"Little things" in Godzilla films you wonder about

[Chrispy_G]

The entire dynamic of the latter portion of Showa films always sort of befuddles me a bit.

Like, Destroy All Monsters takes place in 1999....so would that make All Monsters Attack, Hedorah, Gigan, Megalon, and both MechaG films "prequels" to DAM...or 'midquels' between Son of Godzilla and DAM?

And the dynamic of the "reality" of AMA, Hedorah, Gigan, and Megalon in particular puzzles me.

Between
-The fairly consistent child perspective(AMA, Hedorah, Megalon), the comic-book stylizations(Gigan)
-Seeing children playing with Godzilla toys(AMA, Hedorah)
-The most overt and illogical uses of stock footage(one thing to re-use some destruction footage, another thing to believe that Godzilla fought Gigan twice and had his shoulder sliced the exact same way both times)
-Having the most outlandish/physics defying/logic-breaking portrayal of monsters and aliens(I think most can agree that things like flying, and the sliding drop kick are a bridge much farther than a jumping celebratory dance) of the series

It always felt like they were all an odd batch. I've noticed over the years that most people seem to pretty comfortably view AMA as being sort of "off book" of the continuity of the series, but nobody ever really seems to consider that it might be first in a sequence of films that follow the same path.

Are all of the PRIOR Godzilla films "movies" in the universe of AMA? Is AMA a "movie" within the universe of the 54-68 films? Are movies like AMA through Megalon ACTUAL "movies within movies" inspired by the "actual" events of heroism Godzilla displayed during the "real" events of DAM?

Just as Tarantino has his sort of interesting take on how some of his movies are "real" like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction....but that characters in those movies would go to the theater and watch something like "Kill Bill".

So the films from AMA through Megalon always sort of strike me as being that extra level higher. Like these are the type of movies that would be made in the 'universe' of the earlier Godzilla films to showcase Godzilla as a borderline superhero character, perhaps in an effort to make the masses less paranoid about him.

I know I'm giving it a LOT more thought than the filmmakers themselves probably considered in the moment while making them all. I'm well aware of the real-world reasons the films had such a shift in style and quality and child focus and use of stock footage....I've just always wondered if there was a bit of a meta "canon-ish" explanation towards some of those more odd-ball entries....and when it exactly makes the most sense to drop a film like DAM into the timeline. Should it be AFTER all of the other Showa films? Just before the MechaG duo? Do AMA through Megalon not really relate to or 'count' towards the rest of the saga in an overt, canonical way?

I know I have an obsessive personality trait when it comes to some of these things, so maybe I just need to learn to let it go.

[LockBite]

This has always bothered me: in IotAM, the Xilians want to haul Godzilla and Rodan to Planet X so that Ghidrah can kill them and then be the Xilien’s invasion tool. But why did the Xiliens even bother to bring Godzilla and Rodan to the planet in the first place? Once they got the monsters in stasis, why didn’t they just release them in the middle of deep space and get rid of them that way?

I actually consider this a pretty huge plot hole.

I thought the plan was to taken Godzilla/Rodan and mind control them so they go with Ghidorah to conquer Earth?

Hm, maybe it was and I’m not remembering.

[Voyager]

The entire dynamic of the latter portion of Showa films always sort of befuddles me a bit.

Like, Destroy All Monsters takes place in 1999....so would that make All Monsters Attack, Hedorah, Gigan, Megalon, and both MechaG films "prequels" to DAM...or 'midquels' between Son of Godzilla and DAM?

And the dynamic of the "reality" of AMA, Hedorah, Gigan, and Megalon in particular puzzles me.

Between
-The fairly consistent child perspective(AMA, Hedorah, Megalon), the comic-book stylizations(Gigan)
-Seeing children playing with Godzilla toys(AMA, Hedorah)
-The most overt and illogical uses of stock footage(one thing to re-use some destruction footage, another thing to believe that Godzilla fought Gigan twice and had his shoulder sliced the exact same way both times)
-Having the most outlandish/physics defying/logic-breaking portrayal of monsters and aliens(I think most can agree that things like flying, and the sliding drop kick are a bridge much farther than a jumping celebratory dance) of the series

It always felt like they were all an odd batch. I've noticed over the years that most people seem to pretty comfortably view AMA as being sort of "off book" of the continuity of the series, but nobody ever really seems to consider that it might be first in a sequence of films that follow the same path.

Are all of the PRIOR Godzilla films "movies" in the universe of AMA? Is AMA a "movie" within the universe of the 54-68 films? Are movies like AMA through Megalon ACTUAL "movies within movies" inspired by the "actual" events of heroism Godzilla displayed during the "real" events of DAM?

Just as Tarantino has his sort of interesting take on how some of his movies are "real" like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction....but that characters in those movies would go to the theater and watch something like "Kill Bill".

So the films from AMA through Megalon always sort of strike me as being that extra level higher. Like these are the type of movies that would be made in the 'universe' of the earlier Godzilla films to showcase Godzilla as a borderline superhero character, perhaps in an effort to make the masses less paranoid about him.

I know I'm giving it a LOT more thought than the filmmakers themselves probably considered in the moment while making them all. I'm well aware of the real-world reasons the films had such a shift in style and quality and child focus and use of stock footage....I've just always wondered if there was a bit of a meta "canon-ish" explanation towards some of those more odd-ball entries....and when it exactly makes the most sense to drop a film like DAM into the timeline. Should it be AFTER all of the other Showa films? Just before the MechaG duo? Do AMA through Megalon not really relate to or 'count' towards the rest of the saga in an overt, canonical way?

I know I have an obsessive personality trait when it comes to some of these things, so maybe I just need to learn to let it go.

The way I see it:

Yes, Gigan, Hedorah and Megalon are real life events that occurred in the Godzilla Franchise, maybe with the exception of Hedorah, as it doesn’t really connect to any other film. I could accept a world where AMA and Hedorah are just films within the Universe. Gigan and Megalon connect to Zone Fighter, and Megalon connects to the MG Films, as we last see Anguirus falling into a crevice, only for him to show up in some random ass place in GvMG.

[eabaker]

The entire dynamic of the latter portion of Showa films always sort of befuddles me a bit.

Like, Destroy All Monsters takes place in 1999....so would that make All Monsters Attack, Hedorah, Gigan, Megalon, and both MechaG films "prequels" to DAM...or 'midquels' between Son of Godzilla and DAM?

And the dynamic of the "reality" of AMA, Hedorah, Gigan, and Megalon in particular puzzles me.

Between
-The fairly consistent child perspective(AMA, Hedorah, Megalon), the comic-book stylizations(Gigan)
-Seeing children playing with Godzilla toys(AMA, Hedorah)
-The most overt and illogical uses of stock footage(one thing to re-use some destruction footage, another thing to believe that Godzilla fought Gigan twice and had his shoulder sliced the exact same way both times)
-Having the most outlandish/physics defying/logic-breaking portrayal of monsters and aliens(I think most can agree that things like flying, and the sliding drop kick are a bridge much farther than a jumping celebratory dance) of the series

It always felt like they were all an odd batch. I've noticed over the years that most people seem to pretty comfortably view AMA as being sort of "off book" of the continuity of the series, but nobody ever really seems to consider that it might be first in a sequence of films that follow the same path.

Are all of the PRIOR Godzilla films "movies" in the universe of AMA? Is AMA a "movie" within the universe of the 54-68 films? Are movies like AMA through Megalon ACTUAL "movies within movies" inspired by the "actual" events of heroism Godzilla displayed during the "real" events of DAM?

Just as Tarantino has his sort of interesting take on how some of his movies are "real" like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction....but that characters in those movies would go to the theater and watch something like "Kill Bill".

So the films from AMA through Megalon always sort of strike me as being that extra level higher. Like these are the type of movies that would be made in the 'universe' of the earlier Godzilla films to showcase Godzilla as a borderline superhero character, perhaps in an effort to make the masses less paranoid about him.

I know I'm giving it a LOT more thought than the filmmakers themselves probably considered in the moment while making them all. I'm well aware of the real-world reasons the films had such a shift in style and quality and child focus and use of stock footage....I've just always wondered if there was a bit of a meta "canon-ish" explanation towards some of those more odd-ball entries....and when it exactly makes the most sense to drop a film like DAM into the timeline. Should it be AFTER all of the other Showa films? Just before the MechaG duo? Do AMA through Megalon not really relate to or 'count' towards the rest of the saga in an overt, canonical way?

I know I have an obsessive personality trait when it comes to some of these things, so maybe I just need to learn to let it go.

Just curious if you ever saw my post speculating on whether or not the events of Hedorah were all in Ken Yano's imagination (mylultimate conclusion was that they were not, but that the film opens that possibility up in a way which could in fact be purposeful).

[edgaguirus]

So the films from AMA through Megalon always sort of strike me as being that extra level higher. Like these are the type of movies that would be made in the 'universe' of the earlier Godzilla films to showcase Godzilla as a borderline superhero character, perhaps in an effort to make the masses less paranoid about him.

n

Those films feature Godzilla as a hero because their target audience at the time was getting younger. The kids liked Godzilla as a hero.

[Chrispy_G]

Just curious if you ever saw my post speculating on whether or not the events of Hedorah were all in Ken Yano's imagination (mylultimate conclusion was that they were not, but that the film opens that possibility up in a way which could in fact be purposeful).

Indeed! I find that to be an interesting read on it as well. AMA and Hedorah have that stylistic license that makes room for that "child is having a fantasy" type of vibe. AMA is obviously overt. Hedorah just has a number of things, the child perspective, the various 'animated' sequences, the various sort of 'trip' sequences, the moments where Ken seems to be the ONLY one seeing Godzilla etc

For Gigan, it is sort of the comic-book element....it is more overt when they use speech bubbles in the Japanese version, sort of selling a "this isn't reality" style.

It is all conjecture and for fun, but I do like that the films have avenues for these sort of 'alternate reads' of them.

[eabaker]

Just curious if you ever saw my post speculating on whether or not the events of Hedorah were all in Ken Yano's imagination (mylultimate conclusion was that they were not, but that the film opens that possibility up in a way which could in fact be purposeful).

Indeed! I find that to be an interesting read on it as well. AMA and Hedorah have that stylistic license that makes room for that "child is having a fantasy" type of vibe. AMA is obviously overt. Hedorah just has a number of things, the child perspective, the various 'animated' sequences, the various sort of 'trip' sequences, the moments where Ken seems to be the ONLY one seeing Godzilla etc

For Gigan, it is sort of the comic-book element....it is more overt when they use speech bubbles in the Japanese version, sort of selling a "this isn't reality" style.

It is all conjecture and for fun, but I do like that the films have avenues for these sort of 'alternate reads' of them.

Yeah, I love the comic book aspect of Gigan, and how thoroughly its threaded throughout the movie. I don't know that it ultimately means anything, but it's a cool motif than helps make the flick really unique.

[Malchik]

I thought of another one: How they assumed Godzilla Jr. was herbivorous.

[edgaguirus]

I'm not sure why either. The Japanese had data on Godzilla, and knew he had mutated from a therapod.

[godjacob]

Why they made up two different islands for King Kong to live on in the Showa Series.

[Rando Yaguchi]

I still don't know why people overthink the Showa era's continuity, when the creators of those films clearly weren't thinking much about it themselves. They're mostly just standalone films.

[godjacob]

I still don't know why people overthink the Showa era's continuity, when the creators of those films clearly weren't thinking much about it themselves. They're mostly just standalone films.

Possibly because rather than make a more openly present continuity (Heisei Series) or make almost each film independent of the other (Millennium Series) the Showa's more loose continuity leaves one open to try and fill in the blanks.

[edgaguirus]

I wonder about the origin of the Shobijin. Are they the product of mutation caused by the fallout of nuclear tests, or are they not human? I've never read the book Mothra was based on, so does the book offer an insight into this question?

[Voyager]

I wonder about the origin of the Shobijin. Are they the product of mutation caused by the fallout of nuclear tests, or are they not human? I've never read the book Mothra was based on, so does the book offer an insight into this question?

I believe it’s that they’re mystical beings, just like Mothra herself.

[Thegarbagemonster]

This is more wondering about the monster design itself than the films, but I do wonder if Kumonga's legs are intentionally made to end in sharp points, or if the designer just fell for the common misconception that spider's legs are like that in real life (They aren't- spiders have little feet or paws).

Another thing is how Minya can control his atomic smoke ring thing to go around King Ghidorah's neck? Why doesn't Godzilla use these rings if they can be spat with such accuracy like that? It'd be far more useful than his normal breath. He could guide it straight to an enemy's weak point.

I also wonder in KOTM why Godzilla tackles KG through the building, but then kinda stands there huffing steam out of his nose afterwards instead of pouncing on him to finish him off.

[godjacob]

Not a Godzilla movie but still, who killed the dinosaurs in the Rebirth of Mothra Films? Both Desghidorah and Grand King Ghidorah are given credit for causing the extinction of the dinosaurs and seem to conflict with each other.

[Gigantis]

Not a Godzilla movie but still, who killed the dinosaurs in the Rebirth of Mothra Films? Both Desghidorah and Grand King Ghidorah are given credit for causing the extinction of the dinosaurs and seem to conflict with each other.

From what i gathered, Desghidorah actually came sometime after GKG did, and he was the cause of the destruction of the Elias civilization and most of the Mothra species, not the dinosaurs.

[TyrantGojira]

Was Dr. Mafune's discovery of Titanosaurus before the events of the 54 film? If not, I don't see why his colleagues would be so fast to dismiss his claim.

[eabaker]

Was Dr. Mafune's discovery of Titanosaurus before the events of the 54 film? If not, I don't see why his colleagues would be so fast to dismiss his claim.

If we assume that both movies are set in the same years they respectively take place, then the discovery of Titanosaurus came about six years after the original film.

But that assumes a degree of continuity that I don't think really applies here.

[Terasawa]

Mafune announced his discovery of Titanosaurus after he'd already pissed off the community with his animal control experiments and theories. It's also implied that he was already quite nutty by that time. I think they were just skeptical of anything coming out of his mouth by that point.