Kaiju Fan Confessions

For discussions covering more than one Toho film or show that span across more than one “era.”
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DirektorSplennic
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by DirektorSplennic »

SoggyNoodles2016 wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:54 am Singular Point's soundtrack dunks so hard on GVK's soundtrack, it's not even funny
This, this, and also this. GvK's soundtrack was so unbelievably generic. SP's soundtrack has SO MUCH heart and soul put into it.

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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by darthzilla99 »

NSZ wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:45 pm
Terasawa wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 4:29 pm Whoever it is will just do as Toho dictates with those regard to those titles.

G2K is one film I can see Sony holding onto, but should they let that lapse, too, I hope we'll eventually get to hear the export dub. I guess that counts as a confession and an unpopular opinion.
Oh don't worry, if recent history is any indicator, if Sony lets G2K lapse, you'll definitely be hearing the export dub at the expense of the US cut.
Keith Aiken used to mention that Toho loves the Sony cut of G2K much better over their own cut and is why they use that cut for their international viewings of G2K. Unless Toho had to pay royalties for continued use, the Sony cut will most likely stay.
GVK: TNE is a modern day 70s Showa Godzilla movie. Being a massive budget modern blockbuster CGI film instead of traditional 70s tokusatsu techniques doesn't change that. Fight me.

Anguirus and Godzilla being friends in the Showa series is cannon. Deal with it.

Monsterverse is not similar to either MCU nor Bayformers just because all three are big budget CGI blockbuster franchises.

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Terasawa
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by Terasawa »

darthzilla99 wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 8:50 am
NSZ wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:45 pm
Terasawa wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 4:29 pm Whoever it is will just do as Toho dictates with those regard to those titles.

G2K is one film I can see Sony holding onto, but should they let that lapse, too, I hope we'll eventually get to hear the export dub. I guess that counts as a confession and an unpopular opinion.
Oh don't worry, if recent history is any indicator, if Sony lets G2K lapse, you'll definitely be hearing the export dub at the expense of the US cut.
Keith Aiken used to mention that Toho loves the Sony cut of G2K much better over their own cut and is why they use that cut for their international viewings of G2K. Unless Toho had to pay royalties for continued use, the Sony cut will most likely stay.
Yes, I remember him saying that, too, but:

* That was at least a decade ago.
* Toho is a faceless corporation.

I wouldn't treat is as a certainty that the TriStar version is favored by Toho today. Barring any legal weirdness, should the rights to the film revert to Toho, they will provide the version to distributors which is most convenient for them to do so.
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by Legion1979 »

You know, they could provide the film to a distributor without a dub entirely. They did it to Criterion with seven films so whose to say they won't do it again?

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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by Rando Yaguchi »

It would be cool to finally see the fabled international dub of G2K, but not at the expense of the US cut.

I've probably said this before, but I would love if someone edited a version with Japanese dialogue, but with all the bells and whistles of the Sony version. That would fix so many issues I have with both versions.
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

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DirektorSplennic wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 7:33 am
SoggyNoodles2016 wrote: Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:54 am Singular Point's soundtrack dunks so hard on GVK's soundtrack, it's not even funny
This, this, and also this. GvK's soundtrack was so unbelievably generic. SP's soundtrack has SO MUCH heart and soul put into it.
I feel like an absolute goddamn clown for still being hopeful after the first two tracks dropped. It's so obvious it was given the shaft in favor of the Snyder Cut and Army of the Dead. But hey, because of it, I now have a newfound appreciation for Desplat's score...

God, I miss McCreary.
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Terasawa
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by Terasawa »

McCreary's score mostly just sounds like a typical action movie score to me. I thought Desplat's score worked well within the context of the film and I think his compositions were generally pretty strong. IMO that's the standout score for the Monsterverse, by far.
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by Chrispy_G »

I was viciously disappointed by Desplat's score. I own the CDs for G14, G:KOTM and GvK

G14 is just an auditory 'moral obligation' to listen to. The score it almost like the film...an over-obsession with slow burn scenes that just build tension. A movie can't be CONSUMED by a sense of 'dang, something big is about to happen'...you do need the portions of 'something big IS happening'

KOTM has a great score...although in the film, sometimes I felt like the music was never stopping and more un-scored scenes might have been effective, and sometimes the sound mix didn't really let the score breathe the way I felt it should have. So, music that was there too much and often lost in the mix...but good lord was the music all pretty darn fantastic.

I LOVE Holkenborg's GvK score. The main big notes for his Godzilla theme make me think of a slowed down version of the main riffs/notes from Blue Oyster Cult's Godzilla(Listen to the beginning seconds of both, play with your speed settings and tell me you don't hear the similarity)...which after the modern cover of that closing out KOTM, feels like the perfect place to take the score.

I think the soft, emotional Kong stuff is beautiful....and "Mega" and "Hong Kong" are just glorious.
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by Tyrant_Lizard_King »

The only sense G14 gave was a sense of irritation. I found absolutely nothing tense or suspenseful about it. G14 did a terrible job of combining the human and monster elements especially during the final battle. For all King of the Monsters' faults I found it did a much better job of this. The humans actually felt like they were in the midst of the chaos.
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by Dv-218 »

Frankly I don't mind either G14 or GvK's scores, they might not be the most striking ones around but have some memorable stuff in them- Godzilla's motif in both and Kong's theme definitely spring up to mind. But KOTM imo is a whole other, honestly my absolute favorite of the recent soundtracks in the franchise. Returning themes being done justice aside, the level of identity and recognizeability he brought to all of the original stuff from Ghido's theme to even the Monarch motif is just incredible. It has a raw, almost primal feel that gives it a very distinct vibe.
Honestly the only MV OST I genuinely feel to be pretty weak is KSI- not that it's awful but aside from 2 isolated pieces I cannot remember most of it for the life of me. The integrating of 70's rock songs and tones into the melodies was neat though, I'll give it that.

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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by Tyrant_Lizard_King »

Kong the Destroyer and Man v Beast are my favorite tracks. I don't mind what I've heard of the GvK score though it is a bit repetitive.
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

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Man vs Beast is definitely a highlight in the soundtrack. Love the escalating sense of tension and rhythmic drumming, fits surprisingly well with the 70's type rock synth

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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by Chrispy_G »

I'm swinging back around to be more of a fan of the Showa Era over the Heisei and Millennium Eras.

Tastes and preferences and what 'works' and 'doesn't work' in movies evolve.

I absolutely love the Monsterverse as that gives a good representation of the Godzilla world with a modern, big budget production. Having that MV be the new 'modern iteration' sort of re-emphasizes the originals, with everything in between feeling rather sub-par.

The Heisei Era deals with time travel, which I have grown to absolutely despise as a concept in almost every circumstance. I loathe the altered origins of King Ghidorah. I hate that a film is called "Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla II" even though within that iteration of the series, there IS no Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla I.

And honestly, while the sequence and concept is handled EXTREMELY well....in a world where the last 5-6 years has just been devoted to killing off iconic characters from one franchise or another to usher in the 'new generation'....the concept of "the death of Godzilla" has lost virtually all dramatic or creative impact and value. In 2021 killing off the franchise centerpiece feels tired when Star Wars, X-Men, Avengers and the Bond franchise have almost started to make that type of thing a 'Box to check'

The Millennium Era has fun moments and concepts...but it is repetitive in the sense of every film 'rebooting back to the original' and then the new film itself doesn't seem to really do anything THAT dramatic with it. It almost feels more like a way to 'not be beholden to the film that came out last year' as opposed to 'doing something completely fresh'...heck, Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla is damn near a more polished remake of Godzilla vs Megaguirus(female military character loses team/commander in a prologue, deals with the guilt, becomes responsible for crazy tech that is expected to take Godzilla out, aided by a scientist/tech guy lusting after her, tech/weapon seems promising but yields lethal repercussions, etc)....with minimal effort most of those films could have been strung together as a fairly cohesive series.

Not that THAT alone would make them great...they all still tend to be kind of 'basic'...

Yet the Showa films, and the fantastical hyper reality they occur in will have an endearing charm and the trailblazing relevance that keeps them being iconic even when they are bonkers.

Sure...of the 15 Showa films, I DEFINITELY have my top 9-10 that I would put on another level and 5-6 that I would still label as overall misfires, but overall there is a simplicity to the original Showa films that REALLY clicks even after so many years in ways that the Heisei and Millennium films just kinda no longer do. For me at least.
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by John Pannozzi »

Terasawa wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 5:10 pm
Legion1979 wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 5:07 pm
Terasawa wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 4:29 pm Whoever it is will just do as Toho dictates with those regard to those titles.
Which is why I don't understand why people keep requesting that Criterion do Heisei and Millennium sets. Taking the Showa set into account, what would they do that Sony hasn't already done.
Better subtitles but that's about all that could be realistically expected.
Also proper aspect ratios for all the films and the ending credits to GvKG and GvM.

I'll admit I don't own any of the MonsterVerse films yet. Part of me is expecting to see some boxed set with exclusive extras ala the MCU films*, even though that's unlikely to ever happen. I don't buy all that many movies nowadays (especially since I don't have a steady job in this pandemic environment). Maybe someday I'll buy them.


*I don't own any of the MCU films save the first Iron Man either. And now most of the deluxe MCU phase boxsets are pricey, so I dunno what form I'll buy those films in, if ever.
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Terasawa
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by Terasawa »

John Pannozzi wrote: Sun Oct 10, 2021 3:37 pm
Terasawa wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 5:10 pm
Legion1979 wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 5:07 pm Which is why I don't understand why people keep requesting that Criterion do Heisei and Millennium sets. Taking the Showa set into account, what would they do that Sony hasn't already done.
Better subtitles but that's about all that could be realistically expected.
Also proper aspect ratios for all the films and the ending credits to GvKG and GvM.
The Sony Blu-rays already present the films in their original aspect ratios.
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

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My DVD copies don't even HAVE subtitles for four of the seven Heisei films.
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

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Spuro wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 11:42 am My DVD copies don't even HAVE subtitles for four of the seven Heisei films.
Yes, but Sony did release those films in their correct aspect ratios and with the Japanese audio/English subtitles on Blu-ray. While a hypothetical Criterion box set with those same features would be an improvement for you, it's not an improvement over the most recently-released versions, which is what Legion was originally talking about.
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

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Chrispy_G wrote: Sun Oct 10, 2021 2:06 pm I'm swinging back around to be more of a fan of the Showa Era over the Heisei and Millennium Eras.

Yet the Showa films, and the fantastical hyper reality they occur in will have an endearing charm and the trailblazing relevance that keeps them being iconic even when they are bonkers.
Gooood, goooooood.... let the Showa flow through you....
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

Post by Chrispy_G »

JAGzilla wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 8:12 pm
Chrispy_G wrote: Sun Oct 10, 2021 2:06 pm I'm swinging back around to be more of a fan of the Showa Era over the Heisei and Millennium Eras.

Yet the Showa films, and the fantastical hyper reality they occur in will have an endearing charm and the trailblazing relevance that keeps them being iconic even when they are bonkers.
Gooood, goooooood.... let the Showa flow through you....
Indeed! For better or worse the Showa Era is still the 'original series' and the eras that follow are the sort of 'riffs' on the concept. On a long enough timeline, it reminds me of comic book fans and how they will talk about things like 'that weird run of XYZ where they did this with the character' or "That one version that used this really weird origin" and on a long enough timeline...you see things average back out.

Ghidorah started as a monster that came from space, then got turned into a time travel mutant, a magical guardian, then with Final Wars was brought back to alien creature and that interpretation was basically re-codified in King of the Monsters and the Anime Trilogy. I think any future incarnation will consider the 'creature that comes from space' as the "official" version with the others just being interesting one-offs.

One of my friends once described the MonsterVerse as a sort of 'Neo-Showa' type of approach, in that you are getting the type of stories from the early Showa days(Godzilla solo, a conceptual remake of Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster, and a conceptual remake of King Kong vs Godzilla)...and similar in a sense of beginning on the more serious scale before embracing the insanity a bit more.

The Heisei and Millennium eras had their cool stuff they brought to the table but the original series is always going to be the original series.
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Re: Kaiju Fan Confessions

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Chrispy_G wrote: Sun Oct 10, 2021 2:06 pm I hate that a film is called "Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla II" even though within that iteration of the series, there IS no Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla I.
Yeah, but that's Sony's fault, not Toho's. You can't blame the filmmakers for a marketing decision made by the American distributors made six years after the fact.

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