Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by JAGzilla »

That's a YouTube video waiting to happen: The Time an Anime Hamster Saved Godzilla's Life.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by edgaguirus »

It wouldn't be the first time a strong or popular film was used to buoy one that wasn't expected to do well.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by Omegamorph »

I'll forever have a gripe against the fact Kiryu DIDN'T shed into a Godzilla again, as was portrayed in some concept art
Platypus Prime wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 1:21 pm I realized today that thanks to a few animations and manga she's appeared in, Biollante is an anime girl.
miguelnuva wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 5:47 pm With this being an Oscar for best visual effects you can also joke and say Godzilla really did win the oscar.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by LegendZilla »

When you come to think of it the Kiryu duology are Mechagodzilla’s movies first and foremost. They just so happen to have Godzilla in them.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by CyberZilla »

Rewatched this recently. Kiryu’s send off still is one of the best emotional moments in the franchise for me. Beautifully done.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by GoldenGoat2000 »

I really enjoy this film. The monster designs look great, and the fights are an improvement from the first Kiryu movie. But the human plot is a bit of a downgrade.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by edgaguirus »

Our lead isn't as interesting as Akane. His story lacks the drama and weight that she had.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by LegendZilla »

edgaguirus wrote: Fri Dec 02, 2022 1:20 pm Our lead isn't as interesting as Akane. His story lacks the drama and weight that she had.
Why did Shaku not return? Was she looking for other roles?

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by edgaguirus »

In 2003, she was working in a tv series.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by Major sssspielberg! »

LegendZilla wrote: Sat Aug 20, 2022 12:57 am When you come to think of it the Kiryu duology are Mechagodzilla’s movies first and foremost. They just so happen to have Godzilla in them.
This is kinda something I've had to make peace with, and would be able to stomach more I'd Godzilla's competency or power as an enemy didn't depend entirely on what plot beat they wanted to hit.
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 Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by edgaguirus »

G vs Megalon did the same thing with Godzilla. It was mainly JJ's movie, with Godzilla providing name recognition.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by HedorahIsBestGirl »

I rewatched this movie last night and, for the sake of variety, I'm going to try to say some positive things about it:
- Most of the special effects work is quite good.
- Mothra looks amazing, in both forms. I think this is the best onscreen portrayal of Mothra that we've ever gotten.
- The opening scene of Mothra emerging from the clouds is pretty beautiful.
- Bringing in a D tier kaiju like Kamoebas, if only as a corpse, to foreshadow Godzilla's return was a nice choice.
- It's nice to see Hiroshi Koizumi reprise his role as Chujo, properly bringing Mothra '61 into the canon of at least one branch of the Godzilla series.
- I like that this is the only *true* direct sequel since GRA and, unlike GRA, the ending of the prior film deliberately left the door open for such a sequel.

Okay, now onto the bad. I've said plenty of negative things about this movie on this site and others, so I'll only give my main criticism as a passing mention: I feel like everything that happens in this movie has been done before and done better in this very long series.

Now onto some shit I might not have talked before. Let's get this in bold for the skimmers: Godzilla: Tokyo SOS has the worst human cast of any Godzilla movie. Yoshito is one of the weakest protagonists of the series and, unlike most other Godzilla films with a mediocre lead, there isn't a great supporting cast to back him up. While it's nice to see Chujo back, he doesn't really have much to do in the film. None of the other characters are worth more than a passing mention: Shun is the obligatory kid character, Akiba is the Hayama stand-in (and unlike Hayama, has no reason to be a dick), Azusa is the female lead, I guess; she doesn't really do anything. Worst of all, Akane returns and is promptly put on a bus plane to the USA. I think this film would've been significantly better had Akane remained the main character, and I don't think that would've been redundant. Her arc in GxMG was about forgiving herself and finding her self-worth, this movie could've seen her continuing to form closer bonds with her comrades while also finally finishing the fight against Godzilla.

Another, smaller gripe is that the movie often seems to forget about characters for awhile, even within individual scenes. Take the opening scene, for example. After the "earthquake" caused by Mothra landing outside, it take Yoshito like two whole minutes to come down and check on his uncle. What the hell was he doing up there? The same issue occurs later in the fight, where it's often unclear what Godzilla and Mothra are up to while Yoshito is fixing Kiryu. Given how savage Godzilla is in these movies, I have a hard time believing two worms and a couple of jets kept him occupied for that long.

Finally, while I like Mothra in the movie, she's honestly pretty pointless to the plot. There's this ominous warning from the Shobijin that Mothra will turn against Japan if Godzilla's bones aren't returned to sea. That's treated as the inciting incident of the movie and, yet, it's forgotten about rather quickly. Once Mothra actually does show up, she protects Japan and her anger at Kiryu being used as a weapon is a total non-issue. Setting up an interesting plot and then abandoning it like this is one of the cardinal sins of filmmaking. So what does Mothra actually do? She stalls Godzilla for awhile until Kiryu shows up, after which she really contributes nothing to the fight. The larvae come in to web Godzilla up but did that even really help? Seems like Kiryu was able to subdue Godzilla pretty much single-handedly with the drill hand-Hyper Maser one-two punch. You could literally cut Mothra from the film and nothing would change plot-wise. Which, again, is doubly frustrating when the opening scenes makes it seem like this will be a Mothra-centric movie and then it's not.

This is a 2/5 Godzilla movie, at best. It may not be in the same gutter as the franchise's worst entries but it's not crawling too high above...
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by SpiderZilla »

HedorahIsBestGirl wrote: Mon Dec 12, 2022 8:40 am Finally, while I like Mothra in the movie, she's honestly pretty pointless to the plot. There's this ominous warning from the Shobijin that Mothra will turn against Japan if Godzilla's bones aren't returned to sea. That's treated as the inciting incident of the movie and, yet, it's forgotten about rather quickly. Once Mothra actually does show up, she protects Japan and her anger at Kiryu being used as a weapon is a total non-issue.
My (presumably unpopular) opinion is that Mothra was wrong to think she could defend Japan from Godzilla by herself and she acknowledged that mistake when she accepted Kiryu’s help. Fortunately Kiryu wanted to return to the sea and took the opportunity when it presented itself.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by HedorahIsBestGirl »

SpiderZilla wrote: Mon Dec 12, 2022 12:48 pm My (presumably unpopular) opinion is that Mothra was wrong to think she could defend Japan from Godzilla by herself and she acknowledged that mistake when she accepted Kiryu’s help.
I mean, that's probably what happened once the battle started, but the movie never bothers to explain why Mothra still comes to Japan's defense in the first place, when they ignored her request regarding Kiryu. For an example of a film that did a much better job of following through on a similar storyline, look no further than Mothra vs. Godzilla. While Mothra initially refuses to help Japan after her egg is not returned, she is persuaded to change her mind by a heartfelt plea from Junko and co. Both Mothra's initial apathy to human suffering and her change of heart made perfect sense. Here, there's no good reason why she should rally to defend Japan when they disregarded her wishes, especially since (unlike in MvG) her egg isn't endangered by Godzilla's rampage.
The wisest words ever spoken on TK: "When I Saw The Showa Movie's white My Friend's They seid WTF is This Your showing Me to Men Fighting In suit's they found At party city Butt when I Showed Them The Heisei film's they thoght They where pritty fun To Watch"

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by SpiderZilla »

HedorahIsBestGirl wrote: Mon Dec 12, 2022 12:55 pm I mean, that's probably what happened once the battle started, but the movie never bothers to explain why Mothra still comes to Japan's defense in the first place, when they ignored her request regarding Kiryu. For an example of a film that did a much better job of following through on a similar storyline, look no further than Mothra vs. Godzilla. While Mothra initially refuses to help Japan after her egg is not returned, she is persuaded to change her mind by a heartfelt plea from Junko and co. Both Mothra's initial apathy to human suffering and her change of heart made perfect sense. Here, there's no good reason why she should rally to defend Japan when they disregarded her wishes, especially since (unlike in MvG) her egg isn't endangered by Godzilla's rampage.
My impression was that Mothra had no choice but to appear after Chujo’s grandson created her symbol in the schoolyard. Chujo said the same about Mothra’s relationship with the symbol earlier in the film. I suppose they exploited a dogmatic loophole.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by godjacob »

I thought it was more while Mothra may have disliked Japan's use of Kiryu, when she saw the symbol made by Chujo an old friend of her companions, she decided to take the fight anyway in spite of how she feels about the government's use of Kiryu. A show of character if you will.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by edgaguirus »

Perhaps there's more to the above. Mothra decides to help Chujo not only because he's an old friend, but also as a demonstration that she can protect them against Godzilla. Mothra believes she can handle Godzilla, and by showing the authorities that she can, they will consider letting Kiryu rest in peace.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by SpiderZilla »

edgaguirus wrote: Tue Dec 13, 2022 12:49 am Perhaps there's more to the above. Mothra decides to help Chujo not only because he's an old friend, but also as a demonstration that she can protect them against Godzilla. Mothra believes she can handle Godzilla, and by showing the authorities that she can, they will consider letting Kiryu rest in peace.
Using her symbol to appeal for her help is probably closer to a prayer than the plea made years ago in MvG. Recognizing her godhood through prayer may have also been a factor in winning her over.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by Legion1979 »

Heads up. Fathom Events will be presenting Tokyo SOS on March 22nd.

https://www.amctheatres.com/movies/godz ... vent-72543

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Post by UltramanGoji »

Legion1979 wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 5:42 pm Heads up. Fathom Events will be presenting Tokyo SOS on March 22nd.

https://www.amctheatres.com/movies/godz ... vent-72543
Definitely gonna try and make it since I missed GXMG last year. Tokyo SOS isn't one of my favorites in the franchise but for me all rankings are null when it comes to theatrical Godzilla showings, especially nationwide ones.
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