Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

[godzillalives88]

And guilty confession, I like the human cast and characters of this one. They have good chemistry, without falling into the romantic interest or precocious child tropes.

I see absolutely no reason that should be a guilty confession. I think the trio of Shinoda, Katagiri and Miyasaka have the most interesting dynamic of pretty much any ensemble since the Showa era; I love the way that Miyasaka is torn between Shinoda and Katagiri, while Shinoda's screentime is balanced between that simmering, genuinely hostile atmosphere and the more playfully snarky tone of his scenes with Yuki and Io.

I think the human characters in Godzilla 2000 are very underrated, and a general step up from the Heisei series. The usual stern scientists and military figures are replaced by an off-beat father/daughter/reporter trio, and Katigiri is a nice throwback to the human antagonists of the Showa era. Furthermore, I genuinely fear for Shinoda in the scene where the UFO destroys the building he's trapped in, and am always happy/relieved to see him reunited with Yuki and Io. That to me is truly indicative of the human characters working.

[Space Hunter M]

Some amusing Engrish subtitles from the Korean DVD release.

[bugmolly]

This is my absolute favorite Godzilla movie ever, i remeber always watching it as a kid and acording to my aunt when i was 4 ish my favorite thing to say was GODZILLA 2000!!!!

[edgaguirus]

Punctual Godzilla's skin? That translation work leaves some unusual dialogue.

[KaijuFiend]

Punctual Godzilla's skin? That translation work leaves some unusual dialogue.

Didn't you know? Godzilla's skin is always on time.

[Space Hunter M]

[Giga Kaiju]

DEM BLACK SPOTS.

[three]

so, does anyone know the name of the score for the scene when Orga's head flips open, causing Godzilla to kinda rear back in a "what the fuck" moment?

[Giga Kaiju]

Umm, in the American or Japanese OST's?

Because if it is the american, then It is by J. Peter Robinson. An specially made track for the movie's US release.

[Rodan]

So, having recently bought the Blu-Ray, I have finally, for the first time ever, seen the Japanese cut of the film.

It really is a film with two imperfect cuts. The American version cuts out some typically-genre Toho shots that slow down the pacing, including one early one of Shinoda and co. driving silently in the GPN car -- the kind of shot that does nothing for characters or pacing, and would be editing 101 to take out. These moments are frustrating in the Japanese version. The U.S. version also has drastically superior sound design for basically every moment that requires a sound-effect, and, in most scenes, preferable color grading (though there are some that work better in the more muted Japanese version's palette). However, I generally prefer the way the score is used in the Japanese version, and that goes along way. And of course the U.S. version's camped up dialogue is a mixed bag (though the voice actors are all quite good).

Anyway, I just want to throw out my praise for this film again, because I think it's absolutely criminal that it sits middle or low on most peoples' ranking of the franchise. This is, to me, without a doubt the best modern update on the unpretentious monster vs. monster formula. Better than Godzilla '14 even.

-Established motivations for Godzilla: check
-Established motivations for the human characters, and developed interactions: check (and non-military to boot)
-Awesome human villain: check
-Great score
-Engaging moral dilemma that feeds the conflict: check, in the form of the legitimate medical uses of Organizer G versus Godzilla's ever-present threat to Japan
-Interesting subversion of classic genre tropes: check
-Easily, easily some of the best miniature work in the entire franchise
-Some of the best scale-establishing shots in the entire franchise

Just an absolute joy from start to finish. The only post-Showa film I put above it is Godzilla vs. King Ghidoah, which is a similarly fun update on old tropes but a little more interesting thematically. 2000 set a precedent for what "fun" modern Godzilla could look like, though, that none of the other films, bafflingly (or not, given their quick turnaround times) could follow.

Okawara's best work, for sure; I wonder if the replacement of Koichi Kawakita with Kenji Suzuki helped as well (which raises some questions about just what the hell happened with vs. Megaguirus; budget misallocation? shooting time?).

[Space Hunter M]

and, in most scenes, preferable color grading

The HDTV transfer of the film is most definitely not how the Japanese assembly is supposed to look in many instances. It's significantly uglier and grainier than any other transfer that came out of the 2008 batch of telecines.

However, I generally prefer the way the score is used in the Japanese version, and that goes along way.

I think Hattori's full score is definitely more subtle even if it doesn't necessarily match every scene visually.

And of course the U.S. version's camped up dialogue is a mixed bag (though the voice actors are all quite good).

See, I never had a problem with some of the "jokey" lines people like to dwell on. My problem lies with how much exposition was jettisoned for lines that had nothing to do with what was happening (the explanation that the alien discarded its solid form is made perfectly clear in the Japanese script. The U.S. version kinda dances around this topic until the rooftop scenes).

It really is a film with two imperfect cuts.

Essentially.

[Rodan]

The HDTV transfer of the film is most definitely not how the Japanese assembly is supposed to look in many instances. It's significantly uglier and grainier than any other transfer that came out of the 2008 batch of telecines.

Ah. Good to know. Off the top of my head, the shot of Godzilla walking alongside the car in the distance in the opening scenes looks more interesting in this palette, but most of the movie does suffer for it. Nice (not nice?) to know it was likely not the intended one.

I think Hattori's full score is definitely more subtle even if it doesn't necessarily match every scene visually.

Agreed. I generally hold that scores shouldn't simply reinforce what you're seeing in a scene, but add a reading or nuance to it, which Hattori's does. It's also much less pat than his SpaceGodzilla score and generally quite good.

[szmigiel]

I really wanted to like this movie more then I did. It has all the right elements, it has plenty of Godzilla he shows up prominently in all three acts. For me it comes down to Takao Okawara as a director, with either cut of the film, he is my least favorite of Toho's Godzilla directors. I find his films to be bland and poorly paced. But then again pacing is all in the eye, or mind, of the viewer. If a film doesn't draw you in the pacing is going to always feel wrong. It doesn't matter how good or bad the material is, if the directing and editing doesn't work it is going to make a bad viewing experience.

[Rodan]

This is the one Okawara film I really like. All the compositions are more interesting than his Heisei entries. A single scene of Katagiri and Miyasaka walking down a hallway at CCI from an interesting angle does more than any of his '90s films. And the special effects scenes are night and day. Lots of low angles, atmospheric effects, etc., to compliment the stellar miniatures. I'm not sure whether all the credit for those should go to Suzuki's unit though.

[Giga Kaiju]

I feel like the score worked well with the scenes the tracks played on and fit nicely with what the movie tried to convey. Both the US and Japanese versions used it fine (pacing is another story), for what they were, to be fair.

[Lain Of The Wired]

The fact that the movie doesn't really focuse on Orga's motives makes Godzilla look like a massive jerk, just comin out da sea to whip up on some poor ass, hunchbacked alien who just woke up.

[Giga Kaiju]

Well, the Millenian UFO did ATTACK some helicopters, at one point. So, not entirely innocent, I guess.

[Lain Of The Wired]

Well, the Millenian UFO did ATTACK some helicopters, at one point. So, not entirely innocent, I guess.

But didn't Biollante destroy some tanks too? And wasn't she the "good" monster?

If you ask me, those helicopters flew too close to the ship

[g2vd]

And the fact it was intentionally soaking up all the data so it could build it's new empire on Earth.

[Stevo_1985]

This was a forgettable one for me. As a previous poster mentioned. Kind of a weak kick off to the new series when compared to the likes of Gojira and G85/RoG. That and it would kick off a series of G suits as well that I would never grow into.