Final Wars: Why The Hate?

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realinvaderdesign
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by realinvaderdesign »

I dont see anything wrong with final wars, its like a modern showa movie, of all the millennium films its either godzilla 2000, gmk or final wars i usually re watch, sometimes megaguirus but not as much.

Id say the godzilla suit used in this film is a nice mix of the showa slimness and the millennium head design, shame it doesnt get used as much in other media.
I will say gigan is one of the few disappointing parts of the movie, he's got a cool updated design but is almost played as a joke. The other one is kaiser ghidorahs look, monster x has a pretty cool design, but after that im not too big a fan of the pantomime horse get up, they really should of used a more conventional ghidorah design.

Also id say the human actors are pretty memorable too, especially don frye as gordon and the xilien leader, the character is so over the top its great

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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

realinvaderdesign wrote:I dont see anything wrong with final wars, its like a modern showa movie, of all the millennium films its either godzilla 2000, gmk or final wars i usually re watch, sometimes megaguirus but not as much.

Id say the godzilla suit used in this film is a nice mix of the showa slimness and the millennium head design, shame it doesnt get used as much in other media.
I will say gigan is one of the few disappointing parts of the movie, he's got a cool updated design but is almost played as a joke. The other one is kaiser ghidorahs look, monster x has a pretty cool design, but after that im not too big a fan of the pantomime horse get up, they really should of used a more conventional ghidorah design.

Also id say the human actors are pretty memorable too, especially don frye as gordon and the xilien leader, the character is so over the top its great
My forum posts from five years ago, basically say the same thing you say here, so when I respond to this, understand I knew exactly how you feel.

Anyways, GFW, tries to be like a showa film, in the worst possible way, and just lacks the soul that made the showa films special. The monsters, are just that, they lack any sort of tragedy, complexity, or character. The “homage” to the showa monsters, amounts to them just being there, so godzilla can off them so he’s more bad ass and appeals to the “Godzilla is king crowd”.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve also grown more wary of some of the “comedy”, mainly incredibly mean spirited stuff, that treats people, especially foreigners, in the film like whacky idiots. Scenes like that fat kid eating chocolate, throwing Gamera in the fire, just come off as mean. The two guys watching Godzilla in the Anartic base that just get blasted away for the hell of it, also mean spirited. Of course the argument will be, well that happens in other Godzilla movies, and yeah definitely, but usually when Godzilla is outright an antagonist/and or the people getting killed in some ways deserve it.

I do agree though, that the suits, like Gigan and Monster X are well done and don’t really disagree with the other stuff you said.

And also, I actually think, up until Godzilla appears, minus some of the aforementioned bad comedy, the film actually has a good build up, and some tension with the Xilliens.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by GmkGoji »

The Xilien leader was so childish it made me and my friend laugh whenever he ranted.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

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realinvaderdesign wrote:
I'd think Godzilla would qualify as haram. I'll get my local Imam on the phone.

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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by Gigantis »

Final Wars is one of the higher ranked okay G-Films. It's incredibly fun to watch, absolutely nonsensical in the best ways, and has a nice cast of characters. At the same time, some of the kaiju designs falter, and it's clearly ripping off better films like The Matrix and X-Men, and doesn't really feel like a Godzilla film. In fact, the kaiju are kinda sidelined.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by Voyager »

It's an attack on the senses. It's so loud, and the filters that put on top of the scenes hurt the average viewer's eyes. The designs are good, but the suits are pretty bad. I honestly don't see it worthy of being the 50th-anniversary movie.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by DirektorSplennic »

I like this movie since it's one of the only japanese Godzilla movies my dad and I can watch together. I've tried showing him a few others and he just never really liked any of them. Somehow we both love Final Wars (especially the music, the soundtrack fuckin bops) because of its sheer insanity, and I like that I have a Godzilla movie that isn't one of the new ones I can watch with my dad.

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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by Chrispy_G »

I do like the soundtrack and a lot of the style....but the thing I always say is that it just feels like it set the Godzilla franchise back 30 yeas.

It had all of this hype, pomp and circumstance. Hype over the 50 year anniversary, they were getting US composers involved, there was a big deal being made about having Kyle Cooper work on the title sequence. I remember reading an article saying that they had given the film a budget that was like, twice as big as previously given to any Godzilla film. Godzilla got his star on the Hollywood walk of fame...

And for what? One of the goofiest Godzilla movies since the 70s? Where, after the opening, Godzilla doesn't show up until like an hour into the movie? A bunch of rip-offs/homages to everything from X-Men, to the Matrix, to Independence Day, to Star Wars. A movie lauded for the massive monster roster just for nearly all of them to be glorified cameos?

It just felt like an occasion where this was a "big" Godzilla movie, that felt like an event, that got eyeballs on a larger stage....only to turn out to be kind of a joke. Just like with G98. Only this was a joke in a different kind of way, obviously.

I just like to think about the kind of film we COULD have gotten, if it had all of the resources that Final Wars had, but backing a much 'better' film.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by MekaGojira3k »

I think a lot of it was hype and the other part was not being familiar with Kitamura. I watched Versus (2000) in preparation for Final Wars so I had a small inkling of what was coming. It still threw me off a little on first viewing. It think it's gleefully stupid and wallows in pastiche and the kind of energy of the 70s Godzilla films. Not saying it's 100% successful, but I see exactly why somebody wouldn't love it. I also see exactly why the right kind of person would find it hilarious/fun.

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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by Cryptid_Liker »

It would probably be way better if it wasn't the 50th-anniversary film.

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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by GojiDog »

Ever wondered what it would be like if Michael Bay directed a Godzilla film under the Toho banner?

This film is pretty close to that with a heavy emphasis on action, but some loosely explained nonsense to keep everything moving along as the movie completely assaults the senses.

That's why some fans don't like it. Personally, I enjoy it for how wild it is and I respect its reckless abandon, but its nowhere near the best of the series to me.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by eabaker »

GojiDog wrote:Ever wondered what it would be like if Michael Bay directed a Godzilla film under the Toho banner?

This film is pretty close to that with a heavy emphasis on action, but some loosely explained nonsense to keep everything moving along as the movie completely assaults the senses.
Michael Bay, for all the problems one might have with his filmmaking (I'm very much not a fan), has a remarkable gift for packing his frames with layers and layers of visual information and managing to make it all visually coherent despite the rapid fire editing. GFW's compositions are much simpler, and the editing more frenetic.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by Chrispy_G »

Cryptid_Liker wrote:It would probably be way better if it wasn't the 50th-anniversary film.
Absolutely. If this film had a bit less on its shoulders....NOT being the "last Godzilla film for a long time" not being the 50th anniversary tribute...not being the most publicized Japanese Godzilla film in the US in a long time, and being wrapped up with all of that extra attention....it would be fairly enjoyable.

I thought that once we got more Godzilla movies and moved beyond it being 'the last one' that I would enjoy it a bit more, and it isn't AS bad as just being a member of the ocean of Godzilla films.

...but to counter that....age hasn't been so kind to it, the aesthetics of the film now feel even more dated, and some of the fan-service feels even cheaper.

For me, it gets filed into the 'weird oddities' of the franchise.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by GojiDog »

I give the movie a ton of credit though.

It isn't boring and I can't say it was lazy. Whenever I watch it, it has my full attention.

Its such a weird movie that its strangely enjoyable. Its nowhere near one of my favorites, but I like it more than some of the dregs of the series.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by eabaker »

GojiDog wrote:It isn't boring and I can't say it was lazy.
Boring depends upon your perspective. When I watch it with the intention of venting some anger, it's not boring. When I try to watch it in any other mood, though, I basically tune out, because it's so monotonous.

As for lazy, that really depends on what aspects you're talking about. I'd say that very little effort was put into telling a coherent, meaningfl story or developing relatable characters, for instance.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by Jetty_Jags »

I think this movie deserves all the hate it gets, but I can't help but enjoy it like I enjoy Godzilla vs Megalon. It is by no means a good movie, and is one of the worst godzilla films in my opinion, but its so ridiculous, I honestly can't help but be entertained as if its a parody of the series I love. Understandably this leaves a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths being an anniversary film, but if there's any film that I just want to enjoy because of how stupid it is, between the matrix rip offs, the post 90s emo band aesthetic the xillians are rocking, and the best of all Captain Gordon, this movie fills that role.

On a tangent, I do want Toho to revisit the alien plot from this film, as I think the idea of a generational coup for aliens is quite interesting, if only it was executed well.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by ShinGojira14 »

... ... ...what the skreeonk was this thread about, again? :?
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by godjacob »

The big hate of it came on it being the LAST Toho Godzilla film, and the fact the last one was given to in what the majority fans saw as an "unproven" director who made it a fun but bit chaotic Kaiju mash with Matrix-elements which dated it even back then. The fact that certain Kaiju in said film (Keizer Ghidorah and Godzilla) were stated by word of god of being the "strongest" did not help it gain a favorable view.

A lot of wasted monsters and the human plot seemingly having more action than the monsters at times were part of the devise nature, but the above reasons seemed to be the strongest.

Personally I love the film for being the big popcorn flick it never pretends it is anything more than and given Godzilla has continued on past this both by Toho and non-Toho makers I think means we can let those feelings simmer down.
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Re: Final Wars: Why The Hate?

Post by MogeGoji1994 »

I also think the hate stems from people who were big Godzilla fans when it came out. I only got into Godzilla after the film had come out, so its significance as an anniversary film didn't have the same impact that Godzilla 2014 and hopefully whatever 2024 film there is. personally its one of my favorites, but ive always viewed it as just another film as opposed to the 50th anniversary and final film it was supposed to be
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