Godzilla - 2014

[QualityChimp]

Can't believe nobody has picked up on this yet:

http://uk.eonline.com/news/544693/godzilla-director-gareth-edwards-signs-on-to-make-a-star-wars-movie-for-2016?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories

Gareth Edwards has been gifted the keys to another alternate universe.The Godzilla director, whose reboot of the classic monster tale has already gobbled up $216 million worldwide, has been chosen to helm one of Disney's promised Star Wars films that will stand alone from the planned trilogy that picks up where Return of the Jedi left off.
The news was posted Thursday on the official Star Wars website. Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli) is writing the screenplay.
"Ever since I saw Star Wars I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life— join the Rebel Alliance! I could not be more excited and honored to go on this mission with Lucasfilm," Edwards said in a statement.

And the as-yet untitled film already has an announced release date—Dec. 16, 2016.
Merry Christmas!
Godzilla was only Edwards' second feature directorial effort, the British visual effects specialist's feature debut having come in 2010 with the dystopian sci-fi thriller Monsters.
When Disney first bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion, it was revealed that a number of stand-alone films were being planned that would exist in the same realm but stand apart from the central Star Wars story line that "began" with Episode I—The Phantom Menace (which, of course, was released 22 years after Episode IV—A New Hope, aka Star Wars).
Meanwhile, production is underway on J.J. Abrams' addition to the canon, which reportedly has a working title of Star Wars: Episode VII—The Ancient Fear.

['Press Start']

I really enjoyed the movie. It was a bit of a tease with it's constant peeling away from the action but I thought having action happening in the background of certain shots was a great touch. I also thought there was just enough action, any more screen time and Godzilla May have lost his awe.

The sound mix in the movie is one of the best I have heard too, I wish I saw it at IMAX.

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nice little Easter egg when Cranston and son go back to their house in the quarantine zone. The camera pans past a little insect house on the table and the name Mothra was written in kids hand writing.

[bash]

I didnt spot that easter egg, thanks for the highlight, obvious setup for sequels

[Neon Ignition]

Got back and really enjoyed this, different beast altogether than PR but still exposed how naff that film is. It builds tension up nicely though, a sequel would have to have more action as I'd be lying if I didn't say that aspect is too short for my liking. No denying wht a powerhouse the G man is though.

[prinnysquad]

I think this is a good film.
I also, and more importantly, think that it's a good Godzilla film.

Edwards does not disgrace the franchise at all. The sense of scale is fabulous throughout. Godzilla acts like a force of nature, totally disinterested in the human dramas around him, focused entirely on attacking and destroying the threats at hand. Tellingly, this wasn't far from my reaction to the situation. Once Cranston was

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out

- and his performance was absolutely spot on, gobbling up the screen - I found little to hook me to the remaining characters. The Japanese doctor and his sidekick just stood around looking numb and befuddled. The soldier boy and his wife didn't seem that bothered about reuniting, focusing on saving people/the day, so neither did I.

It all sounds a bit unfair, maybe. I'll stress that at no point did I really feel cheesed off by the focus on the human drama. PR was excruciating and the tone was camp cheese. It was pretty vomit-inducing when the action sequences weren't on screen. In Godzilla, however, the human scenes varied between tolerable and mildly engaging. They were ok at best, but ok at worst. It's just that they relentlessly seemed to get in the way of the main draw: Godzilla paggering the MUTOs. It was strange that the film established quite quickly that human efforts to combat these beasts were doomed and pointless. The doctor said, "Let them fight." Yet, so much of the remaining running time fussed over these feeble attempts to make a difference. Predictably, they didn't.

I echo the sentiments of everyone who bemoaned the lack of screen time for Godzilla. Arguably, the fact that we had to wait until the end for the money shot battle at least kept the idea of a kaiju battle fresh. We weren't saturated by them and numbed by the end. PR had the boon of different robots and increasingly big kaiju, but Godzilla only had the three main kaiju throughout. Oh, but Christ, what a cocktease. Bloody hell - battles starting then cutting away, tantalising glimpses in the background, aaarrrrggghhh! It was a bold move, keeping the audience gagging, but also very frustrating.

It's all the more annoying because they have nailed Godzilla's design. It was a nod to classic stompy suit man, but with natural, animalistic movements. The MUTOs were spot on, too. The fights were very, very good, and well-staged amongst the cities. I just wanted more.

A sequel couldn't have the same structure or slow build-up. They've done the groundwork, the slow introduction, and established the world. I look forward to seeing more mash ups in the next installment.

[buster_broon]

Saw it tonight at the Glasgow science centre IMAX - even before it started it was awesome because as the word IMAX rolled it, they did it to godzilla's roar

Also saw the insect table with the word written under it

Ask the 3d wasn't that great in IMAX either and suppose no reason for it to be in 3d

Yeah I enjoyed it, wasn't great but there was moments and I'm not a massive fan so the MUTO's left me cold and wished they had used something else well at least a monster my little of bit of knowledge could get to grips with

Smashing that he looked like the Toho Godzilla with added beefiness

So overall I enjoyed it and looking forward to the next one 7.5/10

[QualityChimp]

Skreeeeeoooonk!

I saw this last night and really enjoyed it.

I thought Cranston was a bit hammy, to be honest. More like Malcolm's Dad, than Heisenberg.
I also thought his son was incredibly unfortunate to be at the scenes of devastation so many times, but fortunate to survive so many!
Seriously, he's

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at the nuclear reactor at a kid, at the rector when the MUTO escapes, on the train with the bomb when it's attacked, in the nest, on the airport monorail as it's getting munched, on the boat with the nuke (which he's supposed to diffuse and a squad of burly marines are unable to open) and is probably the only human to be face-to-face with all the monsters multiple times and survive!

I also chuckled at people's inability to see big things, such as submarines and monsters pretty close-up!
(You really don't need binoculars to see Godzilla, Ken Watanbe!)

All that aside, I loved it and the monster mash-ups were great. It could've been ruined with shaky-cam shots, but there was a nice selection of long shots to show the action and establish just how big the monster were. Those shots also gave off a Toho model set vibe too, which seriously appealed to me.

I really liked the MUTOs and the way they were set up. I thought

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the monster at the reactor was Godzilla, so was pleasantly surprised when it was a new monster

. I also loved the moment when

->Open Spoiler<-

The two MUTOs met up and shared a moment together. It really reminded me of a similar scene in Monsters

. I'm pretty sure Toho licence per monster, so that, plus the fact Edwards wanted a bit of freedom to create an enemy after trying so hard to get the balance right on Godzilla.

I saw it in 3D IMAX and I thought the 3D was better than some have said, with some pretty sequences (HALO jump, sunset over San Fran) and nice establishing shots as we jetted around the globe, but not as integral and well thought our as The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which constructed lots of shots with 3D in mind and not just action sequences.

The sound, however, was fantastic in this! From the roars of the monsters to the superb soundtrack that references the Japanese scores but was dramatic in its own right.

I saw the Easter egg at the house and grinned! I started seeing stuff that possibly wasn't there though.

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Butterfly at the school with Mothra's colours.
Dragon's head in the Chinatown nest that looks like King Ghidora.
Origami that looks a bit like Rodan /tenuous.
But my fave was the boat at the end with the nuke on that had "GO WHALE TOURS" on it (as in the "go" from "gorilla" + the Japanese for whale "jira" = Gojira)
Also, that poster in the Japanese house was a premonition of the final battle in San Fran!
[hide][/hide]

So yeah, I loved it and would recommend seeing it on the big screen for maximum impact.

As the credits started rolling at the end, I probably shouldn't have stood up and shouted "EDF! EDF!"

[bash]

Would've been more funny if it was "EDL! EDL!"

[prinnysquad]

How dare you defy the Cranston. I'm going to send you an Ott-bomb in the post.

You cant deny he was the best character though and dominated the screen!

[QualityChimp]

The character I cared most for was the dog tied to the tree.

Proper tense moment, that, and probably the only one I was bothered about if they survived.

Cranston was fine, but he was probably the only character with some meat to chew on before the stomping began.

Everybody else just had to turn up and look concerned and/or awestruck.

[bash]

I'd have forgiven the wooden drawn out stares into the distance if at least ONE of the humans just went "Faaaaaaaaaaaark!" Which lets be honest, the vast majority of us would do!

[QualityChimp]

Ha ha ha!

I was thinking someone on the monorail should've said:
"I know we're all probably going to die, but that really is the most AWESOME thing I've EVER seen! Eh? Eh? Pffft."