GojiDog wrote:Starting in May, I am going to rewatch all the 32 Godzilla movies to date (Gojira 54 to Planet Eater) throughout the month and then see KOTM opening night.
34
LOL, thanks. I forgot to count the Tristar and Legendary Films.
So really, lets make that 33. I'm not watching the 98 film, lol.
Since the anime trilogy just came out, I probably won’t rewatch it as it’s all fresh in my mind. 98 is fair game though. Despite how much it bores me, it’s still a Godzilla film, and unfortunately does hold some historical impact on the franchise as a whole.
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm
Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.
98 Zilla is a weird one. I wouldn't call it boring, or even that bad of a film on its own. Good is not a word I would use, but I've seen much worse. To me, if I were going to judge it purely as a standalone film, I'd say that it is typical forgettable summer blockbuster fare of the time period.
But as a lifelong Godzilla fan, I'm all like "What on Earth did you do?!?!"
I don't mind it, but I'm definitely of the opinion that it's still a bad movie, enjoyable or not. People that say "Without the Godzilla name, it's a pretty good monster movie" sound like they already don't have very high standards for monster movies.
UltramanGoji wrote:I don't mind it, but I'm definitely of the opinion that it's still a bad movie, enjoyable or not. People that say "Without the Godzilla name, it's a pretty good monster movie" sound like they already don't have very high standards for monster movies.
That's a fair assessment.
I think if it wasn't called Godzilla, it'd have turned out to be something like Anaconda where it isn't necessarily a good movie, but kids that grew up with it would like it for what it is.
But if you even have a small idea of what Godzilla truly is, then the 98 film is a gigantic head scratcher.
UltramanGoji wrote:I don't mind it, but I'm definitely of the opinion that it's still a bad movie, enjoyable or not. People that say "Without the Godzilla name, it's a pretty good monster movie" sound like they already don't have very high standards for monster movies.
That's a fair assessment.
I think if it wasn't called Godzilla, it'd have turned out to be something like Anaconda where it isn't necessarily a good movie, but kids that grew up with it would like it for what it is.
But if you even have a small idea of what Godzilla truly is, then the 98 film is a gigantic head scratcher.
While it wasn't the first Godzilla film I ever saw the hype around the film is what introduced me to the character and my first Godzilla toy was a 98 Trendmasters toy so I will admit to some personal bias but I really do like the film so I will be watching it in my pre KOTM marathon. Because we DO have some really great Godzilla movies that came out after G98 I find that I can just enjoy and appreciate G98 as a different interpretation of the Godzilla character alongside other interpretations such as Hanna Barbara and the anime trilogy.
GojiDog wrote:I'd say that it is typical forgettable summer blockbuster fare of the time period.
That's how I feel about it, except more often than not, '90s summer blockbuster = bad, boring movie in my book.
Yeah, pretty much this. It's on-par with your average 90s Blockbuster of that type (Twister, Independence Day, etc.)...which I'm not a fan of to begin with. But to call it the nadir of bad cinema is just dumb, and yeah, if it didn't have the Godzilla name attached to it, it'd be mostly forgotten about. I'd rank it low in terms of all Godzilla movies, but it would rank higher than stuff like Spacegodzilla, Megaguirus, and ESPECIALLY those anime movies.
GojiDog wrote:I'd say that it is typical forgettable summer blockbuster fare of the time period.
That's how I feel about it, except more often than not, '90s summer blockbuster = bad, boring movie in my book.
Yeah, pretty much this. It's on-par with your average 90s Blockbuster of that type (Twister, Independence Day, etc.)...which I'm not a fan of to begin with. But to call it the nadir of bad cinema is just dumb, and yeah, if it didn't have the Godzilla name attached to it, it'd be mostly forgotten about. I'd rank it low in terms of all Godzilla movies, but it would rank higher than stuff like Spacegodzilla, Megaguirus, and ESPECIALLY those anime movies.
I'd rank it below the specific 90s summer blockbusters you mention, with the caveat that its first 30 minutes are some of the strongest in that (largely forgettable) genre.
Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could at any time lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world.
Terasawa wrote:That's how I feel about it, except more often than not, '90s summer blockbuster = bad, boring movie in my book.
Yeah, pretty much this. It's on-par with your average 90s Blockbuster of that type (Twister, Independence Day, etc.)...which I'm not a fan of to begin with. But to call it the nadir of bad cinema is just dumb, and yeah, if it didn't have the Godzilla name attached to it, it'd be mostly forgotten about. I'd rank it low in terms of all Godzilla movies, but it would rank higher than stuff like Spacegodzilla, Megaguirus, and ESPECIALLY those anime movies.
This is the absolute last Godzilla movie I'll watch. IMO, there's very little appeal for it as a movie and none whatsoever as a Godzilla flick. That's not to say I don't value certain aspects of it, such as the strong buildup (eabaker beat me to it), but there's very little to it that makes me want to spend 2.5 hours watching the whole thing. Hell, I could hardly enjoy Rifftrax's attempt to mock it; that was five years ago and I haven't watched it at all since.
Truthfully it's hard for me to compare it to the other Godzilla movies (Toho and Legendary). It's an apples and oranges situation. Now, is it a better movie than some of the Japanese films? Probably, but I think most of the truly good qualities are a direct result of the filmmakers knowing how and where to spend their $150m budget and less of them knowing how to make a good film.
I will be reattempting to watch all Godzilla films and select kaiju films in preparation for Godzilla: KOTM. When 2014 was about to come out, I tried to watch all of the Godzilla films over a span of a month; I ended up watching up until the beginning of the Heisei Era and never finished that marathon. I hope that by starting in April, I will give myself ample enough time to keep my motivation up and get through them all. There are some movies that I will be watching that I haven't watched since that marathon or beforehand like Son of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, and Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (I tend to rewatch the Heisei Series the most). So far, I've watched the first two Godzilla films, Rodan, Varan, and Mothra (which I haven't watched since I was in high school). Aiming to watch some films that I have never seen before like The Mysterians, Dogora, and Yamato Takeru. Excited for the challenge and can't wait for the new film.
Last edited by GodzillaXGomoraFight on Mon Apr 08, 2019 6:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Not sure how people have time to marathon every film in the franchise. I can barely keep up with the TV shows I watch.
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I'm just watching KSI and G14 in chronological order. Probably read awakening and Birth of Kong as well so I have all the Monsterverse lore up to date.
I plan to go all out before and after KOTM's release. First I'm checking out Dougherty's previous films - Trick r Treat (which I've seen before) and Krampus (which I haven't). Then it's a Godzilla movie a day til May 31 - including Rodan, Mothra, G98 and Skull Island. I won't be watching the anime trilogy because I don't have Netflix at the moment.
After KOTM I'm gonna try to sit down for the first time in forever and watch the Hanna-Barbera series (the episodes on DVD anyway) and Godzilla: The Series. And THEN I'll try to fit in non-Godzilla Toho kaiju films between whatever else I have going on (Mysterians, Varan, Atragon, etc.).
One positive I will throw G98's way: The build up to Godzilla is actually somewhat effective. The scene with the old man saying "Gojira" as Jean Reno waved the fire in front of his face was the best scene in the movie. Its just a shame that it couldn't live up to it.