Which millennium film had the most Showa feel to it?

szmigiel · Post by **szmigiel** » Wed Jul 12, 2017 10:34 am

Which film do you think captures the Showa elements and felt like a attempt to recreate the Showa era?

Hokmuto · Post by **Hokmuto** » Wed Jul 12, 2017 8:54 pm

Final Wars definitely did out of all the Millenium films. Not saying it was executed well, just saying it had the most elements from it.

LegendZilla · Post by **LegendZilla** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 2:37 am

The Kiryu movies felt the most like early 60's Showa films, whereas GFW felt like a 70's film.

Zarm · Post by **Zarm** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 4:32 am

LegendZilla wrote:The Kiryu movies felt the most like early 60's Showa films, whereas GFW felt like a 70's film.

Well said.

tbeasley · Post by **tbeasley** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 10:58 am

GMK has its own identity with the mystical elements but it has the most authentic, contemporary Showa era feel to me. It feels like a big golden age film like Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster with the monster roles swapped around.

YouTube · Post by **MechaGoji Bro7503** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 11:21 am

GMK. Close second is the Kiryu Saga.

Post by **LSD Jellyfish** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:20 pm

Hmmm, the Showa series had such a variety of movies(compare Gojira, to IOAM, to Godzilla vs Megalon).

I would say GFW is the obvious answer, all the monsters in it are Showa monsters minus Zilla and Monster X who is really just a stand in for King Ghidorah. Even then, many of the monsters hadn't been seen since the Showa Era like Anguirus. It pretty much includes everything, Aliens, Interpol (the mutants), scientists, and the Gotengo and Gorath.

To be clear it's not similar in tone to let's say Godzilla vs Mothra, but it's definitely over the top and strangely dark in both a Godzilla vs Megalon and TOMG way.

Major sssspielberg! · Post by **Major sssspielberg!** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 8:54 am

Final Wars I guess. Kiryu films felt like they were trying too hard to capture the Showa feel to me. Final wars on the other hand felt more like a 70s remake of Destroy All Monsters made personally by the early 2000s wearing a leather trench coat and filmed in BULLETTIME©

Mr_Goji_and_Watch · Post by **Mr_Goji_and_Watch** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 9:57 am

Definitely not Final Wars, outside of superficial similarities like aliens and world organizations, it feels nothing like a Showa film.

szmigiel · Post by **szmigiel** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:12 am

Godzilla 2000 is pretty much a Heisei film with a new look for Godzilla. In fact I have always felt it was a retread of Godzilla Vs Biollante, with a few tweaks and changes.

It has Godzilla attacking power plants, which was never a Showa element.
It featured Godzilla as underdog battling a larger more powerful opponent (Heisei).
Also the battle was more beam war (Heisei) then Tooth and Claw (Showa) or Pro Wrestling (Champion Showa).
Through out the film Godzilla was more Anti-Hero (Heisei) then straight up villain (Early Showa) or Earth Protector (Golden Showa) or Super Hero (Champion Showa).

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus is like a mix or the Champion Showa film and a Heisei.
The nice change is that Megaguirus is a faster more agile opponent that can nullify Godzilla primary weapon, instead of a larger more powerful foe.

So the fight was more Tooth and Claw (Golden Showa) with a little bit of Pro Wrestling (Champion Showa) then straight up Beam War (Heisei).

GMK does have a feel of the 50's Showa films, but also fits in with "Return of Godzilla" and "Shin Godzilla" as more of a modern reboot then a Showa tribute. I can see it as a tribute to 1954 which has always stood alone from the other entries in the Showa era.

Godzilla X Mechagodzilla and Godzilla Tokyo SOS tried to bring Showa flavor into the film by having some kaiju other then Godzilla but it comes off as attempt to do a super robot anime more then a Showa Godzilla film to me.

The fights are also more of the Beam Wars with some Sumo Bumping which again reminds me more of Heisei then any of the fight styles in Showa.
It does try to split the focus between more of the Human story and Godzilla story running parallel (Golden Showa)

Godzilla Final Wars had a good mixture of elements from the 60’s Showa films and the 70’s Champion festival films.

The main plot is Alien invasion which is (Golden Showa)
Mind Controlled Kaiju (Golden Showa)
Kaiju are the secondary plot which is again (Golden Showa)
Fighting was Pro Wrestling which is (Champion Showa),
Kaiju scenes are shorter which is more like the (Golden Showa).
However Godzilla is in his anti hero role (Heisei), with a kind of change of heart at the end, more then straight up villain (Early Showa) or Earth Protector (Golden Showa)

Post by **eabaker** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 10:09 am

I'm really the first one to vote for Megaguirus? To me, that's the only entry in the Millennium series (excepting GMK's opening credits sequence) to feel tonally akin to any part of the Showa era.

Ivo-goji · Post by **Ivo-goji** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 10:13 am

None of them honestly.

Not in any of the ways I find the Showa series distinctive.

latinothor · Post by **latinothor** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 9:28 pm

Godzilla Final Wars seems like the obvious choice, but a case could be made for GMK

Post by **eabaker** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 11:11 pm

GFW is way too self-consciously 2000s hyperactive to feel remotely like the Showa era to me.

Post by **Shoe Yeti** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 3:35 pm

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. It felt like a classic Showa-era Godzilla vs (insert monster here) film.

Post by **eabaker** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 3:46 pm

Shoe Yeti wrote:Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. It felt like a classic Showa-era Godzilla vs (insert monster here) film.

Someone agrees with me! I feel vindicated!

Of course, since this is your first post, I'm sure people will think I just created a dummy account to agree with myself.

Post by **Shoe Yeti** » Mon Jul 17, 2017 4:00 pm

eabaker wrote:
Shoe Yeti wrote:Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. It felt like a classic Showa-era Godzilla vs (insert monster here) film.
Someone agrees with me! I feel vindicated!

Of course, since this is your first post, I'm sure people will think I just created a dummy account to agree with myself.

Haha! Well, I will say that I am not you so yes there is another person who agrees with you! When I first read this topic I immediately thought "Godzilla vs. Megaguirus" was the obvious answer and I was surprised to see that it only had one vote. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus is my favorite Millennium-era film since it felt like a straight Show-era monster battle movie. It was also a bit campier than most of the more recent films. I recall Godzilla doing a flying body press on Megaguirus. Whenever Godzilla uses wrestling moves I immediately think of the Showa-era films.

tbeasley · Post by **tbeasley** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:31 am

Even with the Showa references I feel the Tezuka films lean more towards the Heisei scale of things with the anti-Godzilla military groups bringing G-force to mind. Which is a shame considering the smaller, relatable scale of G2K and GMK, and the whole idea of the Millennium series distancing itself from the Heisei state of mind, but they kept treading back anyway.

LockBite · Post by **LockBite** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 4:36 pm

I gotta go with Godzilla 2000, or at least the American cut. The grainy picture alone is a huge reason, but there were a lot of little moments that seemed like visual callbacks. To name a few,
- Godzilla's tail dragging over the waterfront and getting covered in dirt reminded me of the early Showa stuff
- Orga's flying form is reminiscent of Hedorah.
- The house the protagonists live in looks very old-fashioned. Those scenes were also lit similarly to interior scenes from the Showa era.
- Godzilla's size relative to his surroundings changed similarly to Showazilla
- A lot of industrial settings in the first half.
- Lots of explosions.

GodzillaFan1990's · Post by **GodzillaFan1990's** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 7:35 pm

Godzilla: Final Wars for obvious reasons with Godzilla being all ''HUAH'S DA KING!!!! NU WUN KANT STUP HIM!!!!''

You know despite having struggled, needing help or losing in many of his previous movies...

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