What Godzilla Knockoff could've been a Franchise

[Masterofsome01]

While I do feel that Gorgo thanks mostly to his comic, definitely has more to work with, my pick would have to be Yongary as I feel that there is something that could be cobbled together to make something fairly interesting, I liked the idea in the remake that he was an alien weapon that eventually turned on his masters making him technically a space monster that saves Earth rather than destroys it

[edgaguirus]

I'd love to see a British film series with Gorgo. The mother and child relationship and wild and/or horrifying ideas of other British sci fi films could easily make a short or long franchise. I could see a group of British authorities and scientists trying to find and contain the kaijus. They are found on a remote island, and the authorities immediately take steps to contain them. But then a kaiju threat shows up and the scientists defy the authorities by releasing Ogra to deal with the threat.

Yongary is another. You could do anything with the character.

[Jetty_Jags]

That is more than fair . Hard to be a franchise starter when you don't have any known surviving copies

At least he has a kickass theme song.

Well I know what I'm going to be humming in the shower the next few days

[Al Diplodocus]

That is more than fair . Hard to be a franchise starter when you don't have any known surviving copies

At least he has a kickass theme song.

Well I know what I'm going to be humming in the shower the next few days

No doubt people will wonder why you're singing in hindi suddenly.

[Jetty_Jags]

At least he has a kickass theme song.

Well I know what I'm going to be humming in the shower the next few days

No doubt people will wonder why you're singing in hindi suddenly.

I have a few Indian friends, I should totally start singing this in front of them

[MaxRebo320]

I think there's good reason none of these ever became such. That said, I certainly wouldn't have minded seeing Gorgo return, even if I can't imagine what they'd do with a sequel.

[goji89]

Gun to my head......None of these.

*Points gun on my G89 figures*

Alright alright.......I choose you Yongary.

[Vakanai]

Ah interesting,

...

Also no love for Gogola?

Would be kind of unfair to include it since it is a lost film which, unless you were in India in 1966, no one here has ever seen.

[The Octopus]

That said, I certainly wouldn't have minded seeing Gorgo return,

Me neither. As long as Gorgo fights this giant horny alien monster.

[Vakanai]

Okay, after giving it some thought, here's my breakdown on which I'd like to see.

Gorgo - Certainly has the best film of the characters listed (although I haven't seen Guilala's - I really need to fork over $50 for that When Horror Came to Shochiku set one of these days...), has an old comic book series you could use to draw inspiration from, and as a mother/child duo offers a unique spin compared to most kaiju series by giving us an inherent family element. But most importantly perhaps, Britain has the infrastructure to pull off world-class films that can compete with Hollywood. The long running James Bond franchise of course is the most immediate thought that comes to mind when we think (big budget, special effects) British films, but there's plenty of others, whether fully British productions or more "Hollywood" productions filmed there (WB is Hollywood, but the Harry Potter films are rightly very British). They can make a film that reaches mainstream, pop culture status. Plus, it's England, so it's easier for it to reach that higher status with Western audiences since it's made with Western sensibilities and language already.

Yongary - While the original film is nothing special (very much in the vein of other child-friendly/aimed Showa era movies like the Godzilla and Gamera films of the time - with the obvious exception Yongary dies) outside the novelty of being Korean rather than Japanese, and the loose 99 remake (Yonggary/Reptilian) is in hindsight "the not good", Yongary currently benefits from one of the best potentials that ranks Gorgo so high on my list - South Korea has become home to some world-class movie making. Parasite, Train to Busan, Oldboy, and of course most relevant 2006's The Host. South Korea can compete with Hollywood in quality at least if not in complete CGI spectacle. Earlier this year I rewatched The Host for the first time since the mid/late 00's when I first saw it, and the creature effects still hold up surprisingly well. Heck, even D-War (just a year later) still kind of looks kind of great (although admittedly it went way over budget). So 15 years later since The Host, I have to imagine the CGI has gotten either better or cheaper if not both, so they should definitely be able to make something that looks good even to an audience used to Hollywood level special effects. A new stab at rebooting/remaking the monster can produce something really, truly special.

Those two are my top picks, and honestly which one I'd prefer any given day could shift on a whim. They're equal really as far as I'm concerned.

Reptilicus - I'm gonna be honest, this one is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. Probably because I first saw it late night one night on TV with my mom when I was a kid. I can not hate this film. That said, I'm fully aware that this is quite possibly the worst film of the list. Even the comic book series apparently failed at 2 issues. Also, this is the only media of Denmark I'm really aware of. I'm sure they have movies. I'm sure they have television series. I just don't know if they're any good. While I can't say they're bad because I've never seen them, the fact that none has broken through to any mainstream awareness much less my-ear-to-the-ground nerd awareness is concerning. Like, I know of Finland's first superhero movie Rendel. I've seen the trailer for Hungary's upcoming superhero movie The Hun. Like, I know some obscure modern nerd foreign films. But I don't know of anything from Denmark. That said, I'd love for them to reboot Reptilicus if only to see what a special effects movie from Denmark would look like. Sometimes pure curiosity counts for a lot.

Gappa - While Shin Godzilla has already proven Japan can deliver good looking special effects movies to hold up against an audience spoiled on Hollywood budgeted CGI, and there's the same potential for unique stories as Gorgo does for giving us a family of kaiju (this time with a daddy too), and Gappa rank up there along with Gamera as one of the few threats for land, air, and sea environments, this is one of the least interesting options for me if only because...we kind of already have enough giant monsters from Japan. Godzilla had a recent movie, a recent anime movie trilogy, and is having an anime series right now, and more Toho/Japan Goji content is inevitable. I'll be surprised if they don't announce an upcoming live action film within a year now that Legendary's released GvsK. Gamera's only had that 2015 short film thing, whatever you want to call it, but with Godzilla back in the limelight it's inevitable that his #1 knockoff makes a comeback. Ultraman is ongoing with series, series films, and an upcoming big film this year. Then there's the slew of smaller scale one off low budget fare and the like. Howl from Beyond the Fog, Kaiju Ward Gallas, Monster Seafood Wars, Koujin, Raiga, etc. I don't know if Gappa is unique enough to really standout.

Agon - After what I said about Gappa this may come as a surprise, but I think Agon would have a better chance to stand out among Japan's modern kaiju output. Why? Because unlike Gappa Agon wasn't a film - it was a miniseries (one I haven't seen yet sadly...). Television has an empty and available niche Agon could exploit - best of my knowledge, every kaiju tv series is in the Ultraman superhero format. There's no series just about a monster rampaging and causing havoc on the small screen. As a polished, Netflix type miniseries contrasting against the Ultraman type tv series, Agon could possibly have a place to work with a modern reboot.

Gogola - As I and others have pointed out, unfair to put up a lost film none of us has seen, but just the idea of a modern Bollywood kaiju film is interesting from a purely "what would that movie even be like?" morbid curiosity standpoint. I'd be hesitant to watch it myself - India putting music video like musical numbers in all their films is very offputting for me. I'd be more accepting if they blended into the story more like most English-language musicals - I like Grease and Disney movies after all. But India's musical numbers seem to come out of nowhere and have nothing really to do with the film they're in. But I'd still gladly watch clips of the kaiju action on youtube.


TL;DR Gorgo and Yongary are my main picks because modern British/S.Korean movie-making skills, but all are interesting to me personally. Left out Guilala because never seen The X from Outer Space, and added a couple more other posters had mentioned just because they have an interesting angle they could exploit (Gogola=Bollywood, Agon=miniseries event).

[Masterofsome01]

With all the love that Agon and Gogola seem to be getting from this thread I decided to take a page from darthzilla99's King Kong version of this topic and add an other option to the voting polls

Unfortunately since this my first time posting and managing a topic I had no idea what I was doing and in the process reset the poll, but hey now if your opinion has changed on one of the monsters above or would like to cast your vote to one that is in the other category well now you can

Again real sorry for the reset on the polls

[Tohosaurus]

Of the five thought-starters, Reptilicus and Guilala don't readily lend themselves to franchises because of their more blatantly villainous positioning. Not impossible just more difficult. Yongary was not exactly a hero, but in the original 1967 film was at least portrayed as kind of a victim of circumstance. Despite how poor the 1999 remake was, I would be highly interested in a fresh adaptation of the 1967 film, something inspired by films like Godzilla vs Biollante, The Host, or other monster movies which provide a commentary on humanity's relationship with the planet/nature/science.

Gappa and the whole "kaiju family" leaves more opportunity, with similar thoughts around Gorgo and its mother. Frankly, Gorgo could probably hold onto a movie all its own. I could easily see a movie with a grown Gorgo and though not expressly a sequel to the original film, a line of dialogue could reference an appearance that would imply that movie or something similar occurred. The setting in Europe also gives Gorgo some geographically-relevant foes as well: Jormungandr, Kraken, and a whole range of trolls, dragons, griffins, etc. And as mentioned, Gorgo had a comic book series so there's probably some material there too.