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

[ZillaMaster91]

I could care less for the English dubs. I just watch the films in Japanese with subtitles. Sure the subtitles may be inaccurate at times, but it's better to hear the film in its native language rather than hearing the dialogue being butchered by half-assed dubbers. I find the dubs more tolerable among the Showa films, but NOT among the Heisei and Millennium films.

Even those couple of fudge ups in the GMK dub still make me cringe, but there have been worse...
Tokyo SOS.... MECHA-G!

[Rody]

I watch the films subtitled too. Unfortunately, that doesn't help GMK much, since the subs are straight "dubtitles".

[omgitsgodzilla]

I believe there are accurate subtitles out there that can be synchronized with the DVD. They used to be on TokyoMonsters until it went down. I think they might still be available on an archived version of the site.

[Captain Aktion]

That scene is very unclear, but if I remember correctly the tips of Ghidorah's spines poking out of the ground in one shot but gone in the next.

They are far too thin to be Ghidorah's horns or anything. They literally look like golden "lines" or sticks shooting up from the ground, traveling out of the top frame.

I've always assumed, going along with the mystical aspects or the film, this was a kind of "ghosting" or "impression" of Ghidorah's spirit due to his body being in the vicinity. Not a literal image or part of Ghidorah, just the hint of his existence.

[Rody]

The scene becomes even more confusing when we start hearing Mothra-esque sounds.

[kpa]

Dude...

This right here just blew my mind. I failed to connect the issues brought up in GMK with the current (at that time) issues in Japan. Reading that just makes me want to rewatch the film. Knowing this, I definitely have a newfound respect for the film that I did not have before. I like films with meaning to them. While growing up GMK was one of my favorites because of the action. However later on when I become more interested in the story my view of the film drifted because of the whole spirit angle and how I did not grip the whole unsettling souls of the war inside Godzilla bit. Reading your post, it makes much more sense.

Glad to be of service!

That scene is very unclear, but if I remember correctly the tips of Ghidorah's spines poking out of the ground in one shot but gone in the next.

They are far too thin to be Ghidorah's horns or anything. They literally look like golden "lines" or sticks shooting up from the ground, traveling out of the top frame.

I'm just repeating what I was told by Shusuke Kaneko and/or Norman England, who was a set photographer on GMK. There were a few scenes in GMK that didn't have FX completed in time for the premiere at that year's Tokyo International Film Festival (one of them is that bad CG shot of the naval ship at sea). I believe the golden sticks were placeholders marking where Ghidorah's spines would have been added. As it is now, it would have been better to just remove the tail end of that scene.

[g2kmaster]

I believe the golden sticks were placeholders marking where Ghidorah's spines would have been added. As it is now, it would have been better to just remove the tail end of that scene.

If that is the fact, then it is a great concept. Too bad Toho decided to be pushy with the need for a Christmas release date. Heck, too bad Kaneko and company cannot get away with what Lucas gets to do every 10 years or so. Although now, I would disagree with it having been better if the end part of the scene was cut off. It doesn't bug me too much if it is just three golden sticks.

[edgaguirus]

The sticks looked effective for the most part.

[Captain Aktion]

^It's certainly more thoughtful. At least everything isn't spelled out, black-and-white. Who knows exactly what they are or mean? That's what gives us something to talk about now.

[GMK Godzilla]

some good gmk goji pics if anyone is interested http://godzillatw.web.fc2.com/godzillam ... efault.htm

[Rody]

There are some very cool photos there; unfortunately a lot of them wouldn't load for me.

[Patrick Alan]

Oh really? The samething happend to me, only a few would load...

[JVM]

This movie's rather lost in translation, isn't it?

[GMK Godzilla]

There are some very cool photos there; unfortunately a lot of them wouldn't load for me.

Some pics also work if you right click and select view image.

[Rody]

This movie's rather lost in translation, isn't it?

Sony or Toho really need to make a different dub and subtitles for this film.

[Goji]

The international dubs are recorded in Hong Kong around the same time the film is made. I wouldn't expect any of the Godzilla films to ever get 're-dubs'. Toho spends money to record that one dub, and uses it for international sale. They would never spend more money to do that over again, no matter how 'bad' audiences think the dub is.

[Rody]

They could at least make accurate subtitles.

[kpa]

They could at least make accurate subtitles.

They did make more accurate subtitles. Toho's subtitled theatrical print of GMK is great (Norman England worked on the English translation) so if you ever see the Japanese language version at a convention or film festival you'll get the proper subs. As far as I can tell, that version was also used for the Hong Kong DVD and the Australian DVD. The US DVD has dubtitles, but I don't know if that was Sony or Toho's mistake.

The HK DVD is cheap, and Madman's Australian DVD is reasonably priced as well so I'd recommend them to anyone who hates the dubtitled version.

[HikizuruBeat]

So I was browsing my tumblr and someone blogged a pic that was on page 5 of this thread and linked the source to this thread.

[Mincecraft]

some good gmk goji pics if anyone is interested http://godzillatw.web.fc2.com/godzillam ... efault.htm

Heh heh, Big G gettin the ladies there.