Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Godzilla, kaiju and tokusatsu movies!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #61
    Think i must have seen all the Godzilla films now. Any word if a new one is in the works at all? I know a new US one is on the way, but you can bet it will end up being complete crap just like the last one.

    Comment


      #62
      2014 is the sixtieth anniversary of the Big G. Fingers crossed, but it wouldn't surprise me if it depended on the reaction to the US reboot. There was supposedly a comment after Final Wars that it would be ten years before a new film, but that may have been throwaway.

      Comment


        #63
        Surely a new Godzilla will be incoming after the recent and ongoing nuclear problems in Japan.

        Comment


          #64
          Pulgasari (1985)

          After my efforts last weekend subbing this bad boy up, we decided to watch it.

          It's a weird monster movie. I'd actually say that the monster isn't even the focal point. It's a story about oppression in a medieval society, which could have went in another direction without Pulgasari. It was interesting to see the monster adding to, and directing, the story; rather than a story entirely based around a monster.

          I'll break down the various parts:

          Story - A warlord king is seizing the iron of the kingdom, to gain absolute strength. A village tries to resist as they need the metal for farming and survival, and the blacksmith is thrown in prison. His nephew (?iirc?) is a freedom fighter/bandit type. The blacksmith fashions a small figure out of rice before he dies, and prays for the mythical Pulgasari to save the nation. His daughter cuts her figure and blood drops onto the figure, bringing it to life. It starts off small, but as it eats metal it grows rapidly. Eventually, it is huge, and leads a rebellion against the king and his bad uns. The coda brings the story full circle. It's an interesting set-up, easy to understand and reasonably well paced. Amongst the tragedy there's the odd bit of comedy, too.

          Epic Monster Scale - Obviously, Pulgasari starts off small and grows to be huge. It certainly stomps through the countryside and smashes places up. No complaints there. There's also huge shots of thousands of extras, either fleeing from, or charging with, the monster. There's a lot of cannon explosions and burning balls catapulted around. It is an impressive sight for such an obscure film.

          Production values - The costumes are bright and lively, with ridiculous hats. Amusing stuff. The thousands of extras were supposedly real soldiers. The monster suit isn't half bad - big daft eyes and layered armoured plating. There's a few scenes where actors are standing beside part of a huge foot or leg, and they work reasonably well. The model work is excellent - Toho people were shipped in and created the miniature buildings, cannons, landscapes (and the suit - one of the Godzilla actors played the monster). There's some excellent detail in this work, with buildings collapsing in dust, smoke and fragments, which looks convincing. The scale shots of the little Pulgasari are fine, too, for the period. The matte shots of Pulgasari walking in the background as soldiers run in front are a bit chod, the prints look very different. The scenery is frequently lovely, but there's some unpleasant dead animal scenes featured that add nothing to the film and leave a sour taste. Unnecessary trash, and the one feature about Eastern cinema that I truly despise. Richard Harrison made some observations about animal treatment on Godfrey Ho's sets that truly disgusted him, and a lack of care and respect for animals in Asian film of this period was all too common. The music is a bit Italian-esque, with synths.

          Notes - We've heard about the director being a South Korean, who was kidnapped by the leader of North Korea, imprisoned for years, before being personally invited to direct this tale of workers rising against corrupt leaders. What I didn't know was the Toho connection, the fact that the director escaped from North Korea before this could be finished, and the fact that he remade the story over a decade later in the film The Adventures Of Galgameth. The trailer is practically identical, but has this cheesy kiddiness to it, that makes it look like an annoying version of Pulgasari's largely straight-laced effort:



          I liked Pulgasari. It was better than I expected, and played out differently to a lot of kaiju films. The production values were mostly very good, and served to add a lot of charm to the film.

          Comment


            #65
            Just bought R1 copies of:

            Gamera (with original Japanese soundtrack)
            Atragon
            Dogora
            Varan the Unbelievable
            Latitude Zero
            Monster X Strikes Back
            Gamera Vs Barugon
            Gamera vs Gyaos
            Gamera vs Viras
            Gamera vs Guiron
            Gamera vs Jiger
            Space Amoeba
            Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People

            Good stats.

            Comment


              #66
              Monster movie fans!

              If you've not seen it yet, Film 4 are showing The Host on Friday 6th at 01:30 (technically that's Saturday morning the 7th).

              I know it's not a rubber monster trashing a cardboard Tokyo, but it's still worth a watch!

              It breaks the "Jaws Rule" by showing the full monster pretty early on!

              Comment


                #67
                I enjoyed that movie far more than I thought I would.

                Comment


                  #68


                  In an afternoon packed with new footage from films like The Hobbit, Man of Steel and Pacific Rim, Legendary Pictures head Thomas Tull sneaked in one more little surprise for the Comic-Con faithful: A sneak peek at his studio's upcoming Godzilla remake.


                  The first teaser trailer for the new Godzilla film was shown at the San Diego Comic Con (and the Springfield Bi-Mon Sci-Fi Con).

                  Showing scenes of a dusty metropolis crushed into a pile of rubble complete with hollowed-out buildings, the less-than-a-minute clip’s voiceover — by J. Robert Oppenheimer — intoned, “We knew the world would not be the same…. A few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture…. Vishnu takes on his multi-armed form and says, ‘Now, I am become death, destroyer of worlds.’” Once the line was completed, the screen flashed to a brief look at a terrifying-looking Godzilla in profile.
                  Here's Gareth Edwards being interviewed at SDCC. For some inexplicable reason the video cuts out just before the teaser...

                  Comment


                    #69
                    Would love to see the footage, along with what was shown of Pacific Rim as well.

                    Comment


                      #70
                      I’m told that maverick film director Lasse Hallstrom left CAA and returned yesterday to United Talent and agents there Tracy Jacobs, Shana Eddy, Jeremy Zimmer. But Hallstrom’s CAA motion picture lit agent, Spencer Baumgarten, doesn’t know it yet. I called over to 2000 Avenue Of The Stars, and his office thinks he still reps the helmer. (Oops!) […]


                      BREAKING: Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures have set their reboot on the Godzilla franchise for May 16, 2014. And it will be in 3D. The move was made by studio domestic distribution president Dan Fellman international distribution president Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, along with Legendary Pictures. The film got a rousing reception at Comic-Con in San Diego over the summer.

                      The Gareth Edwards-directed film is being made in partnership with rights owner Toho. Godzilla has appeared in more than 25 films, multiple television programs, video games and book series. Legendary, which has been developing the project, and its partner Warner Bros. will return the character to its epic roots with a gritty, realistic actioner. The project will fall under Legendary’s overall agreement with Warner Bros. Warner Bros will release it worldwide except in Japan, where Toho will release it.


                      Edwards previously directed Monsters, and here will be helming a script by David Callaham (The Expendables films), David S. Goyer (the Dark Knight trilogy) and Max Borenstein (The Seventh Son). Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni will produce, along with Roy Lee, Dan Lin and Brian Rogers. Alex Garcia and Patricia Whitcher will serve as executive producers alongside Doug Davison, Yoshimitsu Banno and Kenji Okuhira.

                      Comment


                        #71
                        Updates on martial arts movies, action movies, and the latest on stunts and action directors who keep the action genre going.


                        Three high school students are forced to make up a chemistry test during after school detention. Over the course of the afternoon, they discover that their Chemistry teacher, Eugene Yamamoto, has been leading a secret double life as a crime-fighting Power Ranger. When an escaped mutant lobster shows up in the hallways seeking revenge for his arrest at the hands of Mr. Yamamoto, they must use the science principles from the test that they failed to help him defeat it.

                        A hybrid throwback to the educational after school specials of the 90s and the Japanese Tokusatsu genre.

                        Comment


                          #72
                          Learn more about the creation of Eiji Tsuburaya’s 114th Birthday Doodle and discover the story behind the unique artwork.


                          To celebrate Eiji Tsuburayas 114th birthday, today's Google Doodle has a series of minigames to make a monster movie!




                          Comment


                            #73
                            All that VR talk about Oculus Rift and Morpheus made me wonder what those Android headsets are like so I borrowed one off a guy at work. There's some fun stuff, but one of my favourites was Kaiju Fury.

                            It's a short film made by the Stan Winston School of Character Arts which follows one character in a tower block besieged by giant monsters and another on the street as they attack. The whole thing is filmed in 360 degrees and you can turn your head to see the giant monsters stomping around you.

                            It's really ropey and the effects are laughable, but it's a great experience and you get to be in one of those miniature cites that get stomped by the monsters! If you have an Android VR set, this is a must-see!

                            Comment


                              #74
                              What are your favourite Toho kaiju? I need to know for an art thing. GO!

                              Mine:
                              King Ghidorah
                              Meltdown Godzilla
                              Jet Jaguar
                              Mechagodzilla
                              King Caesar for some probably goofy reason.

                              Yours?

                              Comment


                                #75
                                Other than the big G:
                                Jet Jaguar
                                Mechagodzilla (original)
                                Megalon
                                Mechanikong
                                Space Godzilla
                                Ebirah
                                Gigan
                                Destroyah

                                Probably that order.

                                I don't really rate many of the flying ones, especially Mothra. She's so lame.

                                Another thread gutted by the Bordersdown fire !

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X