Talkback: GMK - Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah (2001)

[JVM]

I love Monster Zero. It's one of my favorite Godzilla films personally.

Doesn't make it better than GMK however.

[Gigan X3]

I love Monster Zero. It's one of my favorite Godzilla films personally.

Doesn't make it better than GMK however.

I think GMK is just Really good but not Great as many of the Showa Jewels.

[Thanos6]

My problems with this film:

While I wouldn't have a problem with King Ghidorah becoming a good guy, it shouldn't be so sudden. Godzilla didn't become a hero overnight, it took several films. If they wanted to make King Ghidorah someone who, like Godzilla, can be slotted into several roles, they should have taken the time to do it right.

Speaking of King Ghidorah, he just looks awful. The heads and necks flailing around were some of the worst special effects I've seen in any kaiju film.

Also, I have a problem with the message of the film. "Don't forget the sacrifices made by the soldiers of the past," or at least, that's the message I got from it. Fair enough, but these weren't noble heroes defending the homeland, they committed horrible atrocities like (as mentioned above) the Rape of Nanking. That's like saying "Don't forget the brave sacrifices of the brave boys who gave their lives for the German Fatherland," and I don't feel I'm invoking Godwin's Law here, since they were allied with the Nazis after all.

[TokyoVigilante]

As I understand the political climate that motivated the theme of GMK, the Japanese don't really see themselves as "the bad guys", they see themselves in a semi-victimised light. There's a bit of a move towards imperialism again and a push to rearm, something Kaneko is strongly against.

Godzilla being possessed by dead soldiers (I thought it was all victims of the Pacific War myself) is a fierce reminder of the suffering and destruction that an imperial Japan wrought and how their nationalist pride blinds them to the travesties they caused.

Which brings up another negative; the theme, while certainly current and worth having a conversation about, the film doesn't really translate that very well and it's kind of muddled.

[Thanos6]

Mm, really? If it's ALL victims of the PW and not just the Japanese soldiers, than they should have said that and made it explicitly clear.

And yeah, I'm aware of the tendency for Japan to whitewash it's WW2 history, I just thought Kaneko was on that side.

[Toxic Toast]

Old dude: "This animal contains the restless souls of the countless people who perished during the terrible battles that took place during the Pacific conflict."


Admiral Tachibana: "But one thing I don't understand is... our soldiers died for their country. So why do they now want to destroy Japan?"
Yuri: "But so many other people suffered all over Asia. Their spirits are overwhelmingly more numerous."


Old dude: "Because the Japanese people want to forget what happened. They have deemed it preferable to forget the pain and the agony they inflicted on all those people!"



Japan did some nasty shit back then, yet the current generation wants to ignore (or worse, sugarcoat) the war. This pisses-off the spirits of Japan's victims and they raise up Godzilla for vengeance. Kaneko is as much in favor of whitewashing his nation's WWII history as Honda was in favor of nuclear bombs.

[Chris55]

One problem i had with the movie is the chick in the hospital bed being killed. Made Godzilla seem like a pussy taking out someone who was helpless.

[GodzillaDude]

One problem i had with the movie is the chick in the hospital bed being killed. Made Godzilla seem like a pussy taking out someone who was helpless.

Even if she wasn't helpless it wouldn't have mattered lol and he's a monster. And who says he even saw her in there?

[Tyler]

Godzilla was supposed to be a big bully in this one.

[Starfishman]

The bad english dubbing
The hot female main character being annoying

[Goji]

I don't think dubbing really counts as a "negative" since it's not something that's part of the original film.

[Gigan X3]

I don't think dubbing really counts as a "negative" since it's not something that's part of the original film.

Agreed, that's actually an excuse : P

[ligerzilla2014]

i hated the shot of goji from the inside. even though it was cool to see the big guy from the inside, they made it look terrible. i also hated how weak king ghidorah was and that he hatched from an egg. HE DIDN'T HATCH FROM AN EGG, HE WAS CREATED WHEN GOD HAD A NIGHTMARE AND IT TOOK THE FORM OF A GOLDEN DRAGON. HE WAS BAPTIZED IN CHAOS.


i think i need to lay off the KWC for a while :l

[Godzilla 1995]

i hated the shot of goji from the inside. even though it was cool to see the big guy from the inside, they made it look terrible.

it looked alright, considering what they had to do.

i also hated how weak king ghidorah was and that he hatched from an egg.

Since when did he hatch from an egg, and he was weak to make Godzilla look stronger. It fit for the movie storyline, since it was originall gonna be Varan Baragon and Anguirus.

[Darth Calypso]

Godzilla let himself go and I wanted to see how Mothra killed those people

[JVM]

Rewatched the movie and take back all negatives I gave previously.

[Chris55]

I wanted to see how Mothra killed those people

some "guardian monster" eh?

[Tyler]

some "guardian monster" eh?

They were protecting the land, not the people.

[HayesAJones]

some "guardian monster" eh?

They were protecting the land, not the people.

Besides, those douchebags were hurting a puppy!

[shinmattiathekaiju]

-Godzilla with the beer belly.

-Ghidorah as a good guy.