GODZILLA Movie Thread

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mkaroly
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GODZILLA Movie Thread

#1 Post by mkaroly »

So I am getting ready to go through as many of the Godzilla films that I can over the next several months...in looking at the collection, the only three I do not have are GODZILLA VS BIOLLANTE, SON OF GODZILLA, and GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA. The latter two are ultra-expensive DVDs...lol...not sure it's worth purchasing those. I was hoping to find a GvB version in Japanese with English subtitles, but I don't think it exists. Looking forward to going back and exploring Zilla's catalogue!

Eric Paddon
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#2 Post by Eric Paddon »

I hadn't realized "Son Of Godzilla" and "Godzilla vs. Mechogodzilla" were OOP and fetching that much!

I did however find on YT someone uploading the audio tracks of the original AIP English dubs for "Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster", "Son Of Godzilla" and "Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster" (Hedorah) which disappeared in the 90s on the DVD releases when instead we were given Toho's "international" English dubs instead that sound much worse and were done with amateurs rather than professional voice actors. "Smog Monster" had that English version of the title song with the crazy "Save The Earth!" lyrics.


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Paul MacLean
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#3 Post by Paul MacLean »

I remember one time on the Tonight Show, Johnny Carson held-up this still of the Smog Monster and said "Here's a scene from Invasion of the Giant Hemorrhoid."

Image

Eric Paddon
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#4 Post by Eric Paddon »

LOL! Destroyed by the "Preparation H-Bomb!" :D

From a quality standpoint, I think the Godzilla films started going downhill in "Ghidrah" but the non-Godzilla films from the rest of the 60s ("Frankenstein Conquers The World", "War Of The Gargantuas") are much better. After "Destroy All Monsters" gave us the kitchen sink of monster spectacle and city destruction, that's when they just went downhill completely in the 70s and succumbed to Gamera disease (though those films are much worse to sit through IMO).

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AndyDursin
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#5 Post by AndyDursin »

I bought the new SHIN GODZILLA but havent watched it. From all accounts it's easier to follow if you watch it dubbed as opposed to using subtitles to follow the myriad of characters and sideplots that apparently clutter the film.

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#6 Post by mkaroly »

AndyDursin wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2017 12:38 pm I bought the new SHIN GODZILLA but havent watched it. From all accounts it's easier to follow if you watch it dubbed as opposed to using subtitles to follow the myriad of characters and sideplots that apparently clutter the film.
I heard mixed things about it - let me know what you think! I plan on watching all the Godzilla movies in order (except for Son of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla unless someone put them on YT)...watched them all the time as a kid but haven't seen many of them in ages.

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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#7 Post by AndyDursin »

I will!

Most of those Classic Media DVD releases of the old Toho '60s/early '70s Godzillas are out of print so they are actually going for decent money in the secondary market. It's a shame they haven't produced Blu-Rays of those...yet.

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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#8 Post by Eric Paddon »

There are inexpensive Blu-Rays of "Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster" and a couple of the 70s ones that I've seen though I've yet to upgrade to them

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AndyDursin
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#9 Post by AndyDursin »

Yeah, Kraken Releasing -- an independent label I'm not overly familiar with -- produced several very good Blu-Rays of GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER, GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER, GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND and GODZILLA 1984 (RETURN OF GODZILLA). All of them are dirt cheap on Amazon right now for about $8 a piece. They may be the "boring" Toho dubs but the price is certainly right and the quality solid.

Not sure if they plan on doing any others (like SON OF GODZILLA, which Sony released on DVD like "Sea Monster" years back, but is also out of print), but they're all well worth picking up.

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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#10 Post by Eric Paddon »

"Godzilla 1984" though is not the US release with the Raymond Burr added scenes and silly as many of them were, I'd much rather have that one than just an English version of the Japanese cut.

In general I'm not a fan of the 80s-90s Godzilla. "Godzilla vs. King Ghidrah" is for me the film where finally after decades of skating just a little bit on thin ice regarding the whitewashing of Japan's militaristic past they finally cross the line with their heroic view of Japanese soldiers in WW2 killing Americans.

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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#11 Post by AndyDursin »

I know, but we're never going to see that cut again. Too many legal loopholes and Toho bridges to cross! Still well worth buying at the price IMO.

I'm not that big a fan of the '90s Godzilla movies either, though GODZILLA 2000 is a lot of fun -- especially in the American dubbed version, which was intentionally goofy in its voice-over work.

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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#12 Post by Eric Paddon »

I'll never forget how they went out of their way to avoid mentioning the first name of Burr's character in the film. He was just "Mr. Martin" or when introduced himself, "The name is Martin" and the end credits made sure to say his character's name was STEPHEN Martin. :)

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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#13 Post by mkaroly »

AndyDursin wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2017 4:14 pm Yeah, Kraken Releasing -- an independent label I'm not overly familiar with -- produced several very good Blu-Rays of GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER, GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER, GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND and GODZILLA 1984 (RETURN OF GODZILLA). All of them are dirt cheap on Amazon right now for about $8 a piece. They may be the "boring" Toho dubs but the price is certainly right and the quality solid.
I picked some of those up to flesh out my collection - great prices as Andy says!

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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#14 Post by Eric Paddon »

Just did my own re-edit of "Smog Monster" by ripping the old DVD release to my computer and then using Moviemaker I overlaid the AIP dub from YT and the results were flawless! The film is hilariously awful on all levels but seeing it in widescreen for the first time with the AIP dub I remember from childhood when the film would show on TV in battered quality evoked a certain crazy nostalgia.

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#15 Post by mkaroly »

GODZILLA (1954) - 9/10. I have seen this film quite a bit, though I was never as moved by it as much I was earlier this week when I saw it. Godzilla's final scenes had a sense of sadness and tragedy associated with them - the visuals, Ifukube's music, and the story all combined in a way that equaled, for me, the ending of KING KONG (1933) and the emotional impact that had on me. GODZILLA has a lot more depth than I ever realized; it is very reflective, somber, and serious. The special effects are really outstanding and credit goes to them for the models and everything associated with creating an ominous atmosphere. I loved how Honda delayed the monster reveal and did not show him during the destruction of the island village. I suppose I never really appreciated this film on its own since I am used to the more surreal and crazy later Godzilla films, but now I have to say that this was quite an accomplishment all-around.

The American version, GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS!, I did not like at all. I will give it credit for not making a mockery of the original, but I just do not like re-editing a film and adding stuff unrelated to the original film in order to make a different version of it for a different audience. To me it is a bastardization of the original; I know that the person on the Criterion commentary track for this version commended quite a bit of it (in addition to recognizing that the cost of doing voice-over dubs was way more expensive than subtitling the film which means that the makers of the American version "respected" the original), but I don't like it at all. I respect Raymond Burr for taking it seriously but the whole thing just comes off as somewhat insulting.

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