eabaker wrote:SomeknowmeasXeno wrote:Final Wars is my favourite G film... the Showa era is the era I like the least...
That's an interesting pair of statements, to my mind. While GFW is one of my least-favorite G-flicks, and Showa is my preferred era, I do feel like a lot of aspects of GFW show a Showa influence that feels a lot stronger than any connection between that movie and the Heisei series or the other Millennium entries.
I do think Showa generally has the best fight scenes, but I'm a bigger fan of the Heisei/Millennium tones and atmospheres, for the live action movies at least.
The fast paced, brutal kaiju combat in FW hits a lot of the right notes for me (though the fights could've been longer) though granted if we ever get a movie with FW/Showa style fights again I'd be very happy, though a touch of Asura's Wrath (or along those lines) style action would be appreciated: give hits more impact, make kaiju pull off a few more 'spectacle' moves and use the environment more (throw boulders, use cranes as baseball bats, smash/ram each other through buildings), throw in a beam struggle when necessary. I just like fights to be fast paced and impactful. I also love that the humans got their own suitably awesome action scenes, they were very enjoyable to me. To put it in perspective, something like the forest fight in RotF is the sort of fight scenes I want in a Godzilla film, only instead of transformers you have kaiju and instead of a forest put them in a city, and that's if I want a more 'subtle' fight scene.
I'm also a bigger fan of the Heisei/Millennium 'art direction' (don't know what else to call it) for kaiju and mechas and just in general, which is unfair because that's just the result of bigger budgets/better design teams but it's what appeals to me. Plus Final Goji was lean and nimble, I love Godzillas that aren't bulky, that have leaner builds and can be surprisingly quick. Big fan of Megaro Goji because of that actually.
At the end of the day, if the story is well written, if it can be deep, if it can develop well that's great, that's perfect. But what I'm looking for above all else in Godzilla films is fun. I'm looking for fast paced, impactful fights; fun (not necessarily deep) human characters, creative and good cinematography (get those unique/lesser used camera angles in there in the fights) and just for the film to be a spectacle in one way or another.
I'll admit it, I'm easy to please. I understand the importance of plot and character development and insightful commentary (Big, big fan of Metal Gear because of that, and also LotR) but if you're going to sell me a Godzilla film that isn't social commentary, or trying to be something deep, then I want a spectacle. I want to see heated conflicts between kaiju and mechas, I want to see stunning cinematography and visuals, I want to see something fun. I do require a good plot and characters as well, but I won't particularly care if they're not A-star material, just give me something I can enjoy. I'm easy to please, I know, but I'm here to see kaiju and mechas kick ass in spectacular fashion.
"Tonight, when the blood moon finishes rising, I will summon my brother Yuul'syqpoth into this sphere of existence, and that's absolutely fantastic."