Powder
01-23-2021, 06:15 PM
Who here's a Godzilla fan? The Big G is one of my greatest loves, especially these days. Always liked the property as a kid, had seen a number of the films over time, but I watched every single movie to date with my shorty throughout 2019/20 & it really lit a flame in me. Went from a casual fan to a hardcore one. Got the collecting bug & all that. I've even got his autograph! :tlol:
I was surprised to find, upon taking part in the fandom a little bit, that most of my favorites are looked down upon, & conversely, the fan favorites were the ones we didn't particularly care for. So I'm curious to see how we'll measure up here.
ALSO! Gamera, anyone? The heisei trilogy is absolutely incredible. Better than a good chunk of Godzilla out there, I dare say. Shame the two have never met, although attempts were made. How about Ultraman? It was born of the same special effects guys, featuring a ton of cool kaiju, some of which having been repurposed Godzilla pieces.
My favorites, in no particular order...
-Shin Godzilla
Just an absolute masterpiece. Does everything right. Sort of a reimagining of 1954's debut picture, portraying the titular character as a walking natural disaster, an atrocity of man's making. It shows how utterly unprepared the government & military are to deal with something on this scale, how vulnerable cities truly are to great forces of destruction. There's a really artistic eye to its cinematography, intrigue to Godzilla's rapid evolutionary process, conflict between world powers, so much to take in. Best of all is the design of God himself, easily the most horrifying look he's had to date, abilities included, so cool. A subtlety I greatly appreciate is how there is an element of tragedy, in how Godzilla knows only pain, & does not necessarily act with any malicious intent despite its terror. It simply exists although it should not, continuously mutating, being attacked as it comes up for air to explore its surroundings & new body for the first time.
-Vs Space Godzilla
I love evil clone characters, generally speaking. I dunno why, it's just fun to see opposites, I guess. Godzilla's cells, scattered into space, make contact with a meteor of extraterrestrial origin, mutating it into a crystallized counterpart. The dude comes down & just starts terraforming & terrorizing, with a smile. Honestly, part of why I like this movie so much is the monster designs. Spacegoji is just too cool. & I love that Godzilla's son is involved as well.
-Vs Hedorah
It's straight up psychedelic. Total time capsule of the era, with hippies & all. Really, really trippy from visuals to plot elements. Has animated segments, even. Hedorah is just a giant slime creature that moves slowly but it's somehow so damn charismatic, with its little frog croaks & cat-like mewing, not to mention the fact it feeds on smokestacks that no doubt are a nod to bong rips. There's a theme throughout about pollution's devastating effects on the world, not dissimilar to Godzilla & how he is the symbol of radiation's harm, so it was a fitting way to move with the times & draw parallels to man's continued carelessness in the then modern times.
-Final Wars
It's like a remake of Destroy All Monsters in the style of anime meets super sentai meets The Matrix. It's so ridiculously over the top, with motorcylce chases, martial arts (complete with wall running!), a samurai sword wielding muscle man submarine captain, you name it. Practically every freakin' kaiju shows up, & looks incredibly cool. It's balls to the walls through & through, & the makeover that certain old time monsters got, looked great!
-Son Of Godzilla
I know it's really dorky, comedic, outright stupid, even. I just love Minya, he's hilarious. He's so ugly that it comes full circle & becomes cute again. There are a lot of really amusing moments between him & his papa, seeing Godzilla as a parent is too absurd not to fall in love with. The practical effects on all the insect enemies are killer, making up for the less than stellar Godzilla suit, IMO.
-Vs Mecha Godzilla (2002)
Sickest MG design. The concept of it gaining sentience through the posession of Godzilla's DNA is sick. Great action, compelling human parts, just overall of really good quality. Best of all the MG attempts, I think.
-Vs Megalon
A tag-team romp between the two heavy clawed beasts, Gigan & Megalon, against Godzilla & a toy robot made titan size, Jet Jaguar. It's just peak tokusatsu. I love every character design, the ridiculous plot of Atlantians having a rhinoceros beetle as their overseer, Godzilla having a strange acquaintence, it's mega goofy but mega FUN!
Some honorable mentions to The Mothra trilogy! Legit some of the greatest work Toho ever did, I think. Absolutely incredible set of movies that most people don't even know about. They're aimed at a younger audience, but hit all the right notes to please everyone. Kinda remind me a lot of 80's kid's fantasy, stuff like The Neverending Story. Great designs all around, & some superb set design, too, like an underwater temple, complete with a holographic giantess maiden! I also really like King Kong returns, Toho's "sequel" to Godzilla Vs Kong, giving their version of the big ape his own solo venture, fighting not only an evolved T-Rex, but a robot version of himself. It's really wacky, but if you like that showa era cheese, go for it.
I couldn't stand Vs. King Ghidorah '91 or GMK, though most love them...
I was surprised to find, upon taking part in the fandom a little bit, that most of my favorites are looked down upon, & conversely, the fan favorites were the ones we didn't particularly care for. So I'm curious to see how we'll measure up here.
ALSO! Gamera, anyone? The heisei trilogy is absolutely incredible. Better than a good chunk of Godzilla out there, I dare say. Shame the two have never met, although attempts were made. How about Ultraman? It was born of the same special effects guys, featuring a ton of cool kaiju, some of which having been repurposed Godzilla pieces.
My favorites, in no particular order...
-Shin Godzilla
Just an absolute masterpiece. Does everything right. Sort of a reimagining of 1954's debut picture, portraying the titular character as a walking natural disaster, an atrocity of man's making. It shows how utterly unprepared the government & military are to deal with something on this scale, how vulnerable cities truly are to great forces of destruction. There's a really artistic eye to its cinematography, intrigue to Godzilla's rapid evolutionary process, conflict between world powers, so much to take in. Best of all is the design of God himself, easily the most horrifying look he's had to date, abilities included, so cool. A subtlety I greatly appreciate is how there is an element of tragedy, in how Godzilla knows only pain, & does not necessarily act with any malicious intent despite its terror. It simply exists although it should not, continuously mutating, being attacked as it comes up for air to explore its surroundings & new body for the first time.
-Vs Space Godzilla
I love evil clone characters, generally speaking. I dunno why, it's just fun to see opposites, I guess. Godzilla's cells, scattered into space, make contact with a meteor of extraterrestrial origin, mutating it into a crystallized counterpart. The dude comes down & just starts terraforming & terrorizing, with a smile. Honestly, part of why I like this movie so much is the monster designs. Spacegoji is just too cool. & I love that Godzilla's son is involved as well.
-Vs Hedorah
It's straight up psychedelic. Total time capsule of the era, with hippies & all. Really, really trippy from visuals to plot elements. Has animated segments, even. Hedorah is just a giant slime creature that moves slowly but it's somehow so damn charismatic, with its little frog croaks & cat-like mewing, not to mention the fact it feeds on smokestacks that no doubt are a nod to bong rips. There's a theme throughout about pollution's devastating effects on the world, not dissimilar to Godzilla & how he is the symbol of radiation's harm, so it was a fitting way to move with the times & draw parallels to man's continued carelessness in the then modern times.
-Final Wars
It's like a remake of Destroy All Monsters in the style of anime meets super sentai meets The Matrix. It's so ridiculously over the top, with motorcylce chases, martial arts (complete with wall running!), a samurai sword wielding muscle man submarine captain, you name it. Practically every freakin' kaiju shows up, & looks incredibly cool. It's balls to the walls through & through, & the makeover that certain old time monsters got, looked great!
-Son Of Godzilla
I know it's really dorky, comedic, outright stupid, even. I just love Minya, he's hilarious. He's so ugly that it comes full circle & becomes cute again. There are a lot of really amusing moments between him & his papa, seeing Godzilla as a parent is too absurd not to fall in love with. The practical effects on all the insect enemies are killer, making up for the less than stellar Godzilla suit, IMO.
-Vs Mecha Godzilla (2002)
Sickest MG design. The concept of it gaining sentience through the posession of Godzilla's DNA is sick. Great action, compelling human parts, just overall of really good quality. Best of all the MG attempts, I think.
-Vs Megalon
A tag-team romp between the two heavy clawed beasts, Gigan & Megalon, against Godzilla & a toy robot made titan size, Jet Jaguar. It's just peak tokusatsu. I love every character design, the ridiculous plot of Atlantians having a rhinoceros beetle as their overseer, Godzilla having a strange acquaintence, it's mega goofy but mega FUN!
Some honorable mentions to The Mothra trilogy! Legit some of the greatest work Toho ever did, I think. Absolutely incredible set of movies that most people don't even know about. They're aimed at a younger audience, but hit all the right notes to please everyone. Kinda remind me a lot of 80's kid's fantasy, stuff like The Neverending Story. Great designs all around, & some superb set design, too, like an underwater temple, complete with a holographic giantess maiden! I also really like King Kong returns, Toho's "sequel" to Godzilla Vs Kong, giving their version of the big ape his own solo venture, fighting not only an evolved T-Rex, but a robot version of himself. It's really wacky, but if you like that showa era cheese, go for it.
I couldn't stand Vs. King Ghidorah '91 or GMK, though most love them...