What's the Most Polarizing Godzilla Film?

[Legion1979]

To be honest any Godzilla media in the Reiwa, People seem to love it or hate it in this era and I can see why Toho has been very experimental with The Godzilla formula

But really? Most people love Shin and most people don't like the anime trilogy. None of those are really polarizing.

There's really only 1 right answer here.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

My experience has been that Shin is the least polarizing Godzilla movie in the last 20 years but obviously others have had different experiences, given that it's received 5 votes since I added it to the poll.

In regards to queries about why I didn't include films like AMA and G98, it's because the overwhelming majority of the fandom still holds those films in low regards. AMA has experienced a small renaissance and G98 has experienced an even smaller one, but it's not enough that I think those films can truly be considered the most polarizing of the series. To be the most polarizing, there would need to be a large number of fans who consider them among the best, and an equally large number who consider them among the worst. I'll admit, the anime trilogy falls into the same camp but I've seen more outspoken defenders/fans for those movies, if only because they're new.

[Legion1979]

BUT you also don't see crazy wars and arguments about the anime trilogy. Some people like them, but I'm positive the majority doesn't and everyobe seems to accept that just fine.

Final Wars though? In 2005 there were crazy flame wars and all sorts of drama over this movie. I can't think of another Godzilla movie that has caused the kind of reactions this one did. If you really don't think so you haven't been involved in this fandom long enough.

[Creature22]

But really? Most people love Shin and most people don't like the anime trilogy. None of those are really polarizing.

There's really only 1 right answer here.

But Shin Godzilla DID polarize the fandom, especially before the film was released. It really felt like any time a new image was revealed (especially with Form A and B) people flipped out. Remember when early images of the puppet/suit leaked? When we were in the thick of it there was no telling if the film would be a hit or a disaster. I think Final Wars is on a similar level but was an example where the risks taken did not pay off, whereas with Shin Godzilla they did.

The other aspect is that Shin Godzilla had a very obvious snowball effect with Toho willing to be more experimental. There has been a definite change in how Toho is handling the property and many people are on board but many others are understandably resentful/skeptical.

[Legion1979]

None of what you're talking about has anything to do with a film itself being polarizing.

There were two camps with GFW. The "This film is utter shit and you have no taste if you like it" camp and the "This movie is fantastic and you're just an elitist hater who murdered your inner child" camp. The flame wars back when this thing came out were legendary. Nothing I saw out of the Shin reaction compared to it.

[StardustGenius]

I think GFW is crap, but I enjoy it because its kind of a mess. Its best watched with friends imo. Oddly enough, its a movie a lot of "normies" like . It's certainly not good in the slightest.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

Oddly enough, its a movie a lot of "normies" like

I don't think it's at all surprising that "normies" love GFW. It's big, loud, goofy and dumb with lots of fights and minimal plot... which is exactly what most Americans think every Godzilla movie is, and what they seem to want out of this series, if my friends who are casual fans are any indication.

[Legion1979]

Man, if people think fan reaction to KOTM was bad, they'd have no idea to how to handle the fallout from GFW if something that extreme happened now.

And what's with G2K being on this poll? Even the original KKvsG doesn't make much sense. It's not a movie that is notorious for being polarizing unless you're the type to rage just because Godzilla lost. And G84?

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

And what's with G2K being on this poll? Even the original KKvsG doesn't make much sense. It's not a movie that is notorious for being polarizing unless you're the type to rage just because Godzilla lost. And G84?

Because they're all polarizing...?

KKvG is either one of the top-tier Showa classics or the odd film out among Honda's first six Godzilla films, depending on who you ask.

RoG is possibly the most polarizing Godzilla film before the advent of GFW. Some think it's the single best Heisei film and one of the series' best, some think it's mediocre and forgettable. Opinions are also split on whether "Godzilla 1985" is an improvement on the original or a vastly inferior version.

G2K is much the same as RoG. I know people who consider it a treasured favorite and I know people who think it's one of the worst in the series. There's also no clear consensus on whether the US or JP version is better.

I didn't expect any of these films to win this poll but I wanted more options than just GFW and KOTM, so I listed a few other films that I've seen get polarized reactions in the fandom.

[Legion1979]

See when I think polarizing I think of films with many really extreme reactions on both sides. I don't get that from KKvsG, 84 and G2K.

These days I feel like Destroyer is far.more polarizing than any of those.

[Major sssspielberg!]

Also I feel like MG 93 is polarizing, in terms of Heisei films. People seem to either rank it at the bottom or have love for it, though to a lesser extent than Destroyah.

[shadowgigan]

I suppose I would say 98, but I’m not sure if that fits the criteria of the question.

[Gojira1604]

98

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

See when I think polarizing I think of films with many really extreme reactions on both sides. I don't get that from KKvsG, 84 and G2K.

These days I feel like Destroyer is far.more polarizing than any of those.

I agree with Legion, I think FW is still the most polarizing Godzilla film when it comes to reception from fans. I gotta say though, it was fascinating to hear Kitamura's reflections on FW in a recent interview.

The biggest comparison off the top of my head I could make would probably be TLJ. But even then that comparison only goes so far.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

I disagree with Godzilla '98 and I didn't include it in the poll because there aren't many who truly love that film. Even its defenders seem to give it the same tired, half-assed praise of "It would be kinda good if they didn't call it Godzilla." The initial reception was universally negative, now it ranges from negative to lukewarm with a very small minority who actually hold the film in high regards. Compare that to GFW and KOTM where a huge camp of a fans think they're "BEST MOVIE EVER!!!" and an about equally huge camp of fans think they're complete and total garbage.

To be fair, I think almost every Godzilla movie is at least somewhat polarizing. There are like 6 or 7 movies that are near-universally liked and the rest get a range of responses with maybe a small majority leaning one direction or the other.

[shadowgigan]

I pretty much agree with everything you said, Hedorah. I think I'd rank the G'14 a close second behind '98 still. I still rank 98 as the most polarizing because for the better part of 20 years, that is what the American public thought of as Godzilla. Juxtapose that against the fandom, and...yeah.

[SG-17]

Why isn’t Shin Godzilla on this list?

I saw people straight up and leave the online fandom over it back in 2016/2017. I’ve never seen discourse get so damn toxic over a Godzilla movie before or since.

Were you around in 2005?

The old Atari Community forums were lit up about Final Ward at the time (and old TK too).

[Legion1979]

It got so bad at the Monster Zero forums people were getting banned constantly.

The discourse over Shin or KOTM was NEVER as bad as it was for Final Wars. I think there's a logical reason for it that people are missing. Shin and KOTM exist in a decade of change for Godzilla, where the monster is being reinvented for different audiences. There's a lot of different kinds of Godzilla media out there right now. If something isn't for you, there's probably something else you could enjoy - the Monsterverse, Shin, Singular Point, the anime trilogy, Godziban, IDW comics...

When Final Wars came out, Godzilla was pretty standardized. Aside from G98, which turned out to be a one and done thing that moat people agreed wasn't good, Godzilla had spent 50 years being a single film franchise made by one company with one special effects technique being used. You had Toho films or nothing. At that point it was clockwork. You waited a year, got a new Godzilla movie and then you went back to waiting. And along comes Final Wars, a movie touted as both the 50th anniversary and LAST Godzilla film, long before WB and Legendary got involved. I cant really think of any other Japanese-made Godzilla movies in my life time that were bigger events. There was Destroyah, but aside from the significane of Godzilla dying, it was pretty much just another Heisei film. Final Wars was polarizing not just because it was an incredibly different type of Godzilla film in style and tone, but also because of the important space it occupied within the franchise. More than any other film, it managed to make very clear the big divide between different types of fans, a divide that's widening as more new generations get into the series and discover it. And it didn't help that the thing crashed and burned financially for Toho. It was viewed as a failure, and that makes people defensive.

There are divisive opinions on Shin or KOTM, yes. But again, NOTHING like Final Wars.

[Creature22]

It would be interesting to get to read forum posts from 2004-2005 when it was brand new, just to get an idea. Legion makes a really strong point about GFW’s position in the franchise. It definitely had a lot to live up to. Even from my own childhood perspective at the time, a lot of my classmates who had seen it really wanted to like it, but felt it couldn’t live up to the hype and wait that we had to endure. I think as a kid we just took it for what it was and moved on, but if I was an older fan who had been involved far longer I don’t know what I would have thought.

[Legion1979]

Yup. I was 25 when it came out. Many people I knew were older than me. Crazy times.