Unpopular Godzilla Opinions

[Legion1979]

eabaker made a comment about what movies work better when shown to people unfamiliar with the genre...

I tried FOR YEARS to talk up the Heisei Godzilla films and get people interested in them. They've always fallen flat. I've had people fall asleep to them. My wife endured them once and said never again.

The Gamera films go over like gangbusters.

[miguelnuva]

eabaker made a comment about what movies work better when shown to people unfamiliar with the genre...

I tried FOR YEARS to talk up the Heisei Godzilla films and get people interested in them. They've always fallen flat. I've had people fall asleep to them. My wife endured them once and said never again.

The Gamera films go over like gangbusters.

Kong>Gamera>Godzilla because in terms of character Godzilla is the like a plot device.

If you're not a Godzilla or kaiju fan or you're not explaining what is going on Godzilla is the hardest to get into.

Kong is a character himself and Gamera is almost a Super hero. Godzilla is a natural disaster and tries to be serious.

[edgaguirus]

I think Miguel explains it well. The first two Heisei Gamera films are lighter in tone and have a superhero feel. RoG has a darker tone with political commentary. A lighter toned film works better for an introduction.

[eabaker]

A lighter toned film works better for an introduction.

That really depends upon the audience.

While I have used GotU as an introduction to the genre more than once (and, as I said before, would certainly choose it above any Heisei Godzilla film for that purpose), most of the time, I use the original Gojira as the starting point (GMK can also work, and lately Shin has become an option for that as well), because it has both emotional and intellectual depth beyond what most people expect from "Japanese rubber monsters."

Basically, I think an introductory entry should be compelling in a way not dependent upon familiarity with previous works, but compelling in what sense really depends upon the viewer you're trying to seduce.

[Legion1979]

Perfect explanation.

The reason the Heisei series doesn't work as an introduction to the genre is that most of them rely on the viewer's familiarity with Godzilla. A lot of fans excuse the faults of these movies because, "It's a Godzilla movie, look at him fight that other monster!" That's fine if you already love the monster but it has NEVER worked for me when trying to get people into the character.

[UltramanGoji]

The reason the Heisei series doesn't work as an introduction to the genre is that most of them rely on the viewer's familiarity with Godzilla.

I literally never heard of Godzilla before watching Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah for the first time and here I am today.

[Maritonic]

The reason the Heisei series doesn't work as an introduction to the genre is that most of them rely on the viewer's familiarity with Godzilla.

I literally never heard of Godzilla before watching Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah for the first time and here I am today.

This was, ironically, my introduction film as well.

[Legion1979]

The reason the Heisei series doesn't work as an introduction to the genre is that most of them rely on the viewer's familiarity with Godzilla.

I literally never heard of Godzilla before watching Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah for the first time and here I am today.

And I'm sure that's true of a lot of people who were kids at the time, or were predisposed to those types of movies. All of us got into Godzilla somehow.

But my experience has been with people who aren't inclined to like giant monster movies in the first place. I've never converted anyone into a Godzilla fan (and it's silly to try) but the most positive reactions have always been with the Heisei Gamera series, the 54 Godzilla or a handful of Showa entries. The Heisei series has never worked.

[Maritonic]

Being that this is page three of this, I'm going to recommend we move off the "Gamera trilogy" discussion in here for the time being and get back to different unpopular opinions.

[Legion1979]

Hey at least it lead to discussion. A lot of what goes on in this thread seems to most be people saying nutty things for reactions. The fact that this went on for three pages, IMHO, isn't a bad thing. It showed it was something worth discussing.

[Maritonic]

Hey at least it leads to discussion

Right, but it's excessive at this point. It's not the point of the thread. Feel free to discuss it another appropriate thread.

Unpopular opinions now. Thanks.

[Voyager]

I prefer the 67 Gorosaurus design to the one used in DAM. I think the darker colours look more natural, as well as the more hunched appearance. Cooler roars too.

[Legion1979]

I prefer the 67 Gorosaurus design to the one used in DAM. I think the darker colours look more natural, as well as the more hunched appearance. Cooler roars too.

It's not just you so don't worry, but why am I suddenly seeing people say that there are two different Gorosaurus designs? They're the same suit, and the only difference is a year of wear and storage making it look a little more worn and lumpier by 1968.

I'm surprised at the preference of the altered DAM roar, since it's a lot more Varan/Baragon in nature, while the squeaky hiss of the KKE roar was more unique.

Sometimes a Gorosaurus is just a Gorosaurus. Now if it was Showa Gigan we were talking about...

EDIT: I'm slowly realizing I didn't start hearing this until two brand new Gorosaurus figures hit the marketplace. Is this an instance of people trying to justify buying both?

[Breakdown]

Godzilla 1998 may have very few things going for it, but the soundtrack is definitely one of those "few good things". I've been listening to several tracks from the film lately and I gotta say, I really like it. It's nowhere near on the level of Ifukube, Reijiro Kuroku, or other composers, but it isn't awful either.

[ShinGojira14]

Godzilla 1998 may have very few things going for it, but the soundtrack is definitely one of those "few good things". I've been listening to several tracks from the film lately and I gotta say, I really like it. It's nowhere near on the level of Ifukube, Reijiro Kuroku, or other composers, but it isn't awful either.

Agreed. Aside from the opening credits, I've found myself listening to "Godzilla O' Park", "Big G Goes to Monster Heaven", "Ship Reveal" and "Chernobyl" on repeat.

[Spirit Ghidorah 2010]

Godzilla 1998 may have very few things going for it, but the soundtrack is definitely one of those "few good things". I've been listening to several tracks from the film lately and I gotta say, I really like it. It's nowhere near on the level of Ifukube, Reijiro Kuroku, or other composers, but it isn't awful either.

That's another aspect of G'98 that I liked more than in G'14. For all the opening sequence's technical inaccuracies, the music was skreeonking haunting. Rest of the score also set the mood perfectly.

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

Can't forget Puff Daddy

[LSD Jellyfish]

Can't forget Puff Daddy

uuuhhh-huh...Yeah..

Spoiler:

It's bad for a song to begin on a parody of big poppa by biggie smalls, but come with me is a better remix than Kashmir by Led Zeppelin (a band that arguably owes just as much to other bands sax as Taurus)

I posted this in another thread, but the Godzilla franchise has never had bad music, sound design, and or bad audio.

[Spirit Ghidorah 2010]

I am forever grateful that The Wallflowers' "Heroes" cover introduced 8-year old me to David Bowie.

That's something you can never take from.me.

[MaxRebo320]

I am forever grateful that The Wallflowers' "Heroes" cover introduced 8-year old me to David Bowie.

That's something you can never take from.me.

My dad actually prefers that version over Bowie's original, and......I can't say I disagree.