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Thread: Godzilla

  1. #1
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    Thumbs up Godzilla Honored with Star in Hollywood

    'Bout time, I say.
    Accepting the honor on behalf of the self-proclaimed "King of the Monsters" was the 5-foot-4-inch-tall Japanese actor who plays Godzilla on screen, Tsutomo Kitagawa. The actor donned the fearsome rubber suit he wears in his latest picture, "Godzilla Final Wars," which opens on Dec. 4 in Japan.
    -Thos. Zinn

    "Children, never fuss or fret
    Nor let unreason'd tempers rise
    Your little hands were never meant
    To pluck out one anothers eyes"
    -McGuffey's Reader

    “We are at a crossroads. One path leads to despair and the other to total extinction. I pray I have the wisdom to choose wisely.”


    ستّة أيّام يا كلب

  2. #2
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    yes it is about time.
    Quote Originally Posted by Psycho Mantis View Post
    Genes too busy rocking the gang and scarfing down bags of cheetos while beating it to nacho ninjettes and laughing at the ridiculous posts on the kfforum. In a horse stance of course.

  3. #3
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    Agreed.
    Embrace your enemy, for he is not - he is just confused.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    "It is very hard to unleash the dragon and then put it back in the box without being devoured in the process."
    -Sifu Abel

  4. #4
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    awesome, that dude totally deserves. Stopping around in Tokyo can' be easy, and beating all those super monsters into a pulp for a movie has to wear on you.
    makes me want to go pick this up!

    http://www.toysnjoys.com/usps2/godzillasavetheearth.jpg
    _______________
    I'd tell you to go to hell, but I work there and don't want to see you everyday.

  5. #5
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    Godzilla

    I hadn't even heard about this 'til a few days ago. At first, I was averse to the idea of another American version of Godzilla, but this trailer has got me interested. It looks like they're actually getting back to the concept behind the 1954 original. At the very least, it appears it'll be 100 times better than the abysmal 1998 Matthew Broderick movie.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIu85WQTPRc&sns=em
    Last edited by Jimbo; 03-05-2014 at 12:03 AM.

  6. #6
    Greetings Jimbo,

    It does look like it is going back to the source.

    When you look at what is going on in Fukishima, it would have been better if they had sat on this movie until that matter is fully addressed. Because of the hush on what is really going on, there is the possibility of a backlash in the form of a active boycott or in the form of a generalized lack of interest.

    The following clip is less than 18 minutes. The person who made this has a really good feel for this genre:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxO3k7kBlxk


    mickey

  7. #7
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    You guys know you can embed videos now, right?

    There's a little icon at the right end of the fourth box on the second row that looks like two cells of a film strip (I know, right? What's a film strip? ). Click that and you can insert a YouTube clip into your post. You can go back now and edit your previous posts using that function.

    As for the new Godzilla, I miss a guy in a rubber suit. That is the heart and soul of true tokusatsu. It's all in the miniature models and smashing them in a rubber monster suit. When I was a kid, I dreamed of being the guy in the rubber suit.

    That being said, this does look very promising, and I might just have to go IMAX 3D for it.

    Didn't Godzilla say he was going to quit making action films?
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  8. #8
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    @ mickey:

    Hi! I don't know if the Fukushima disaster will affect the movie or not, and I had not thought of that. OTOH, the original 1954 movie was an allegory for the atomic bomb/nuclear testing. I'm just not sure that Japanese audiences will watch another American kaiju movie. Last year, Pacific Rim bombed in Japan. As far as the U.S. and other countries, I doubt that Fukushima will affect the movie either way. IMO, the movie will most likely succeed or fail on its own.

    @ Gene:

    I've tried to embed, but I haven't been able to yet with my ipad. I'd have to go back to the Apple store for a tutorial...and that alone wouldn't be worth the trip. So for now, y'all will have to click twice on my links!

    BTW, one of the BIG reasons I loved the Godzilla and other kaiju films as a kid were the film scores of Akira Ifukube. They just don't make 'em like these anymore.

    Godzilla (1954, Main Title)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxyWsK1tK3w&sns=em


    Godzilla (1954, Godzilla Under the Sea)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl54mC8xdNI&sns=em


    Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1965, Main Title)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smnWKHVNw-g&sns=em


    Destroy All Monsters (1968, Main Title Theme)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nrb1RkenWk&sns=em


    Destroy All Monsters (1968, Four Monsters Attack Tokyo)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_A9Q2yz2Dk&sns=em


    These are only a few examples.
    Last edited by Jimbo; 03-09-2014 at 06:21 PM.

  9. #9

    WOW!!! This flick is starting to look really good......

    Greetings,

    Take a look (and I did try to embed-- she didn't have the look I wanted to know better) :


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyV7VuG3XCw



    mickey

  10. #10
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    I saw it yesterday, and IMO, the trailer (which is awesome, BTW) makes the movie appear much better than it actually is. It's still better than the Matthew Broderick version by far, though.



    **WARNING!! spoiler alert!**





    Here are some opinions/observations:

    Cons:

    1. Bryan Cranston looks like the star in the trailer, but in reality, his part ends early in the movie.

    2. The monsters have very little screen time compared to the human storylines. Which might be okay if the main characters and their stories were interesting. Except for Bryan Cranston, none of the people are particularly interesting. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who plays Cranston's character's son) just doesn't fit the role of the lead in a Godzilla film, and Elizabeth Olsen, who plays his young wife, is annoying. She never seems invested in what's happening and is thus unconvincing in her role. In fact, very few of the humans seem to occupy the same reality as the monsters, again, except for Bryan Cranston. At one point, Godzilla unleashes a tremendous, prolonged, ear-splitting roar right in the direction of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who seems strangely unaffected by it; in reality, he probably would have been knocked flat and lost a good deal of his hearing. Ken Watanabe does what he can with the role he's given, but he does little more than to state the painfully obvious.

    3. The soundtrack music is mind-numbingly generic and can't even approach the uniqueness and quality of Akira Ifukube's memorable film scores. No one is expected to recreate that, but at least create something that adds to the movie. The only effective/memorable music in the movie is the slightly eerie part when the paratroopers do their jump (which is also heard in the trailer).

    4. The movie can't seem to decide what kind of movie it wants to be.


    Pros:

    1. Bryan Cranston. He brings an intensity and urgency to his character and the situation that is missing when he's gone.

    2. Whatever monster action there is is well-done, IMO.

    3. Some of the CGI, especially of a Hawaiian tsunami, are nicely-done.
    Last edited by Jimbo; 05-18-2014 at 08:34 PM.

  11. #11
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    Reviews I've heard have been 'meh'

    Quote Originally Posted by Jimbo View Post
    It's still better than the Matthew Broderick version by far, though.
    That tells me nothing.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    That tells me nothing.
    I didn't want anyone blaming me for ruining it for them if I said more than that at the top.

    Most of the reviews I've read online have been way more positive than mine. In fact, many I've read (not from paid movie reviewers but from regular viewers) seem to think it's great. And I didn't read any reviews about it until I already saw it. Mind you, I don't think it's a horible movie at all; it's just not as good as I was expecting from the trailer.

  13. #13
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    fair enough

    There was a comic book convention happening at the same time as our tournament last weekend, so the reviews I got were from comic snobs and you know how picky they can be with iconic stuff like this.

    Do you think it has to be seen on the big screen? On IMAX 3D? Because that was a major sell point for me. I love good 3D.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  14. #14
    Greetings,

    Thank you for the fair review, Jimbo. I ask one question: Did you get the feeling that the movie was built around the CGI; i.e, that all the CGI was done before they figured out how they were going to proceed with it?

    mickey

  15. #15
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    Gene:

    I can't tell you about 3D because I saw it in 2D. I don't feel comfortable watching 3D. I do feel it's one of those movies that's a lot more effective on the big screen than it will be on the small screen.


    Hi, mickey.

    I didn't really get that impression. But the movie's pacing is sometimes slow. There are ways to not over-expose the monster(s) that still keep a movie flowing smoothly. I suspect the director was trying to do that, but it resulted in an over-emphasis on lots of dull people scenes and some frustrating cuts AWAY from the action just as it starts to get going.
    Last edited by Jimbo; 05-19-2014 at 03:33 PM.

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