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[Tom_Cody]

To what extent was Frank Darabont involved with this? Can GAF clear this up for me?

Back in 2013 it was publicized that Darabont was involved in writing the film. Here's an interview he did with iO9:
http://io9.com/5977982/how-frank-da...ightful-place-as-a-terrifying-force-of-nature

You get the sense from this that he was behind a lot of what ended up being good about the final product.

The reason I'm writing this is that his name does not appear in the credits at all and his name is not being used in any of the promotion for the film.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0831387/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

What's the deal GAF?

 

[The Adder]

No, the movie is dumb.

You keep saying "it's explained in the movie" over and over.

So there's a few scenarios I can think of.

1) A large number of people that saw this movie were afflicted with ADD upon entering the theater.

2) The movie did a terrible job of communicating the intricacies of its plot in a memorable manner.

3) These points aren't all explained in the movie and you're using extrapolation and grasping at straws to try and fill in its glaring plot holes and leaps of logic.

It's 1 then because all of those were very directly stated in the film. Sorry about the ADD.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Yeah. I think I expected something like what Ridley Scott did with Alien. Redefining a whole genre.

My fault for thinking that.

I didn't expect anything quite as grand as that, just something more mature and tonally in line with the original Godzilla and the magnificent trailers for this one.

 

[Blader]

I'm sorry that is so crazy to me. Say what you will about the acting and how much it bothered you but every scene involving Godzilla is superior in every possible way.

To the '98 movie? I agree. I even just said that. :lol But I think there are plenty of Toho Godzillas that were overall more satisfying movies than this one.

It's 1 then because all of those were very directly stated in the film. Sorry about the ADD.

A movie could contain all of the answers to its plot and still do a bad job of communicating them. Just because the information is in the movie doesn't mean the movie got it across well enough.

 

[Raptor]

Saw it yesterday, I think this movie is better than all monsters movie of the last 30 years probably.

Pacific Rim is pure garbage in comparison, the tension, buildup, theme, history are really great, at first I was getting annoyed at the way Godzilla constantly was getting cut but then I remembered that is how random persons would see it, and after that I enjoyed it more.

I fucking loved the movie a lot, fucking Godzilla is back,

Spoiler

when his damn tail was lighting up I said to my wife "look, look, look" and then bam atomic ray

I stand up with my arms up saying "yes" for fucks sakes, I fucking looooved that.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

To the '98 movie? I agree. I even just said that. :lol But I think there are plenty of Toho Godzillas that were overall more satisfying movies than this one.



A movie could contain all of the answers to its plot and still do a bad job of communicating them. Just because the information is in the movie doesn't mean the movie got it across well enough.

The TOHO movies are the bones of my childhood and even I can agree that nothing absolutely nothing in any of those movies touches:

Spoiler

-Godzilla rising in front of GG Bridge
-Halo drop and Godzilla fighting Muto
-Silent Tail Spin to Epic Roar
-Tail whip instant Kill
-Blue Flame
-Blue Flame fatality
-Final Roar

 

[thecouncil]

Godzilla was the city's savior as much as Superman was in Man of Steel.
...
Get it?

 

[kaching]

He looked lost alright. Like I said it was fine none of the movies have ever been good for the characters.

I think my expectations that this would be some monster movie with A+ drama was a mistake.

That's the thing - I don't think any of the characters were really badly portrayed, they just went against some of yours and other people's expectations.

 

[Fancy Clown]

The TOHO movies are the bones of my childhood and even I can agree that nothing absolutely nothing in any of those movies touches:

Spoiler

-Godzilla rising in front of GG Bridge
-Halo drop and Godzilla fighting Muto
-Silent Tail Spin to Epic Roar
-Tail whip instant Kill
-Blue Flame
-Blue Flame fatality
-Final Roar

I personally think that Godzilla silliuhetted against a burning Tokyo in Gojira is still the best Godzilla moment, but all the ones you listed were fantastic. But the movie needed more than a few badass moments to be compelling.

 

[thecouncil]

"are you kidding me? is there a window?... maybe a mail slot I could look through?"

- my brother-in-law,

Spoiler

as the doors closed on godzilla just starting to fight the muto

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I personally think that Godzilla silliuhetted against a burning Tokyo in Gojira is still the best Godzilla moment, but all the ones you listed were fantastic. But the movie needed more than a few badass moments to be compelling.

Yeah that scene in the original is of course the GOAT.

"are you kidding me? is there a window?... maybe a mail slot I could look through?"

- my brother-in-law,

Spoiler

as the doors closed on godzilla just starting to fight the muto

Hahahaha. That's a great reaction. I loved that they changed that shot for the trailer so it wouldn't give anything away.

 

[jmdajr]

That's the thing - I don't think any of the characters were really badly portrayed, they just went against some of yours and other people's expectations.

Fair assessment.

 

[Abraxas]

Rampant contrarianism: the thread.

I find it rather funny that Godzilla '98 is suddenly considered the citizen kane of monster movies. If you actually go back and watch it, its an hour and 45 minutes of cringing, utterly awful. Sure, some of the acting was shitty (sideways run by ell, anyone) and the cockteases were mildly irrritating, however, at least it tried something other than "godzilla crashes through building" and "godzilla resists army guns".

 

[commish]

Saw it yesterday, I think this movie is better than all monsters movie of the last 30 years probably.

Pacific Rim is pure garbage in comparison, the tension, buildup, theme, history are really great, at first I was getting annoyed at the way Godzilla constantly was getting cut but then I remembered that is how random persons would see it, and after that I enjoyed it more.

I fucking loved the movie a lot, fucking Godzilla is back,

Spoiler

when his damn tail was lighting up I said to my wife "look, look, look" and then bam atomic ray

I stand up with my arms up saying "yes" for fucks sakes, I fucking looooved that.

Saw it last night. This post sums up exactly how I felt. GF and I thought it was fantastic.

1998 Godzilla... why are people talking about this in any sort of positive way...

 

[blame space]

the shot from inside the airport gate was really good. the movie did a great job with scale and size. the dialogue turned my brain into oatmeal.

 

[Toa TAK]

Godzilla was the city's savior as much as Superman was in Man of Steel.
...
Get it?

Been waiting 64 pages for this.

Dis-a-point-ed!.gif

 

[jacksepticeye]

Haha yeah it's getting a bit ridiculous now. The 1998 movie is suddenly good? The 2014 movie has issues but it's nowhere near THAT bad.

Wait till the new Star Wars movies and people start saying the prequels were much better than what they say now

 

[jmdajr]

the shot from inside the airport gate was really good. the movie did a great job with scale and size. the dialogue turned my brain into oatmeal.

No doubt. That and halo jump were neat.

 

[jmdajr]

Haha yeah it's getting a bit ridiculous now. The 1998 movie is suddenly good? The 2014 movie has issues but it's nowhere near THAT bad.

Wait till the new Star Wars movies and people start saying the prequels were much better than what they say now

Just to be fair, I never used those words.

 

[Blader]

Rampant contrarianism: the thread.

I find it rather funny that Godzilla '98 is suddenly considered the citizen kane of monster movies. If you actually go back and watch it, its an hour and 45 minutes of cringing, utterly awful. Sure, some of the acting was shitty (sideways run by ell, anyone) and the cockteases were mildly irrritating, however, at least it tried something other than "godzilla crashes through building" and "godzilla resists army guns".

Nobody anywhere is saying that.

the shot from inside the airport gate was really good. the movie did a great job with scale and size. the dialogue turned my brain into oatmeal.

yeah, the shot of his foot coming down in front of the window was pretty damn great.

 

[jacksepticeye]

Just to be fair, I never used those words.

Well not literally but you know what I mean. People hated it before but people's minds have changed

 

[jmdajr]

Haha yeah it's getting a bit ridiculous now. The 1998 movie is suddenly good? The 2014 movie has issues but it's nowhere near THAT bad.

Wait till the new Star Wars movies and people start saying the prequels were much better than what they say now

Just to be fair, I never used those words.

 

[3rdman]

Yes. At least they were memorable.

I once had a memorable bowl movement...I'm not sure that being "memorable" is enough to garner praise though.

 

[The Librarian]

I don't understand the complaints of bad dialogue. Can you guys name some examples?

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Wait, some people genuinely prefer the 1998 version? Wut. That's like preferring Batman and Robin to Batman Begins...

Nah, the closer analogy, I find, is that this is a lot like when Man of Steel came out, and suddenly Superman Returns was a forgotten classic.

 

[victreeb3l]

WTF Why is Godzilla only playing until Thursday in NYC? Is anyone in NYC able to find showtimes for this weekend and beyond? Fandango cuts off on Friday for me.

I've checked by IMAX, 3D, and regular showtimes. Yet I'm able to find future showtimes for other movies. Is this weird?

 

[jmdajr]

I don't understand the complaints of bad dialogue. Can you guys name some examples?

The whole theater laughed when Ken Watanbe said the words "Godzilla" for the first time. Not sure what was so funny.

 

[Raptor]

Nah, the closer analogy, I find, is that this is a lot like when Man of Steel came out, and suddenly Superman Returns was a forgotten classic.

Exactly this.

 

[TacticalFox88]

Wait, some people genuinely prefer the 1998 version? Wut. That's like preferring Batman and Robin to Batman Begins...

You all must be under some deluded impression that just because Godzilla somehow acted like he's "supposed" to, somehow makes it a good film.

It's not.

At all.

"Look guys! At least we're not '98! That's good right? Right?! RIGHT!?"

 

[Betty]

The whole theater laughed when Ken Watanbe said the words "Godzilla" for the first time. Not sure what was so funny.

The huge dramatic pause, the turn of the head, the sudden zoom in with the camera and then the word "Godzilla" said with the most deadpan, straight faced serous face of all time.

 

[dark_chris]

I was a bit bummed we didn't get an updated version of Godzilla's theme song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDeU42u2s2Y

But hearing Ligeti's Requiem introduce was rad.

This was also an awesome updated Godzilla theme (from Final Wars) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPsn4diy2lw

 

[jmdajr]

The huge dramatic pause, the turn of the head, the sudden zoom in with the camera and then the word "Godzilla" said with the most deadpan, straight faced serous face of all time.

Hmmm.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

I don't understand the complaints of bad dialogue. Can you guys name some examples?

Everything coming out of Watanabe's mouth is nothing short of idiotic. Here's a man of what I assume is a great scientific and analytical background, apparently either the head of Monarch or one of its top dogs, and his response to the world's greatest crisis:

Spoiler

"let him hunt."

I mean, where does he gather that

Spoiler

godzilla wants to hunt anything

? There's nothing indicating that that's how he's going to react. Shit, something that idiotic could've lead to a catastrophe of epic proportions compared to what ended up happening. It's a fucking scientist that everyone is counting on who has just enough knowledge about these monsters to have his opinion valued all the way up the chain of command and he just decided the course of action for the entire military based on nothing but an uneducated hunch.

I mean, I get that it's a godzilla movie but you either need to crank the dumb to 1000% or the film has to take itself really, really seriously. The film tries to have it both ways and it fails miserably.

Say what you will about the writing in Pacific Rim, but that movie was dumb, it knew it was dumb, and it played up to its own dumb expectations beautifully.

 

[Timeaisis]

Just saw this yesterday.

I liked:
- The fight scenes
- The monster designs
- The backstory
- Bryan Cranston's character

I disliked:
- The rest of the characters (boring)
- The cinematography of the fight scenes (obscured view, poor angles, cutting the action)
- Not super tight story telling

 

[Slizz]

Everything coming out of Watanabe's mouth is nothing short of idiotic. Here's a man of what I assume is a great scientific and analytical background, apparently either the head of Monarch or one of its top dogs, and his response to the world's greatest crisis:

Spoiler

"let him hunt."

I mean, where does he gather that

Spoiler

godzilla wants to hunt anything

? There's nothing indicating that that's how he's going to react. Shit, something that idiotic could've lead to a catastrophe of epic proportions compared to what ended up happening. It's a fucking scientist that everyone is counting on who has just enough knowledge about these monsters to have his opinion valued all the way up the chain of command and he just decided the course of action for the entire military based on nothing but an uneducated hunch.

I mean, I get that it's a godzilla movie but you either need to crank the dumb to 1000% or the film has to take itself really, really seriously. The film tries to have it both ways and it fails miserably.

Say what you will about the writing in Pacific Rim, but that movie was dumb, it knew it was dumb, and it played up to its own dumb expectations beautifully.

Spoiler

Fight, not hunt.

 

[Wilbur]

You all must be under some deluded impression that just because Godzilla somehow acted like he's "supposed" to, somehow makes it a good film.

It's not.

At all.

"Look guys! At least we're not '98! That's good right? Right?! RIGHT!?"

Okay. Cheers.

 

[Tom_Cody]

To what extent was Frank Darabont involved with this? Can GAF clear this up for me?

Back in 2013 it was publicized that Darabont was involved in writing the film. Here's an interview he did with iO9:
http://io9.com/5977982/how-frank-da...ightful-place-as-a-terrifying-force-of-nature

You get the sense from this that he was behind a lot of what ended up being good about the final product.

The reason I'm writing this is that his name does not appear in the credits at all and his name is not being used in any of the promotion for the film.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0831387/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

What's the deal GAF?

Anyone?

 

[Bobby Roberts]

The whole theater laughed when Ken Watanbe said the words "Godzilla" for the first time. Not sure what was so funny.

Same thing happened in my theater.

I figured there were 3 options

1) people were just so excited to hear his name out loud that they laughed.
2) people thought the scene itself was so overwrought that they laughed
3) people thought he talked funny.

I got the sense from the chuckleheads in the row in front of me that it was 3.

 

[Amentallica]

That's the thing - I don't think any of the characters were really badly portrayed, they just went against some of yours and other people's expectations.

I think this is how I feel about the characters. But it also doesn't help when you have a stellar performance from Bryan Cranston to compare other characters to. I can see where the disappointment stems from in that case.

Aside from that, not much else bothered me. Of all the people, I thought the Elizabeth Olsen was useless. I didn't really like her.

 

[PIMPBYBLUD]

How is the IMAX 3D?

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Spoiler

Fight, not hunt.

The argument remains valid still. He's going off of nothing when he says that, no one questions him on it, he then sits back down and remains stunned for the rest of the movie, either slowly taking his stupid glasses off again or holding them in his hand, just farting in a corner silently until the entirety of the world's scientific community blanks out and they need to ask him something really, really dumb again.

Also, the whole thing with using

Spoiler

nukes to try and defeat the monsters? and youre taking them by train? oh really? straight into the heart of the battlefield? that's your best idea? really, guys? I really hope that those monsters - who seem to have the ability to detect nuclear energy, who have left a wake of massive destruction miles and miles long - I really hope theyre both nice enough to not have trashed the delicate rail system around the battlefields and also I hope they're just turning off their seeking abilities for the duration of your ride so that nothing happens

oh hey, look at how easily they helicoptered the missile out of harm's way when things went sideways.

I think i've read 5 paragraph essays from 9 year olds that were more sensical than this movie. it's a steaming pile of poop that has like a minute of really awesome godzilla shit.

 

[jmdajr]

How is the IMAX 3D?

It's okay. But the movie wasn't shot with 3D cameras. It was converted. Not very smooth.

 

[Zvonimir Boban]

oh hey, look at how easily they helicoptered the missile out of harm's way when things went sideways.[/SPOILER]

Spoiler

MUTOs were dead by then

 

[Slizz]

The argument remains valid still. He's going off of nothing when he says that, no one questions him on it, he then sits back down and remains stunned for the rest of the movie, either slowly taking his stupid glasses off again or holding them in his hand, just farting in a corner silently until the entirety of the world's scientific community blanks out and they need to ask him something really, really dumb again.

Also, the whole thing with using

Spoiler

nukes to try and defeat the monsters? and youre taking them by train? oh really? straight into the heart of the battlefield? that's your best idea? really, guys? I really hope that those monsters - who seem to have the ability to detect nuclear energy, who have left a wake of massive destruction miles and miles long - I really hope theyre both nice enough to not have trashed the delicate rail system around the battlefields and also I hope they're just turning off their seeking abilities for the duration of your ride so that nothing happens

oh hey, look at how easily they helicoptered the missile out of harm's way when things went sideways.

I think i've read 5 paragraph essays from 9 year olds that were more sensical than this movie. it's a steaming pile of poop that has like a minute of really awesome godzilla shit.

I know it was 2 hours long but you should be able to answer all your questions by watching the movie. It's all explained.

Also hunting is different than fighting. When Wantanabe says that why are you surprised?

Why the fuck were the military

Spoiler

following a traveling Godzilla in the water for fucking hundreds of miles?

Then nitpicking shit like helicopter landings and etc. You really wanna bring realism into it? What about every fucking human not going

Spoiler

deaf when either MUTO or Godzilla roar within 100 feet of them?

. Lets go deeper what about the bullshit water displacement caused by such a creature???

I just don't get it.

 

[Falawful]

Saw it last night in Imax 3D. I agree with a lot of the flaws people have pointed out, but still found it to be a great flick in spite of that. I also get the sense that it would be a much better experience the second time through.

 

[Liquidsnake]

Everything coming out of Watanabe's mouth is nothing short of idiotic.

Yes. The script for this movie was horrific in places Watanabe and the lead..I just have no words.

 

[The Librarian]

Everything coming out of Watanabe's mouth is nothing short of idiotic. Here's a man of what I assume is a great scientific and analytical background, apparently either the head of Monarch or one of its top dogs, and his response to the world's greatest crisis:

Spoiler

"let him hunt."

It's "Let them fight!" And that line is fantastic. Still not seeing it.

 

[Scarecrow]

He mentions he's hunting them earlier in the movie. The fight line comes near the end.

 

[jmdajr]

Meh, Logic doesn't bother me. Don't care. I won't nit-pick that far. I think the characters could have been better even without trying to bring real logic/reason/science to every single part of the movie.

 

[Slizz]

Meh, Logic doesn't bother me. Don't care. I won't nit-pick that far. I think the characters could have been better even without trying to bring real logic/reason/science to every single part of the movie.

Precisely, logic and Godzilla is ridiculous. The rest of your complaints are respectable, but even still I'm not looking for human leads to 'grab' regardless if Godzilla isn't featuring the whole movie.