Final Wars: Why all the Hate?

[Goji]

I may dislike this movie, but I'd say the execution of the monsters (when we actually saw them) was pretty good, with the exception of Kaiser Ghidorah. The battles themselves were definitely better than the sparky bump-fests we saw in most of the 90's films. I'm not too crazy about any of the FW redesigns in paticular, but some like the (re-used) S.O.S. Mothra, Manda, and Kumonga, all look especially good. I don't think any of the redesigns were "bad" outright. The complaints I have about the others are all pretty minor, now that I think of it.

Actually, Godzilla is probably my least favorite after horse Ghidorah.

[shinmattiathekaiju]

The battles themselves were definitely better than the sparky bump-fests we saw in most of the 90's films. I

You have beaten the dead horse to some extent it became a poddle of goo.

[Goji]

Cool beans.

You done crying, kiddo?

[Tyler]

Here's the actual GFW poster


I like that GMK poster too but I think Mothra and Baragon look better in the movie.

[Rody]

^ That poster is a mess. How appropriate.

About the GMK poster, I love it too - in fact I own a copy of it - but I'm glad that, at least in Mothra's case, the kaiju look different in the film. That's the Heisei Mothra on the poster; ugh, no thanks.

[Tyler]

I think we need more Drew Struzan-esque posters like that. I'm sick of photoshopped character posters with big floating heads.

[CatfaceFourtoes]

And the stuff about the Gotengo being the nemesis of Godzilla could have probably been handled a different way. Atoragon was originally the nemesis of Manda after all. It would have been neat to have the ship just end up coming into conflict with Godzilla as all the monsters are running amok, as one of the few human weapons that could stand against the monsters.

Isn't that pretty much what happened in the movie?

And the stuff about the Gotengo being the nemesis of Godzilla could have probably been handled a different way. Atoragon was originally the nemesis of Manda after all. It would have been neat to have the ship just end up coming into conflict with Godzilla as all the monsters are running amok, as one of the few human weapons that could stand against the monsters.

Isn't that pretty much what happened in the movie?

I mean that it was kind of pointless to have Godzilla buried under the ice for most of the movie. It would have been more entertaining if the Gotengo had just been flying around trying to protect pockets of human civilization from random rampaging monsters, was successful for a time, and then just happens to run into Godzilla. Like a scenario where they would try to ram it with that big drill on the front, only to have it end up like when the D-3 missiles tried to burrow into Godzilla in GMK. The Gotengo could have been the lone human element in the movie, like the Orca from Jaws, or The Pequod from Mobey Dick. People we could root for or at least hope they survive, not just some super powered mutant that has to help Godzilla at the end.

[Goji]

^ That poster is a mess.

Seriously? It kills the Blu-ray cover. Kills it. The poster is better than the movie itself.

[Rody]

Well, it's not terrible, but there's too much going on in the image. It doesn't appeal to me.

[Goji]

Too much going on? Okay. If you say so.

[TheSecondComing]

I like the GFW poster, it's like the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band of kaiju. It was the background on my old laptop for years.

[BigBaragon]

Dunno why a G fan would hate this film, but surely its not one of MY favorites. I like many aspects of it, but much of it seems like a Japanese made Matrix-esque homage....meh...not really my scene.

The assault on Ebirah was well-done and thrilling, and some of the monsters looked good, but many struck me as A. not well choreographed and B. way too lean in physique. (Seesar and Hedorah come to mind...good grief...)


Decent enough in its own right, I certainly enjoyed it much more than many of the 1990s flicks, the ones with the 'bloated thighs'-version of Godzilla...

[Living Corpse]

Dunno why a G fan would hate this film, but surely its not one of MY favorites. I like many aspects of it, but much of it seems like a Japanese made Matrix-esque homage....meh...not really my scene.

You just answered your own question.

[Lord Gappa]

Dunno why a G fan would hate this film,

...You haven't read the past 59 pages, have you?

[NSZ]

Dunno why a G fan would hate this film,

...You haven't read the past 59 pages, have you?

To be fair, reading 59 pages of negativity can be pretty damn daunting.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

Dunno why a G fan would hate this film,

...You haven't read the past 59 pages, have you?

To be fair, reading 59 pages of negativity can be pretty damn daunting.

He doesn't need to read the entire 59 pages to understand why someone would hate GFW. Reading the first two pages would do that.

[Goji]

I dunno man..I think it's pretty easy to see why a lot of Godzilla fans "hate" this movie. I've been a diehard G-fan for 24 years now, and I can't stand the damn thing. I know plenty of fans (yes, in real life) that feel the same way. It's not some kind of mystery why the film isn't very well regarded in the fandom.

[Megalon-5]

I think it's because of the flashy lights and how Kitamura made Godzilla "badass" (even though he GINOized most of the Toho Showa roster). It barrages people with a non-stop stream of crap that a lot of people fail to notice the severe lack of kaiju. I remember I used to be a huge fan of Final Wars, but after viewing it recently when I wasn't a 10 year old, it left a bad taste after watching it. Kitamura, in my opinion should not have been given the keys to the car for this film. I'm still kinda amazed on how it's not reviled by everybody else in the fandom much how Godzilla's Revenge and GINO are.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

I think it's because of the flashy lights and how Kitamura made Godzilla "badass" (even though he GINOized most of the Toho Showa roster). It barrages people with a non-stop stream of crap that a lot of people fail to notice the severe lack of kaiju. I remember I used to be a huge fan of Final Wars, but after viewing it recently when I wasn't a 10 year old, it left a bad taste after watching it. Kitamura, in my opinion should not have been given the keys to the car for this film. I'm still kinda amazed on how it's not reviled by everybody else in the fandom much how Godzilla's Revenge and GINO are.

That may be the reason to some people, but the hate for Final Wars really boils down to one key factor: That this is the 50th anniversary film for Godzilla, and the film treats Godzilla and friends like trash. They all literally become second banana's in a film that should be about them. In this two hour film, there are only twelve minutes of on-screen footage of Godzilla. That is simply just unacceptable.

[Megalon-5]

Yeah, that's probably the worst factor about FW. The human story really shows that Kitamura wanted to make a Matrix/X-Men type movie and after he shot those scenes he realized "Oh yeah, I'm supposed to make a Godzilla film!" and made about 12 minutes of kaiju footage of Godzilla to make up for it. Toho should've given us the greatest Godzilla film to date and then we get this disappointment. Too bad, I really wish Toho went a special, new direction for this film instead of this.