wars, but your average Godzilla movie? Not really.

As for Kitamura, I would honestly recommend his movie Versus, at least look into it and see if it seems like something that'd appeal to you. It's an extremely entertaining mix of a lot of different genres, including action, horror, fantasy and comedy. It's not fully as much "music video" as Final Wars, either.

Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith

Final Wars with its budget over 50% higher than any other Toho Godzilla movie (even after adjusting to inflation) and so many Toho monsters could have been one of the best Godzilla movies. Instead the movie is probably the worst since Godzilla vs Meglon. Where it should have spent its extra money on lengthier more fun monster fights it instead spends money and time various on rip offs of American movies like The Matrix and Return of the Jedi. Also while I don't expect a Godzilla movie to be realistic I at least expect it to be somewhat coherent. I honestly had trouble following its ridiculous nonsensical story

Final Wars was also a flop being the lowest attended Godzilla movie since the 70s and grossing only 12 million on a 19 million dollar budget

I've always found it kind of hilarious that Toho doubled the budget for one of their Godzilla movies... and it was Final Wars. That money would've been much better spent on GMK for example.

[Lt. Brannigan]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Smith

while I don't expect a Godzilla movie to be realistic I at least expect it to be somewhat coherent. I honestly had trouble following its ridiculous nonsensical story

Final Wars was also a flop being the lowest attended Godzilla movie since the 70s and grossing only 12 million on a 19 million dollar budget

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

I like the score too, but I mean, I wouldn't want every film in the series to have music like that. It works for perfectly for Final Wars, but your average Godzilla movie? Not really.

Definitely not, it was a nice experiment.

As for Kitamura, I would honestly recommend his movie Versus, at least look into it and see if it seems like something that'd appeal to you. It's an extremely entertaining mix of a lot of different genres, including action, horror, fantasy and comedy. It's not fully as much "music video" as Final Wars, either.

I will give it a shot based on your recommendation. Is it easily available subbed or will I have to go digging?

I've always found it kind of hilarious that Toho doubled the budget for one of their Godzilla movies... and it was Final Wars. That money would've been much better spent on GMK for example.

GMK would have been glorious with a bigger budget, it's already the best movie of the Millennium series.

I think the real underling problem was that Kitamura was trying too hard to recapture the Godzilla movies of his youth, here's a quote to back it up.

"I loved the Godzilla movies back in the ’70s, but not so much the ones released in the 1980s and ’90s. Godzilla movies back in the ’70s were never just monster movie, there were always messages and themes that reflected the time and world within which they were made, and they combined this so well with straight-out entertainment. They lost that touch in the ’80s"

Personally I loved the Heisei series and would have loved for Final Wars to be closer to them or GMK stylistically.

[Infernal King]

Heisei is my least favorite Godzilla era so I'm glad Kitamura ignored the 80's and 90's.

[Lt. Brannigan]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

Heisei is my least favorite Godzilla era so I'm glad Kitamura ignored the 80's and 90's.

[Infernal King]

Originally Posted by Lt. Brannigan

[Lt. Brannigan]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

[Show spoiler]

[Infernal King]

Originally Posted by Lt. Brannigan

[/SPOILER]

[Lt. Brannigan]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

[Show spoiler]

[Captain Flint]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

Heisei is my least favorite Godzilla era so I'm glad Kitamura ignored the 80's and 90's.

[MechaGodzilla]

Originally Posted by Lt. Brannigan

Definitely not, it was a nice experiment.

I will give it a shot based on your recommendation. Is it easily available subbed or will I have to go digging?

I'm not sure how easily available it is but I can't imagine it should be that difficult to find. It was released at least two times on DVD and later on Blu-ray as well.

Keep in mind there are three different cuts; the original cut which is sometimes also referred to as the "director's cut" (this is the one available on Blu-ray), the R-rated cut (basically just a censored, five minutes shorter version of the original cut), and the Ultimate version which contains ten minutes of additional newly filmed footage, music changes, some added effects, etc.

GMK would have been glorious with a bigger budget, it's already the best movie of the Millennium series.

I agree.

I think the real underling problem was that Kitamura was trying too hard to recapture the Godzilla movies of his youth, here's a quote to back it up.



Personally I loved the Heisei series and would have loved for Final Wars to be closer to them or GMK stylistically.

Yeah, I remember reading interviews back then where he talked about how he didn't think the series had been very good post-Showa and how the '70s movies were the ones he liked the most, with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla being his favorite. His love for the '70s movies is pretty evident in Final Wars, it has that cartoon zaniness to it, and he gave Gigan a more prominent role than most of the other kaiju. I don't mind this as I love the late era Showa films.

He's not the only director to feel that way though, Kaneko similarly only likes the Showa series, Honda's films especially (he has a lot of admiration for Honda and you can see that in his work). GMK probably wasn't trying to be a Heisei style movie so much as being a throwback to Honda's more serious efforts.