The genre of Godzilla?

[gatorzilla]

What genre does the Godzilla franchise fall into?

Sci-fi or Horror? Or both?

[GotengoXGodzilla]

Godzilla films fall in to the daikaiju genre, which is a subsidy of the monster genre.

No reason to think of it any more than that.

[TheSecondComing]

Science fiction. Daikaiju is an unofficial subgenre that only a handful of people would even qualify as a subgenre.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

Many could also certainly be called fantasies and sci-fi action films.

[TokyoVigilante]

Fantasy primarily.

Once you get over the hang-ups necessary for great Science Fiction and stop considering them Sci-Fi and starting thinking of them as Fantasy films, then you'll understand them alot more.

[Tohosaurus]

Most people would consider it science fiction and leave it at that; I'm inclined to agree. As TV mentioned, fantasy is another genre that I often see tossed around on sites/listings by businesses. That works just as well.

Monster/Giant monster movies are a sub-genre but not one that is regarded much outside of fanbases like this. There is lots of overlap in cinema though, so you'll see stuff like science fiction drama in regards to the original film in particular, which I also agree with.

[Living Corpse]

"Sci-Fantasy".

Like others have said even by sci-fi standards these monsters are insanely physics defying to fantastical levels, so I look at them as sci-fi with a good dose of fantasy mixed in. Films like GMK and the Heisei Gamera I look at reversed, heavily fantasy with some sci-fi mixed in.

[Legionmaster]

Most are comedies. A few are tragedies. Anything more specific and it's all just contextual scemantics. Gojira is a piece of post-nuclear Cold War fiction. Godzilla vs. Biollante is an 80's spy thriller. Godzilla's Revenge is a facsimilie of the coming-of-age tale. Godzilla vs. Hedorah fits into a global liberal environmentalist movement. There are very few wrong answers here.

[Tohosaurus]

"Sci-Fantasy".

Like others have said even by sci-fi standards these monsters are insanely physics defying to fantastical levels, so I look at them as sci-fi with a good dose of fantasy mixed in. Films like GMK and the Heisei Gamera I look at reversed, heavily fantasy with some sci-fi mixed in.

Yep. And it really depends on the movie at hand. The first two Godzilla films for example really just have giant monsters as enormous prehistoric creatures. Pretty standard science fiction. But there are others like GMK where as you said they're dealing with spirits and souls, etc. Pretty fantasy-grade. And honestly interpretation changes things too. Legionmaster considers GvB to be an espionage thriller where as I'd think of it more as a sci-fi or fantasy thriller (though we agree thriller ultimately).

[Living Corpse]

"Sci-Fantasy".

Like others have said even by sci-fi standards these monsters are insanely physics defying to fantastical levels, so I look at them as sci-fi with a good dose of fantasy mixed in. Films like GMK and the Heisei Gamera I look at reversed, heavily fantasy with some sci-fi mixed in.

Yep. And it really depends on the movie at hand. The first two Godzilla films for example really just have giant monsters as enormous prehistoric creatures. Pretty standard science fiction. But there are others like GMK where as you said they're dealing with spirits and souls, etc. Pretty fantasy-grade.

Godzilla vs Biollante at first seems to be mainly just sci-fi with a government and terrorist conspiracy going on but then the whole thing about the psychic lady and kids and the soul of a dead women in a part Godzilla abomination/child/clone thing get involved.


Damn, now that I think about it, Bio is even weirder then I realized.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

Most are comedies. A few are tragedies

If we're going by the very basic definitions of genre, and saying that there's only two basic genres (comedy and drama), then yes, most Godzilla films are comedies.

[Tohosaurus]

Godzilla vs Biollante at first seems to be mainly just sci-fi with a government and terrorist conspiracy going on but then the whole thing about the psychic lady and kids and the soul of a dead women in a part Godzilla abomination/child/clone thing get involved.

Damn, now that I think about it, Bio is even weirder then I realized.

Oh, GvB is very, very weird.

Once the spirits and pyschics get involved it becomes fantasy for me. The espionage is certainly an element to the film, just less central to the story IMO since the espionage is largely carried out by characters other than the main few character.

[Legionmaster]

The espionage is certainly an element to the film, just less central to the story IMO since the espionage is largely carried out by characters other than the main few character.

Here are the things the "spy vs. spy" narrative is responsible for:

-The theft of the Godzilla cells from Tokyo
-The death of Erika (and thus the relocation of Shiragami to Japan)
-The release of Godzilla from Mt. Mihara
-The main cast shuffling off to Osaka
-The death (moral punishment) of Shiragami

Those are almost all the key events in the film. A key aspect of the 70's-80's spy thriller is that the main character usually begins the story as a civilian uninvolved in the spy game. As the narrative progresses, they get wrapped up deeper and deeper whether they like it or not. This is exactly what happens to Shiragami and his peers.

[Living Corpse]

The ending does make me ask myself an interesting question.

Ignoring that Bio had a human's soul in it, being a clone does Bio have a soul? Does it have it's own soul or a piece of Godzilla's soul? It one of the more thought provking things in the franchise I like and would like to see more stuff like this explored in the future films.

[Tohosaurus]

Here are the things the "spy vs. spy" narrative is responsible for:

-The theft of the Godzilla cells from Tokyo
-The death of Erika (and thus the relocation of Shiragami to Japan)
-The release of Godzilla from Mt. Mihara
-The main cast shuffling off to Osaka
-The death (moral punishment) of Shiragami

Those are almost all the key events in the film. A key aspect of the 70's-80's spy thriller is that the main character usually begins the story as a civilian uninvolved in the spy game. As the narrative progresses, they get wrapped up deeper and deeper whether they like it or not. This is exactly what happens to Shiragami and his peers.

Oh I'm not saying the espionage doesn't factor into the story, just that the espionage itself isn't really the point, unlike say a 007 movie or the like. You aren't wrong in any way. 100% correct in fact.

Anyhow, looking at the broader 28 Toho films in general the beauty of the Godzilla franchise is that there is seemingly everything: science fiction, comedy, drama and tragedy, and more. It really depends on what you;re looking for but there's a good chance one or more of the films will satisfy you (if you're into this sort of thing of course).

P.S. ^ Biollante was implied to have Erika's (Erica's?) soul initially but it "left" before long. So after that who knows ...

[Living Corpse]

P.S. ^ Biollante was implied to have Erika's (Erica's?) soul initially but it "left" before long. So after that who knows ...

Which is one of the many reasons I like this film, it's really open to the viewers interpolation if Bio has a piece of Godzilla's soul as well, it's own soul or is just an empty, unholy soulless vessel that will kill anything that gets too close when Erika leaves.

[Legionmaster]

Which is one of the many reasons I like this film, it's really open to the viewers interpolation if Bio has a piece of Godzilla's soul as well, it's own soul or is just an empty, unholy soulless vessel that will kill anything that gets too close when Erika leaves.

wut

The film makes no statements about this subject in any way. There's no context when the (translated and dubbed) word soul is used. It's far more likely it's just refering to Erika's essence. You're using words like empty, unholy, and soulless, which belong to a completely separate cultural system that isn't present in the film at all. You're not extrapolating meaning, you're imposing it.

Then again, none of that is about genre, which, I need to restate, is so broad that it's hardly worth discussing in any fashion other than as a brainstorming exercise.

[Showa Gyaos]

I think the only Godzilla film that fits the Horror label is the original Gojira. Most of the franchise is a mix of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

I think we can stretch Hedorah into horror. It's no less frightening than many of its contemporary creature-features in that genre. Some of the imagery is still rather creepy.

[Gawdziller]

Domination pornography.

With all the guys in rubber outfits beating the hell out of eavh other while lonely nerds watch under a hypnotic spell, you can't prove me wrong.