- 4 months ago
In this episode, we take a look at an international film that used a towering creature as an allegory for the Hiroshima bombing of WWII, and would later become a movie icon, Gojira (aka Godzilla).
Originally uploaded on March 30, 2011.
Originally uploaded on March 30, 2011.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00.
00:02.
00:04.
00:06.
00:08.
00:10.
00:12.
00:14.
00:16.
00:18.
00:20.
00:22.
00:24.
00:26.
00:28.
00:30.
00:32.
00:34.
00:36.
00:38.
00:40.
00:42.
00:44.
00:46.
00:48.
00:50.
00:52.
00:54.
00:56.
00:58.
01:00.
01:02.
01:04.
01:06.
01:08.
01:10.
01:12.
01:14.
01:16.
01:18.
01:20.
01:46.
01:48.
01:49.
01:51.
01:55.
01:59.
02:01.
02:03.
02:05.
02:07.
02:09.
02:11.
02:13.
02:15.
02:17The year is 1954.
02:43It had been nine years since the end of World War II and the tragic atomic bombings of
02:50the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
02:55Japan would slowly recover from the unfortunate state it was in and carry on with life.
03:01However, memories of the war caused an inspirational spark to occur which led to the creation of
03:09one of the most memorable and greatest monster movies ever.
03:14This was Gojira, or better known by its international translation, Godzilla.
03:21This timeless classic would not only be an influence to future monster films, but also
03:27be noted for its clever allegory of the atomic bombings to the monster and its rampage.
03:34The funny thing I have to note about Godzilla, or in this case, Gojira, is how it really
03:41differed from the rapid-fire pacing of monster movies in the 30s and 40s where you had the
03:51Frankenstein monster, the wolfman, the vampire.
03:55They were all typical 30s and 40s monster cliches that were kind of being used with a bone.
04:03They were all creatures made of science or of European folklore.
04:09King Kong was just a giant gorilla, but it sort of goes into the whole legends aspect.
04:18When we got to the 1950s, it was after World War II, it was the start of the Cold War, and
04:26the threat of nuclear annihilation was on everyone's minds.
04:31And movies, monster movies of the decade reflected that.
04:35You had films like Them with the giant ants, The Amazing Colossal Man and The Attack of the
04:4250-Foot Woman, and you had The Deadly Mantis.
04:49All movies featuring giant things like giant people, giant insects, giant lizards, all relating
04:55to the atomic bomb, but those films were to show how scary the atomic bomb is.
05:06And by today's standards, that seems really cheesy.
05:10But then came Godzilla in Japan, and instead of drawing people away from the atomic bomb testing,
05:18it actually made people pay attention and to see a logical, scientific way in order to
05:25stop these kind of things.
05:27When you compare Godzilla to previous movie monsters in the years that came before, there
05:32is one major difference, and that is that the monsters in the older movies were mostly
05:36two-dimensional or one-dimensional antagonists.
05:39They were never really created, they just sort of were the way they were.
05:43The exception being, of course, Frankenstein's monster, who was created because
05:47man wanted to push the boundaries of science.
05:50Which is similar to how Godzilla was created.
05:53The difference between Frankenstein's monster and Godzilla is that although they're each created
05:58by man in pursuit of a greater understanding of science, Frankenstein's monster was made
06:03just to see if Frankenstein the Doctor could create life from dead tissue.
06:08But man has a tendency to channel this curiosity of the unknown for either creative or destructive
06:13power, and the creation of Godzilla fits in with the latter.
06:17But if you wanted to compare him to a monster who might be a little bit more his equal, I would
06:27have to say King Kong.
06:30The difference with King Kong is that King Kong was brought from his location to another location.
06:45With Godzilla, he is acting on his own free will.
06:51He's not being kidnapped.
06:53He's just attacking Tokyo because that's what he does.
06:58He is made to do that sort of thing.
07:02So the motivation between those two different characters are, well, what can I say, different motivations.
07:11The idea for the movie came about when the Japanese film studio Toho Company Limited has plans to do a war film and prepared an array of battleships and models.
07:23Unfortunately, those plans were cancelled to avoid reviving painful memories of the previous fights and bombings.
07:31A solution came to when Japanese film producer Tomoyuki Tanaka got an idea after looking down at the ocean from an airplane thinking,
07:41what if a giant monster appeared from out of the sea and attacked Tokyo?
07:47This basic question was expanded further when news of a Japanese fishing ship called the Lucky Dragon 5 came about.
07:56It was reported that the ship was near some nuclear testing and it resulted in the crew members suffering from radiation sickness.
08:05One was left dead.
08:07This eventually led to the idea of widespread fear of uncontrolled and unpredictable nuclear weapons,
08:14which not only became the film's message, but led to the birth of an idea.
08:20The chaos begins when a Japanese fishing boat is attacked by a strange flash of light near Odo Island.
08:27This event leads to great speculation and mystery as news of destruction on the island comes about.
08:34Dr. Kyohei Yamane, Japanese leading expert in paleontology, gets interested and is prompted to send some investigators to the island.
08:44Upon entering Odo Island, they soon discover that Godzilla is more they can fight after viewing a giant radioactive footprint and an appearance from the creature itself.
08:56Dr. Yamane returned to Tokyo and his discovered evidence leads to the conclusion that Godzilla was created by exposure to hydrogen bomb testing.
09:06After a great debate over revealing this information to avoid international repercussion, Godzilla's origins are announced to the public.
09:16As the monster begins to rampage through Tokyo, destroying all in its path and killing hundreds of people, the military tried to stop the creature, but eventually fail.
09:28As the public pleads to Yamane to find a way to kill him, he has different plans in mind to keep Godzilla alive and studied.
09:38At the same time, his daughter, Emiko, has fallen in love with a naval officer named Ogata and wishes to break her engagement to her father's colleague, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa.
09:50But she soon discovers his accidental discovery dub, the Oxygen Destroyer, a chemical weapon that can destroy all the oxygen molecules in the water, thus killing fish, and could possibly kill off Godzilla.
10:05However, Serizawa is reluctant to use it against the rampaging monster, for fear that it could end up in the wrong hands and be used for evil.
10:15Other than the real-life events of the war and nuclear testing, Godzilla drew most of its inspiration from the 1933 classic, King Kong, and its recently released Harryhausen film, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.
10:30For this movie, Tanaka chose director Ishiro Handa to work on the project.
10:36Handa, who had previously worked alongside legendary Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, knew how to approach this project by treating the actions of the creature as if it were an actual disaster, giving a more dramatic and edgy tone to the monster's chaos.
10:55The movie itself is seen as a metaphorical allegory to the Hiroshima bombings, which adds on an interesting commentary about warfare technology and the unknown effects of nuclear testing.
11:10The movie is less about the monster and more about the destruction and the impact it has on people.
11:16You see the aftermath of the destruction, you see the hospitals overflowing with wounded, you see the relief efforts, you see children orphaned, you see patients contaminated with radiation.
11:28If you look at the human scenes out of context, you wouldn't think they were part of a monster movie.
11:33And in terms of, you know, including in references to the Hiroshima bombing is pretty, pretty of a bold decision.
11:41Because it not only shows the capabilities of what happens when man interferes and creates this rampaging beast,
11:48but also sort of this mirror image of what the bomb was like through the eyes of the people in general,
11:59as sort of this rampaging creature that will stop at nothing unless everything is wiped out in its path.
12:06If you look at Tokyo after Godzilla's attack, it is gone.
12:11I mean, it is completely flattened. The buildings are in pieces. There's smoke, steam, radioactivity rising from the ground.
12:21There's fire everywhere. It literally looks like a bomb hit.
12:26And when you see the victims of these bombings, I think some of it was actually stock footage of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima.
12:35I mean, you saw people being tested for nuclear activity with a Geiger counter.
12:41You saw people dead in beds. You saw children crying for their dead parents and their wounds.
12:49I think Godzilla is an excellent allegory for the atomic bomb because Tokyo in the movie is Hiroshima and Godzilla is the bomb.
12:59He is basically the atomic bomb incarnate.
13:03Godzilla is a force of nature in the first film, a force spawned by man's actions, but unstoppable and uncontrollable.
13:10He's a reminder to humanity that with all of our achievements, all our technology, there are still things against which we have no power at all.
13:18With all the things that happen in the world that could serve as this reminder,
13:22it's really kind of funny that this monster from a cheesy Japanese franchise is the one that helps us remember.
13:30A story like Godzilla's will ask people to ask themselves, what are we becoming?
13:37Can we stop it? Is it too late?
13:40Behind the violence, Godzilla asks these questions.
13:43You can't really do that anymore because it's been over 60 years since the atomic bomb was dropped.
13:53And science fiction, like everything else, has to modernize itself.
13:59It has to be contemporary in some form in order to be successful.
14:06It has to go to a theme that we recognize.
14:12For instance, District 9 infamously used the category of aliens as their monsters just to show the interactions between different cultures,
14:32which is a common thing in science fiction, only usually you've got humans and robots for that subgenre.
14:41But personally, I think they did a pretty crappy job of making that movie, or making that connection in the movie.
14:50So that kind of ruined it for me.
14:52Hiroshima and Nagasaki were still fresh in the memories of Japanese audiences,
14:56so I can imagine how difficult it might have been for some to relive that experience by watching this movie.
15:02These days, movies would be only about the monsters,
15:05and anything regarding humans would be considered little more than padding.
15:11When the design of the monster was discussed,
15:14originally, the idea was to have Godzilla be portrayed in stop-motion animation.
15:19However, this idea proved to be costly.
15:23Ichi Tsuburaya, the head of the visual effects department, decided to have a man in a rubber suit instead.
15:30With the help of intense lighting and high-speed filming, Tsuburaya was able to add to the realism of the effects
15:38by giving him a slightly slower, ponderous weight of the character.
15:42This technique, dubbed Suitmation, used detailed miniatures with men in monster suits,
15:50and it's surprisingly still being used today.
15:53While it's considered a traditional Japanese craft of art today,
15:57Godzilla himself was proven to be unique and frightening, in contrast with other movie monsters.
16:05What I like about the man in suit process is that, with stop-motion animation, it's very time-consuming,
16:11and you have to move, like, the leg, one inch, take a shot, another inch, take a shot, and so on, and so on,
16:18for hours and hours upon end.
16:20And if you make the slightest mistake, you have to start all over again, and that's very stressful.
16:26But with a man in suit, all you have to do is get an actor, put him in, like, a rubber, leather monster suit,
16:32and have him going around destroying miniature buildings, and that seems more realistic.
16:37And that seems more simple.
16:39Plus, you have to slow down the camera speed after you've filmed to make it look like a giant creature is destroying these buildings.
16:49And what I like about the suit process, the suit thing, was the design of the Godzilla suit.
16:55It's basically a large, theropod dinosaur, much like a Tyrannosaurus rex or an Allosaurus,
17:02and yet you have the spines running down its back.
17:06And I think that's a clever way of doing your own made-up dinosaur.
17:10And what I also like about the suit was the skin texture.
17:14Throughout the course of the making of the suit, they had three models to base the suit off.
17:20There was a serpent skin model, which had, like, snake-like skin, because it's an aquatic creature.
17:29But the model they eventually used for the suit design was called the alligator model,
17:35because the skin looked rough and rigid, kind of like it was mutated and deformed from the atomic bomb blast.
17:43And, yeah, it did look like alligator skin, so they thought they should use that.
17:47By having a man in a suit, you have something physical to work with.
17:51You can light it, you can shoot coverage around it, and it can interact with the set and the prop.
17:56When you watch Godzilla's attack on Tokyo, you see him coming out of water, knocking down buildings.
18:01When tanks shoot at him, you see flames on the suit, and you see him walking through smoke.
18:07That's physically there, and the audience recognizes that.
18:10We are trained, somehow, through our eyes to detect something that's real and something that's not.
18:18When something is stop-motion, we can tell.
18:22When something is computer graphics, we can tell.
18:26When something is a guy in a suit, it looks real.
18:32But sometimes, if it's done properly, we can't really tell.
18:39Although, if you look at the Godzilla suit now, it kind of looks like he's a mutated hamburger, I think.
18:48Whether you take the movie seriously or not, the suit is part of the Godzilla experience.
18:53You expect it.
18:55When Roland Emmerich made his CGI version of Godzilla, you could tell that the movie was missing.
19:01Well, I could argue that the movie was missing a lot of things, but the suit was definitely part of it.
19:06With today's movies, the monsters are CGI.
19:10Obviously, that's a choice that people do as sort of like a shortcut.
19:13But it's their way of saying, oh yeah, we could do, like, you know, a prosthetic or animatronic.
19:19But these days, we think it's cool to have something that's digital and sort of lifelike in their own representation.
19:29And to be honest, yeah, we've gone far with the digital technology, but it's getting to a point where it's getting really, really old.
19:37And when we look on the screen, we're seeing not really, you know, something so humanoid and lifelike,
19:45but something that's more digital, rough, and just somewhat out of place.
19:50But again, that's just me, because I'm really into prosthetics and very authenticated special effects.
19:57Sort of that type of boon-between.
19:59And with Godzilla, they chose to go with a much more different approach with it.
20:05However, a monster movie can't rely on the monster alone.
20:11The characters that interact with the monster is an essential key to the story,
20:16or else it would be your basic creature running amok tale.
20:20The human characters are dealt with a lot more in-depth than your typical 50s monster movie.
20:30Maybe it's just the acting or the story writing.
20:35But, you know, when you think of characters in 50s sci-fi films, you might think of different stereotypes,
20:51like a teenage boy and girl.
20:53Oh, Brad, I'm so afraid.
20:55Don't worry, Jenny. We'll get you out of here in no time.
20:59Or maybe there's the army general who's just like,
21:02Oh, well, this is a big alien deal, whatever.
21:07We need to blow it up, and etc.
21:10They all fit into caricatures.
21:12But these individuals in the movie, the ship captain, the doctor, and the doctor's wife, for instance,
21:29they have a love triangle that's going on between the three of them.
21:33And this creates a dimension of depth that is unique to Godzilla.
21:44At least for the time.
21:46My favorite human character is definitely Dr. Sarazawa.
21:50I like how he's the complete opposite of what you expect from him.
21:53The first time you see him, he's in a crowd of people.
21:56He's the only one not cheering.
21:58He's the only one wearing a dark suit.
22:00He has an eye patch.
22:01And on top of that, he's wearing dark sunglasses over the eye patch.
22:05He's a recluse.
22:06He works in an underground lab that looks like it came straight out of Frankenstein.
22:11And yet, he turns out to be the most human and perhaps the most sympathetic character in the movie.
22:16I also like the parallel between Sarazawa and Professor Yamane.
22:21As scientists are both given the choice of destroying Godzilla, but neither wants to.
22:27But, whereas Sarazawa feels that the alternative will only bring more destruction,
22:32Yamane thinks that by studying Godzilla, he can help benefit mankind.
22:37Together, they kind of embody the moral and ethical dilemma that scientists face.
22:43Unlike most monster movies, Godzilla's scenes prove to be more intense, dramatic, and engaging than ever.
22:51Not only do these moments prove to be memorable, but even the musical score composed by Akira y Fukube proves to add tension to the destructive nature and horrifying tone of the film.
23:04I think it's pretty obvious to say that all the scenes of Godzilla's destruction are probably the most compelling of the bunch.
23:11The reason why I say this is because, again, when you're seeing this movie from an artistic point of view, you're not looking at a monster,
23:19but more of a bomb raging through Tokyo and all these cities causing destruction and mayhem.
23:27On one side, it's a wonder and a wow, but on the other side, it's a sheer streak of horror to think about everything that went on during the bombing overseas.
23:41And in a way, Godzilla really captures that horror and implication and fear of what happened back then.
23:50It's a very horrifying reflection when you're seeing things like the monster destroying buildings and crushing cars.
23:58And I clearly remember this one devastating sequence where a mother is holding a girl saying how they're going to finally see daddy in heaven,
24:07which really brings the emotion to an all-high knock.
24:10It's very devastating to see something like that happen.
24:15In one right, it's just a wonder to see the monster's destruction, because you get to see all the things he does,
24:23whether it's clawing at a skyscraper or breathing fire. It's truly impressive.
24:29And at the same time, it's also a shock, because when you see the creature for the first time, you don't know what features he has.
24:36You don't know what he's going to use to dismantle the army or something along the lines of that.
24:42And seeing those scenes for the first time, I thought they were dramatically well done.
24:48The attack on Odo Island. The effects and the music are great, but I always remember when Shinkichi runs out and Masaji runs after him,
24:57and I always remember the reaction that Masaji has when he spots Godzilla off-camera.
25:02The first time Godzilla uses his atomic breath. That in itself is a great reveal, but when we actually see the electrical towers glow and melt,
25:11I would probably rank them like one of the best effects I've ever seen.
25:15My favorite scene in the movie would have to be when Godzilla comes to Tokyo for the second time in the film.
25:22Now they're prepared for him. They've built these giant electrical towers to try and prevent him from going further into the city.
25:30Wildlife was the music that built up to this. Akira Fukubei is basically the Japanese equivalent to John Williams.
25:38Well, I like it. It's so low and ominous that he sounds like you hear a horn, you hear these BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
25:49On the piano as he walks up the shore. And as he walks up the shore, you see the entire Godzilla suit from the side.
25:57And it is gigantic. You're in awe at the sight of this gigantic creature.
26:04And then when he hits the electrical towers, they throw everything at him.
26:10They throw shells, bullets, and he is trashing through these electrical wires, being electrocuted probably.
26:19And my favorite part of that scene was where when he's going through electrical towers, he is tearing down his bare hands.
26:26And there's a shot where he faces the camera. The entire body of Godzilla is facing the camera as he's tearing down the electrical tower.
26:35And you hear that deep bellowing roar. And you can even see it in the trailer for Godzilla King of the Monsters.
26:41And that shot is so powerful for me. I just love that scene. Every time I think of the original Godzilla, I think of that one scene.
26:50That's how powerful it was. And the scene that follows where it reveals that he has nuclear breath.
26:55I mean, this stream of nuclear energy shoots out his mouth. And it obliterates the electrical towers. They melt into putty.
27:06And that sounds like, we're screwed. We didn't know that. Now that we know, we're screwed.
27:13I would have to say my favorite scene from the movie was unintentionally funny when I consider it now.
27:23When they're walking around in the giant Godzilla footprint, the guy is poking around with his radioactive detector.
27:33And he says, this footprint is radioactive. Everyone get out now.
27:38And the whole crowd moves away. And you realize he's still standing there, along with a group of other people who are supposed to be studying this footprint.
27:49He's the only one in a radioactive proof vest. But the other guys look unprotected.
27:55So it's kind of like, alright everybody else, stay away, stay away. This is radioactive.
28:00These two guys over here, don't mind them. They're not important. We'll be okay. We'll be okay. Really.
28:07I didn't grow up watching Godzilla, but I really liked that Godzilla theme song. You hear the Godzilla theme song and you know something's about to go down.
28:17Akira Ifukube scores, in my opinion, one of the greatest film scores ever composed. It perfectly embodies everything that defines Godzilla.
28:26Even if you've never seen a Godzilla movie, you hear the music and you immediately get the sense of this ominous threat approaching. And you can't escape it.
28:36Even in the more upbeat pieces, you still get this foreboding undercurrent that the worst is still to come.
28:43When Godzilla was first released in the autumn of 1954, the film sold approximately 9.61 million tickets and it was the 8th best-attended film in Japan that year.
28:57However, Japanese critics accused the film of exploiting the widespread devastation that the country had suffered in World War II as well as the Daiko Fukuryu Mayu incident that occurred a few months before filming began.
29:13But as time went on, it gained more respect in its home country.
29:18The film was nominated for two Japanese Academy Awards, one for Best Special Effects and the other for Best Film.
29:26It won Best Special Effects, but lost Best Picture to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.
29:33Two years later, a small distribution company in Los Angeles called Jewel Enterprises purchased the rights to the film and released it in the United States under the new title,
29:45Godzilla, King of the Monsters.
29:48Godzilla, King of the Monsters.
29:53Alive.
29:54Surging up from the depths of the sea on a tidal wave of terror to wreak vengeance on mankind.
30:00Godzilla, King of the Monsters.
30:02It's alive.
30:03A gigantic beast.
30:04A gigantic beast.
30:05Docking the Earth.
30:06Crushing all before it.
30:07In a psychotic cavalcade of electrifying horror.
30:10You may wish to deny it, but your eyes tell you it's true.
30:15A tale to stun the mind.
30:17Dynamic violence.
30:18Savage action.
30:20Spectacular thrills.
30:22Godzilla, King of the Monsters.
30:25Fantastic beyond comprehension.
30:28Gripping beyond compare.
30:30Astounding beyond belief.
30:33The mightiest monster of them all.
30:36See Godzilla, King of the Monsters.
30:42Aside from trimming some of the romance subplot, a lot dealing with the bomb allegory was left on the cutting room floor,
30:50giving the monster more of a human accident rather than being connected to the war.
30:56Also, some refilming was done with actor Raymond Burr to give it more a documentary style feature.
31:04This change gave Godzilla a more interesting but basic monster movie style,
31:10which shows how powerful editing can be with the re-editing of a film.
31:16For me, the best way to describe the Japanese and American cuts is that the American cut is more distant.
31:25As a character, Steve Martin is a complete non-factor.
31:29He has little, if any, impact on the story, the characters, or the decisions they make.
31:36Instead of following the main characters, it's more like you're following the guy who's following the guy who's following the main characters.
31:45But with the U.S. cut, it's so obvious.
31:51I watched that one first.
31:54And with all the newly shot footage with Raymond Burr and the rest of the new cast,
32:04it's so different. It looks so different because the folks at Universal, they have this really clean-looking footage when they shot the new footage.
32:20And the old Godzilla footage, the Japanese footage, looks dirty.
32:25I don't know what it is. It's a technological difference.
32:28Maybe the, uh...
32:31Maybe the U.S. release was...
32:34Maybe the...
32:35Maybe it's because the United States technology is so much more advanced as usual.
32:43But, um...
32:45The footage sticks together like, uh...
32:49A very bad glove.
32:51There's this one scene in the original Japanese version.
32:53It is an American version, but they don't...
32:55But you can't understand what they're saying because they don't dub it in.
32:58But it is subtitled in the 2006 DVD.
33:02Where there's this woman and her two children hiding out in an alleyway while Godzilla is rampaging through Tokyo.
33:09And she says to them,
33:10Don't worry, my babies.
33:12Soon you will be joining your father.
33:15And...
33:16By seeing that, you know that the father is dead.
33:19And the idea is that he either died in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
33:24or he was a soldier who died in World War II.
33:26And that's very powerful.
33:28But...
33:29In the American version,
33:31They don't dub that over, so you have no idea what they're saying.
33:34The one cut that bugs me to this day is right at the end.
33:38Just right at the tail end.
33:40There's this powerful speech delivered by the doctor.
33:44Where he's talking about,
33:46If we make another bomb,
33:48then there will surely be another Godzilla.
33:51And it was very powerful.
33:52Very well delivered.
33:54Very, very emotional.
33:56And I just love how it was done.
33:59Over here in the American version,
34:02They had a voiceover saying,
34:04In typical monster cliched fashion,
34:06You know, Godzilla was destroyed.
34:08We lost a good man.
34:09But we can finally wake up to another tomorrow.
34:11And I'm fine with that.
34:13It, you know,
34:14It resorts back to the typical cliched monster story.
34:18Where the creature is destroyed.
34:20People can move on.
34:22Until another day when the monster reappears.
34:25But I just felt so motivatedly emotional about the final words of the movie,
34:31That I just felt they should have had that in there.
34:34But, oh, oh, no.
34:35They had to cut it out because of the Hiroshima bombing.
34:38And I'm not going to go too strict.
34:43Or, you know,
34:44I know there's people out there who are still sensitive to such an event.
34:48But I will say this.
34:50I still think things should be seen for what they are.
34:53And not be axed down to another former pitch.
34:55Where it's in a different type of scenario or message.
35:00Where it's stripped of the bone to a commercialized format.
35:04I'm always all about the truth.
35:07The straight up fact.
35:09Well, most of the time.
35:11But, you know, in all honesty.
35:14I just felt that, you know,
35:16Cutting that tail end speech was a key element.
35:20To a very powerful ending.
35:23And losing that in the end.
35:25You just have a typical meme.
35:29Once Godzilla was released in America.
35:31It was a box office hit with two million dollars.
35:34Which at the time was a large sum of money.
35:37It also unleashed a huge wave of popularity and interest in Japanese giant monster movies.
35:44The success of this film gave Toho the chance to experiment more with the sci-fi genre.
35:49And make similar but different films.
35:52Like Rodan.
35:53The Mysterians.
35:54Varen.
35:55Battle in Outer Space.
35:57Mothra.
35:58And countless others as the years went on.
36:02Over the years.
36:04Godzilla generated many sequels.
36:07And even changed to a more heroic figure at one point.
36:10Toho's creation would become the influence of other giant monsters.
36:15Such as Gamera.
36:17And more recently.
36:18J.J. Abrams Cloverfield.
36:20Eventually.
36:21TriStar Pictures would get their chance to remake the classic.
36:26Memorial Day 1998 would see the release of Roland Emmerich's Godzilla.
36:32Unfortunately.
36:33Despite a successful box office return.
36:36And remarked for having a clever marketing strategy.
36:39The movie would completely polarize fans and critics alike.
36:43Over how it differed from the original.
36:46And the upgrade.
36:47Given to Godzilla as well.
36:50However.
36:51It's been known as the only American remake to this day.
36:56That was till an announcement of a reboot to occur.
36:59Which has some fans in high hopes.
37:01Or skeptical.
37:02After what happened first time around.
37:05Still.
37:06Perhaps there will be a future for this popular creature.
37:09I really don't like Roland Emmerich's remake of Godzilla from 1998.
37:13I mean.
37:14I kinda like it.
37:15But.
37:16Only if I don't think of it as a Godzilla movie.
37:18Because.
37:19In that movie.
37:20Godzilla did.
37:21So many things that are out of character.
37:23I mean.
37:24He ran away.
37:25From the military.
37:26Uh.
37:27He didn't really breathe fire.
37:29He just.
37:30Blew.
37:31And the.
37:32Cars exploded.
37:33And.
37:34He laid eggs.
37:36That was a big.
37:37No no.
37:38I.
37:39I don't know.
37:40I know the whole.
37:41Asexual thing.
37:42Like.
37:43They can change from one sex to another.
37:45But.
37:46Dude.
37:47A word for Jurassic Park.
37:48I don't think it works for Godzilla.
37:50Also.
37:51I just didn't like the design of the monster.
37:54I mean.
37:55If you're going to do.
37:57A remake.
37:58Of.
37:59A famous monster.
38:01And.
38:02You want the design to please the fans.
38:04Then that's what you do.
38:06I mean.
38:07The remake of Godzilla.
38:08It just.
38:09Uh.
38:10Looked like this.
38:11Really.
38:12Skinny.
38:13Scrawny.
38:14Iguana.
38:15With this.
38:16Huge.
38:17Shere Khan.
38:18Like.
38:19Chin.
38:20And.
38:21These.
38:22Like.
38:23Spines.
38:24Opera House.
38:25I really.
38:26Didn't like that.
38:27In fact.
38:28Like.
38:29When I was a little kid.
38:31And.
38:32I played with Godzilla toys.
38:33I had that toy.
38:34But I never referred to it as Godzilla.
38:35I always referred to it as like another monster.
38:37I called it.
38:38Gojira.
38:39Or.
38:40Zilla.
38:41In fact.
38:42That's what it was.
38:43Relate.
38:44Later renamed.
38:45Uh.
38:46Zilla.
38:47Did.
38:48The design just took the god out of Godzilla.
38:50But.
38:51Another nickname they gave it was Gino.
38:52Which was.
38:53Which.
38:54What.
38:55Which stood for.
38:56Godzilla in name only.
38:58And.
38:59I.
39:00I like either name.
39:01Zilla or Gino.
39:02But.
39:03I'm used.
39:04More used to Gino.
39:05Than Zilla.
39:06Another thing I didn't like was that it took place.
39:08In.
39:09America.
39:10I mean.
39:11Yeah.
39:12It's fine.
39:13But.
39:14For a remake.
39:15Have it take place in Japan.
39:16I mean.
39:17Godzilla is.
39:18Japan's monster.
39:19New York.
39:20Is.
39:21King Kong's domain.
39:22Not Godzilla.
39:23I mean.
39:24Yeah.
39:25Godzilla destroyed New York.
39:26And.
39:27Destroy all monsters.
39:28But.
39:29That was the Japanese Godzilla.
39:30And he only did it one time.
39:31So it worked.
39:32A.
39:33A remake.
39:34A remake.
39:35That take place in America.
39:36Just doesn't fly.
39:37To me at least.
39:39You know.
39:40I'm not gonna lie.
39:41When.
39:42I saw Godzilla.
39:43The 1998 remake.
39:44Um.
39:45At a very young age.
39:46I didn't mind it.
39:47I.
39:48I just enjoyed it.
39:49You know.
39:50I like seeing the monster blow things up.
39:52And.
39:53What have you.
39:54And I really didn't care about the human characters.
39:56I just kinda like.
39:57You know.
39:58Blank down outer space.
39:59And just.
40:00You know.
40:01The monster appear.
40:02And.
40:03Aside from the huge marketing campaign.
40:04It failed.
40:05To deliver.
40:06A.
40:07Uh.
40:08Well done.
40:09Adaptation.
40:10Um.
40:11In my opinion.
40:12Of course.
40:13Not worthy of being called.
40:14Godzilla.
40:15Considering how it's.
40:16Un Godzilla like.
40:17And.
40:18You know.
40:19I'm not jumping on the bandwagon.
40:20And saying.
40:21It's.
40:22A terrible.
40:23Terrible film.
40:24Years have gone by.
40:25We're gonna get another reboot.
40:27But somewhere in the back of my mind.
40:28There's this constant nightmare.
40:30Of walking in.
40:32Sitting down.
40:34Watching this.
40:35New.
40:36Zilla.
40:37And.
40:38Being completely.
40:40Disappointed.
40:41With.
40:42A lot of things.
40:43However.
40:44I will say though.
40:45I have seen some concept.
40:47Work.
40:48From.
40:49Legendary pictures.
40:50New.
40:51Take on.
40:52The.
40:53Um.
40:54Green giant.
40:55I think personally.
40:56If they.
40:57Have.
40:58A good story.
40:59If they have.
41:00Good.
41:01Characters.
41:02If they have.
41:03Something that retains true to the original.
41:06Film.
41:07Or at least.
41:08Have.
41:09You know.
41:10One of the.
41:11Film series in question.
41:12Except for.
41:13Godzilla's revenge.
41:14I think they'll.
41:15Have it made.
41:16I think they'll.
41:17Produce something that is definitely gonna blow.
41:18Ronald Emmerch's.
41:19Um.
41:20Take out of the water.
41:21I mean.
41:22The guy didn't know any better.
41:23And he had a.
41:24Film series.
41:25Columbia wouldn't let him test screen the movie.
41:27And.
41:28Production was.
41:29Rushed to the bone.
41:30Where.
41:31He just.
41:32Didn't really have a true vision for it.
41:33He was just there to.
41:34Direct.
41:35Something.
41:36For.
41:37Studio.
41:38Consent.
41:39And that's what I.
41:40Really.
41:41Was annoyed about.
41:42Later on in life.
41:43When I learned about.
41:44The production qualities of.
41:46The.
41:47First.
41:48American remake.
41:49Because of my age.
41:50I actually think.
41:51Of the American CGI version.
41:53Of Godzilla.
41:54When I think.
41:55Of Godzilla.
41:56When that movie.
41:57Was first released.
41:58In 1998.
41:59I didn't even know.
42:00That there was.
42:01Japanese version.
42:02Of the character.
42:03I learned that later on.
42:04When I finally.
42:05Did get around.
42:06Watching the older.
42:07Godzilla movies.
42:08I was actually.
42:09Pretty impressed.
42:10With the.
42:11Special effects.
42:12Did not have.
42:13Very advanced.
42:14Special effects.
42:15And having the man.
42:16In suit.
42:17Worked.
42:18Much better.
42:19Than stop motion.
42:20In my opinion.
42:21It gives the monster.
42:22Human like.
42:23Movements.
42:24It fits in.
42:25With the live action.
42:26Of the other characters.
42:27And.
42:28I think.
42:29Just.
42:30Erase.
42:31The name.
42:32Roland Emmerich.
42:33From your memory.
42:34And.
42:35Maybe you might have something.
42:36What can really be said.
42:38About the reboot.
42:39At this point.
42:40All we really have.
42:41Is a director.
42:42And some concept art.
42:43I just hope.
42:44That you learn.
42:45From the mistakes.
42:46Of the last one.
42:47I saw monsters.
42:48And I thought.
42:49It was good.
42:50I thought.
42:51It was a step.
42:52In the right direction.
42:53But it was still.
42:54Far from.
42:55What I think.
42:56A great Godzilla movie.
42:57Needs to be.
42:58Gareth Edwards.
42:59Has a big challenge.
43:00Of him.
43:01And I wish him.
43:02The best of luck.
43:03I saw.
43:04The.
43:05Concept art.
43:06That they have.
43:07For comic-con.
43:08With.
43:09Standing in front.
43:10Of this.
43:11Destroyed city.
43:12It.
43:13I know.
43:14That's not the final design.
43:15But at least.
43:16Shows that.
43:17Legendary Pictures.
43:18Is staying true.
43:19The original.
43:20Source material.
43:21And.
43:22About the director.
43:23I've heard.
43:24Many good things.
43:25About Gareth Edwards.
43:26Especially.
43:27His movie.
43:28Monsters.
43:29I've never seen.
43:30The movie.
43:31But.
43:32From clips.
43:33That I've seen.
43:34From the movie.
43:35On YouTube.
43:36And.
43:37From things.
43:38I've heard about.
43:39Him direct.
43:40Godzilla.
43:41Is a.
43:42Huge burden.
43:43On his shoulders.
43:44I mean.
43:45People are.
43:46Expecting him.
43:47To do right.
43:48With his character.
43:49Where.
43:50Dean Devlin.
43:51Roller Emmerich.
43:52Went wrong.
43:53But.
43:54Remake.
43:55Of Godzilla.
43:56If it takes place.
43:57In Japan.
43:58That's great.
43:59If it takes place.
44:00In America.
44:01That'll be fine.
44:02But the one thing.
44:03I talk about.
44:04The remake.
44:05Says.
44:06Whenever.
44:07They remake.
44:08Godzilla.
44:09Or reboot him.
44:10Again.
44:11He's always alone.
44:12And they're like.
44:13Why isn't he fighting a monster?
44:14That's what he's good at.
44:15Godzilla fighting a monster.
44:16Like.
44:17The original movie.
44:18He didn't fight a monster.
44:19Maybe we did reboot Godzilla again in the thousands, he did find another monster, but I'm happy either way.
44:24But I'd rather see Godzilla be the main focus of the movie and not have him fight a giant monster, another giant monster, immediately.
44:34That's what I'm saying.
44:36Another remake of Godzilla was inevitable.
44:39The name alone is going to draw an audience and bring in money if it's marketed correctly.
44:44And with the technology available today, I'm sure it will be an action-packed film.
44:48However, I've noticed that the remakes of classic characters for movies often don't hold up with expectations, especially decades after the fact.
45:00And the essence of who the character was originally is twisted or warped in an attempt to modernize the story and the characters.
45:08I guess there's talk that Godzilla will actually be fighting another monster in this version, unlike the 1998 American version.
45:15I'm not going to hold my breath.
45:18On this reboot of Godzilla.
45:21I think they could get it right, but the character is so ingrained in society that finding the right tone and execution is going to be difficult.
45:29Especially when you're trying to please both diehard fans and newcomers to the franchise.
45:33Over the years, Godzilla has been able to endure because he's shown an ability to adapt to the changing needs of his audience.
45:41He's been hero and villain, campy and serious, a commentary on the state of the world, and simple children's entertainment.
45:49At its core, Godzilla is something universal that can appeal to everyone on some level, and the variety of films he's had is proof of that.
46:01All I have to say about Godzilla's fan base is that when people still know who you are and you're a fictional character, 50 plus years later, you've made an impact.
46:15And in Godzilla's case, it was a positive impact because I used to go and sleep over at a friend's house when I was a kid.
46:27And that was in the mid-90s, but he was always renting these U.S. dubbed Godzilla movies.
46:41And he went through this whole Godzilla phase.
46:45And I got to see everything but the original Godzilla.
46:48And it was just sort of charming to look at and see, to see how far things had come.
47:03How the character was still strangely popular after what was then 50 years, just about.
47:11So Godzilla strangely holds up.
47:16That's a good thing.
47:17I feel like Godzilla's going to be around for a long, long time.
47:20I mean, he's been with us for about 50 years or so, and that's a pretty big feat for a monster like him.
47:28Sure, he's younger compared to King Kong, but I feel that there will still be an audience for him.
47:34Whether it be a new, younger generation or the type that's into artistic art house films.
47:43You know, everywhere you go, there's always going to be someone who wants hunger in for a giant monster destroying a city.
47:49Whether it's in the form of poetic justice or just pure popcorn entertainment.
47:54But whether influence or upcoming reboot, the original Godzilla is still known as more than just a monster movie.
48:04But a warning of what might happen if we don't take care of our weaponry.
48:09Like the monster itself, destruction will ensue.
48:14Like the monster itself, there's always going to be someone who wants hunger in for a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long.
48:21が there's always going to be someone who wants hunger in for their own.
48:35motive are at the state.
48:45Cut.
Comments