Godzilla Minus One

[Papa Wheelie]

Without going immediately absolutely mental, could I ask which films people are comparing this to in a 'surprisingly good characters' way?

The American Godzilla films?

There are a lot of Godzilla films with good characters.

[Magnum Valentino]

I can't comment (having not said it!) but perhaps the comparison is being invoked with modern genre films in general? That's how I took it.

[Mister Six]

Yeah, I've never seen any other Godzilla films, so for me it's in comparison to modern Hollywood blockbusters. Taking 20 minutes away from the Godzilla attacks to show a soldier struggling with PTSD and trying to raise a baby would never, ever happen, even though - as we see here - it makes the rest of the film so much more engaging.

[Papa Wheelie]

Yeah, I've never seen any other Godzilla films, so for me it's in comparison to modern Hollywood blockbusters. Taking 20 minutes away from the Godzilla attacks to show a soldier struggling with PTSD and trying to raise a baby would never, ever happen, even though - as we see here - it makes the rest of the film so much more engaging.

If you enjoyed this, I would recommend Shin Godzilla, the previous Godzilla film from Toho. It came out in 2016, directed by the dude who did Evangelion, Hideaki Anno. There's a lot of non-monster stuff in there, it's partly a very straight-faced satire/critique of the govt response to Fukushima, but there's some great kaiju carnage, it escalates really well. The central idea of how the monster develops seems so obvious in hindsight, amazing it had never been done in the previous fifty years. It's also quite haunting and sad. The pacing and juxtapositions aren't for everyone but I think it's a classic of the genre.

It also goes without saying but if you've never watched the original 1954 Godzilla, that's still an incredible film. It's far bleaker and angrier than anything in the series, and worlds apart from Harryhausen or anything that followed in its wake. Of course, the effects are rubber suit man and miniatures, but the cinematography is often great, the destruction sequences are well shot and the impact on the human characters is still harrowing.

Pretty much everything beyond that requires a certain taste for the genre and its quirks but if you do watch either of these and enjoy them, there's plenty more great stuff without dipping into the many goofy, kid-friendly films. The Heisei era of the 80s and 90s is particularly exciting, pacy and quite dark.

[Mister Six]

Cheers, yeah, I keep seeing people mention Shin Godzilla. I'm not really that interested in watching any more, but if I do I'll clock that one and the original. Thanks!

[Spiteface]

Definitely what Papa Wheelie mentioned. The original 1954 film and Shin are the closest to what Minus One is going for.

Beyond that, if you do want even more, I'd suggest two more for further viewing.

1984's Return of Godzilla plays as a direct sequel to the 1954 movie, disregarding everything in between. Godzilla reappears for the first time in 30 years, this time in the midst of the Cold War. Like the original, Shin, and Minus One, Godzilla is the only monster to actually appear in this. This officially kicks off what is known as the Heisei series of films, and has a darker tone than the Showa era that preceded it.

The other one I'd maybe point to is 2001's Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack. A more mystical film in tone with other kaiju, but again ties back to the World War 2 origins of Godzilla in a way, "GMK" depicts a more villainous Godzilla (one of the better suit designs for him, too) as having been resurrected by the souls of the people who died at Japan's hands in Word War 2. Godzilla isn't just angry at imperial Japan's actions, but a country that is actively trying to gloss over it.

Anything else probably won't be your cup of tea. Maybe even GMK is a stretch as it is more typical Kaiju-on-kaiju action.

[Mister Six]

Godzilla isn't just angry at imperial Japan's actions, but a country that is actively trying to gloss over it.

Shit! That sounds pretty amazing.

[beanheadmcginty]

Is Jet Jaguar in this?

[letsgobrian]

Is Jet Jaguar in this?

If you want Jet Jaguar they are in Godzilla Singular Point, Toh Enjoe's hard sci-fi take on Godzilla. If you think Godzilla movies haven't had enough theoretical physics in them, then Godzilla Singular Point is for you.

[Head Gardener]

looking forward to seeing it on Saturday

[Bad Ambassador]

Godzilla Minus One Fart Jump with Scooby-Doo Laugh (2024)

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

This is indeed very, very good. I've only seen little bits of the proper Godzilla films, so I don't know how well it stacks up against the best of those, but it shat on the American ones. I also thought of Jaws while watching it (which is unsurprising, as that was one of the inspirations for it).

I'd be interested to see a making of. It's hard to believe it was made for 15 million dollars. I assume a lot of Hollywood bean counters are paying attention.

On the minus (one) side, I'd have to agree that the women are underwritten and

Spoiler alert

Noriko surviving felt like a cop out.

[close]

There's a shot during his first attack at sea where his eyes are staring at them with total malice while his jaw is still underwater and it terrified me.

That shot really struck me too.

[Pete23]

Did anyone see some black stain moving up the lasses neck at the end or did I imagine it?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I noticed that. I assumed it was radiation burns.

[Magnum Valentino]

I did too.

Is she the Godzilla now

[Pete23]

I did too.

Is she the Godzilla now

Please let her be Hedora in the sequal

[Mister Six]

I assume the black stain is some kind of Godzilla-related infection, and explains how she survived?

I'd be interested to see a making of. It's hard to believe it was made for 15 million dollars. I assume a lot of Hollywood bean counters are paying attention.

Not having to pay the starts several million dollars each probably helps! As does having swathes of scenes that are "just" people talking and connecting and emoting, without having to cut to a CGI monster blowing shit up every 10 minutes.

[Spiteface]

I assume the black stain is some kind of Godzilla-related infection, and explains how she survived?

Not having to pay the starts several million dollars each probably helps!

I don't know if any of the cast were particularly well-known either. I only recognised one because he was in a Sentai show 10 years ago (Yuki Yamada, played Joe Gibken/Gokai Blue in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, spent most of this film wth his arm in a sling)

As for the 15 million figure, it was probably less than that. I seeme to remember an interview with the director and they cited the 15 million figure, and his response was something like "I wish it was that much!"

[Mister Six]

*stars, obviously. :(

[Liberosis]

Saw this with my 11 your old son and we both loved it.
Brilliantly paced and with a real emotional punch too.
All the characters were really well written and we were invested in them as the story went on.
Gripping finale too,so I'd highly recommend it!

[Norton Canes]

Seeing it next Thursday

[Blinder Data]

this was v good

was the classic "dun dun dun" Godzilla motif the original recording? it sounded a bit old timey, could probably have done with an update

loved slow moving Godzilla. loved the tits on him/her/them

disliked the heat ray power up - is it usually like that? it made Godzilla seem like an old arcade machine

but otherwise, great fun. astonishing achievement if reportage of budget is true. looking forward to seeing the big dude smash fuck out of 20th century Japan soon

I'd be interested to read more about the subtext - could be read a few ways: the power of individuals teaming up to replace ineffective government, or how poor Japan needs to tool up in the face of monsters (i.e. China) despite the bloody bureaucrats holding us back

[Mister Six]

I don't think Godzilla = China makes any sense at all, given what's in the film. A response to the Fukushima disaster and the Japanese public's opposition to nuclear reactors (and the government's commitment to same) seems a lot more likely, for example.

[ZoyzaSorris]

This was great. As a recovering former war thunder player I also really enjoyed seeing the Shinden in action.

[notjosh]

I really liked this. I think I've seen a handful of Godzilla films, American and Japanese, from different eras, and it seemed to me that this is basically doing the same plot that they always do, but with better character development and production values.

I think the crucial thing in terms of investment in the action is the sense of weight and physical presence given to Godzilla. In the recent American ones the camera is always zooming about like we're just watching a moving comic book. But you can feel the influence of the likes of Jurassic Park and Jaws here in the way that Godzilla is rooted in a physical envoironment and seen through the eyes of the characters so we never lose sense of his scale and power.

It also goes without saying but if you've never watched the original 1954 Godzilla, that's still an incredible film. It's far bleaker and angrier than anything in the series, and worlds apart from Harryhausen or anything that followed in its wake.

Point of order: The Beast From 20,0000 Fathoms came out a year earlier, so Harryhausen was there first. But agreed that it's a brilliant film. My favourite bit is when they go underwater to plant the 'oxygen destroyer' and they peek round the corner and see him just hanging out in his pad. Would like to see a bit more of Godzilla on his downtime.

[Blue Jam]

I thought the

Spoiler alert

happy ending

[close]

felt a bit tacked-on and I saw the

Spoiler alert

ejector seat

[close]

twist coming from a mile off, otherwise I enjoyed the tits off this. Only other Japanese kaiju film I've seen is Mothra and I intend to rectify that by checking out the various recommendations in this thread. Thanks everyone.

[notjosh]

I thought the

Spoiler alert

happy ending

[close]

felt a bit tacked-on

I was very happy they did this, and thought the film had earned enough goodwill to get away with it.

[WhoMe]

Just back from seeing it. Went on a bit of a whim but thought it was great actually. Even the emotional bits got to me here and there, especially when the old mechanic gave matey the 'you're now ready to die' nod of approval.

[horse_renoir]

Saw this today and absolutely loved it.

My showing included an Army recruitment advert in the trailer reel, which I can only hope was intentionally included for irony fans.

[lazyhour]

Thought this was quite fun as a big action film and the Ginza attack was really well done but this was the most overtly nationalistic thing I've seen in a good while.

Deranged opinion. My hunch is that you were watching a different film. Are you sure it wasn't Rocky IV?