An Interesting Perspective on GRA

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BlueGojira
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An Interesting Perspective on GRA

Post by BlueGojira »

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been online that much. Life has been extremely busy, and I haven't been on TK much. I'll try to keep posting. Unrelated, I was browsing YouTube and found this video.



It points out an interesting perspective about how Godzilla Raids Again could represent a deeper meaning, such as the conflict at the time between Russia and America with Japan caught in the middle. While the video takes a bit to get going, it's pretty decent and I like it. What do you guys think?
Last edited by BlueGojira on Sun Jul 16, 2017 9:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: An Interesting Perspective on GRA

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

Good video, and it was interesting to note the parts about Japan having irradiated fish for a while following the nuclear testing. Also nice perspective on Kobayashi and the other protagonists being average Joes and not random super scientists. Worth noting the fact that this is the first Godzilla film or really kaiju fight as we know it.


Your analysis on Russia and US makes sense, in theory, but nothing beyond that would indicate otherwise. Even if you're right, the film does a gigantic poor job at executing these points.

For instance, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there's a line about fishing being poor in Tokyo bay, and none of the film takes place in Tokyo anyways.

If there was an intention of Angurius and Godzilla being metaphors for Russia and America it would be more painfully obvious. I'm not saying that metaphors have to be beaten over the head, but at the same time if it's too obscure no one will get that. 1984 does a good job with all this IMO, while nothing in GRA screams it's meant to be a metaphor.

And all that average joe stuff, while true, is incredibly painful and boring to watch. A lot of the movie is sitting around and waiting for stuff to happen, with little to no payoff. The opening scene is cool, but subsequently much of the film is waiting and filler. The fight isn't a good one either, I get that it was early so I'm not being too critical, but then the entire climax is all filler too. Like the sequence of trapping Godzilla in ice is overly long.

Color is an issue as well. Gojira used its black and white effectively, making Godzilla look scarier and the tone grimmer. GRA looks like a standard American b movie.

The reason why people don't like GRA isn't because it's a horrible film, rather it's apparent it's a cash grab. It clearly was made as a BIGGER AND BETTER sequel with TWO monsters, but it was executed horribly, has tons of filler and isn't that exciting.

It's sequel, KKVG is kind of where the franchise really begins, which executes everything GRA was attempting but far better. KKVG set up Godzilla's opponent better, and gave them reasons to fight, as well as had more interesting human characters (talking about the subbed jap cut), and had better fights, destruction, music and tone. It also knew how to have a better structure, with Godzilla and Kong first meeting halfway, before having a giant epic fight with multiple back and forths on Mt Fuiji.
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Re: An Interesting Perspective on GRA

Post by Mr_Goji_and_Watch »

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
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Re: An Interesting Perspective on GRA

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LSD Jellyfish wrote:Your analysis on Russia and US makes sense, in theory, but nothing beyond that would indicate otherwise. Even if you're right, the film does a gigantic poor job at executing these points.
I didn't make this video, it isn't my analysis. Anyway, I read your entire response and I kind of agree the more I think about it; the film was poorly executed, had a lower feeling and budget, and already lost the same grim tone from the original. I'd have to honestly think about the film in order to truly decide, but for now I have a generally mixed opinion.
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Re: An Interesting Perspective on GRA

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Mr_Goji_and_Watch wrote:Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Right up until the moment that it is more than a cigar to one person. Then it's not just a cigar anymore, it's a topic for discussion.
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Re: An Interesting Perspective on GRA

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

eabaker wrote:
Mr_Goji_and_Watch wrote:Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Right up until the moment that it is more than a cigar to one person. Then it's not just a cigar anymore, it's a topic for discussion.
I agree with this sentiment and many interesting topics and analyses can come out of stuff like this, even if it could be overanalyses.

The Godzilla franchise is well known for its weird commentaries and satires of things, both evident by 1954, Godzilla vs Hedorah, 1984, Godzilla vs Biollante, and shin Godzilla. But that doesn't mean each movie can't just be a kaiju film with little to no social commentary other than an asspull about nuclear weapons(like Godzilla vs Megalon has nothing to do with nuclear weapons but randomly throws in that the seaatopians are angry because their lands are being destroyed by nuclear testing).

The video actually had a good explanation of things, but it falls apart the instant the guy in the video admits he can't justify Anguirus representing Russia. I think that Angurius was meant just to have another monster to fight Godzilla to raise the stakes.

Keep in mind this is the same movie that has a five minute sequence of convicts trying to escape, just so that they can give a reason for anguruius returning.

I also don't buy into the fact that Godzilla is supposed to represent the United States in even the original Gojira, and especially in GRA. I always took it as Godzilla was an allegory for general nuclear disasters and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but not a direct commentary of the United States. Subsequently, by KKVG, Godzilla kind of becomes Japan's icon, and fights King Kong, a definitively American monster.
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Re: An Interesting Perspective on GRA

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LSD Jellyfish wrote:The video actually had a good explanation of things, but it falls apart the instant the guy in the video admits he can't justify Anguirus representing Russia. I think that Angurius was meant just to have another monster to fight Godzilla to raise the stakes.
Yeah, I really don't feel that it's a reading that's supported by the text. Just to be clear, my point wasn't "every reading is valid," it was just, "every reading deserves to be examined on its own merits before being dismissed."

The best analytical reading I've seen of GRA posited that, where the first movie was about devastation, the second is about the reconstruction process. It's also, in some ways, a little Ozu-esque in its focus on the way that normal, everyday Japanese people quietly endure.
I also don't buy into the fact that Godzilla is supposed to represent the United States in even the original Gojira, and especially in GRA. I always took it as Godzilla was an allegory for general nuclear disasters and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but not a direct commentary of the United States. Subsequently, by KKVG, Godzilla kind of becomes Japan's icon, and fights King Kong, a definitively American monster.
Yeah, "Godzilla represents America" is an oversimplification at best. For that interpretation to hold up, Japan has to be viewed as a pretty much innocent victim in the war, and America as a senseless aggressor. Whatever moral objections might be raised regarding American tactics in striking at Japanese population centers, there's nothing in the movie to suggest that the filmmakers viewed America as a marauding monster.

As important as WW2, the fire bombing of Tokyo, the atomic bomb, and hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific certainly were to the themes of the original movie, it also draws on a long history of art depicting the natural disasters to which Japan has always been prone. It is commonly understood that Godzilla represents a force above and beyond human control, and that idea doesn't sync well with a "Godzilla is America" reading.
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Re: An Interesting Perspective on GRA

Post by Jomei »

He lost me with the hat and vest.

The argument is also not there. A few minor connections to the film's historical period do not make the case for this allegory.
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