• Most new users don't bother reading our rules. Here's the one that is ignored almost immediately upon signup: DO NOT ASK FOR FANEDIT LINKS PUBLICLY. First, read the FAQ. Seriously. What you want is there. You can also send a message to the editor. If that doesn't work THEN post in the Trade & Request forum. Anywhere else and it will be deleted and an infraction will be issued.
  • If this is your first time here please read our FAQ and Rules pages. They have some useful information that will get us all off on the right foot, especially our Own the Source rule. If you do not understand any of these rules send a private message to one of our staff for further details.
  • Please read our Rules & Guidelines

    Read BEFORE posting Trades & Request

Godzilla 2014

Just returned from seeing the Big G!

A very serious and reverent version of the King of Monsters. A completely different vibe than Pacific Rim, which I absolutely loved.
I like this back to basics approach, the story is fairly solid, though I thought it lags a bit in the middle. I saw it in 3D but I don't think it added much and would recommend just watching it in just good old 2D. The music score, like the movie itself, is a bit too serious, lacking any epic triumphant cues that I think Godzilla deserves. I can not decided if I fully enjoyed the monster redesign? The body is spot on, but something about the head shape and eyes....? I can not put my finger on it but it bugged me for some reason. The cinematic colour palette was a bit dull, again too realistic, too much dust, dirt and grey.... I really could not decide if the director was trying to pay homage to Godzilla's original darker skin tones or if the big lizard was just dirty from all the debris....lol.

Seriously, these are mostly minor nitpicks, it is a good movie and a refreshing change from the usual mindless formula summer blockbuster fare. I would probably give it an 8 out of 10.
 
Another possible trim

Just have the Japanese kid run off and not get reunited with his parents. He simply goes missing.
 
I watched this last night. I thought it was quite good. Not awesome, but very enjoyable. As for the seriousness in terms of the score, the color palette, etc - I loved that. The score didn't blow me away, but it was very fitting. This was finally a modern monster/action movie for me. None of that stereotypical caricature crap like we saw in Pacific Rim. To me, this was what it would be like if Godzilla happened in real life.

I was worried when I saw the trailer and they highlighted a lot of the military action. I thought for sure that they were just going to use the "Go Joe mentality and have the military try to take on Godzilla with force. I was pleasantly surprised when that was not the case at all.

They got soooo much right, but something still felt a little off in the end. I think it was the pacing. Perhaps a fanedit would turn this very good film into an awesome film, but I'm not even sure what I would do. I should go watch it again ;)
 
ThrowgnCpr said:
I watched this last night. I thought it was quite good. Not awesome, but very enjoyable. As for the seriousness in terms of the score, the color palette, etc - I loved that. The score didn't blow me away, but it was very fitting. This was finally a modern monster/action movie for me. None of that stereotypical caricature crap like we saw in Pacific Rim. To me, this was what it would be like if Godzilla happened in real life.

I was worried when I saw the trailer and they highlighted a lot of the military action. I thought for sure that they were just going to use the "Go Joe mentality and have the military try to take on Godzilla with force. I was pleasantly surprised when that was not the case at all.

They got soooo much right, but something still felt a little off in the end. I think it was the pacing. Perhaps a fanedit would turn this very good film into an awesome film, but I'm not even sure what I would do. I should go watch it again ;)
Click to expand...

Agree with most of that ^. Just seen it an hour ago and I generally loved it.

95% of it was perfection, with an odd 5% that felt off somehow. I think it was the main character, I cared about him the least of all the otherwise excellent cast... especially Ken Watanabe! The whole film should have been about his character and his much more interesting backstory, which was only hinted at.

What impressed me most was the energetic Direction, also the well judged camera work, stunningly realised sound design, distinctive score and creative editing. Great pains had been taken to make it feel like it was being shot "live" with sudden cuts in-and-out of news footage and if a character got knocked out, the screen just went black and we missed what was going on. There were very few "god's eye" camera shots, it's all street level, POV stuff with some of the action only half glimpsed from a window. It was all wonderfully refreshing that so much artistry had gone into a big popcorn flick and I'd rank it as one of the most technically well directed blockbusters of all time.

But as I say, the mildly bland main character did let it down. Perhaps if the DVD has extra scenes of Ken Watanabe, they could be swapped in and the film would be perfect IMO.
 
Absolutely loved it! This is seriously the Godzilla movie I've been waiting most of my 42 years on this planet to see. Gareth Edwards, I salute you sir. Was so refreshing to see a film which actually "paces" itself properly.... have to wait an age to see the Big G in action, but man, the build up is just fantastic. It genuinely harks back to Jaws and Jurassic Park in that respect. Indeed, I haven't felt this much awe at a Hollywood blockbuster since I first saw the T-Rex on screen back in 1993.

Some criticism has been aimed at the script for not going deep enough, but seriously, for the most part this is as good as you could wish for in the modern-day blockbuster arena and I was hooked 100% of the time.

As for the special effects? Well, they make Pacific Rim look like a PS3 computer game in comparison. Edwards' beasts look real, have proper weight to them and when Godzilla let out that infamous roar, I had the biggest grin on my face and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I genuinely haven't felt this much awe at the cinema for many years. 9.5/10 for me and I'm going back to see it in the week.
 
I really must be one of the few that was sorely disappointed. Godzilla was barely in it and his first few fight scenes were cut short.

I guess my opinion differs in that I'm rarely interested in the human stories going on in the Godzilla movies. I just want to see him in the city destroying stuff and fighting other monsters. This rendition of the character certainly felt like a monster movie, but not a Godzilla movie to me.

Glad all of you guys seem to have enjoyed it though!
 
LastSurvivor said:
Absolutely loved it! This is seriously the Godzilla movie I've been waiting most of my 42 years on this planet to see. Gareth Edwards, I salute you sir. Was so refreshing to see a film which actually "paces" itself properly.... have to wait an age to see the Big G in action, but man, the build up is just fantastic. It genuinely harks back to Jaws and Jurassic Park in that respect. Indeed, I haven't felt this much awe at a Hollywood blockbuster since I first saw the T-Rex on screen back in 1993.

Some criticism has been aimed at the script for not going deep enough, but seriously, for the most part this is as good as you could wish for in the modern-day blockbuster arena and I was hooked 100% of the time.

As for the special effects? Well, they make Pacific Rim look like a PS3 computer game in comparison. Edwards' beasts look real, have proper weight to them and when Godzilla let out that infamous roar, I had the biggest grin on my face and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I genuinely haven't felt this much awe at the cinema for many years. 9.5/10 for me and I'm going back to see it in the week.
Click to expand...

I love your enthusiasm LS! You sound just like me after I saw John Carter for the first time. It is an incredible feeling when you see something you so dearly love from childhood brought to life with passion, love and respect.

While I did not love it as much as you, I find the movie has had a more powerful effect on me that I originally thought.... for today I still find myself thinking about the movie, replaying scenes in my head, having lengthly discussions about the story with my family who saw it with me. My wife or daughter have never seen any of the old Godzilla movies, and they were equally affected by the power of the movie and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. :)
 
I heard the CGI is fantastic but the story was kinda lacking. I'll see it eventually but it is not high on my list.
 
Two new videos from Ollie Harper focusing on Godzilla. Ollie and friends discuss their reaction to the new Godzilla. Warning it contains spoilers (And a lot of swearing :-D)...


Short answer: They weren't all that impressed, surprisingly but they do give very good reasons that I have to admit are often true.

and Ollie's retrospective review/trailer/discussion of the 1998 Godzilla...

 
i agree with lastsurvivor.
I loved it the build up to see Godzilla and the final action scene was awesome, the 3d was pretty good.
compared to the summer blockbusters that are coming out i dont mind that the story line was not as good as an award winning movie (this is Godzilla after all)we all watch movies like transformers and resident evil and this story line was better than those movies.

i love the look of godzilla it was modern but still had the old school look he was well done and cgi of this movie looked really realistic unlike other movies.

this was just what i wanted from a Godzilla movie
 

]

Great memories here. I would have loved to have seen some of this last Satuday night instead of a string of documentaries about the sodding Good Life
 
This is basically my review:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/9210-Godzilla-Breaking-Kaiju

Seriously, I have no idea why this movie is getting so many good reviews. What's sad is that I think most of the problems can be fixed by expanding more on Dr. Serizawa and letting us know how he knows what he knows, and consolidate he roles of Cranston and Taylor Johnson into one character played by Cranston. The fact that Taylor Johnson takes up most of the screen time is terrible because he has nothing to work off of (I really hope he's not terrible and that he can bring it home with Avengers 2, but I'm not optimistic). His part in the movie only got interesting when I pretended this film took place in the MCU (since Marvel used to make Godzilla comics), then I could pretend that he and Elizabeth Olsen were actually Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver and this took place before Captain America. Yeah, it would be really disgusting and gross, but it at least be interesting. I'll take Pacific Rim's "stereotypical caricature crap" everyday. Really hoping for a fanedit that edits most of him out of the film somehow.

Oddly,the character I felt the most empathy for were the MUTOs, Ma MUTO in particular. Sure, they're destroying the world, but when they reunite in San Fran and they nuzzle each other it's strangely endearing and sweet. And when the babies were blown up, I felt bad for Ma MUTO's loss.

It really sucks because when Godzilla finally shows up an hour into his own movie, when that pan up from his feet to his face, it's fantastic...almost. I mean, this movie was made because Godzilla is a pop culture icon, so why did they screw up the first time he roared?! You can't do that!
Also, seriously, how does Serizawa know that Godzilla's the good guy? That's an amazing hunch because when Godzilla's swimming towards a Navy ship, he makes sure to swim deeper so his spikes doesn't tear the boat up. Also, the bridge scene...oh boy, the bridge scene. Alright, there are people on the bus, and one Navy/Military/whatever officer futilely yells at the ships not to fire, which they do, and from how things are staged, it looks like they're going to hit the bridge. But, fortunately, Godzilla rises up just in time to act as a shield for the bridge.Yeah, he ends up smashing it, but it's only partly his fault because he's being fired at. And then he's sent off with a warm look from Serizawa and (I think) triumphant music? How/why is he the good guy in this?
Yes, the fight scenes are good and Godzilla's nuclear breath looks and sounds the best it ever has, but after slogging through so much dull I almost didn't care about the fights.

Also, speaking of Pacific Rim, this is a movie where the bad monsters can cause EMPs that knock out the electricity and the military or whoever plans to use an nuclear bomb that's analog based? I'm pretty sure this film has it's own version of "nuclear is analog."

So yeah, didn't enjoy it, don't get why others do. I leave you all with J. Jonah Jameson yelling at Godzilla.

godzilla-23.jpg
 
I saw this. It was pretty good, but not nearly great. Could have been a lot better.

There was some solid set up in the first hour I thought. But it started to lose cohesion, and things weren't expanded upon. Seriously no character arcs. Watanabe's cool but is woefully underused. The main guy, Taylor-Johnson, did a bunch a stuff, but that was it. He just did stuff. I would have preferred if
they kept Cranston alive and they were able to interact together as joint protagonists and develop and shit.
I wish I could say that the human stories fell apart because of monster mashing - but there wasn't really even much of that. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that this wasn't just Pacific Rim (not that I don't like that, but I enjoy the different take), but if we're going to lose character development, at least have some more Godzilla. Really, I didn't mind how little the big guy was in it, but there's a disconnect when he ends up being the hero (the "King of the Monsters - Savior of the City?" made me laugh it was so dumb), but only appears half way through with little explanation and fanfare, and then we barely see him sock and bop.

I don't know, it just seemed like the script couldn't decide what they wanted this movie to be. Disaster movie with Godzilla the disaster? Or superhero movie with Godzilla the superhero? It was made like the former but ended up being the latter, probably because sequels are the thing that drive movies nowadays.

All in all, though, I have to say my problems lie almost solely in the script. Everything else seems good to me. Directing was fantastic. Acting was great, even if there ends up being little of it. I thought the score was awesome, CGI good, ect. The editing was great too. People are saying that there were maybe some pacing issues. I'd blame the narrative cohesiveness (or lack thereof) for that (this was especially bad in the second act, after the first attack in Japan). I know I've spent a lot of my time talking about the bad, but honestly, I thought the movie was mostly good. I enjoyed it quite a lot.
 
Very underwhelmed by this. Did not care about the humans at all, and felt they were really pointless for the most part, even Cranston.
Though at least his character might have been interesting if he had been around longer.
The big fight at the end just didn't do it for me. There wasn't anything all that spectacular about it, and after being teased for so long, it was a pretty big letdown. Of course, by that point, I had lost most interest I had in anything going on in the movie. It wasn't terrible or anything, but I certainly don't care if I never see it again.
 
Very pleased to hear a sequel has been green-lit. As many have stated, surely Edwards will get first refusal, such was the excellent job he did on this. Gonna see it again tomorrow - in 2D this time. Godzilla, King of the Monsters, our saviour indeed :)
 
LastSurvivor said:
Very pleased to hear a sequel has been green-lit. As many have stated, surely Edwards will get first refusal, such was the excellent job he did on this.
Click to expand...

Rhodan and Mothra!!!!
 
This does seem to be a Marmite film and I love Marmite ;-).
 
While I did enjoy the film, I felt that Cranston and Wantanabe's characters would have been more compelling protagonists. When they kept cutting back to Brody's wife doing her thing, it never really felt like there was much at stake. It almost seems like she was in there to give the film a love interest and to give them a MacGuffin to keep Brody moving back towards home.

I liked the approach they did with some of the fights and monster scenes, cutting away before we saw too much, but I feel that they cut stuff too early too much. Even the final confrontation, which was awesome, they didn't really show that much of. It was keeping in style with the rest of the movie, and had I just wanted to see hot monster-on-monster action I would have just watched Pacific Rim. That said, it was still enjoyable and the movie didn't drag, something that I had been worried about reading some of the other reviews around the net.

Definitely a solid reboot, and they can only go up from here. :D
 
bionicbob said:
Rhodan and Mothra!!!!
Click to expand...

SPOILER:

The MUTO with wings was a kind of Mothra anyway to me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom