Relevant Monster Movies?

[SoleMan]

How many "mainstream, theater" monster movies have there been in the past decade or so? I mean, aside from the Godzilla movies, Cloverfield, or even that lame-ass Super 8, have there been any big movies that I just seem to have missed out on? I heard about Dragon Wars, though what I heard wasn't good, and I saw the Host and was unimpressed.

I don't really "Theater" movies, but something above The Sci-Fi Channel trash that they dish out every week. Though to be fair, most classic monster movies fall under that label anyway...Still, I just want something new, something not boring. Or, conversely, something so ridicously horrendous that it's so bad it's good.

[TokyoVigilante]

Whenever a new monster film comes out that does interesting and new things for the genre, like Monsters or Demeking, people snub their noses at them for not having enough action or other trivial reasons. The only new monster film coming out that looks promising is Beasts of the Southern Wild which I'm incredibly excited for.

Unless Beasts of the Southern Wilds or Pacific Rim completely revitalizes the genre, there won't be anything about Sci-Fi Channel grade stuff because there isn't a demand for anything smarter or better.

[Tohosaurus]

I guess I'm not entirely sure how you would classify a movie as relevant or not, but starting with 2001, there has been approximately 50 or so giant monster movies alone. Again, that depends on what you'd classify as a daikajiu film, much less a "relevant" one.

To start, you may want to visit this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=9051&hilit=demeking

[SoleMan]

Thanks for the info. I certainly hope more monster flicks come out, as they're one of the few reasons I drag myself out of bed in the morning.

[JAGzilla]

Well, there were Reign of Fire and Eight-Legged Freaks back in '02 or so. Neither was anything terribly special, but are worth a watch if you haven't seen them. And King Kong '05, though I'm sure you're aware of that. Nothing else is really coming to mind at the moment... maybe Deep Blue Sea? That had giant, mutant sharks, so I guess it counts. I'll let you know if I think of anything else.

[Tohosaurus]

Whenever a new monster film comes out that does interesting and new things for the genre, like Monsters or Demeking, people snub their noses at them for not having enough action or other trivial reasons. The only new monster film coming out that looks promising is Beasts of the Southern Wild which I'm incredibly excited for.

Unless Beasts of the Southern Wilds or Pacific Rim completely revitalizes the genre, there won't be anything about Sci-Fi Channel grade stuff because there isn't a demand for anything smarter or better.

I think you're right. For whatever reason giant monster movies are looked at more purely as sort of sci-fi action movies as opposed to movies that are also sci-fi but are dramas or thrillers (Dark City, Planet of the Apes, and Knowing are just examples that come to mind). As a result, people seem to demand action rather than thinking about the other elements of what could/does make the movie great.

On the other hand, there haven't been many giant monster movies that are also good (or better) movies for more mainstream moviegoers or critics to gather around in the last decade or so. King Kong and Cloverfield were. Monsters was given faint praise (I liked it well enough although it wasn't "great"). Trollhunter was great, but the latter two were small scale movies that most people aren't aware of anyway.

[wrongnote85]

idk man, i thought Monsters was pretty weak. nothing happened in that flick.

i have yet to see trollhunter, but it's on my list. i hear a lot of good things about it, and i believe it's on netflix.

[Tohosaurus]

idk man, i thought Monsters was pretty weak. nothing happened in that flick.

i have yet to see trollhunter, but it's on my list. i hear a lot of good things about it, and i believe it's on netflix.

I think Monsters is often misunderstood. It wasn't some sort of action sci-fi or whatever. It was a drama that was also science fiction, and there wre some social and political commentaries on relations between neighboring countries, some of the games played and actions not taken, etc. You don't have to like the movie by any means, but I think it's partially the fault of those in charge of the marketing and advertising. The movie was named Monsters when the monsters weren't really central to the movie and the trailers that I've seen push the action much more than the brewing romance or the other elements I already mentioned. All that aside, Monsters was a good movie, not a great one. I did have some issues with it but I don't want to spend too much time on one movie here.

I highly recommend Trollhunter, and yes it's available instantly on Netflix.

[Jomei]

I think Monsters is great, but I guess it's not Michael Bay-esque enough for a certain demographic.

[Destroyer]

MONSTERS is one of the most overrated movies I have ever seen. The marketing gave a false presentation, instead of monsters it was really about two people crossing from Mexico back to America. There are of course deeper meanings as Tohosaurus said, but I was disappointed with this film, a missed opportunity.

With that said, Troll Hunter is fantastic.

Also, I highly recommend Area 407.

[XxComablack1937xX]

MONSTERS is one of the most overrated movies I have ever seen. The marketing gave a false presentation, instead of monsters it was really about two people crossing from Mexico back to America. There are of course deeper meanings as Tohosaurus said, but I was disappointed with this film, a missed opportunity.

With that said, Troll Hunter is fantastic.

Also, I highly recommend Area 407.

Area 407 was great, I thought.... Typical acting for a low budget film... Blood looked fake as hell.. the acting wasn't all that terrible... but the ending was AWESOME an slightly unexpected with the T-Rex ''well i personally thought''

Just don't go in expecting to see loads of Dinosaur's, you see glimpses 95% of the time until the right moment... an i must admit it looked great. I wonder what else is there T-Rex's, Raptors? what else..... To bad they wont be making a sequel. =(

Still haven't seen ''Monsters'' maybe i should but i don't really care much for the entire people thing without the pay off of seeing some short of Dinosaur, Monster, Shark, something... So i think for now ill pass

[SoleMan]

Monsters was so mind-numbingly boring I felt bad I didn't fall asleep in the middle of it. (I would have, but it was on TV, and I didn't want to miss it...for some reason) I don't know about political commentaries, or romance, or human relationships or what, but it was so disappointing to think that it was supposed to be the big monster movie of the millenium that would re-integrate creature features into the mainstream, and maybe even get Toho off their lazy asses and make another Godzilla movie.

[TokyoVigilante]

This thread just reiterates everything I said;

"How come no one makes monster movies anymore? How come they're all sci-fi originals and straight to DVD?"

"Ok, well here's a movie that uses the medium of a monster film to do something interesting with the genre and give it a certain air of social relevance. With a budget of an Asylum production, it's a little rough in a few areas, but it's overall a solid drama with an interesting back drop and theme."

"...but it's boooooring!"

Monsters was so mind-numbingly boring I felt bad I didn't fall asleep in the middle of it. (I would have, but it was on TV, and I didn't want to miss it...for some reason) I don't know about political commentaries, or romance, or human relationships or what, but it was so disappointing to think that it was supposed to be the big monster movie of the millenium that would re-integrate creature features into the mainstream, and maybe even get Toho off their lazy asses and make another Godzilla movie.

I feel like no one ever made this claim to you and if they did it's your own fault for believing that obnoxious of hype.

[Tohosaurus]

Area 407 was great, I thought.... Typical acting for a low budget film... Blood looked fake as hell.. the acting wasn't all that terrible... but the ending was AWESOME an slightly unexpected with the T-Rex ''well i personally thought''

Just don't go in expecting to see loads of Dinosaur's, you see glimpses 95% of the time until the right moment... an i must admit it looked great. I wonder what else is there T-Rex's, Raptors? what else..... To bad they wont be making a sequel. =(

Still haven't seen ''Monsters'' maybe i should but i don't really care much for the entire people thing without the pay off of seeing some short of Dinosaur, Monster, Shark, something... So i think for now ill pass

I really do want to see Area 407. It's supposed to get a summer release so hopefully I'll get to pick it up relatively soon.

Monsters does show the monsters in it, just not a lot of them. It's more of a build up to the end of the movie were you see them for an extended period of time, at which point the audience is supposed to revel in their beauty and calm nature when left to their own devices. Whether or not that happens for you is anyone's opinion I suppose.

Monsters was so mind-numbingly boring I felt bad I didn't fall asleep in the middle of it. (I would have, but it was on TV, and I didn't want to miss it...for some reason) I don't know about political commentaries, or romance, or human relationships or what, but it was so disappointing to think that it was supposed to be the big monster movie of the millenium that would re-integrate creature features into the mainstream, and maybe even get Toho off their lazy asses and make another Godzilla movie.

The US-Mexican relationship was shown in multiple ways, as well as having a separate element of military action, where the US air force continually bombed (and dropped chemical weapons IIRC? I've seen it twice now and should know lol) and just attempted to use brute force, which kept setting the monsters off and on rampages, etc etc etc. On the romance front, that was a fault I had with the movie. The growing romance between the two main characters was rather dry and less than engaging. I like good romance dramas and all, I just didn't feel it was particularly well done here. And I agree that this movie just wasn't marketed well, as if it was some action-packed monster movie when it was a very different (still good) movie. It'd be like pitching Gran Torino has a big time action car movie. Still a fantastic movie but you'd send the audience into the movie with totally different expectations and you'd get blasted by some of them for it (and rightly so).

But I don't know that it was supposed to be a major monster movie that propelled other studios back into this sub-genre (plus Legendary had announced the new Godzilla movie months before this hit limited American theaters anyway). After all, this was a foreign movie without a ton of presence to the American mainstream market. Cloverfield would be much more of the type of thing you've described, and hey, we're getting Pacific Rim, supposedly Cloverfield 2, Godzilla, and Trollhunter (by 1492), not to mention the independent and foreign movies. Dunno that you'd credit CF for it, but we do have stuff on the way and I hope it brings this sub-genre back.