I haven’t seen The Three-Headed Monster, but Ghidorah’s design is pretty conceptually crazy. No arms was a bold move.
Oh, I should probably leave this here. I was just talking yesterday about how I’d love an action-comedy Rampage movie the focuses on George, Lizzie, and Ralph as people who turn into monsters. This…doesn’t seem like it’s gonna be that…
I don’t much like that one, but it’s so ridiculous I guess i understand why people love it. That six second Zilla fight set to SUM41 is kind of undeniable.
Fun Fact: the director of that movie was also the cutscene director on Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and it definitely shows.
the last Gamera trilogy (Guardian of the Universe/Attack of Legion/Revenge of Iris) is probably my favorite kaiju series and is often underrepresented.
it’s got confident pacing, solid special effects, and that good old kaiju-as-messenger-of-the-earth theming. it’s by the same team who did Godzilla Giant Monsters All Out Attack, which is also thoroughly excellent.
also: all four films have music by the composer of Shadow of the Colossus and it’s fantastic. and there’s this Evangelion looking ass monster.
3 Likes
I saw Shin Godzilla when I was in Japan but I didn’t actually understand enough Japanese to really follow it (it took me half the movie to realize they weren’t starting off every sentence with transliterated “sorry” but “総理”, the Japanese word for prime minister).
Other than that I haven’t seen much kaiju. I saw Colossal last week, though, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since – definitely flawed and the metaphors were messy, but it was engrossing and compelling and I loved what it was trying to say and what it said. It’s made me interested in going back and watching some of the inspirations. Are the movies listed in this thread a good starting point, or does anyone have a good Kaiju 101 list? Seems like at least I should try to go back and rewatch Shin Godzilla with subtitles.
re: Colossal, I think the thing I could have done most without was the origin of their powers. The scene itself did a good job of contextualizing Oscar, but I liked the powers themselves as more of a vaguely unknowable thing.
1 Like
Damn, good luck on the dissertation. I’ve got a bunch of friends pushing that boulder up the hill and it fucking sucks seeing so many smart folks forced into this horrible pit of self-doubt.
I got the Gamera HD bundle collection, but I don’t think Gamera the Brave is in there. Worth seeking out though?
1 Like
Mothra booster reporting in.
Reviving this thread to share @2Mello’s discovery: Shin Godzilla coming to English Blu-Ray on August 1st!
https://www.funimation.com/shop/home-video/shin-godzilla-movie-bddvd-combo-uv-bld-00531/
2 Likes
Oh yes I should have posted here!!! Thank you.
BTW I’m going to see Colossal tonight yall
@RobotParking
I know a bunch of people like Gamera the Brave, but I personally wasn’t into it at all. It’s much more a kid/family movie. Follows that trajectory of a kid secretly bringing a pet home only for it to escalate into a much larger spectacle and then of course ends in a kaiju fight. If that sounds good go for it.
@aaron
I’m sad to say I haven’t watched much outside of Godzilla, but this would be my shortlist for worthwhile kaiju films to get started:
Gamera Trilogy (Guardian of the Universe, Attack of Legion, Revenge of Iris)
Godzilla 1954
Godzilla vs Biolante
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla
Godzilla All out Monsters Attack
Godzilla vs Mothra
Shin Godzilla is also def worth watching again with subtitles because there is a lot of great dry political humor in that movie that had me cracking up.
1 Like
Bumping this thread to link y’all to this artist I found who makes some really rad kaiju-esque monster designs. Like, some of the best I’ve ever seen.
2 Likes
Not as in deep as yall with your old fashioned folks-in-suits movies and your mothras and whatsits(saw Godzilla VS King Kong and thought it was baller), but I’m well into the new western Godzilla and the new Kong. I know new 'Zilla gets a lot of flack for not having the boy in it for ages, but I really liked the other two big 'uns so I thought it was awesome. And Kong is legit fantastic.
Also shoutout to Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV for deciding to become a Kaiju movie for the finale and being infinitely better for it. I like that a movie a lot despite it’s pacing issues, but the final act is in a league of it’s own.
