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My Year with Godzilla

Neglify

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Film 21 - All Monsters Attack

Godzilla vs. the school bullies

1.5/5
 

Garp

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Week 22: 'Godzilla vs. Hedorah' AKA 'Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster' [1971]
Is Godzilla in it? Yes.
Sub or Dub? Sub

The One Where Godzilla Flies. Surprisingly, this isn't the strangest part of the film.

Earth is being attacked - by pollution. The situation is so dire that tadpoles, possibly of alien origin, have mutated and are conjoining to form a giant... thing. Luckily, Godzilla, that well-known advocate for Nature, is on hand to beat the... thing. Trippy mayhem ensues.

This is a weird one. Part counter-culture movie, part horror, part student art film... Like Hedorah itself, I don't know what this thing is. The opening credits evoke a psychedelic Bond movie, but the weird imagery doesn't end there. At one point, a character appears to be hallucinating in a very late-60s, early-70s nightclub (complete with oil wheel projection) where the dancers all have fish heads. There are split-screen scenes and even short animation sequences. I bet Tarantino loves this film. 

There's a young boy protagonist, who plays with Godzilla toys and dreams of Godzilla, but otherwise this film goes off - way, way off - on it's own path from previous Godzilla movies. Hedorah is an interesting kaiju in that it's amorphous and leaves a trail of sludge in its wake. This element, and the fact that it spews acidic gas, results in the more horrific scenes, with Owen & Beru-like skeletons scattered around and creeping ooze a la The Blob. (The cat lives, though, I think.)

Another character tries (rather unsuccessfully) to organize a rally-cum-music festival against pollution and/or Hedorah, and the movie takes a 'trip' to Easy Rider land, with black and white imagery and silent, staring bemused old folk looking on. By the time Godzilla put his tail between his legs, let out his radioactive breath and started to fly, I had already checked out.

Kudos, I suppose, to director Yoshimitsu Banno (his only Godzilla film, go figure) for trying something different with a message. But this is a mess. It's bizarrely compelling in places, given how out there it is, yet still drags. The battles seem to go on too long, with lots of kaiju posturing and some disapproving glares from Godzilla towards us anti-Earth heathens.

At some point, after watching all of the Godzilla films, I might revisit this one and deem it a masterpiece that I just didn't 'get' the first time around. Then again, maybe not.
 

Jrzag42

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It's called Godzilla vs the Smog Monster, and I will accept no other title.

Edit: I didn't realize that you included that title. Nevermind then.
 

bionicbob

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http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRzvnWcZyWk[/video]
:D
 

bionicbob

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Saw GODZILLA KING OF MONSTERS (2019) the other day and posted my review in the Godzilla 2014 thread, but in a nutshell, formulaic but very fun, my favourite of the three Legendary Monsterverse movies so far....

It of course inspired me to pull some pull some classic G off the dvd shelf afterwards and revisit some past adventures.  And whenever I do go back, I more often than not seem to favour the Heisei period, mostly for the same reasons as discussed in this fun video:

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzwCvSnfeCE[/video]

Though for transparency sake, I think 1991's King Ghidorah is bonkers bad and Godzilla 2000 is probably my favourite classic G after the original.
 

TM2YC

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Random Godzilla thought: Am I the only who mishears "King Ghidorah", as "Kinky Dora"... presumably some sort of 1950s 3-headed east-end prostitute.
 

baileym43

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i saw this video recently posted on Midnight's Edge's tube channel and was super excited to post it here in @"Garp" 's thread.


now back to his reviews!
 

Neglify

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Film 22 - Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster

We have officially gone into What The Frak territory now. This shit was weird.

1.5/5
 

Garp

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BONUS: 'Gamera vs. Zigra' [1971]
Is Godzilla in it? No. Godzilla connection: Daiei's answer to Godzilla
Sub or Dub? Sub

Beating 'Godzilla vs. Hedorah's ecological theme to the cinema by one week, here we have Gamera's take on the evils of sea pollution. (Hint: it's a bad thing.)

An alien spaceship from the planet Zigra lands in the ocean and quickly takes 2 scientists and their children hostage. The scientists are placed in a kind of space-coma while the kids escape. Zigra, who is also a shark-like kaiju as well as the name of a planet, instructs his female human-like minion to track down the kids and kill them. Meanwhile Gamera, in the smallest role of any of his films so far, battles Zigra (now giant sized, due to Earth's reduced water pressure) and again spends a lot of the time upside-down unconscious underwater. Much yawning on my part ensues.

This film felt like it was written in an afternoon, after a big lunch, by interns who were given the basic Gamera formula and told to keep it cheap. So, we have an alien race (but not many of them on-screen), kids who figure out what's going on before the grown-ups, a yellow bathysphere (instead of the sub) and a tie-in to a Japanese attraction, this time SeaWorld. After the surprisingly fun 'Gamera vs. Jiger', this movie is a letdown. The effects are brief and mostly poor, the battles anti-climatic and too much emphasis is placed on the human characters, who don't do anything particularly interesting.

The Zigra kaiju is only interesting inasmuch as it is mostly aquatic but can also fly and, like movie mermaids, walk on land when required. Oh, and it talks, so there's that too. There is a twist regarding Zigra's female minion, which I admit I didn't see coming, but it's not enough to warrant watching the film for. During the final battle, Gamera plays his own theme tune on Zigra's dorsal fins like a xylophone. I just... I don't know what to say.

This film is only 87 minutes long but, boy, does it drag. It is dull. The sea pollution aspect is inserted awkwardly at times, but otherwise isn't so preachy as 'Hedorah'. As much as I hate stock footage from other Gamera films, I almost wished this film had some. It might have kept me awake.
 

Garp

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Week 23: 'Godzilla vs. Gigan" [1972]
Is Godzilla in it? Yes
Sub or Dub? Sub

After the tonally bizarre 'Godzilla vs. Hedorah', Toho plays it safe with a largely forgettable offering, 'Godzilla vs. Gigan'. Aliens, once again, have secretly invaded Earth, intent on wiping out the human race using space monsters so that they can take over. Our heroes stumble upon the plot, summoning Godzilla and Anguirus (largely by accident) to battle fan favourite King Ghidorah and newbie Gigan. Much stock footage mayhem ensues.

Toho so nearly got it right with this one. There are monsters a-plenty and epic battles, yet they shoot themselves in the foot by rehashing older and better films. Yes, there is a new kaiju, and he's fine - he sports a Cyclops visor, has sharpened claws for hands and a rotating saw in his chest - and so there is new footage of destruction and fighting when he is on screen. But so much footage of King Ghidorah and the others is recycled. This could be forgiven except that it is edited in so poorly. Night shots and day shots are intermingled willy-nilly. Quality of the film stock goes from good to poor and back again. It is off-putting and frustrating. It's a real shame as the battles are easily the highlights of the film, and anyone who has never seen a Godzilla film before would probably be highly entertained (if they can overlook the slipshod editing).

Pollution is again a talking point in this film (the reason the aliens had to evacuate their home planet, with a concern that we are on the same path) as well as mankind's over-confidence in technology. Along with the stock footage, the film seems cheaply made, with few characters and limited number of sets and/or locations. Most of the film is set around Children's Land, a theme park with a cool Godzilla Tower, which I'm disappointed to learn isn't real, like the Expo or SeaWorld in the Gamera films. Because I would totally go there if it was.
 

Jrzag42

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Alright, someone should make a fanedit of this one, either replace some of the recycled scenes with other scenes from other movies to give consistency with the day and night, or just go through heavy recoloring to match the lighting, but that would be harder.
We need more Godzilla fanedits. MusicEd made an awesome one combining the first two Ghidorah movies, though it still needs some work. More simplistic edits like this, fixing up flaws in the movies would be awesome too. Especially this one, because Gigan is so cool, and his introduction movie should be cool too.
 

Garp

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I couldn't help thinking about that as I watched it, although I wondered who would bother as it's a bit obscure. But, yeah, some recolouring and upscaling would help this one out no end.
 

Neglify

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Film 23 - Godzilla vs. Gigan

Those alien cockroaches probably had a fat stash of space drugs to feed their killer kaiju.

2/5
 

Garp

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Week 24: 'Godzilla vs. Megalon' [1973]
Is Godzilla in it? Yes.
Sub or Dub? Sub

Let's get ready to grumble.

More nuclear testing causes problems, this time to the undersea inhabitants of Seatopia. They've had it up to their gills with those humans and their nuclear experiments, and decide to send Megalon, a beetle-looking kaiju, to sort them out. In case that's not enough, they also plan to kidnap Jet Jaguar, a human-sized and -shaped robot, for good measure. But Jet Jaguar is freed from their control and is sent instead to summon the aid of Godzilla from Monster Island. The Seatopians raise the stakes by enlisting Gigan to their side. When Jet Jaguar morphs into kaiju-size, the bout begins.

'Godzilla vs. Megalon' is obviously a cash-in on the then popular Giant Robot vs. Kaiju TV shows, such as 'Ultraman' and 'Zone Fighter'. Thus the film seems more like a feature-length pilot than a proper theatrical release. The story is ridiculous even by the usual standards of this time, without bothering to add anything regarding character building nor logic. It's purely a device to get to the third act, an elongated kaiju wrestling match.

There's the usual stock footage interspersed with the new characters, which isn't as jarring as in 'Godzilla vs. Gigan' (the day/night switches are minimal), but it adds again to the cheap feel. It's disappointing as some of the new effects are very well done, such as the destruction of the dam (a kaiju favourite target, along with bridges and power stations - which also feature here) and the disappearing lake.

Jet Jaguar, with his Joker grin, comes across as a pretty weak and ineffective robot. As he looks helplessly around as fire surrounds him, I could almost hear him say "We're doomed" in C-3PO's voice.

Fans of giant robots or protracted fight scenes or pro-wrestling might find more to enjoy here. For me, so far I don't feel the 70s have been too kind to Godzilla.
 

Neglify

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Film 24 - Godzilla vs. Megalon

Mega lame but thankfully not mega long.

2/5
 

Garp

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BONUS: 'Ultraman' [TV] [1966-7]
Is Godzilla in it? Not really, unless you count Jirass. Godzilla Connection: Tsuburaya Productions show
Sub or Dub? Dub

I watched about 8 episodes, I think, of 'Ultraman', a TV show I had never come across previously, to coincide with my viewing of Jet Jaguar in 'Godzilla vs. Megalon'. It's a fairly simple show to get into, aimed towards younger viewers with easy to understand plots, cosy repetitions, some slapstick and, of course, monster battles.

Many shows can claim a 'Monster of the Week' theme ('X files' and 'Smallville' spring to mind), but 'Ultraman' has them beat. Each episode literally has a new monster for Ultraman to fight. Coming up with new kaiju is probably no mean feat, and so it's not surprising that some fare better than others.

The show revolves around the Science Patrol, a team whose job it is to fight monsters until Ultraman turns up, apparently. They are led by the forever-pipe-sucking Capt. Mura (I never once saw that pipe lit), who must have drawn the short straw with the team he ends up with. Ito is the comic relief buffoon, whom I wouldn't trust with a pair of scissors, let alone the high-tech armory he's allowed near. Arashi isn't much better, all gung-ho but not blessed in the brains Dept either. Fuji is the token female but actually comes across as more capable than most of her colleagues. She has a younger brother, Hoshino, who for some reason gets to hang out with this seemingly Top Secret, High Level Security outfit. Then there is Hayata, the mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet... No, wait, that can't be right.

The show takes a number of comic book tropes and mixes them together. Hayata gets his Ultraman powers in a Green Lantern type of way, I believe (I managed to skip the first episode somehow), and keeps his identity secret from his colleagues. By pressing a Beta capsule, he transforms into the giant Ultraman, who is fortunately the same size as all the monsters. Ultraman is mute and has a special arm maneuver that releases a ray of some kind, which monsters don't like. His powers are linked to the sun and he can become weak over the course of some fights, with a blinking button on his chest warning of his distress. After dispensing with the monster that week, Hayata reappears in a "I was over there, sorting something else out at the time" way a la the Man of Steel.

Hayata doesn't transform until the last 5-10 minutes of each show, leaving his friends and colleagues to struggle with potentially deadly monsters for more time than necessary. (What a jerk.) The fact that the Science Patrol never succeed on their own leads me to wonder why people keep calling for their help, unless they know that Ultraman will show up and save their asses once again.

It's not a show that completely bored me, but I'm in no hurry to watch any more either. If I had grown up with this, though, I'm sure I would have felt a little kinder towards it.
 

Garp

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BONUS: 'Voyage into Space' [1970]
Is Godzilla in it? No. Godzilla connection:  Giant Robot vs Kaiju
Sub or Dub? Dub

'Voyage into Space' takes 4 episodes of the show 'Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot' and crams them into a 98 minute film. The title of the show is more appropriate than that of the film, as the actual 'voyage into space' doesn't happen until the climax, the rest of the movie being exclusively earth-bound.

Johnny Sokko, he of the decidedly non-helicopter-parents, is shipwrecked on an island due to a sea monster attack. His new companion and co-survivor is a member of the secret organization Unicorn, currently battling the evil alien Emperor Guillotine and his earthly minions, the Gargoyles. As far as I could tell, the Gargoyles have forced a scientist to build a giant robot in their quest for world domination, and as luck would have it, his robot-making workshop is on the very island on which our heroes have been washed ashore. The robot has been designed to follow orders only from the first voice it hears via a wristwatch, which of course happens to be Johnny's. Thus Johnny is swiftly enlisted to join Unicorn as its youngest member to deploy the giant robot against whatever Guillotine can summon up.

This probably all worked better as separate episodes, as (naturally) it felt very episodic as a film, with obvious changes in pace and plots every 20 minutes or so. Emperor Guillotine looks like he has a black octopus for a head, and the Gargoyle gang resemble South American revolutionaries, albeit with Nazi salutes. The Giant Robot has an Egyptian Pharaoh's headdress design and the most descriptive yet least imaginative name in kaiju history. In the English dub, he is referred to as Giant Robot throughout. Why no one came up with a cool name like Ultraman for him, I don't know. He's a giant robot. We'll call him Giant Robot. Let's have lunch.

The kaiju in this film are bizarre. There are the usual sea monsters and dinosaur types with flapping wings. Then there's the spiky ball, like an old WW2 mine and, my personal favourite, the Giant Flying Eye. None of the them are particularly 'good' but top marks for creativity.

This is another film that is hampered by the fact that I never saw it as a 9 year old boy, thus no nostalgia points from me, and that I am not a 9 year old boy now. If either of those were true, however, I could see me having more fun with this one.
 

Garp

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Week 25: 'Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla' [1974]
Is Godzilla in it? Yes
Sub or Dub? Dub

The circumstances in which one watches a film can clearly colour one's perception of it. For example, I saw 'Moulin Rouge' at the cinema on the night of 9/11 and can remember next to nothing about it. I stayed up to watch 'Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla' last night when I should really have been asleep, as I nodded off several times and had no idea what the hell was going on. However, for all I know, 'Moulin Rouge' may be a forgettable film (I've never seen it since) and 'Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla' is a complete mess and makes no sense regardless of how tired you are.

As far as I can gather, ancient prophesies foretell the coming of several monsters when seemingly impossible events come to pass - a mountain appearing above the clouds and the sun rising in the west. When the first prophesy comes true, a Godzilla-like monster appears and begins fighting his 'friend' Anguirus. This, of course, is the imposter Mechagodzilla, a cyborg designed by an alien race to conquer the world. When the second prophesy comes to pass, the kaiju King Caesar is roused from his slumber to help tag-team Godzilla and defeat the interloper.

There are so many things going on in this film, I don't know where to start. There's a gritty 1970s feel to it at the beginning, with fist fights and spurts of blood; there's the trippy split-screen from 'Godzilla vs. Hedorah'; there's the sci-fi alien race; the rip-off of 'Planet of the Apes'; a musical number. 'Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla' may be the first Bollywood Godzilla movie.

I didn't notice any stock footage, and some of the effects are well done, although King Caesar looks a mess, like he was made from rags you'd use to wash your car. I was snoozing, perhaps, when it was explained why the aliens are really apes in disguise, or how Godzilla can become magnetic. Still, I shouldn't judge this film too harshly. Maybe with extra caffeine this would have been a blast. Certainly Mechagodzilla has an interesting design and I'm looking forward to coming across him again in the future, albeit hopefully in a less confusing film.
 

Garp

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BONUS: 'Daigoro vs. Goliath' [1972]
Is Godzilla in it? No. Godzilla connection: A Toho-Tsuburaya Production
Sub or Dub? Dub

Daigoro is a young orphaned kaiju, beloved by children. Unfortunately, the authorities are having difficulties keeping up with his immense appetite, coming up with plans such as introducing a Daigoro tax or to add growth-inhibiting drugs into his food. However, when a meteorite crashes into the ocean, birthing the violent monster Goliath, Daigoro is primed to be Japan's savior against the new threat.

This is a movie designed for kids who find Gamera too scary. Daigoro is a large and lumbering hippo-like kaiju with a concertina body, resembling the puppet George from the UK kid's TV show 'Rainbow'. His protectors are idiot adults who the very young would no doubt find hilarious. They gurn, pratfall and generally ham it up for laughs. Surprisingly, there are no major kid heroes on display, though. There's a short anti-pollution-and-nuclear-testing message thrown in too, for good measure.

The suits aren't great, but are cute enough for kids not to notice, and some of the matte effects work really well. Unfortunately, that's all I can recommend here. I'm way beyond the demographic for this film, but you may want to check it out if you wish to introduce your little ones to the kaiju genre, you're a completist or you just want to see a film where a giant monster uses his own outside toilet.
 
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