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Favorite kaiju movies?
After reading the recent ArsTechnica review of the latest Godzilla movie, I realized that I haven't really dived into the Kaiju genre and it might make for a fun weekend to watch a few of what you all consider fun and good. I know I have seen Kaiju movies in the past but this was when I was younger so any memory is long and forgotten. I am also not averse to non-english language movies as long as the subtitling is good!
Any you recommend and why you would recommend them?
Shin Godzilla. Originally, before all the campy entries where Godzilla is our big green friend, Godzilla was simply a force of nature, neither good nor evil on his own. Also, the original Godzilla movie (also worth watching, but only in the original version, not the Americanized version) is as much a social commentary dealing with the horrors of the bomb as it is a monster movie. Shin Godzilla is a return to that paradigm, much more so than the Legendary movies. It also has a couple of the coolest Godzilla moments I've ever seen, and I've seen nearly all of the Godzilla movies ever made.
The 2014 Godzilla movie is enjoyable too, but it's very much a summer blockbuster type of movie. If you're watching multiple kaiju movies, both of these should be on the list. The human parts of the movie aren't as good as Shin, though.
Pacific Rim. Imagine if a 10-year-old boy had an idea about a movie where giant monsters fight giant robots, and then Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed a big-budget adaptation of it. This movie knows what it is and revels in it. If a movie where a giant robot has a jet engine built into its elbow so it can punch giant monsters harder appeals to you, watch this.
Just wanted to stop by the thread and say thanks to you (and everyone who commented). I ended up watching Pacific Rim 1 and started Shin Godzilla over the weekend. Pacific Rim 1 was fantastic and silly. The over the top action was awesome and made me wish there could be a live action Dragon Ball kaiju movie with the same budget.
Looking forward to finishing Shin Godzilla!
I want to second zptc's Shin Godzilla. It feels much more relatable and conjures up images of the Tsunami. I like the dead eyes they gave godzilla too, it's more like an animal than a self aware monster with a goal. A force of nature. It's also a critique of bureaucracy and all the red tape that makes the government slow to act. It also shows the considerations that have to be taken into account when dealing with a kaiju (are there civilians in the area? are you sure they're all evacuated? What kind of collateral damage can you expect? Kill or capture? What do the biologists say? etc) but it's shown quickly enough that it doesn't bog down the film. The movie feels like you're watching politicians and crack teams deal with a natural disaster.
The bad: The CGI is terrible and jarring. There is a character that is the daughter of a US senator, that was supposed to be born and raised in America (I think?) that has a very thick accent and keeps switching to English for no reason and it's not believable at all that she grew up in America. If you can handle those 2 things then I would highly recommend the movie.
I suppose my favorite is Big Man Japan, though that's more of a send up of the genre than anything else. Still, I thought it was both funny and had a good deal of heart, and I quite enjoyed that.
Second would probably be the original Godzilla, though that's perhaps mostly for it's historicity.
“Shin Godzilla” is a great kaiju film, and well worth your time. Be aware that the American home release strips a bunch of on-screen text in a way that really spoils the intended composition of some shots. (Weirdly, the limited theatrical release from Funimation had all the big text – and it was great – so for some reason they went out of their way to remove it afterwards.)
The idea of American kaiju films is a little bit of a sticky one, but to the extent that any movie has successfully captured the essence of the genre in a truly American way, “Skull Island” is it. (And it’s also just a fun movie.)
If you want to go back to a more classic era, the 90s Gamera trilogy (“Guardian Of The Universe”, “Attack Of Legion”, “Revenge Of Iris”) are basically the epitome of the 80s-90s style of kaiju film. I think everyone I’ve met with an earnest love of the genre admires those movies. Availability of them is a little spotty, but you can buy them on blu-ray for like $10 each on Amazon.
The classic Godzilla movies have a pretty wild range of quality and style, even within an era, so it’s hard to make suggestions there without knowing personally tastes. But speaking personally, I have a great affection for the 2002 “Godzilla X MechaGodzilla” and its sequel “Tokyo S.O.S”. If you prefer the campier and more ridiculous style, I think the 1991 “Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah” is as good as that gets.
I'll also third Shin Godzilla and throw in a vote for Pacific Rim 1 and 2.
But I'll also recommend the 2014's Godzilla and it's sequel, Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
I feel the Ars Technica review you linked is being overly harsh and nitpicky. Having seen the movie on Thursday, I greatly enjoyed it. Yea, the human part of the story is weak. I'll give the review that. It could've been stronger although the premise itself isn't without merit although I think it was better than 2014 Godzilla.
But the monster action was top notch, in my opinion. The article references three actual fight scenes but neglects to mention some truly awesome moments within in the film. And the fight scenes are fairly long, especially compared to 2014 Godzilla, from what I remember. But there's more than just the monster on monster fight scenes with some really good human vs monster action including one really fun sequence with Rodan.