SHIN GODZILLA

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AndyFish
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SHIN GODZILLA

Post by AndyFish »

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I don't know how many of you are Godzilla fans but I'm going to guess there are quite a few. The latest Godzilla film from Japan is SHIN GODZILLA. It played briefly here in the States in theaters and ironically I just missed in when I was in Japan although this is better because I was able to watch it with subtitles which I would not have been able to do in a Japanese theater.

This one is filmed with a lot of similar techniques to the 1995 Gamera which was the first Kaiju film that shot from the ground up giving us a sense of what it was like to be one of the tiny people fleeing for their lives. This one does that one even better.

The music is great, and unlike most every modern Godzilla films from Japan the acting is good too.

It's not yet available here in the US but it is online if you look for it.
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njboywonder
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by njboywonder »

Slightly almost kinda not so much off topic (but perhaps beneficial to some so I'll risk it...), if anyone collects Godzilla or anything else from Japan, I have direct access to Yahoo Auctions Japan, Japanese website, and certain Japanese brick and mortars and sell to about 100 international collectors (mostly Kaiyodo and related animal figures but that's simply because that's what I collect and the group to whom I've been able to market myself). Even for items that are obtainable in the US, I virtually always beat eBay or other outlet prices--sometimes by more than 90%.

Please PM if you think I can help with anything.
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Lord Death Man
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by Lord Death Man »

If any of you read G-Fan Magazine (the English language quarterly Godzilla/Kaiju print magazine you can get via subscriptions, comic shops, or bookstores) I wrote a long review of Shin Godzilla in issue 113 after being invited to the red carpet premiere in Tokyo (I also write pieces on Gamera and Japanese culture/society for the magazine-my new avatar here is artwork kaiju artist Matt Frank did of me as one of Gamera's foes, Irys). The film did massive box office in Japan (the #1 live action film of the year), is nominated for all the major Japanese academy awards (best picture, actor, 2 for supporting actor, director, etc), and opened the door for an upcoming Godzilla anime film. As Andy implied, the film has a very serious tone and is an allegory for the 3-11 triple disaster in Japan. Godzilla's second form (he goes through five forms in the movie) has become a cult figure in Japan, "Kamata-kun" (Kamata being the old ward where the second form came ashore). If you are used to the Showa (50's-60's-70's), Heisei (80's-90's), or Millenium (1999-2004) Godzilla films Shin Godzilla will be a real eye-opener.
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

So overall, what ranking would any of you give this among Godzilla films?
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AndyFish
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by AndyFish »

Don't know if you're looking for my rating or LDM's (I'd be curious to see hers) but I'll answer anyway.

As LDM says above, the film really is about the disasters which hit Japan in the past 10 years, and that plays into the original '54 as well.

So to rank 'em:

1. GOJIRA (1954) - A real classic. Deserving of it's great release from Criterion a couple of years ago.
2. GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS (1956) - A lot of critics don't like the Americanization of GOJIRA with Raymond Burr inserted into scenes, but I think it was very well done and it's a classic too. I always watch this one on the plane to Tokyo each year.
3. SHIN GODZILLA (2016)
4. GODZILLA vs MOTHRA (1964) The last "serious" Godzilla movie in the Showa period.
5. KING KONG VS GODZILLA (1963) Somehow this one is both comedy and drama, King Kong is laughably bad looking but this is my favorite Godzilla suit (they used mostly a different suit for each film because the costumes would get wrecked during filming).
6 MONSTER ZERO (1965) Ghidorah and Rodan and those wacky aliens with the eye glasses. Plus it's got Nick Adams who I think was great.
7. GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA II (!993) The Music is back to the magnificent in this one. Great effects. Some bad acting but it's a really good entry.
8. GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH (1991) If you can understand the time travel here, good luck. Crazy bad American actors but really solid.
9. GODZILLA FINAL WARS (2004) Some really tough acting to get through-- the Western actors are almost always bad-- but you get to see the Japanese Godzilla beat up the Matthew Broderick Godzilla.
10. GODZILLA'S REVENGE (1969) This is the one that usually gets me kicked out of the Godzilla fans annual dinner party because it's hated. I love this one because the whole concept of it is Godzilla actually exists in the mind of an eight year old boy and he uses the monster as a way to face his own bullies. This one and the '56 are the ones I watch the most often. I didn't put it as #4 because no one would read past it! ;)
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Lord Death Man
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by Lord Death Man »

I recently gave my personal rankings for all the films for a kaiju podcast-I used the names they were released under in the West:

Results, starting from highest preferred:


Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Shin Godzilla (2016)

Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster (1964)

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Godzilla (1954)

Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Monster Zero (1965)

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Godzilla 2000 (1999)

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)

Destroy All Monsters (1968)

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)

Godzilla (2014)

Godzilla Raids Again (1955)

Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (1966)

Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)

Son of Godzilla (1967)

Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla (1994)

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993)

Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Return of Godzilla (1984)

Godzilla's Revenge (1969)

Godzilla Tokyo SOS (2003)

Godzilla (1998)

Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack
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SprangFan
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by SprangFan »

As a kid I loved all the Godzilla movies I got to see, but looking back most of them were pretty dreadful.

I remember when I was living in range of a TV station in Roanoke, VA, they used to show afternoon movies and one week it was all Godzillas. I started off pretty pumped, and enjoyed the Three-Headed monster and Mecha-Godzilla, but by the end of the week, when they were down to Godzilla's baby son who tried to breathe fire but could only manage smoke rings :lol: my brother and I were like, "Right, we're out."

Looking back, there must have been a spike in Godzilla-mania in the mid-late 70s because I remember buying the Marvel comic and watching the (terrible) cartoon with his (other?) son, "Godzookie." Too bad all that radiation didn't make Godzilla sterile; he should NOT have kids!

Interestingly, that same afternoon movie program once aired the Walking Tall movies (!), and this in the "after school/before dinner" timeslot, where mostly kids would be watching. Great care was taken to mute all the curse words, but all the violence was left intact. I still remember a scene where some hapless barfly caught a bullet in the eye(!).

Anyway, it wasn't until a few years ago I finally saw Gojira and I thought it was one of the most awesome films ever, right up there with the original King Kong at least. In fact, those two movies, Bride of Frankenstein and Christopher Lee's first Hammer Dracula are the only horror films to make it into my favorites list, as I'm generally not a horror fan at all.

So anyway, I will definitely give this one a go when I come across it, and thanks for the heads-up.
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Lord Death Man
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by Lord Death Man »

Just as a follow up, Shin Godzilla won seven Japanese Academy Awards, including best picture and director. Next project will be the Godzilla: Monster Planet anime theatrical film to be released this November.

The Awards:
Picture of the Year-Shin Godzilla
Director of the Year-Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi
Best Cinematography-Kousuke Yamada
Best Art Direction-Yuji Hayashida and Eri Sakushima
Best Lighting Direction-Takayuki Kawabe
Best Sound Recording-Jun Nakamura and Haru Yamada
Best Film Editing-Hideaki Anno and Atsuki Sato

A couple of people have asked me what the 'Shin' means. It was rendered in hiragana rather than kanji to deliberately keep the meaning ambiguous. Shin can mean 'god', 'true' (Godzilla evolves in the movie), 'new', 'core', 'progress' (evolution and/or new again) or other things. It is meant to imply all of these at once.

Andy, there is a reason the effects for Shin Godzilla look like the effects for the Heisei Gamera series in the 1990's. Shinji Higuchi was the effects director for all of them.
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Lord Death Man
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by Lord Death Man »

Shin Godzilla is being released in the USA on Blu-Ray and DVD August 1st by Funimation.
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Lee Kirkham
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by Lee Kirkham »

I have been a G fan since I was very young. My favorite modern-era film is Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack. I love just about everything about this one. Quite honestly, my least favorite was Final Wars. A fairly convoluted storyline and not nearly enough monster action for my tastes. I have many favorites in the various periods of G films. I have not yet seen Shin but will at some point no doubt.

There were several similar shows I watched as a kid and loved most every one of them: Ultrman, Space Giants (known in Japan as Ambassador Magma), Jonny Socko & his Flying Robot, etc. What can I say, I'm a mark for a guy in a rubber monster suit, lol.
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Lord Death Man
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by Lord Death Man »

Shin Godzilla is now out in the USA on Blu-ray and DVD (and digital download, etc etc) with an optional English dub (or subtitles). Go see Goji's awesome purple ray!!!
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AndyFish
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by AndyFish »

The Blu Ray looks great-- and even though there is a serious pacing issue with the "talking heads" I really liked this one.
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Lord Death Man
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by Lord Death Man »

For anyone who is interested, the newest Godzilla movie (GODZILLA: MONSTER PLANET) is now available on Netflix for free in either an English dub or Japanese with English subtitles. It has been playing in a limited engagement in Japanese theaters since last November. It is a full length animated film (anime!) and is the first of a three film series that will be released this year (the second part will be out in Japan in May and will feature a 'city-sized' self-aware Mechagodzilla along with the cult of Mothra). MONSTER PLANET is set on an Earth that was abandoned by humanity after waves of kaiju and Godzilla laid waste to it. Humanity tried finding a new planet to live on, but after 20 years and running low on supplies ends up having to return to Earth-where due to space-time peculiarities 20,000 years have passed. There are some real surprises in this film and if you like really huge monsters, this is by far the biggest Godzilla ever at 300 meters.
He flies and fights-BATMAN!
Purity and virtue-BATMAN!
Cowards run away!
Batman saves the day!
Also, Boy Wonder Robin.
Batman and Robin-caped crusaders at night!
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AndyFish
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by AndyFish »

Not a big Anime fan, but I'd be willing to give this a shot-- although it doesn't look like it's been released here yet. Is the design of Godzilla the boxy American version for some reason? That's what comes up in searches.
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Lord Death Man
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Re: SHIN GODZILLA

Post by Lord Death Man »

Andy, it is available right now on Netflix. The Goji in the film is supposed to be ancient and powerful so it does resemble the Legendary Godzilla to a degree (although it does not have the 'elephant feet' of 2014). Godzilla here is somewhat plant based (like the creatures in the new Kong Skull Island) and also has metallic fibers running through it that allows him to produce a magnetic shield and 'rail gun' beams.
He flies and fights-BATMAN!
Purity and virtue-BATMAN!
Cowards run away!
Batman saves the day!
Also, Boy Wonder Robin.
Batman and Robin-caped crusaders at night!
BIFF! POW! BAM! BATMAN!
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