Godzilla: The Look/Appearance Speculation

[TokyoVigilante]

There is negative resemblance in the head. The 2012 head is clearly triangular/arrow shaped, with the eyes set at semi-forward. GINOs head is a huge block with the eyes set at the sides. You're placing a resemblance where there is none. And it works. I want the LP Godzilla to have its own distinct identity, (Like EVERY SINGLE GODZILLA EVER) from the japanese stuff. Not just another piece, painfully kill-the-franchise-safe trash that 4/6 so far Millennium films have been.

Instead of worrying how "accurate" they are to the source material, you should be worrying and contemplating how they can bring the character to life. It's unfortunate that Godzilla had to be the Martyr for Hollywood to understand respect for the source material (if anyone can name an entry in a franchise that took a disrespectful bitch slapping AFTER Godzilla, then please inform me because there are either very very few, or none at all). But the backlash to the design alone is pretty notorious. Legendary Pictures has done a pretty good job of reassuring the fans that theirs, at the very least, will have the spirit of the original character.

They’ve released a promotional design, that’s very much “classic” Godzilla. A demolished cityscape in an inferno, and a respectable Godzilla charging up blue atomic breath, this is everything GINO wasn’t. If you don’t like the design, you cannot deny that the spirit is there.

And the T-shirt. I love the T-shirt. “Fans, we know you didn’t like how the Tristar Godzilla didn’t breathe fire well guess what OUR T-SHIRT BREATHES FIRE.” That’s a great bit of very early marketing.

That’s not counting Legendary Pictures own reputation for good, respectful films based on beloved properties. They have more to lose by taking the “typical Hollywood” route and trying to fix what is not broken.

Then there is, of course, the increased presence and control that Toho is having in this whole production. They nit-picked and micro-managed the hell out of Atari when designing move sets and they’ve sued every company under the sun for having anything remotely Godzilla-esque; they’ve become very protective of this character and in defending what defines him. Toho is not going to let anyone fuck up their big star, and even if they do, they know that that makes for really bad PR back home.

There are just so many factors here that point to this being a successful and fantastic entry in the franchise. Could this end up poorly? Absolutely. Bad Director, small budget, rushed production; but going off what we just know now, there is no reason to be pessimistic at all what so ever.

From a strictly design perspective, the key to making the classic look work is to add details and tweak the look around those details to make Godzilla plausible. Not “realistic”. Plausible is all you need for a film.

Plausible

1. apparently reasonable, valid, truthful, etc.



Realistic

(of a book, film, etc.) depicting or emphasizing what is real and actual rather than abstract or ideal

Note the difference.

Let’s add a dewclaw to his feet, web his fingers or toes (He is a sea monster, after all). Give him some scaring; make him look like an ancient dinosaur awoken by nuclear testing. Let’s see his eyes dilate, snaggle his teeth. Emphasis his unseen history through his design (like King Kong), that’s how you bring a character like this to life is through details. Not by giving Toho a bunch of money so they can pull the same safe, mid-tone, recycled thematic elements and the same B-grade actors so they can make another modest amount of cash and do NOTHING to bring life to the franchise.

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

I'm gonna have to agree with TokyoVigilante 100%. I see NO resemblance between GINO and the LP t-shirt design.

[Zilla103192]

i also think that his skins/scales to appear affected by radiation... thats what the wrinkle effect on the original was supposed to represent anyway.

[ZigraDude]

Honestly Green Blockhead, the Legendary Pictures Godzilla looks more like the Godzilla 2000 design to me (And the Millennium Godzilla in general).

[DrKaiju1954]

I know this is gonna be trolled but i wanna put in my two cents on what i wanna see.I want to have godzilla have the posture of a modern dinosaur,like T-Rex.I want him to be like Zilla except i want him to have huge spines,breath fire,and be indestructable.

[Godzillawolf]

How the skreeonk do you see a resemblence?

I see a resemblence in the head.

Look at the head from Japanese godzilla: the base design is a hump for a head, with eyes on front. sloping down to his jaws, where his nose and mouth are.

The head on Godzilla 2012 is completely different than Japanese Godzilla, that's not what I want. God, what could possibly go wrong if they keep the Japanese concept? The end of the world? P-lease!


You know, maybe there won't even be a Godzilla film, because 2012 is the predicted end of the world

How can you tell his head's not like the Japanese Godzilla? We only see his mouth and eyes.

Also, the 2012 'prophecy' is a load of BS, even descendents of the Mayans who supposedly predicted it that have the same belief system and calender don't believe it.

My say? This:

Needs to resemble the Japanese Godzilla, only probably a good bit scarier. Given Legendary is all about the Darker and Edger, Godzilla will probably end up looking more fierce. But given kids are wanted to see it, they won't go too far, unless Godzilla is the bad guy, if he's the good guy, the monster he's fighting will probably be scarier looking, so the audience can cheer for Big G.

Blue atomic breath is confirmed, happy about that.

Dorsal spines like Godzilla 2000 would work well, as they carry the plausible explaination they're for defense due to their sharpness.

Charcoal grey or a simular colored skin would be nice. Fiery orange eyes are probably a must.

Posture...I think a mild hunched over look would be good. Not completely horizontal like Zilla, but not upright ether, something more dionsaur-like. Plus, I have nothing against a somewhat more agile Godzilla, just so long as his duribility and strength aren't reduced to make up for it. I have no problem seeing Godzilla be able to run full speed if he needs to, so long as its AT his opponents instead of away from them.

[shinmattiathekaiju]

I want Godzilla to be tall 60 or 80 meters.

[G-Man1989]

The simple solution: Don't change Godzilla's design. Just give a new HD edge with slicker looking scales, sharper spines (not like the disproportionally huge ones from G2k, but like the Heisei spines with more of a sharper edge and flair). Slimming down so he doesn't look like he has the weight problem he had in the Heisei films is more than welcome (I should say required, really), but we want him to be big, strong, and muscular. Somewhere between the GFW body size and the EVA Unit 01 physique seem to be an appropriate size for a modern revamp.

The skin should be Charcoal Grey/Blackish color, the spines a blue/silver-like color, the eyes depend on the personality, but I would go with a glowing white. It can be nuetral in personality and emanates pure badassedness.

As for the legs, slimmer with slightly smaller toes to enable faster running without losing any sense of mass, and of course, NO BIRD/THEROPOD DINOSAUR FEET.

[JVM]

No matter how they change the design, it will piss you people off, it's inevitable.

I'd like to see Godzilla diagonal and slimmed down with the same basic face, along with larger, sharper G2K-style spines, pupil-less white eyes, longer arms, maybe a slighter longer neck, and the basic charcoal gray, maybe a bit darker, color scheme.

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

I like how the posture is just kind of hunched over but not completely horizontal. However, I don't like the head very much or the fat belly. The texture of his skin is also nice, but the fat belly on those tiny legs just kind of turns me off of it.

[GodzillaDude]

Decent. To dinosaur like and not enough mutant. I hate the T-Rex short arms too.

[Xx_The_Masquerade_xX]

Don't like the head, neck, chest or the fact that he walks in the shape of a Raptor/T-Rex still... It's a cool design on it's own but not as Godzilla. As others have said, Godzilla needs to stand up-right, with a longer snout but not to long an his arms need to be thicker i think.
I do like the Spines an the skin texture though.

[Ghost Rider]

It looks ok.

[Lionblaze]

Eh...he looks to unbalenced, like he could tip over at any moment.

[Hotrod93]

To be truely honest I love the design, it just screams 50's monster movie monster. But I also have to agree with what people have already stated before hand, that this design is awful for the Legendary Picture's Godzilla.

[GodzillaIsCool]

It is a really nice design but I want Godzilla to have better lateral mobility to fight monsters. Short stubby arms won't do that.

[TokyoVigilante]

I see no reason to change because of a special effects improvement. Just take the regular Godzilla template, and take advantage of the CG to give him better mobility and flexibility. To use Camerawork that was not possible with a man in a suit to make him look more terrifying and massive.

[Killswitch]

A slight lean forward is fine, but I hate the dino stance - tail in the air etc.

[Godzillawolf]

Personally, I always liked the design for Godzilla vs. the Gryphon:



Only thing is change the dorsal spines, it has the hunched posture but it still looks like Godzilla is supposed to.

[xenotactics]

Personally, I always liked the design for Godzilla vs. the Gryphon:



Only thing is change the dorsal spines, it has the hunched posture but it still looks like Godzilla is supposed to.

Those dorsal spines are definitely reminiscent of the Miner Godzilla of '80, which is interesting, and it's a very cool design, but I would prefer something slightly slightly less saurian. It looks like that Godzilla would move fairly quickly, and I prefer a bit the walking mountain of destruction that Heisei's Godzilla was.