#I must see Godzilla Minus One

[fridge-04]

Raaaaaaah hurry upppppp!!!

[almightyrayzilla]

"To have never gone to war is something to be proud of."

A lot of GODZILLA MINUS ONE's anti-war message resonates heavily with me. Despite being set ~80 years ago and specifically in one region of the world, its sentiment is universal.

And I turn to the real world, and I see the very thing the movie spoke against - no one deserves to die just because some well-dressed people in business suits say so.

"One side must be obliterated" is not anti-war. Lobbing munitions capable of leveling entire buildings and calling the casualties "human shields" is not anti-war. Boasting of being an upholder of peace while supplying weapons to oppressors is not anti-war.

Saying no to a ceasefire is not anti-war.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (December 10-16, 2023)

Suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma, who originated the roles of Gigan and Hedorah and played Godzilla in all of the Heisei films, passed away on Saturday at the age of 76. A serious performer paired with a serious Godzilla, he approached the role with near-religious reverence. Asked to give advice to Godzilla's next actor following the completion of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, he said, "Be Godzilla. Don't do anything else. Write books about playing Godzilla, talk to reporters about playing Godzilla, but don't do anything else. Just be Godzilla." His second stint as the character, Godzilla vs. Biollante, is my favorite movie of all time, and it's pretty staggering how many of its key people are gone now. Rest in peace.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters finally brought Godzilla into the present-day storyline—and finally let him enter Japanese waters in the flashbacks to 1955. (The only other time he's done this in the Monsterverse is in the debatably-canon Godzilla: Awakening.) I enjoyed the flashbacks a lot more than the main story this time, as the latter is just piling on the Ominous Pronouncements while withholding details to a degree that seems unrealistic from a Watsonian perspective. Give me a well-acted, doomed love triangle any day.

Comic book sales data is nigh-impossible to find these days, but 2022's Godzilla vs. the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers must have made bank, since it's getting a sequel! Writer Cullen Bunn and colorist Andrew Dalhouse are back, with Baldemar Rivas now handling the art. First issue's coming in April. The logline:

Worlds collide a second time as everyone’s favorite kaiju meets up with Earth’s mightiest warriors once again to take on the most fearsome monsters from both sides of the multiverse, with Rita Repulsa egging them on! This one has it all: SpaceGodzilla! Clawhammer! Tentacreep! But what exactly does Rita intend to do with their collective might, and how have her mysterious new allies, Astronema and the Alliance of Evil, given her added reach across worlds? The Power Rangers are on a mission to find out, but first…all roads lead back to Godzilla!

I recognize some of the proper nouns in there, at least!

Godzilla Minus One added even more North American theaters (from 2,540 to 2,622), but with stiffer competition in the form of Wonka, it fell to fourth with $5 million. That gets it over $30 million here; we'll see how much of a boost it gets from the holidays. The film is piling up accolades from regional critic groups, as well as a nomination at the Critics Choice Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

I'm also making my way through all the videos Toho put on YouTube when I was desperately dodging spoilers, so look forward to more Minus One gifs and screenshots.

One more trailer for the Kaiju No. 8 anime, which is, for whatever reason, going to stream worldwide via X/Twitter. (Maybe they saw that users there already upload entire movies and decided to get ahead of the curve?) Don't worry, it'll be on Crunchyroll too.

[spearxwind]

JUST SAW GODZILLA MINUS ONE WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCKKKKK THAT WAS SO GOOD HELLO I NEED TO SEE IT AGAIN I MUST

[proxycrit]

i am taking your hands and looking you deep in the eyes. i must know. what are the interests you haven’t posted about. because so far the venom diagram of our interests has nearly been a circle

(does a lil jig) Let's see!

Some stuff that rotates rent free in my head at all times include:

Taz Balance. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Magnus Archives. Arcane. Gravity Falls. Avatar: the Last Airbender (the animated one). Everything Everywhere All At Once. Breath of the Wild. Hollow Knight. Pokemon (submas but creature designs in general haha).

I feel like I'm missing some but that's the primary sphere of interests! Poke me and I'll scream about it like a deflating balloon. (Some other stuff that I really like but am not like... brain rotting and drawing fanart for to a concerning degree: Owl House, Blue Eyed Samurai, Minus One Godzilla, Dungeon Meshi, Freiran, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Unraveled (brian david gilbert you mean so much to me), ghibli movies in general, Puss in boots: Last wish, epic the musical, hadestown... those are the ones off the top of my head!)

[fantasyinvader]

After watching Godzilla Minus One last night, it got me thinking once again about how Edelgard's “I will make the world I dream of no matter how many I must sacrifice to do so” is meant to indicate how villainous she actually is. And my mind went back to her forging bonds conversation with Lissa.

Edelgard's “I was born into power and because of that I carry a heavy burden” rhetoric is matched up against Lissa telling her that she doesn't find it a burden, because the power she has can be used towards helping others. Edelgard has no response to that, leaves, and then comes back after discussing it with the rest of the FE lords who are of all the same opinion as Lissa. Meanwhile, it's revealed that Edelgard NEVER thought of it that way, which ties into how her saying she's did the war for various groups is just her trying to manipulate them. After all, she says she's doing this for the commoners while putting through reforms that oppress them while benefiting a nobility with lords from the Western Kingdom flocking to her because they oppose Dimitri's pro-commoner reforms.

But as I was thinking about this, I recalled how Edelgard ignores the truth when it's not convenient for her, and how in Hopes she talks about how sacrificing yourself for others is a sign of how twisted the world is and why she has to change it. So I asked myself, how would Edelgard react to such a revelation, especially considering it was a post-Flower alt of her?

Edelgard wouldn't reconsider how she views power. She would see all those worlds, those of the other Fire Emblem leads, as being twisted. That she's seeing worlds where leaders are happy to bear what she calls a burden, using their power for the people. She'd see it as them making the people weak, as the Japanese text says her goal is still to create a world where people don't rely on others. She'd see them being buddy buddy with all sorts of non-humans, and not only that them getting along with the likes of Dimitri and Claude. Yet they're given the title of heroes, just like she is.

It's already making out that Edelgard doesn't see things like previous protagonists, and with her Flame Emperor alt she believes she can solve the problems of other worlds as well. I don't think the conversation would make Edelgard realize the error of her ways, just that she'd see that other worlds would be in need of her “saving.” If she could, she would fight every past lord.

[weirdstuffinthewoods]

In my (admittedly very limited) knowledge of Japanese history, I always had an idea of what Godzilla stood for. Cultural/historical trauma, natural and nuclear disaster, etc. Until today, I’d only ever seen him through an Americanized lens.

And, sin that it is, 2001 lady Godzilla was my favorite (in my defense the last American Godzilla I saw was the one with Heisenberg so…

Watched Godzilla Minus One today, and instantly got the original vision.

The boy is supposed to be chonky (in my opinion) and have weird little human eyes and tiny arms. He has only ONE theme and it was in this movie and it was booming and it was glorious.

Godzilla Minus One served as a great ad for Shin Godzilla (2016) because I will absolutely be watching that next.

Seeing a film group coming to terms with the human cost of war and some of the fucked up shit your own leaders can do to you was truly goosebump-inducing. 10/10 must watch.

[juniperinautumn]

i’ve rewatched godzilla minus one and i have more thoughts that i didnt get to say in my original post. specifically about this scene

after the massive explosion and subsequent fallout, we turn with shikishima to see godzilla standing in the wake of his own destruction. BUT hes not basking in it. there is no pride to be found in godzilla’s actions. G seems to hate that he is being forced to cause so much death. and in the next few seconds we see first uninterrupted roar. a roar not to warm the humans he’s killed but a hateful scream to whomever is making godzilla commit these atrocities.

“WHY! WHY! MUST IT BE I”

[balanceoflightanddark]

Read your fic and I have to say you make a pretty good morally gray Godzilla, like it's a tough concept to nail down and you managed to hit it right on the head

Thanks for enjoying my fic. And sorry if updates have been a little slow. I was just on vacation in Michigan and I've been busy with work. Hopefully I can get back in the flow of things in the days to come.

Anyways, when it comes to a morally grey Godzilla, you have to understand that he's been around for decades. Naturally that means that as different writers and directors come and go, naturally they're going to have different interpretations of the character. That includes morality. Hell, just this year we've had one of the most malevolent Godzillas in Godzilla: Minus One, and the more heroic character from Godzilla X Kong: A New Empire. Trying to write a version of Godzilla that pays tribute to all his outings AND fits within the narrative of Avatar: The Last Airbender is naturally going to be a daunting challenge.

What made it a bit easier for me is that Godzilla, at his core, isn't exactly a character you can hate. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's still a destructive monster that can kill millions. But he didn't exactly ask to be a giant radioactive monster to begin with. Hell, it's right there in the first movie. While Godzilla goes on deliberate rampages, we also see him resting peacefully in Tokyo Bay. And his death isn't exactly treated as triumphant either. I think even the cast cried a little at his death scene if I remember correctly.

It helps that even at his worst, it's still kind of difficult to hate Godzilla. It's implied in GMK that he's being possessed by a million souls who are rightfully angry at being forgotten by the Japanese who killed them in World War II. Shin Godzilla was essentially one big walking cancer who's whole existence was hell. Even Godzilla from Minus One was a territorial dinosaur initially, and we do see a brief shot of his very painful transformation into the kaiju we all know.

At the same time though, he's still a giant monster that repeatedly attacks people. Like it or not, there has to be some kind of response lest he continues to go on a rampage. So at his core, we do have that grey morality going on. Which is highlighted in later films that I'll discuss in a minute.

For my portrayal of Godzilla, I wanted to find that sweet spot between heroic and villainous. Not entirely evil, but not entirely good either. More like a force of nature who'd rather be left alone than anything else. While I am aiming for a more heroic take on him as the story goes on, I don't want to stray away from this either.

Besides, I felt a morally gray Godzilla would work for a post-war canon like I have here. Basically one big consequence of the Fire Nation's rampant warmongering that's going to cause problems for them again and again if they continue to be imperialistic. He works as a foil for Aang in that way. Aang advocates for peace and understanding, working on reforming the Fire Nation. Godzilla works as a big reminder for why the Fire Nation must give up their ways lest they basically self-destruct. Considering that one of Godzilla's core themes is the unintended consequence of rampant warfare and disregard for life, this does fit in nicely with the anti-war and anti-imperialistic tones of ATLA.

There's two films in this regard I want to highlight. The first being Godzilla vs King Ghidorah, which is essentially Godzilla's origin story for the Hesei series. The film makes it clear under no uncertain terms that Godzilla was initially peaceful and merely territorial before Imperial Japan brought war to his island and left him mortally wounded. Not only that, but the local Japanese Commander left him for dead (not out of malice mind you) and he later got mutated by nuclear weapon usage. Leaving him a hate filled monster. Even still, there is a moment of poignance where Godzilla encounters the Japanese Commander again in the present day (who is now a successful businessman) where he remembers that painful day and roars in agony right before killing the one who turned him into what he is. Even if he's the bad guy, it's really difficult to blame him for being what he is since he didn't have a choice in the matter.

The other film is Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla II. Again, Godzilla is an antagonistic force who goes on a rampage. This time though, it's because humans had unknowingly taken a young member of his species. And interestingly, he backs off when he senses his "son" is in danger from his rampage. The problem comes more from the humans in the second half, when they intentionally use the infant as bait for them to lure Godzilla into a trap. Aside from being reckless enough to risk another rampaging Godzilla just to get a shot at him (even though the chosen area is an uninhabited island), they're trying to kill him even when he's not an immediate threat. He wasn't even making his way towards Japan BEFORE they risked his "son's" life. So again, hard to blame him for wrecking Super MechaGodzilla.

These are the films I based a lot of Godzilla's morality on for my fic. He's certainly a threat, but often it's because of a consequence of somebody else's machinations. And while he's going to be in a more "heroic" light in the coming arcs, the damage and danger he causes just by showing up isn't going to go away.

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Godzilla Minus One (Yamazaki, 2023)

We are so inundated with images of mass destruction tossed off so casually in our mass entertainments that it’s cathartic to see a movie give such images the physical and moral weight they deserve. This is a movie very aware that what it depicts is mass death and wants you to reckon with that. And on a pure technical level, this apparently cost a fraction of the average Hollywood blockbuster but looks substantially better than most in recent years, because it takes care to frame its effects through a clear sense of scale, and to render Godzilla’s movements so you can practically feel the ground shake. The opening attack scene, which takes cues from the T-Rex attack in Jurassic Park, is especially terrifying. This movie respects Godzilla and understands that he can be fearsome.

The conventional wisdom about these movies is that the monster scenes are the raison d’être but the human scenes are boring and must be suffered through. That’s probably true of the recent American movies (King of the Monsters has an especially wide gulf in quality between the two), but I actually like the fable-like directness of Mothra vs. Godzilla, the media satire of King Kong vs. Godzilla and the Cold War tensions of The Return of Godzilla, to name a few examples outside of the original. In any case, I think the human scenes here are a cut above in the way they parallel the hero’s story with the tensions around Japan’s postwar identity, overcoming the dehumanizing wartime experience under fascist rule to achieve something empowering and humanist. I’ve perhaps grown cynical from the last few years of humankind being totally unable to work together to solve problems that threaten us all, so I couldn’t help but be moved by this movie’s vision of ordinary, collaborative heroism. I feel no shame in saying that I found much of this movie deeply moving and shed more than a few tears during my viewing.

I’m on the record for finding Shin Godzilla a pretty wretched piece of work that fails entirely as both spectacle and social commentary, so it was nice to see a Godzilla movie do those things as well as this does. I will also say that I was pretty annoyed that during my screening I was sitting next to two dudes who spent the entire movie talking and laughing. Given that they weren’t actually that loud, I probably shouldn’t care too much, but that’s the big man up there on screen, show some goddamn respect.

[moviewarfare]

A Review of “Godzilla Minus One (2023)”

Godzilla Minus One is a standalone Godzilla movie from Japan. It brings the franchise back to its roots where Godzilla is a monstrous force of nature, an allegory of war. While I do love the Western Monsterverse franchise, it is mostly for seeing Godzilla or Kong fight another giant monster. The writing and characters have never been a highlight in that universe. Does Godzilla Minus One deliver more than the Monsterverse?

Firstly, Godzilla's design is spectacularly frightening, his roar is menacing and his heat rays are some of the best and most impactful blasts I've seen from Godzilla. Every Godzilla action set piece is terrifying and tense. I love how these sequences are filmed from a human perspective, so we get to truly see the scale and how dangerous Godzilla is. The music score by Naoki Sato is phenomenal! His subtle orchestral score compliments the scene and illustrates the pain and struggles that Japanese people in WW2 went through. He then uses a strong powerful orchestral score for Godzilla to show how he is bringing back the pain again. His use of the Godzilla theme is effective every time. The visuals and cinematography look great while the CGI can be a bit wonky sometimes, for the most part, it looks good. Especially for Godzilla who looks awesome. It is honestly astounding how good this film looks for a movie under a $15 million budget.

What this film succeeds at in comparison to Western Godzilla movies, is having compelling human characters that you truly care about. The characters are all suffering in some way from World War 2, whether it is PTSD or loss. You're watching these characters try to overcome and push through this dark period. The camaraderie and family dynamic is at the core of all the characters and it is extremely touching to watch. I was especially rooting for the main character to get development just because I wanted to see him be happy. That is why for the first time, I was rooting for Godzilla to lose as I didn't want to see our characters get hurt. I also love how the story doesn't shy away from the negative aspects of Japan's government during WW2. The human drama is wonderfully engaging and can even tug at the emotional strings which is such an achievement in a Godzilla movie.

Overall, Godzilla Minus One is not only a terrific Godzilla movie, it's an amazing movie period. This movie shows that you can tell a great story with great characters and still have Godzilla as a major element. Not only that, you can still make a great looking movie with good CGI on a low budget. The CG in this movie looks better than a lot of these western movies with 200 or 300 million budgets. Godzilla Minus One is must watch and I highly recommend going to a theatre near you to experience it in all its glory!

For more reviews like this visit:

https://moviewarfarereviews.blogspot.com

[bargainmatinee]

Godzilla Minus One

2024.4

No, this is not a repeat post. I loved this movie so much, I went back and saw it in the theater again before it left. Must see. I haven’t had a chance to go back and look at the list of movies I saw last year but I think this might be #1.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (January 14-20, 2024)

Ultraman Blazar's finale aired on Friday. It was a solid capper to what's easily the best entry in the Ultra Series since I was an undergrad, full of heart and pyrotechnics. There were a few major loose ends—Captain Gento is better at keeping secrets than most hosts—which I'm hoping the movie, due in late February, will address. If you're looking for a place to start with the long-running franchise, it would be one of my first recommendations. Great effects, great cast, tons of new kaiju, and a blend of novelty (lots of focus on the tensions between the defense team and the larger monster-fighting organization; a host who's in charge of said defense team) and returning to form (Blazar yowls plenty but is an Ultra of few words; the power-ups and goofy weapons are kept to a minimum). And even if you don't want to commit to a whole show, episode 22, focusing on a hapless salesman of kaiju insurance, is a must-see for any fan of the genre. There seem to be no worlds left to conquer at Tsuburaya for lead director Kiyotaka Taguchi, so as I've been saying since around 2015: Toho, are you paying attention?

Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color, the regraded black and white version of Godzilla Minus One, is coming to North American theaters for one week starting January 26. Toho's yanking both versions from theaters after February 1—puzzling considering that the film is likely going to be nominated for the Best Visual Effects Oscar tomorrow. Takashi Yamazaki led a Godzilla delegation to the Academy's visual effects "bakeoff", in which voters watch highlights from the ten shortlisted films and their VFX teams explain their work. IndieWire reports that Yamazaki's presentation drew the most applause, describing Minus One as the "potential frontrunner." The Hollywood Reporter likes its chances too. Nominations will be announced starting at 8:30 AM EST. The Creator seems to be its biggest competition.

Godzilla Minus One also recently cleared $50 million at the U.S. box office, in the process passing the first Demon Slayer as the highest-grossing Japanese-language film ever released in the U.S. Some outlets are reporting that it's the highest-grossing Japanese film ever released here, which isn't accurate; the English-dubbed Pokémon: The First Movie made almost $86 million back in 1999. (And I think it's plausible that something like Rodan or Godzilla vs. Megalon would be the champ if you figured out how much they grossed and adjusted for inflation.)

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #4 brought Godzilla and Tiamat to Atlantis, forcing Aquaman to release the Kraken to defend his city. Incredibly, this is the third Kraken associated with the Monsterverse, after Na Kika (called Kraken when it was introduced in the King of the Monsters novelization) and the main antagonist of the Skull Island cartoon. I'm guessing it's going to have a shorter lifespan than either of them though.

In other Godzilla comic news, IDW will be putting out another intriguing one-shot in May, titled Godzilla: Mechagodzilla 50th Anniversary. Past comics from the publisher have included multiple Mechagodzilla models, but this one seems to be going above and beyond. Rich Douek is writing; Andrew Lee Griffith is illustrating. The logline:

For 50 years, the King of the Monsters, Godzilla, has gone toe to toe with its robotic doppelgänger, Mechagodzilla! As an intrepid reporter profiles the history of Mechagodzilla and its creator before the launch of the newest model, he finds himself entangled in a much deeper conspiracy. A decades-spanning adventure celebrating the mechanical monster's milestone!

One of master kaiju illustrator Shinji Nishikawa's books will receive an English translation courtesy of Titan Books. Awkwardly titled Godzilla: The Encyclopedia of Godzilla, the Japanese edition included over 100 full-bodied illustrations of various Godzilla series kaiju and analyses of their designs (alongside plenty of Nishikawa's trademark chibis). I'm sold, suffice to say.

Ryo Momota, director of the short tokusatsu film Revive! Smile Rock Giant God, has put the whole thing on YouTube with English subtitles for your amusement. It posits that a real rock formation outside of Tamano City will come to life to help its citizens in their hour of need. Very low-budget.

Kaiju Brooklyn is a one-day con that began filling a longtime void for East Coast kaiju fans last year. Here's the first major piece of news about their June 1 event: they'll be screening The Return of Godzilla outdoors at day's end. Consider me highly tempted.

Kaiju United has a new, wide-ranging interview with Barry Goldberg, webmaster of the legendary Barry's Temple of Godzilla. That fan site was my first window into the wider world of Godzilla in the early 2000s, and it's only been updated a few times since, so I was pretty interested to read how its creator was doing. Don't get your hopes up for a revival: he's still a Godzilla fan (loved Minus One, Shin not so much), but has moved on to other things. Great insights from a Big Name Fan who stayed humble.

[bellamer]

Went to see Godzilla Minus 1 with my little brother who’s a total Godzilla nerd who had seen every movie and even brought his figure with him. The movie is great and I liked it a lot. Despite my brother getting so emotionally overwhelmed that he cried and I was just trying to avoid eye contact with him because he’s the most emotionally detached person unless it comes to Godzilla or Transformers.

And my mom still doesn’t believe we should get him tested. This boy doesnt cry at family deaths or anything else sad but as soon as Godzilla appeared out of the water and the original theme started playing he was all tears until the end of the movie.

But it was a great fucking movie. We’re just watching the next one at home. Not because he cried so loudly he was shuddering but because we were the only ones in the theater who washed their asses because some people came in and they smelt like straight must and mildew and it just kept coming.

[timechange]

@doctorbrown asks: kid, is that you?

GODZILLA MINUS ONE (2023). always accepting.

Marty almost jumps out of his skin.

Sure, maybe he should've known better than to expect Doc, of all people, even thirty years younger, to be asleep at two in the morning, but it's been a rough day all around. Plus, in a house this enormous, even with a family of twelve living here you could spend a whole week without seeing anyone else.

Jesus, the house. He can't get over the house. It's decked out in fancy furniture and fluffy rugs and so huge that even if he wanted to get back to 'his' room, he doesn't know if he could without a map and compass.

"Uh, yeah," Marty finally responds. "Yeah, it's me. I, uh... I can't sleep. It's so... quiet."

Sure, it might sound babyish-- he's seventeen, for chrissakes-- but stuff like that's never mattered to Doc. And yeah, maybe it's not his Doc, but... he's Doc, and he's here, and he's alive.

He's way too beat to care about anything else.

"See, back home, there's always a-a dog barking, or some asshole blastin' the stereo. Maybe someone who left the TV on all night. A car alarm, Needles and his gang of losers tryin' to street race... something. But here..."

It's not even like camping where the woods are teeming with life and the waves of the lake are slowly lapping the shore. Here it's just the smell of cedar mothballs and must, the creaking and groaning of old pipes, and the faraway ticking of an old grandfather clock.

"Is it cool if I sit here with you?" Marty asks. "Helping you with your inventions... it, uh, helps. Chills me out. But, uh, you can say no if you want to. I totally get it."

[kingsaiyaman]

So happy I finally saw this movie. Godzilla Minus One is everything I wanted in a Godzilla as an antagonist film. So people get off your asses and see this before it's out of the theaters. It really must be experienced in a theater. Also try for Imax as well. TV just won't do this movie justice.