Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by mikelcho »

Personally, I liked this film.

Just like I always said that Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) was Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster on steroids, this film, to me, was Destroy All Monsters on steroids. For one thing (including the brief scenes at the beginning), it had more kaiju in it than DAM's 11...21, to be precise (or 22 if you count Godzilla Junior).

It at least gave us a more realistic version of Minilla (size-wise when compared to Godzilla) than the 1960s ever did and one that I would've not only loved to see adapted into IDW's mainstream Godzilla storyline, but would've also loved to have seen grow up into an adult Godzilla, something the character has never done after all these years.

I also would've liked to see them make the one cut scene of Godzilla killing the unconscious Rodan, Anguirus and King Caesar like almost every other kaiju before and after them had been seen being killed by him after their fights with him (Kumonga, Ebirah and Hedorah were possibly the only other exceptions).
Last edited by mikelcho on Mon Dec 07, 2020 8:15 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by Gigantis »

Honestly i still think this movie is just a lovable bundle of pure dumb fun. Certainly not without heavy flaws, but pure, dumb fun.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by GojiDog »

Gigantis wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 8:23 am Honestly i still think this movie is just a lovable bundle of pure dumb fun. Certainly not without heavy flaws, but pure, dumb fun.
That's the appeal of it.

I almost can't tell if the movie is lampooning American films on purpose (Matrix, Star Wars, Michael Bay films, etc.) or trying to emulate them earnestly and failing. Either way, its kind of a marvel to watch.
Last edited by GojiDog on Tue Nov 24, 2020 1:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Kaiju-Killer 751
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by Kaiju-Killer 751 »

GojiDog wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 1:15 pm
Gigantis wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 8:23 am Honestly i still think this movie is just a lovable bundle of pure dumb fun. Certainly not without heavy flaws, but pure, dumb fun.
That's the appeal of it.

I almost can't tell if the movie is lampooning American films on purpose (Matrix, Star Wars, Michael Bay films, etc.) or trying to emulate them earnestly and failing. Either way, its kind of a marvel to watch.
You can probably take it either way. It certainly does seem to poke fun at the concept sometimes, but it still runs with it and has fun with it. Heck, I'd go so far as to argue this applies to the monsters too.

Each of the Kaiju are curbstomped by Godzilla, but they're still way bigger than their initial incarnations, or at least one of the biggest incarnations of them to date. And they all still manage to level entire cities without breaking a sweat, and require either EDFs mutants to bring them down (Ebirah) or manage to beat them off (Kamacuras).

edit: Happy Birthday to Godzilla Final Wars!
Last edited by Kaiju-Killer 751 on Sun Nov 29, 2020 7:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by donaldino »

I love this movie for having awesome monster fights and lots of them! It's also cool seeing humans take down monsters with guns!
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by Major sssspielberg! »

Godzilla: Final Wars is better than Gone with the Wind, and I'm willing to die on that hill.
Kaltes-Herzeleid wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 9:44 am I love Final Wars. I praise Final Wars. Simple as.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

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Major sssspielberg! wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 12:08 am Godzilla: Final Wars is better than Gone with the Wind, and I'm willing to die on that hill.
Well, one of those films is horrifically racist and celebratory of the confederate south, and the other isn't. So yeah, Godzilla: Final Wars IS better.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by Major sssspielberg! »

Kaiju-Killer 751 wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 4:55 pm and of course Zilla...who I am absolutely sure they actually made his render and model look WORSE from the trailer to the movie.

Zilla from the trailer
*Colorful and detailed*

Zilla in the movie
*Bland*
Yo that's crazy. In 15 years I never noticed that. I wonder what the deal is there? Maybe they had finalized the model in the Sydney fight for the trailer footage, but had no time to finish during the rampage scenes, so they downscaled it for consistency throughout the picture?
Kaiju-Killer 751 wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:38 pm or manage to beat them off (Kamacuras).
Woah buddy, this is a family friendly forum!
Last edited by Major sssspielberg! on Sun Feb 07, 2021 10:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
Kaltes-Herzeleid wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 9:44 am I love Final Wars. I praise Final Wars. Simple as.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

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Kaiju-King42 wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 1:51 am
Major sssspielberg! wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 12:08 am Godzilla: Final Wars is better than Gone with the Wind, and I'm willing to die on that hill.
Well, one of those films is horrifically racist and celebratory of the confederate south, and the other isn't. So yeah, Godzilla: Final Wars IS better.
Nah, Gone with the Wind is a masterpiece and every film buff and film historian knows that.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by Major sssspielberg! »

CrimsonBloodX wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:00 am
Nah, Gone with the Wind is a masterpiece and every film buff and film historian knows that.
I'm a film buff and the fact that you're implying Rhett Butler is a better character than Captain Douglas Gordon is hurting my feelings. :cry:
Kaltes-Herzeleid wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 9:44 am I love Final Wars. I praise Final Wars. Simple as.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

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CrimsonBloodX wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:00 am
Kaiju-King42 wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 1:51 am
Major sssspielberg! wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 12:08 am Godzilla: Final Wars is better than Gone with the Wind, and I'm willing to die on that hill.
Well, one of those films is horrifically racist and celebratory of the confederate south, and the other isn't. So yeah, Godzilla: Final Wars IS better.
Nah, Gone with the Wind is a masterpiece and every film buff and film historian knows that.
The first half of Gone with the Wind - although racist and celebratory of the Confederate South - is excellently produced cinema. The second half is meandering, tedious melodrama.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by Terasawa »

Kaiju-Killer 751 wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 4:55 pm Zilla...who I am absolutely sure they actually made his render and model look WORSE from the trailer to the movie.

[Images]
I don't think so.

The first image is not a frame that appears in either the film or trailer. It's actually a production photo, clearly scanned from a printed page (i.e., most likely from a Japanese photo book, not something someone's HP printer spit out), so it can't be any real use in comparing the trailer render to the the film version.

It might be more useful as a reference for how the render looked composited against a live action element without any of the additional digital elements added in the film (and, to a lesser degree, in the trailer, where those shots have fewer extra elements), including the digital dust and debris and color grading/saturation which so heavily changes the look of the film. Also, the artificial light sources affecting the model are slightly different in that production photo than in this non-compressed, full-res Blu-ray screenshot from the film.

Keep in mind, too, that the completed film might have added some slight fake film grain (since GFW was shot digitally and grain wouldn't have been part of the captured images), and that the Hi-Vision transfer on Toho and Sony's Blu-rays would have very noisily rendered additional film grain from the 35mm positive film element that was telecined to make the HD transfer. All of that would have further slightly obscured the Zilla model more than it is in that production photo. Furthermore, the production photo also appears to have been artificially sharpened. There's far less natural grain in that image than there is noise, which was probably further compounded by the jpg compression of the Wikizilla image.

But what really hurts your argument is that it's totally impossible to make any determination to that effect from the images you linked, three of which are screenshots of some horrendously compressed and macroblocked copy of the film.

Here's a second uncompressed screenshot from the Sony Blu-ray. It really doesn't appear any less detailed than the same model appears in the production photo. The skin texture in this screenshot (which was intentionally motion-blurred by the VFX team) actually looks really good for CGI from a Japanese film made in 2004.

Finally, there's this comparison shot from the trailer, also sourced from Sony's Blu-ray. You'll notice it's not quite the same as the image from the film -- it appears that the live action and digital elements were recomposited for the film, but the Zilla animation seems to be the same. The trailer on Sony's disc is of far worse quality than the film, and the lighting affecting Zilla again appears to be different, but even with those caveats, I don't think you can honestly say the trailer render is more detailed than the model that appears in the completed film.

Added in 52 seconds:
eabaker wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:34 am The second half is meandering, tedious melodrama.
And still better produced than GFW.
Last edited by Terasawa on Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by eabaker »

Terasawa wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:42 am
eabaker wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:34 am The second half is meandering, tedious melodrama.
And still better produced than GFW.
Oh, yes. Oh, god, yes.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

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Major sssspielberg! wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:29 am
CrimsonBloodX wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:00 am
Nah, Gone with the Wind is a masterpiece and every film buff and film historian knows that.
I'm a film buff and the fact that you're implying Rhett Butler is a better character than Captain Douglas Gordon is hurting my feelings. :cry:
Both of these men would conquer the world with their badass manly charm.
"You are the Arbiter. The will of the Prophets. But these are my Elites. Their lives matter to me. Yours does not."

"That makes two of us."

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by Cookson »

I haven’t watched a millennium film in quite some time. I plan on watching them again relatively soon after Godzilla vs Kong and it’ll be interesting to see how they hold up.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by Kaiju-Killer 751 »

Terasawa wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:42 am
Kaiju-Killer 751 wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 4:55 pm Zilla...who I am absolutely sure they actually made his render and model look WORSE from the trailer to the movie.

[Images]
I don't think so.

The first image is not a frame that appears in either the film or trailer. It's actually a production photo, clearly scanned from a printed page (i.e., most likely from a Japanese photo book, not something someone's HP printer spit out), so it can't be any real use in comparing the trailer render to the the film version.

It might be more useful as a reference for how the render looked composited against a live action element without any of the additional digital elements added in the film (and, to a lesser degree, in the trailer, where those shots have fewer extra elements), including the digital dust and debris and color grading/saturation which so heavily changes the look of the film. Also, the artificial light sources affecting the model are slightly different in that production photo than in this non-compressed, full-res Blu-ray screenshot from the film.

Keep in mind, too, that the completed film might have added some slight fake film grain (since GFW was shot digitally and grain wouldn't have been part of the captured images), and that the Hi-Vision transfer on Toho and Sony's Blu-rays would have very noisily rendered additional film grain from the 35mm positive film element that was telecined to make the HD transfer. All of that would have further slightly obscured the Zilla model more than it is in that production photo. Furthermore, the production photo also appears to have been artificially sharpened. There's far less natural grain in that image than there is noise, which was probably further compounded by the jpg compression of the Wikizilla image.

But what really hurts your argument is that it's totally impossible to make any determination to that effect from the images you linked, three of which are screenshots of some horrendously compressed and macroblocked copy of the film.

Here's a second uncompressed screenshot from the Sony Blu-ray. It really doesn't appear any less detailed than the same model appears in the production photo. The skin texture in this screenshot (which was intentionally motion-blurred by the VFX team) actually looks really good for CGI from a Japanese film made in 2004.

Finally, there's this comparison shot from the trailer, also sourced from Sony's Blu-ray. You'll notice it's not quite the same as the image from the film -- it appears that the live action and digital elements were recomposited for the film, but the Zilla animation seems to be the same. The trailer on Sony's disc is of far worse quality than the film, and the lighting affecting Zilla again appears to be different, but even with those caveats, I don't think you can honestly say the trailer render is more detailed than the model that appears in the completed film.

Added in 52 seconds:
eabaker wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:34 am The second half is meandering, tedious melodrama.
And still better produced than GFW.
https://imgflip.com/gif/4yzidw That's fair-I'm sorry if I came across as rude or ignorant-but I do think that while the trailer version isn't more 'detailed', it still looks a bit better, if only cuz he looks a little more colorful
Last edited by Kaiju-Killer 751 on Mon Feb 22, 2021 5:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by Terasawa »

Kaiju-Killer 751 wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 5:02 am https://imgflip.com/gif/4yzidw That's fair-I'm sorry if I came across as rude or ignorant-but I do think that while the trailer version isn't more 'detailed', it still looks a bit better, if only cuz he looks a little more colorful
No apologies necessary, dude. I hope I didn't come off as rude in my reply.

And I get what you're saying and I agree, the character looks better in the trailer than in the film. But it has nothing to do with the CGI model or how it was rendered for one vs. the other. It's just (primarily) a matter of how different the film and trailers look.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Post by Kaltes-Herzeleid »

Honestly after a re-watch in January I absolutely love this movie now. Best of the Millennium era aside from GMK. Kitamura did whatever the hell he wanted and I'm all for it.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

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Kaltes-Herzeleid wrote: Mon Feb 22, 2021 3:47 pm Honestly after a re-watch in January I absolutely love this movie now. Best of the Millennium era aside from GMK. Kitamura did whatever the hell he wanted and I'm all for it.
Yeah, I've had this thought a lot lately. You can dislike it, but Kitamura and Kaneko were really the only directors who actually did something unique with the Millennium's "anything goes" philosophy instead of the Neo-Heisei of the other entries (as much as I adore 2000's execution)
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

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The score for this film alone pumps testosterone directly into the veins
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