The Godzilla General Discussion & Speculation Thread

[Voyager]

Always enjoyed the Brodies more than the Russells/Monarch in KOTM and whatever the bullshit Team Godzilla and Team Kong was up to.

[shadowgigan]

Always enjoyed the Brodies more than the Russells/Monarch in KOTM and whatever the bullshit Team Godzilla and Team Kong was up to.

I agree with this, but I also enjoy Kyle Chandler. The rest, not so much.

[gottatalktothefake]

I was thinking about this recently. When Godzilla gets back up at the end everyone starts cheering and clapping for him, would the IRL reaction to that scenario be similar?

[Jaqua92]

I was thinking about this recently. When Godzilla gets back up at the end everyone starts cheering and clapping for him, would the IRL reaction to that scenario be similar?

Honestly, wouldn't you think?

These people just went through a shared trauma together. Their town was the epicenter of an unfathomable natural disaster that was bound to change the world. The military was at a loss, and it quite frankly was going to be the end of the world.

Then, big lizard comes in, destroys more stuff, but is clearly trying to kill these giant atomic insects. He does so, and passes out in the middle of the city.

Most people think he's dead, but they know they just shared a trauma, and this big animal saved the world, their home, and most importantly, whatever hopeless feelings and trauma reactions they were having.

So to see that 1. He's not dead. 2. He genuinely has no interest in us, or contuining the destruction, I think cheering in triumph is natural.

[Jetty_Jags]

G2014 also is a good example to me about how anything in the franchise can spawn a new fan. Watch interviews Gareth Edwards gave or special features talks. You can see the man's eyes just light up and he smiles honestly. Is he a super-fan? No. But the man is clearly have a good time both with the source material as it stood and doing his own spin on it. Really endearing to see.

And the Godzilla incarnation he names as getting him to become a fan, which he watched growing up? The Hanna-Barbera Godzilla Power-Hour.

Just let that sink in. The show that gave us Ted Cassidy voicing Godzilla instead of a musical instrument, an outright heroic Big G with lazer eyes who is basically a superhero in-universe, and Godzooky; is indirectly responsible for Godzilla 2014 (and everything that came after on both sides of the Pacific) being the way it is, or even existing.

despite being entirely different tonally, this honestly goes to explain a lot about the 2014 Godzilla's characterization. He really has a lot of overlap with the HB godzilla

[Spuro]

G2014 also is a good example to me about how anything in the franchise can spawn a new fan. Watch interviews Gareth Edwards gave or special features talks. You can see the man's eyes just light up and he smiles honestly. Is he a super-fan? No. But the man is clearly have a good time both with the source material as it stood and doing his own spin on it. Really endearing to see.

And the Godzilla incarnation he names as getting him to become a fan, which he watched growing up? The Hanna-Barbera Godzilla Power-Hour.

Just let that sink in. The show that gave us Ted Cassidy voicing Godzilla instead of a musical instrument, an outright heroic Big G with lazer eyes who is basically a superhero in-universe, and Godzooky; is indirectly responsible for Godzilla 2014 (and everything that came after on both sides of the Pacific) being the way it is, or even existing.

despite being entirely different tonally, this honestly goes to explain a lot about the 2014 Godzilla's characterization. He really has a lot of overlap with the HB godzilla

How so? Asking as someone who never saw that cartoon.

[Jetty_Jags]

How so? Asking as someone who never saw that cartoon.

I'm particularly talking about the role Godzilla plays as a balancing force for nature, and the interaction he has with the human cast (most emphasis here). I don't know how much you know about the show but it follows a crew of scientists who (a la scooby doo) go around investigating things, oddities, whatevers, and when they get in trouble call on Godzilla to help. Its fairly simplistic and straightforward, and definitely derivative of the role Godzilla finds himself in the late showa films regardless. But there's something about the isolation of the superhero archetype along with his interactions with the human cast, something about the kind of wonder and faith attributed to goji that I think g-14 really follows in the footsteps of hb. Perhaps its not so much a quality of Godzilla's character himself, obviously, the cartoon anthropomorphizes Godzilla to a much greater degree, and he much more deliberately interacts with the human crew, and I may not be giving the late showa period's influence justice, but something structurally feels relative. Perhaps its something as simple as the similar transversal of geography by both Godzilla and Ford, or the way the movie parallel's the Ford and Godzilla's journey, as the crew were often similarly tied up directly in Godzilla's affairs. I apologize if this isn't a very clear answer, the more I think about it, the more intangible it is to describe (maybe I just need to get some sleep ), but it does "feel" right, if that makes any sense.

[king_ghidorah]

I’ve always found there to be a real close connection between the HB Godzilla and G 2014.

Even just the shared visual aesthetic….that sort of generic dinosaur look with simplified spines, smaller than the traditional Godzilla’s. Additionally, as others have noted, that sort of heroic nature to him really seems to pay homage to the HB and 1970s movies.

[king_ghidorah]

Just wanted to add. This is a top five Godzilla movie for me. I think it’s nearly flawless. I wish we could have gotten more films that mirrored this approach but I’m optimistic that the tv series may do just that.

Either way, I am happy to see that more and more people are starting to appreciate this film.

[darthzilla99]

I’ve always found there to be a real close connection between the HB Godzilla and G 2014.

Even just the shared visual aesthetic….that sort of generic dinosaur look with simplified spines, smaller than the traditional Godzilla’s. Additionally, as others have noted, that sort of heroic nature to him really seems to pay homage to the HB and 1970s movies.

Another aspect is the way 2014 and HB Godzilla fight. While 2014 is a little more feral with him clawing and biting, both Godzilla's utilize alot of grappling in their fighting. Both Godzillas also don't use their tails much but when they do the tail strike has big impact and they strategically time the strike. I think HB Godzilla only used his tail once throughout the show and when he did, it knocked the firebird really far and the firebird was winded. They also are both creative in how they employ their breath/beam attacks (HB used his eye lasers to destroy the golden gate bridge in order to knock a kaiju into water to destroy it).

[LSD Jellyfish]

Maybe this has been discussed on here before, and I wouldn't be surprised if I clowned on this a year or two ago, but this is super cool:

https://thedissolve.com/features/exposi ... ockbuster/


After starting to get into post-humanism philosophy I really dig Godzilla 2014 in a new light and I think the article is spot on. But I do have to wonder how much of that feeling is me/the article trying to excuse some of the films faults, such as weak characters. It does sort of put the entire franchise in a new light.

[DynomikeGojira]

Personally I don't find any of the 2014 characters weak just in some cases underutilized in the case of Elizabeth Olsen.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Personally I don't find any of the 2014 characters weak just in some cases underutilized in the case of Elizabeth Olsen.

Well, sort of the idea of the article, is that humanity in Godzilla 2014 is sort of irrelevant to the entirety of the film. I never consciously realized it, but unlike both it’s sequels, humanity does nothing in the film. Godzilla winds up beating the MUTOS because of himself. The most Brody/the humans do is blow up more possible eggs, which arguably was exacerbated by human intervention.

Based on the dialogue by Serizawa, it’s possible that this was the films intent, though stating intention is always a nightmare to really speak to. It’s really sort of saying, humans take a back seat to everything, and that’s totally fine.

While that’s occasionally the case in other Godzilla films, mainly the Toho stuff, usually there’s some level of human involvement: the comic artist, corn-cob hippie, and gang destroying Godzilla tower in vs Gigan, the creation of the ANEB in Biollante, Ozaki in GFW etc…

[DynomikeGojira]

I personally disagree because it was humanities actions the spearheaded the events of G14 but yes I do love that only Godzilla could defeat them.

[Jetty_Jags]

I am in full agreement that the film largely is designed to provoke post-humanistic sentiments, although I'm not convinced it's thesis is as extreme as David Erhlich is arguing. While the film definitely pushes the audience's perception beyond anthropocentrism, and does a very great job at instilling fears of human insignificance, I don't think it completely abandons the importance of the human perspective either (nor is it exclusively a vehicle for post-humanism). As David points out, the film is obsessed with the nuclear family, from the two generations of Brodies, to the boy on the train, to the Mutos themselves, and there is clear emphasis put on the burdens of generational trauma. Had the film ended with Ford dying out in the San Francisco Bay, I'd be more willing to accept that the film is fully committed to illustrating the irrelevance of the human species. However, the film doesn't end there, rather it ends at the reunion of the Brody family (along with the triumphant awakening of the Big G himself). It could be argued that this is a tacked on happy ending mandated by studios (and that is possible), but I read it as more sincere. Throughout the film, Ford's journey is paralleled through Godzilla's, with the most obvious scene being the brief eye contact they share. Likewise, as Godzilla wakes up and returns to the sea, Ford finally gets to return to his wife and son, there is a symbolic precedence here. So while the film is definitely interested in shattering perspectives on the importance of humans as a species, it doesn't render human existence to be of complete irrelevance. Rather, it aims to highlight and appreciate the significance of the human condition while also accepting that there are forces far greater than the collective of mankind.

Interestingly, I think this puts G14 as an philosophical island, or revisionist work in the Godzilla cannon. It is a stark contrast from the deeply humanistic tendencies of Honda, and perhaps is another reason why the movie feels tonally different from the early showa films. Furthermore, it enhances the film's relationship with Shin Godzilla, which to me behaves as a return to form, heavily promoting the virtue of human cooperation, and the collective good of man.

[daveblackeye15]

Godzilla was totally losing until Brody got the two Muto to separate from him. One one one he could easily beat them but together it became an issue. But I do too like that it seems only Godzilla had a chance to beat them.

[Monke]

New deleted scene found. I have seen the still before but here’s the actual video.

[YouTube]https://youtu.be/F9IQ4jA7yZw[/YouTube]

https://youtu.be/F9IQ4jA7yZw

[king_ghidorah]

Very cool, thanks!

[DynomikeGojira]

Always funny to see legit deleted scenes with Godzilla actually in them. Kinda makes u wonder why they cut so much.

[CrimsonBloodX]

That is a good shot right there. Why the hell would they remove that?