Do you have a different standard for Godzilla films?

[LockBite]

I was thinking this evening about how I regard Godzilla films in comparison to more traditional movies. I love Godzilla, but the truth of the matter is that there's only a handful of films in the franchise that I take seriously, so to speak. Those being Gojira, Mothra vs. Godzilla, The Return of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Biollante, Godzilla 2000, Godzilla 2014, and I'd assume Shin Godzilla when I get the chance to see it. Weirdly enough, this doesn't necessarily reflect how much I actually like them, though. Case in point, I'd rather watch Son of Godzilla than Return.

The vast majority of these movies have a camp factor to them, and I love that stuff, but I definitely don't go into them the same way I do when putting on Jaws or Jurassic Park, for example (aside from the ones on that short list). Reading people's reviews, though, it seems like other people do. I dunno, am I alone here?

[Destorogoji]

You're not alone. As an example: I take the Gamera Heisei Trilogy more seriously than most of Godzilla's Heisei movies.

[Rodan]

This is difficult, and probably worth parsing in a longer post.

The short answer is: Yes. I do not hold them up to the same standards I do contemporary Hollywood films, or indie films, or really any movies or even fiction in general outside of their specific genre, culture, and era.

The long answer is: No, I hold them only to the standards they ask me to, based on their genre, culture, and era, just as I do any other kind of artistic experience. So while I may ultimately hold them to a different set of standards from most other films I watch, I don't approach them any differently. As with anything else, the starting point is, "What is this trying to do? How is it trying to do it?"

This allows me to do miraculous and seemingly hypocritical things like shit on the dialogue in Godzilla (2014) while tolerating or even praising Toho's efforts with similar pitfalls for the ways in which they otherwise succeed, while at the same time acknowledging that I wouldn't be tolerant of their shortcomings reappearing in a modern-day Toho offering.

I suppose I am predisposed to give even my least-liked Godzilla entries more time than I would a film with similar issues outside of the series. I'm interested in this malleable concept and character and the way it gets treated throughout the years. On some level, I enjoy the kaju genre as a whole, and boiled down to pure spectacle, as it often asks its viewers to do, even its biggest failures tend to offer some visceral amusement or appreciation of behind-the-scenes effort and craft. I mean, there's a reason I revisit even entries in the series I might genuinely say I hate (and there are a few of them). Is that holding them to a different standard, or is it where assessment of the series and the craft involved in the genre would ultimately lead me regardless? That's hard to say.

Within the series itself, I do tend to give top spots in personal rankings to entries I feel are both a little meatier in terms of writing and better, or at least more interestingly, executed in terms of filming, which is consistent with the way I approach pretty much everything else. Though I also love a few entries that just really deliver on colorful, good-natured camp. I don't feel any cognitive dissonance in that.

[Ivo-goji]

I have one standard for all media.

[edgaguirus]

I judge the films much the same as I do other films. I know that standards will vary from one person to another, but I mainly ask myself two questions: 1. Do I enjoy the film? 2. Would I want to watch it again?

I base my enjoyment factor on a number of things, but a few examples of Godzilla films I enjoy are M vs G, G3HM, G vs Gigan, G vs Destroyah, and G vs tSM. Some are relatively serious, while others have a more camp vibe, but I like them. I often rewatch them, as well. I hold other films, ranging from old sci fi to modern films, to the same measuring stick. I would rather see a dentist than watch the terrible comedy Your Highness, but I like me that silly piece of British comedy called Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I give the later 5....3....3 stars.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Yes I do. That's one of the reasons I despise G14 so much. I can't, not matter how hard I may try, view it in the same vein and context as I do Toho produced entries. It's not a Toho entry, it's a big budget Hollywood production. I hold Hollywood to a slightly higher standard than other countries' films. When everyone defends G14 they say "but Toho has done that too". When it comes to G14 I don't care what Toho did. LP/Warner is not Toho, nor should they try to be. LP seemed way too preoccupied with doing things the way Toho did them.

[Dracosaurian]

Nope it doesn't matter where they come from or who made them. It all comes down to if I like them and if I'll watch them again.

[Stevo_1985]

I have the same standards for Godzilla as any other films. If I like it I'll watch it.

[szmigiel]

Not really, I am a big fan of B-movies, cult classics, etc... There are always plenty of factors that go into the enjoyment of a film. I don't think newer is better even in the effects, it is how well it comes off on screen not is it the most realistic looking.

[Pkmatrix]

No. I hold Godzilla films to the same standards as everything else I watch.

(Which is probably why I get eyerolls sometimes when I tell people about Godzilla films, I think they assume I'm grading Godzilla on some sort of curve.)

[AbudJasemAlBaldawi]

Hmmm well I judge movies based on if they succeed at what they wanted to do. Godzilla movies for the most part exist to just entertain an audience and aren't meant to be taken too seriously (with a few exceptions of course, like GvB and ShinG), without any real artistic value other than maybe visual quality, and 9 times out of 10 they succeed at doing just that, so in that respect, no I wouldn't say I judge them any differently from any other movie.

[ZinK]

If I like it I'll watch it. I have the same standards for all movies.

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

Nah. If it's a good movie I'll like it. It's why I don't care for the Heisei or Millennium series.

[InnocentClarke]

I do, for pretty much the whole genre. It's such a strange, unique thing. Guys in rubber suits destroying miniature sets and fighting each other? You explain this to most people and it sounds ridiculous. But, really, it's just something of another culture, across the span of several eras, with budgets considerably lower than anything Hollywood would produce. (I read recently that virtually no films in Japan exceed the equivalent of 20 million dollars in budget. To compare, G14 was made on a $160 million budget.)

Luckily, I've always just had the right mindset for it. As a kid, I watched Power Rangers pretty religiously, from what my parents tell me, and I suppose when I got too old for Power Rangers, I switched to Godzilla. Makes me wonder how big the Toho films actually COULD be in America, considering the lasting popularity of Power Rangers as a brand and its function as a sort of primer for what the Toho Godzilla films are. They mostly just need a big break, but I don't think the Legendary films are going to give that for the Japanese films, a fact not helped by the confusing nature of the franchise with its multiple names for films, some films not being on Blu-Ray, inconsistent quality on both the Blu-Rays and DVDs, etc., etc. But I digress.