Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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PitchBlackProgress
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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Maritonic wrote:
Zarm wrote:
That said, the Japanese cut of this film is a lot more underwhelming. There's a vital spark that's missing.
Absolutely yes. I'll never forget finally getting that blu-ray that had both the American and Japanese versions, being so excited to see the Japanese cut and then being so....under whelmed.

This is the only film where the American version is superior - in my opinion.
Ghidrah’s dub is far superior than the original
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

Post by Godzillian »

PitchBlackProgress wrote:
Maritonic wrote:
Zarm wrote:
That said, the Japanese cut of this film is a lot more underwhelming. There's a vital spark that's missing.
Absolutely yes. I'll never forget finally getting that blu-ray that had both the American and Japanese versions, being so excited to see the Japanese cut and then being so....under whelmed.

This is the only film where the American version is superior - in my opinion.
Ghidrah’s dub is far superior than the original
War of the Gargantuas US cut is superior to its Japanese one as well
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

Post by Maritonic »

Personally I prefer the Japanese version of all the films, except Godzilla 2000.

I enjoy The Return of Godzilla and Godzilla: King of the Monsters because they feel like completely different films than their source material, but other than that I don't know. It's never felt worth it to really watch the American versions.

Then again, it's been at least 10 years since I've watched the American versions of any of these films, so I'm not entirely sure how good my memory is about the quality of these.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

Post by Terasawa »

Maritonic wrote:Personally I prefer the Japanese version of all the films, except Godzilla 2000.

I enjoy The Return of Godzilla and Godzilla: King of the Monsters because they feel like completely different films than their source material, but other than that I don't know. It's never felt worth it to really watch the American versions.

Then again, it's been at least 10 years since I've watched the American versions of any of these films, so I'm not entirely sure how good my memory is about the quality of these.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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Godzillian wrote:
PitchBlackProgress wrote:
Maritonic wrote:
Absolutely yes. I'll never forget finally getting that blu-ray that had both the American and Japanese versions, being so excited to see the Japanese cut and then being so....under whelmed.

This is the only film where the American version is superior - in my opinion.
Ghidrah’s dub is far superior than the original
War of the Gargantuas US cut is superior to its Japanese one as well
The US versions of Mothra vs Godzilla and Monster Zero are superior to their Japanese counterparts too. Overall, Honda's 60s trilogy was handled fairly well by their American distributors. For the most part there no jarring additions, Ifukube's music was largely retained, and the dubs are actually good. And I think people are too hard on Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956). Even with most of the obvious commentary removed or reduced it still carries the original message and works as an independent film. But Godzilla 2000 might be the only case where the American version completely outdoes the Japanese film.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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I definitely prefer the US version of this film.

Watching both versions recently, the most striking thing is the sound editing where the US version just blows the original cut out of the water. Beefed up sound effects and a jazzed up musical score really make the film more of an audio experience.

Also, the edits made throughout the film improve the pacing tremendously. They only removed 9 minutes or so but its amazing how much of a faster pace the film has without that 9 minutes.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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Alongside what everyone has said, I think this has probably the best child character in a Godzilla film. Mayu Suzuki and Rachel Crane as Io Shinoda I can't help but find precious. She's smart and mature for her age, but not unrealistically so and thus saves her from being a Kenny/Kendra from a Gamera film. She clearly loves her father, has some funny lines and is Little Miss Snarky a lot, and seeing her bond with Yuki over time from mild antagonism to pretending she's her mom to try and save her is a nice touch.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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Excellent entry and comeback for director Okawara, who really redeemed himself considering his past contributions to the series. Tied with GMK for the best of the Millennium series, the rest are good, but this is my personal favorite.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

Post by Mr_Goji_and_Watch »

The Hattori score is a really good listen on it's own, you guys should listen to it sometime.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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Mr_Goji_and_Watch wrote:The Hattori score is a really good listen on it's own, you guys should listen to it sometime.
Agreed. I honestly kind of prefer it to most of the Robinson score.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

Post by Grievous »

For some unknown reason whenever I watch this film...
I always end up eating pizza during it.

The American dub/edit is pretty awful...but the original
Japanese cut is more watchable.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

Post by GojiDude95 »

So I finally got to see the original ver of the film and there's this scene where the military attacks Godzilla. Out of nowhere Godzilla starts to charge his beam and for some reason doesn't fire it?
The American ver decided to cut this out.
I honesty prefer the American ver. To me it feels more dynamic.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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GojiDude95 wrote:So I finally got to see the original ver of the film and there's this scene where the military attacks Godzilla. Out of nowhere Godzilla starts to charge his beam and for some reason doesn't fire it?
The American ver decided to cut this out.
I honesty prefer the American ver. To me it feels more dynamic.
Agreed. The updated music and sounds effects, and the cuts to tighten things, honestly results in one of the few versions where the dub trumps the original, for me- and I believe the filmmakers of this one agreed.

It's good to watch the Japanese version at least once, because it adds some context and detail missing in the U.S. version; but generally, the U.S. version is just a better watch. It has more life and energy.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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Zarm wrote:
GojiDude95 wrote:So I finally got to see the original ver of the film and there's this scene where the military attacks Godzilla. Out of nowhere Godzilla starts to charge his beam and for some reason doesn't fire it?
The American ver decided to cut this out.
I honesty prefer the American ver. To me it feels more dynamic.
Agreed. The updated music and sounds effects, and the cuts to tighten things, honestly results in one of the few versions where the dub trumps the original, for me- and I believe the filmmakers of this one agreed.

It's good to watch the Japanese version at least once, because it adds some context and detail missing in the U.S. version; but generally, the U.S. version is just a better watch. It has more life and energy.
While I appreciate the extra context and information the Japanese cut has ALOT, the US cut is a much better film altogether. Whats funny is that Toho also shares this view seeing as they did do a theatrical re release of the US cut of G2K.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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I was stunned when I finally saw the Japanese version of the film. Take out the music and sound effects provided in the US cut and it really takes away a lot of the energy of the film, and those 9 minutes or so that were cut for the US edit were absolutely necessary because just about all of it is dead footage that slows down the pace of the film.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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GojiDog wrote:I was stunned when I finally saw the Japanese version of the film. Take out the music and sound effects provided in the US cut and it really takes away a lot of the energy of the film, and those 9 minutes or so that were cut for the US edit were absolutely necessary because just about all of it is dead footage that slows down the pace of the film.
Agreed; although I do like that it expands a bit on Shinoda's investigation at the start, and especially on the nature and plan of the Millenians. That's why I feel like it's worth a watch once, to get that info- then you can just keep it in mind as headcanon when you watch the US cut from then-on. :)

My benchmark is the mini-sub scene. In the U.S. cut, with the already-excellent visuals, the ethereal music, and sound effects, that scene is really mesmerizing; beautiful, and a bit breathtaking (especially in the theater). In the Japanese cut, it's just kind of... flat. It's still pretty, but lacking the wonder. That encapsulates the difference between the two edits perfectly, for me.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

Post by KaijuCanuck »

It actually kind of interests me that this one US cut is so good, whereas most of them are generally agreed to be inferior. Clearly this team had an actual appreciation for the material, and none of the cynicism that pervades, say, Godzilla 1985 (although there's one or two aspects of Godzilla 1985 I love). Wasn't this team partially involved in making a kind-of sequel that was going to use suitmation and be directed by Joe Dante? That I would have loved to see.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

Post by Rhedosaurus »

Other then Godzilla's regeneration/healing powers and durability finally being explained via his G1 cells and the fight with Orga, I consider this to be a fairly forgettable movie.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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KaijuCanuck wrote: Wasn't this team partially involved in making a kind-of sequel that was going to use suitmation and be directed by Joe Dante? That I would have loved to see.
Ah man, imagine a suitmation film with CGI as a supplement, produced with an American budget. That would be the ultimate Godzilla movie for me.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)

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Does anyone else think Orga is worthy of another film appearance?

I don't why...but I really like the concept of an adaptive alien sampling
DNA to make itself capable of surviving on & taking over Earth.
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