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Godzilla |OT| Legendary

watershed

Banned
My thoughts on the ending.
Godzilla! Savior of our city! ...while he steps on, crushes and kills another hundred people while walking back into the ocean.
LOL.

There is a question mark there, and I think that was largely to be funny and a nice nod to long time Godzilla fans, not exactly the major point of the movie. But for some spoilery discussion
Godzilla did just kill two monsters that were terrorizing humanity, and he did so without purposefully killing anyone, so by comparison he is pretty much a savior.
More importantly, I think the movie offers up several interpretations Godzilla's role, some more accurate than others.
 

Heroman

Banned
The only thing that would have really allowed them to make it better is if every damn movie wasnt force fit into a PG13 Rating.

That being said I got way more out of it than I was expecting and the amount of fighting was just right.

The fighting can get a bit long in the tooth like Pac Rim did but they kept it to the point.

After watching a bunch of the classic movies leading up to this I feel they really paid homage to the old ones well.

It felt like it could be in the heisei Godzilla series
 

Oersted

Member
I have no commitment to Godzilla being male or female one way or the other. I'm just trying to see your point. As I see it, no one including the Japanese filmmakers have ever referred to Godzilla as a female. But you are insisting on "She" despite the quotes you provide clearly referring to Godzilla as "He". So, it's just a bit of odd evidence to try and make a point with. If there is some significance to Godzilla's gender I'd be interested in seeing it. But to be clear, right now you haven't done anything to prove that Godzilla is female.

Why is there a need to prove that Godzilla is female, but no need to prove that it is male? Is there any anatomic hint I overlooked? Having a baby, laying eggs.. Japan refers to it mostly as it, west as him ... except:


The female characters in Godzilla all play supporting roles, why is that? Is it a commercial decision?

Edwards: Godzilla is actually female! We would have changed it to queen of the monsters but it didn’t have the same ring to it. In the early drafts of the script we did have a female lead but we ended up with a male. There are so many great examples of female heroes in action films, Alien is my personal favourite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jceKxuDbq4&sns=em

Therefore, a logical conclusion would be female or invertebrate. Or, the most logical conclusion, noone bothered to write Godzilla properly as creature and therefore, anything goes.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
the fact that people are complaining this movie didnt have enough action is a testament to how bloated hollywood action movies have gradually become

The problem is when there isn't action, it's following army guy (2 hours and I never even learned his name) blunder from one preposterous scenario to the next.

When your main character is awful, and he takes up 90% of the movies screen time, your movie has issues.
 
There is a question mark there, and I think that was largely to be funny and a nice nod to long time Godzilla fans, not exactly the major point of the movie. But for some spoilery discussion
Godzilla did just kill two monsters that were terrorizing humanity, and he did so without purposefully killing anyone, so by comparison he is pretty much a savior.
More importantly, I think the movie offers up several interpretations Godzilla's role, some more accurate than others.

All the public knows is three monsters trashed the city fighting each other and killed thousands. Nobody knew about Godzilla's motives other than the military. Logically speaking it makes no sense that the one surviving monster in the brawl is randomly labeled and treated as a "hero" by the public, but the movie just went running with that for no real reason.
 

Sylas

Member
I feel like people complaining about Godzilla
not killing people/terrorizing a city
. Are missing the fact that
why would Godzilla care about us? We're literally ants compared to this iteration of Godzilla, completely unable to threaten it. Most things avoid ants, they don't go out of their way to kill them. Godzilla just up and left when the MUTOs were dead because what the hell else was there for it to do? Why would it bother to stick around and mess with things so low on the food chain compared to it?

I thought the movie was an incredible amount of fun. Goddamn lost it when
Godzilla effectively mic-dropped the female MUTOs head after that execution. She was done with that shit and needed a nap.
 

Defect

Member
I feel like people complaining about Godzilla
not killing people/terrorizing a city
. Are missing the fact that
why would Godzilla care about us? We're literally ants compared to this iteration of Godzilla, completely unable to threaten it. Most things avoid ants, they don't go out of their way to kill them. Godzilla just up and left when the MUTOs were dead because what the hell else was there for it to do? Why would it bother to stick around and mess with things so low on the food chain compared to it?

I thought the movie was an incredible amount of fun. Goddamn lost it when
Godzilla effectively mic-dropped the female MUTOs head after that execution. She was done with that shit and needed a nap.

What is up with people thinking Godzilla is a she?

GODzilla, not GODDESSZILLA amirite?
 

LowParry

Member
Yo.

Whey the goddamn teasing of fights? Why? I was so fucking pumped the first time we get a confrontation. The Godzilla scream. I was like, fuck yeah! Then.......cut away. Time lapse. I was okay at first with this. But a goddamn fucking second time!? Really!? Really really? By this point of movie I was just pissed. But! The pay off. The battle of monsters. The battle of titans. And the build of light. Tail tail tail back back breeeeeeeeeath.....fiiiiiiiiirrrrre! God that was just awesome. Not just the first but the second time while he breaths down the throat of the female. I loved what they did with Godzilla though. He had personality and I actually cared about the big guy.

It's a good movie but not great imo.
 

BokehKing

Banned
For those complaining about how long it took him to come out... Not that bad compared to others.

Lol @ Pac Rim's restraint (that movie did tide me over though)

140514_BB_monsterCharts_allMinutes.jpg.CROP.original-original.jpg
 

East Lake

Member
I think the lack of action isn't necessarily the main problem, it's just that a lot of the moments between the action set pieces weren't very compelling mostly due to Johnson's character being pretty flat. The more I think about it, the more I appreciate the meticulous pacing of the movie as it was an interesting directional choice but the human moments were arguably the weakest aspect of the film.

Sure nearly every Godzilla film before has had terrible human moments but the moments where Cranston was featured gave a lot of people some hope and as a result it kinda set a bar that every other actor unfortunately could not surpass.
I agree mostly but I can't blame the actors. I think that while they wanted to tease Godzilla they were killing tension with a lot of the scenes in between. They gave Ken Watanabe almost nothing to do but stare into the screen. The military general or whoever is emotionless, just walking around telling his troops what the deal is. Little urgency in a lot of the military scenes. Even when Watanabe is telling the general he's a retard to try and nuke the monsters they just sort of politely disagree. Watanabe should have been going nuts like Cranston was, or they should have just ditched the monster duo experts and have Cranston fill that role. Then the monsters are fighting in the city and it looks like it's just a really busy day in the hospital. People watching the fight on tv as if it's the ellen show. There's a lot of stuff in there like that which is small but can take me out of the scene. They're coming to San Francisco in this flotilla of ships with Godzilla and the ships are so close they're almost on top of him. Maybe keep your distance cause he's a giant wild animal? I know it sounds like a nitpick but if you want the audience to be fearful it would make sense for the actors to be too.

Anyway I enjoyed it but I thought it could be a lot better.
 

Koodo

Banned
the fact that people are complaining this movie didnt have enough action is a testament to how bloated hollywood action movies have gradually become
tii.

I was expecting a quaint affair from the reactions, but it was a pretty explosive ride throughout.

L O V E how they often cut to a human perspective view of the action (i.e. behind a glass window, on a tv, etc.) The movie was dripping with atmosphere.
 

watershed

Banned
All the public knows is three monsters trashed the city fighting each other and killed thousands. Nobody knew about Godzilla's motives other than the military. Logically speaking it makes no sense that the one surviving monster in the brawl is randomly labeled and treated as a "hero" by the public, but the movie just went running with that for no real reason.

Here's a question
How did the audience at your theater react to the tv headline at the end? In my theater people laughed, but no one seemed to walk away from the movie with that as the main take away. And from the perspective of the general public in the movie, 2 monsters destroyed 2 cities. Then Godzilla showed up and killed both of them. The Las Vegas was destroyed by one Muto. San Fran was already being destroyed by the other Muto before Godzilla came. Once Godzilla got there he promptly killed both monsters then left. So, even though the headline was only played for laughs, it also does make sense. And let's not forget the question mark.
 
I agree mostly but I can't blame the actors. I think that while they wanted to tease Godzilla they were killing tension with a lot of the scenes in between. They gave Ken Watanabe almost nothing to do but stare into the screen. The military general or whoever is emotionless, just walking around telling his troops what the deal is. Little urgency in a lot of the military scenes. Even when Watanabe is telling the general he's a retard to try and nuke the monsters they just sort of politely disagree. Watanabe should have been going nuts like Cranston was, or they should have just ditched the monster duo experts and have Cranston fill that role. Then the monsters are fighting in the city and it looks like it's just a really busy day in the hospital. People watching the fight on tv as if it's the ellen show. There's a lot of stuff in there like that which is small but can take me out of the scene. They're coming to San Francisco in this flotilla of ships with Godzilla and the ships are so close they're almost on top of him. Maybe keep your distance cause he's a giant wild animal? I know it sounds like a nitpick but if you want the audience to be fearful it would make sense for the actors to be too.

Anyway I enjoyed it but I thought it could be a lot better.

I agree. The human scenes were all directed very poorly. Cranston was really the only one who really communicated the "holy shit something terrible is happening", the rest of the people acted like it was a regular bad day on the job.

Completely agreed with the
flotilla. They ride so close you think they're going on a cruise together. They shouldn't be "riding with him", what the fuck. They should've kept their distance and set up blockades, only for Godzilla to push past them like the doesn't give a fuck. For humans it's the most terrifying thing we've ever seen and we're completely helpless to stop him from going straight at one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. For him it's just Tuesday.

The wife should've been freaking the fuck out. The kids on the bus should've been screaming for their lives, not going OOOH AAAHHH at tanks getting their asses beat and the bridge collapsing behind them like it was an amusement park ride. It's like the Monster part of the movie tried really hard to sell you on the tension and fear and the Human part of the movie tried really hard to kill suspense and downplay the mood. The movie was essentially fighting itself.

Edit:

Here's a question
How did the audience at your theater react to the tv headline at the end? In my theater people laughed, but no one seemed to walk away from the movie with that as the main take away. And from the perspective of the general public in the movie, 2 monsters destroyed 2 cities. Then Godzilla showed up and killed both of them. The Las Vegas was destroyed by one Muto. San Fran was already being destroyed by the other Muto before Godzilla came. Once Godzilla got there he promptly killed both monsters then left. So, even though the headline was only played for laughs, it also does make sense. And let's not forget the question mark.

My theater was lame. They didn't react to shit through the whole movie. Even in the first reveal with the first Godzilla roar I wanted to jump out of my seat with my fists punching the air, but the theater was dead silent.

But to answer the question, I think
the headline itself was just part of the movie as a whole portraying him as a hero. They went through extensive exposition explaining why he exists, solely to kill the other monsters. The first Muto is the first monster we as an audience see, and it attacks and kills people, including Cranston. The first Muto basically takes the role of the first impression of a giant monster wrecking shit, Godzilla comes up and is exclusively preoccupied with taking them down. I mean to say, the storytelling very obviously portrays the Mutos as the bad guys and Godzilla as the good guy. He awakes at the first sign of a threat with the Muto and goes directly to kill them. The killing of the second Muto shouldn't have been a "triumphant", "we won!" moment with inspiring music, it should've been terrifying and badass. Then they top it off with the headline. So even if I were to rationalize that it was a minor joke or homage, the rest of the movie tried too hard to portray him as a hero for me to consider than it really was just a joke or an homage.
 

watershed

Banned
Why is there a need to prove that Godzilla is female, but no need to prove that it is male? Is there any anatomic hint I overlooked? Having a baby, laying eggs.. Japan refers to it mostly as it, west as him ... except:


The female characters in Godzilla all play supporting roles, why is that? Is it a commercial decision?

Edwards: Godzilla is actually female! We would have changed it to queen of the monsters but it didn’t have the same ring to it. In the early drafts of the script we did have a female lead but we ended up with a male. There are so many great examples of female heroes in action films, Alien is my personal favourite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jceKxuDbq4&sns=em

Therefore, a logical conclusion would be female or invertebrate. Or, the most logical conclusion, noone bothered to write Godzilla properly as creature and therefore, anything goes.

Are you referring to the 98 film when you talk about laying eggs or are you talking about the son of godzilla? I think 98 godzilla may well have been a female but I don't remember if that's what they say in the movie. As I said earlier, I don't think godzilla's gender is important unless there is some mythological or narrative detail I am unaware of. Godzilla could be a male or female.

This conversation started when you referred to godzilla as a female and an incorrect quote as evidence. In the above quote I think the director is joking because he is responding to a question about why the film lacks a strong female lead. Then he goes on to refer to godzilla as "he" thru the rest of the video.
 

The Adder

Banned
Holy shit I've never seen so many coincidences/chance encounters/deus ex's in one film. The writers handled the human part of the story terribly.

What were the coincidences? The only one that seemed coincidental to me was
the female MUTO encountering the train

Otherwise there was plenty of internal consistency.

Japan's Nuclear reactors are probably closer to the Philippines than China's, and probably bigger than the ones in the Philippines, so male MUTO went there.

The Brodys went back there on that specific day because the male MUTO was acting up again for the first time in 15 years.

Ford went to Hawaii because he was heading back to California and that's the way you get to California from Japan. Meanwhile the male MUTO went there because the female who it had been communicating with was in Nevada which really is where the US stores nuclear waste. So it had to head in that direction as well.

Ford intentionally finagled his way onto the chopper and then the train that were both specifically headed towards the monsters.

The train had the weapon the military was going to use to try to take them out. Plus it was a nuke, they couldn't leave it lying around.

All-in-all I feel like they were pretty solid on reasoning for why people were where they were.
 
Really glad I went on a blackout after the teaser trailer. Was exciting not knowing any of the plot points, what Godzilla would look like, or if there were going to be other monsters. That being said, I felt I was totally misdirected during the first quarter or so of the film, good stuff.

Friends and I really liked it. The movie was a lot of fun and definitely one that needs to be watched in a theater to fully appreciate.
 

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
Walter White is barely in this.
I think that is what was most disappointing to me. Otherwise, I enjoyed it.
 

L00P

Member
Just got back from the theater. Mixed feelings about it. I generally liked the movie as a whole, but it became a lot less interesting when
Walter White died. The "human" side of the movie practically died with him.
And Watanabe's thousand-year stare was more memorable than the main character.

I just loved the visual effects, though. Total eye candy throughout the movie. The way they shot it was just great and felt real. You'd think those are real buildings that are getting pulverized and shit
 

watershed

Banned
My theater was lame. They didn't react to shit through the whole movie. Even in the first reveal with the first Godzilla roar I wanted to jump out of my seat with my fists punching the air, but the theater was dead silent.

But to answer the question, I think
the headline itself was just part of the movie as a whole portraying him as a hero. They went through extensive exposition explaining why he exists, solely to kill the other monsters. The first Muto is the first monster we as an audience see, and it attacks and kills people, including Cranston. The first Muto basically takes the role of the first impression of a giant monster wrecking shit, Godzilla comes up and is exclusively preoccupied with taking them down. I mean to say, the storytelling very obviously portrays the Mutos as the bad guys and Godzilla as the good guy. He awakes at the first sign of a threat with the Muto and goes directly to kill them. The killing of the second Muto shouldn't have been a "triumphant", "we won!" moment with inspiring music, it should've been terrifying and badass. Then they top it off with the headline. So even if I were to rationalize that it was a minor joke or homage, the rest of the movie tried too hard to portray him as a hero for me to consider than it really was just a joke or an homage.

I see where you are coming from. I think there are two different things to consider. One is how the movie wants us, the real audience, to see Godzilla. Two is how the people in the movie might come to view Godzilla based on what happens in the film.
I think the audience is definitely intended to view Godzilla as a hero. This is good Godzilla, not terrorizing humanity Godzilla. If that's an issue for you then that's fine but I was happy with this take.

Within the film Godzilla isn't necessarily the hero, he is an alpha-predator and he is only interested in taking down other predators who can rival him. The Muto are his rivals. I don't think he cares to save humanity, he just isn't bothered by us. We are ants to him. There are a few places where this is a little jarring, such as when the navy ships sail around him, or when the military shoots him and he doesn't seem to hit back too much. But other than that I thought his behavior is consistent for me. Godzilla awakened to the mating call of the Muto. He wants to stop their mating/off-spring because more Mutos would have been a greater threat to his dominance.
 
Movie sucked!!!

One part that made me laugh was when Watanabe talked about his father's watch which stopped during hiroshima.

The movie takes place in present day - 2014 or 2015 given the timeline.

So you're telling me, Watanabe is supposed to be 70years old at least? Seriously? We're supposed to buy that?
 

Kinsei

Banned
I see where you are coming from. I think there are two different things to consider. One is how the movie wants us, the real audience, to see Godzilla. Two is how the people in the movie might come to view Godzilla based on what happens in the film.
I think the audience is definitely intended to view Godzilla as a hero. This is good Godzilla, not terrorizing humanity Godzilla. If that's an issue for you then that's fine but I was happy with this take.

Within the film Godzilla isn't necessarily the hero, he is an alpha-predator and he is only interested in taking down other predators who can rival him. The Muto are his rivals. I don't think he cares to save humanity, he just isn't bothered by us. We are ants to him. There are a few places where this is a little jarring, such as when the navy ships sail around him, or when the military shoots him and he doesn't seem to hit back too much. But other than that I thought his behavior is consistent for me. Godzilla awakened to the mating call of the Muto. He wants to stop their mating/off-spring because more Mutos would have been a greater threat to his dominance.

I got the impression the he didn't retaliate during the bridge scene was because he was too focused on the MUTO's to give us the time of day. Why go out of your way to kill a fly buzzing around your head when you're after a caribou for dinner?
 

The Adder

Banned
Movie sucked!!!

One part that made me laugh was when Watanabe talked about his father's watch which stopped during hiroshima.

The movie takes place in present day - 2014 or 2015 given the timeline.

So you're telling me, Watanabe is supposed to be 70years old at least? Seriously? We're supposed to buy that?

Or his father survived Hiroshima and had him later. Ken Watanabe was born in '59
 

watershed

Banned
Movie sucked!!!

One part that made me laugh was when Watanabe talked about his father's watch which stopped during hiroshima.

The movie takes place in present day - 2014 or 2015 given the timeline.

So you're telling me, Watanabe is supposed to be 70years old at least? Seriously? We're supposed to buy that?

I'm a little confused, why does Watanabe have to be 70 years old? Couldn't Watanabe been born much later and his father given him is watch much later after his birth?
 

MikeDown

Banned
Just saw it. Overall I thought it was pretty good, with some spiffy cinematography and some impressive CGI in scenes.

My biggest complaints though:
1) Too much screen time for the human characters
2) The score felt pushy at times, telling the audience how to feel; forcing the drama
3) In the fight scenes I hated how they cut from shot to shot, nothing was sustained
4) Plot developments were directly told to the audience, there was no foreshadowing
5) Some dialogue was unnatural; only being there to explain character background
6) How can you miss a giant hole in the side of a fucking mountain?
 
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