tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71350979315302059162024-03-13T03:28:42.654-04:00The Tokusatsu Eiga TimesA blog which serves to give reviews on Japanese films (mainly those which are special effects laden with some exceptions), give articles on different aspects of these films which aim to be scholarly, and report news which might be ignored about these films.Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.comBlogger233125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-3056503647038073972019-06-18T23:02:00.001-04:002019-06-18T23:04:50.468-04:00SPOILER ALERT: KING OF THE MONSTERS is good not great<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black;">Setting an example I hope will be followed in years to come, a formal motif is made of a series of stomp sounds followed by Godzilla's roar. SHIN GODZILLA had this, and before that only GODZILLA VS DESTOROYAH and the 1954 film had this</span><span style="color: black;">. For all tense and purpose, it should be the formal beginning of a Godzilla film, like the James Bond openings or the first five Friday the 13ths. This is definitely a Godzilla movie. No one can deny that the same spirit inhabiting the Japanese film's Godzilla is in this film as well. These are the legitimate Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah. But we're in for mixed waters of polarizing extremes. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">What's disparaging about the final film this time around is that, considering what the film is possibly introducing a lot of audiences to for the first time, it wasn't THE DARK</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">KNIGHT to 2014 Godzilla's BATMAN BEGINS, though all the signs were there. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">The first Legendary film and Toho's Shin Godzilla were a one two punch that did great good in breaking Godzilla back into the mainstream, both abroad and at home. The 2014 film boldly went the JAWS/ALIEN approach, figuring Fukushima Daiichi iconography into it's own narrative. SHIN GODZILLA is a political cartoon more awesome than comedic, and helped (particularly art direction wise) bring Godzilla up to speed in a post AKIRA/H.R. Geiger world. GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS has cool moments and ideas but comes off typical at times, cheapening the overall film. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Possibly the problem is the filmmakers choosing a story without shades of thematically relevant threats mirroring reality to add intrigue to the premise. Iran, North Korea, and considering Stranger Thing's NEW COKE ad played before Godzilla King of the Monsters (as did a Rambo and Terminator trailer), Russia and America. Godzilla King of the Monsters has come out in a time preluding a second Cold War. But none of that is dealt with directly. Here there are no resonating observations for the audience's sense of relevance.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The film's primary focus is seemingly on fleshing out the universal themes and aspects of Godzilla himself. Godzilla as a force of nature, tied to the bomb for his emergence bit nuclear disaster being only one of many threats to planetary ecology henresponds to. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The film also focuses on comedy of a lame quality. "Oh my God-zilla", asking if a character said gonorea when she mentioned Ghidorah. Even disrespectful and not needed since nothing about the action in the film needed that comic relief. The sophomore-bore humor feels too forced. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">How the film could have ironically used such to create practical human illlustrations for the pop-social science exposition and situation. Considering the film was written carying on the bioacoustics motif from the Gareth Edwards Godzilla, and obviously makes deliberate parallels (when Vera Farmiga calls out the full name, in a different tone to boot, of Madison before freeing Ghidorah, a human alpha predator bioacoustics display; parents calling out for children; Maddison screaming at Ghidorah), it would seem logical</span><span style="color: black;">. The father character is made out to be the Jim Bridger type, but the typicalities of his comments undermine what parallel to the kaiju drama they could have. But yet this is the character that stared into Godzilla's eyes and realized Godzilla's awareness and role in nature as to forgive. He doesn't seem like the scientist his co stars keep him in the esteem of. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">What human action that is there after that is cliched to begin with, though at moments captured well. Vera Farmiga and Charles Dance's character should have been one character, we should have seen what the fathers downfall after losing his son was like</span><span style="color: black;">. Instead, we get the "helicopter lands in remote back yard of a home of a guy the military needs for a special mission" trope. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">What the film ambitiously tried to accomplish, and did a decent job of establishing it without doing anything much with it, and that is a sincere attempt at coexistence with Godzilla and showing what that means thematically. This means the human story and the monster stories not being mutually exclusive. They have to intertwine. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">To fulfill this, the bioacoustics mentioned in the first film rear their head in a new extension of the idea: the Orca, a device which gives humans the upper hand by enabling basic communication between human and monster. The possibilities of this device in future movies is exciting potential. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">This turn has an indirect relevancy to the real world. Given that hopes of the crew of the 1954 film were unrealistic, for we still live in a world with nukes, the thesis proposed is responsible existence with nukes. If we can't get rid of them, lets be mindful and dutiful with them. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">King of the Monsters's best feature is the treatment of King Ghidorah. To have a Cg American Ghidorah was hard to imagine. Complete with personality quarks and more than competent photography giving Ghidorah a daunting presence, this might be one of the best if not the best Ghidorah film made to date. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Particularly interesting is the fleshing out of Ghidorah's niche in the intergalactic solar system. Of all, this is the film's most worthy achievement. Godzilla being King of the Monsters isn't just an inherent title resulting from a track record. Unlike the Showa films where Ghidorah schitzophrenically destroyed for no reason, and possibly under control of an alien race starting from his 1964 debut, this is one of the only times where Ghidorah is autonomous. His own will is all that informs him. Ghidorahs purpose is to be the top alpha predator in an ecosystem. A creature that can only live if he is at the top, a parasitic species. This was a great development. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">No longer is the King of the Monsters title an inherent title due to the slew of monsters fought, here we have for the first time a formal fighting for the title. Some might be saddened that the human characterization from 1964's GHIDORAH THE THREE HEADED MONSTER with Mothra negotiating for Rodan and Godzilla to team up to fight Ghidorah isn't here. While not to a Shinichi Sekizawa extreme, KOTM gets the monsters as animals in an ecosystem and characters with personalities at the same time. The personification doesn't undermine the monsters role in a reality based ecosystem and vice versa. A good balancing act. Get ready to crumble. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Ghidorah's physical realization is also well done</span><span style="color: black;">. He has never seemed more massive than he does here. Nor more focused, allowing for more character to come out. Ghidorah's roar is great, usually sounding like Cretaceous Ghidorah from MOTHRA 3: KING GHIDORAH ATTACKS. Layering and filling the soundscape with the triage of voices that sound of all encompacing threat. The first full roar Ghidorah gives Godzilla sounds like a dangerous machine about to break and do damage to anyone around. Though not kept in the higher pitch, this Ghidorah does have that ring in the roar, as if Ghidorah doesn't just rolls his r's, he rolls everything. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The added benefit of being so massive as to cause tornadoes, floods, and hurricane rain is a feature all too undelved into. Its a great continuation theoretically to Del Toro's directing of PACIFIC RIM, where elements like water were used particularly to compliment the kaiju as an image, if only a good suspense sequence a la DAY AFTER TOMORROW showing an oncoming storm, lightning and a cluster of tornadoes, and then the reveal of a Ghidorah silhouette. Definitely want to see this aspect revisited in a future instalment. Ghidorah also translates well for Western iconography. Ghidorah, loosely a hydra, is given an ability awarded the most famous hydra of all - the regenerative powers of the hydra that fought Hercules. A scene also realising some of the body horror elements now introduced to Godzilla in recent years, going back to the likes of AKIRA and EVANGELION at least is displayed by Ghidorah growing back a head. The more gruesome body horror stuff is saved for the antagonist Ghidorah. The cool stuff is saved for Godzilla, the protagonist</span><span style="color: black;">. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Godzilla himself has never looked better in an American film. His larger Shodai Goji dorsals look appropriate to the rest of Godzilla's mass. As now almost as tradition Godzilla (along with the other monsters) is bioluminecent (and a piece of the Lowe's concept stage I was happy they decided to save until the second film). More close ups, and a great spin on Burning Godzilla and his nuclear pulse attack (ironically though a moment given to Mothra to build the symbiotic relationship, it is a call back to a moment afforded none other than Rodan). Never thought such an ability would be showcased in an American instalment, or for that matter Ghidorah shooting beams through his wing tips. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Rodan is another creature full of personality. His roar is a really throttled version of what fans know and love, but that design is something else. Though Rodan does come off as a pteranadon-esque creature, recent discoveries of feathers on dinosaurs have lent an odd feathered motif achieved through Rodan's burning lava body. Never thought features, or volcanic scales who, along with the ash, give the pression of feathers. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Considering again Pacific Rim and Shin Godzilla, this is the most art directed the monsters looks have been ever. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Michael Daughtery does a good spectacle job with King of the Monsters. In a mix of what Kong: Skull Island and Gareth Edwards film did: action filmed from real locations and not just a chosen God's eye point of view. While by the end we do see the action is shot as if the camera is being used by a kaiju sized panaglide technitian, the switch is sealmess, with grounding shots keeping up the illusion. There's even something which the 2014 had which none other had (effectively for this viewer) - a good Godzilla jump scare. Michael even offers some nice shots in reference to 2014. When Godzilla was another invading force, he drowned masses in tidal waves. Now, coming to save Millie Bobbie Brown from Ghidorah, the tide is receeding but with navy ships sailing beside him. There's even good repurposing of some unused shots from the 2014 film's early trailers. There's an interesting parallel to Gamera 2 where this Godzilla 2 also concerns with fighting the enemy monster as a Godzilla-human joint operation. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The human characters are frustrating, because before seeing the execution the ground work works, and acts thematically as a sequel to the Brody family. Godzilla 2014 created grief for the family that they stay safe from after the first 15 minutes. KING OF THE MONSTERS is the stages of grieving with fantastical possibilities given the careers of the characters in that world. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Thinking of the themes at play, one couldn't help but be reminded of War of the Worlds, where Ghidorah is the obvious alien and Godzilla is the bacteria that caused their downfall. Where as say the last relevant film adaptation from Speilberg had the theme mirrored by little Dakota Fanning waxing poetic about stuck thorns, King of the Monsters shakes those themes up.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">While the good news is that the human drama and the monster drama does depend on one another to work, many comparisons could be made to the Heisei Gamera films. Similar comparisons were made of the 2014 film, and its interesting it has continued</span><span style="color: black;">. Is there a subconscious tie to the storytelling by Kaneko and Higuchi or are Americans generally ignorant of those films and our logic behind monster movies is only now catching up? Michael Doughtery even sounds like Shinji Higuchi in not kidding himself that with a sequels logic: monsters have already been established. Too much suspense doesn't work because the element of surprise has diminished.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The film starts with a flashback contain my newly filmed scenes, a parallel to GAMERA 3. Redemption is a theme of the film, anothernparallel to the dramatic material from Gamera 3. Madison's father has to be there for his daughter and lot let grief and vengeance wear his spirit down. Madison's mother has to content with her faulty ideologies and the danger she had put everyone including her daughter. If only there was a scene showing Serizawa creating the Oxygen Destroyer as a trade to get the government off Monarch's back. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Serizawa is a mixed note, and only time can tell if it will be seen as a nice twist on the 1954's Serizawa death scene serving the "living with nukes" theme. Or is it a perversion of the 1954 film's climax? Should Serizawa die saving Godzilla, therefore humanity, by bringing us in accordance with the larger forces of nature or should Serizawa die knowing the weapon being used to kill Godzilla has to be a secret he takes with him to the grave lest World War III breaks out. The Oxygen Destroyer isn't given the respect expected given the weapon and its usual implications on the subtexual reality of a film. Its definitely a dramatic scene that works well, driving home a somber tone of sacrifice. But at what cost? We should remember, even Serizawa said, "time to get a new watch". In general, Ken Wantanabe does his best work here emotively since his Oscar nodded turn in THE LAST SAMURAI (which came out before a film showcasing Wantanabe and KOTM co-star Zhang Ziyi as lovers, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA). His dedication is remarkable and though dramatically satisfying, should have been there for the showdown with Kong. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Millie Bobbie Brown's Madison is a nice center for the film. She expresses childish wonder and teen-angst-for-emotional-independence, but again feels typical. Brown does a knock out job though giving a performance that feels complete and free of the roles functions in the script. Only question is if she is just a girl filling a boy role? Androgyny of youth being used to help the film fulffill the Bachdel test? Why didn't this character click?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Charles Dance as Alan Jonah is a frustrating character. Dance exudes presence and gives a good performance. Considering build up though, his limited function in the story as just someone helping Vera Farmiga out seems like a shortcoming. His character plays a good philosophical counter point to Farmiga, who not only was wrong with her plan but also is going to risk it all once granddaughter's safety is not guaranteed. He is in an odd way pure, recognizing even with monsters informing the situation, when its man and when its nature being expressed in the individual. Farmiga could have been another shot in the back Monarch scientist, but her agenda matched Alan's. She hired him. She lost nerve when motherly instinct kicked in, and she wants to stop a larger natural force of her own. She put her daughter in danger and leads to a repeat of San Francisco - the two parents again traversing debris for their daughter while the monsters fighting all around them.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Dance doesn't stop her, and that's telling of the character. Its not his place to stop her, its natures jurisdiction, as she meets her end as a martyr of the situation she caused (there is no death or dead shots of Farmiga, but safe to say Godzilla's pulses should have killed her). </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Farmiga's character of Emma and her relation to her husband make an interesting contrast. Not between themselves, but as a foil couple to the Brody family of 2014. 2014's family drama was just getting the family together. Here, the family drama is reliant on daughter Madison to break away from her mother's teachings and show that a good relationship with her father is possible. Because Emma by Farmiga has skewed views and skewed facts to prove it. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Upon watching the 2014 film after KING OF THE MONSTERS, its odd that Emma would choose a clip of post 1999 attack Janjira (where a mother character dies, let remember) to illustrate that MUTO/Titan radiation acts like a primordial ooze when Bryan Cranston discovered there was no radiation. While we get new footage of post 2014 Las Vegas showing vegetation and a news paper article talking over the rebirth of coral reefs, what is shown doesn't look like regular modern day flora. Looking into vegetation post Chernobyl does reveal plants with radiation resistant or metabolic features. Possibly reverting the world back in time not just by the re-emergence of the last remaining Titans, but the plants and animals too. Not quite what the character shells out quite though, no?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">That's because Emma is nuts. Where as the family of 2014 were innocent victims, Emma and her family are people in the closest thing to the human seat of power in these matters, even creating a humans-as-an-alpha-predator roar voice box. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Emma is just like Alan Jonah - an eco-terrorist who did good to rid of holo sapiens centrism in viewing the order of nature, but takes it to a far extreme. Alan Jonah is a person who knows to let nature take its course. He lets it be her show and even let her have her way when hernprimal instincts make her turn one her ideologies. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Eco terrorism seemingly would be a good archetype to mess with considering franchise themes. This is a little developed theme within the Godzilla franchise. The closest to it would be Biollante, whose terrorism isn't for ecological reasons necessarily but money in turning desert into viable farm land. Therefore I am reminded again of GAMERA 3, a film made to conclude an edgy retelling right at the possible end times of the new millennium. Gamera 3 showed off ecoterrorism disguised how it was in Japan at the time - cultembers of groups like Aum Shinryko making their way into goverment to progress agendas with action. Where as He's ecoterrorists are good at being legal about this but come off as singular asexual nihilism spouting characters, we have renegade who poetically find themselves in the end scene (last 20 minutes is a big fight scene) doing the same thing they were doing at the beginning, looking for a child while the monsters run amok. Mother has to pay for sins and father gets back a child instead of losing both. If anything, King of the Monsters is structured well. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Other aspects of the film do not manage so well. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The G-Team, Monarch's own Seal Team 6, isn't a well built group. No G-Graspers or G-Force here. Instead, the rest of typical racial casting. Godzilla King of the Monsters isn't a racist film like Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but its typical. O'Shea Jackson, Ice Cuba's son, is in a supporting role spouting ignorance (Mothra and Godzilla, they have like a thing going?) and typical statements (that's messed up) are what he is given save for him being given the saving grace line of criticizing Farmiga and Kyle Cooper's parenting but inspiring the idea of where Madison is. Other characters are given this treatment (You're damn right is another line). This matters. I was driven by a neighbor to my first seeing of Kong of the Monsters. They were going to see Aladdin. Their choice was informed by a review that Aladdin was better than Black Panther. It seems like an apples vs oranges comparison, until we remember Will Smith is in Aladdin. The race card is in play. These are the skewed views on political topics that's informing studio and audience choices it seems. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The exception is the Chens, played by Zhang Ziyi. Interestingly acted as a dual role, the secondary role being a cameo to fulfill in a hinted way a shobijin parallel, there is a secondary side to her character. Serizawa dying feels better than Sally Hawkins, whose death feels cheap and not in a Janet Jason Leigh/Psycho or Drew Barry more/Scream way. But there can only be one person waxing philosophical about the monster, and Ziyi taking up the Serizawa mantle reminds me of Kanji Fukunaga's step down from Warner Brothers and Thomas Hill's stepping down from Legendary after Legendary was bought by Chinese conglomerate the Wanda group. Not as hilarious of a parallel as PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING (which effectively replaced Rinko Kikuchi with the president of Zhao Industries), but interesting none the less. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Poetically, KING OF THE MONSTERS ends with monsters bowing to Godzilla in a lion king esque sequence. It will be interesting to see Kong vs Godzilla shape up, for King of the Monsters (not a better film than Gamera 3) plays with the same themes as Gamera 3, and how will those be developed in the sequel could be a new achievement. Though plagued with Holywood typicalities, GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS is a good Godzilla film with possibilities for the future. Better than Kong: Skull Island and Pacific Rim: Uprising, not as good as Godzilla 2014 or Shin Godzilla. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">But it gets Godzilla right, puts him in an interestingly developed world where man and monster did co exist</span><span style="color: black;">. Unlike 2014, I knew off the bat this would become a favorite.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">7/10</span></div>
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Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-22572689616196253352019-06-16T08:33:00.000-04:002019-06-16T12:28:42.499-04:00How you can effectively help KING OF THE MONSTERS<div align="left">
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<span style="color: black;">This is our Kickstarter, our GoFundMe, our Patreon. This time we will definitely join the fight. And we got free tools in the article you could use. </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="266" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FGodzillaMovieUK%2Fvideos%2F862907964062214%2F&show_text=0&width=476" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="320"></iframe>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Like this video you could share on facebook! Take into account the time zones and when your friends are mostly on facebook. Show non-fans that non-fans enjoy KOTM!</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Godzilla King of the Monsters's box office performance has definitely cast some darkness on the bright future that Legendary's sparse Monsterverse had going. We the fans are going to help.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Right before May 31, talks were of Warners definitely wanting to continue Godzilla after Kong vs Godzilla. Toho dumped a lot of money in an American division. Five years ago, I was told by a source that Godzilla was Warner's answer to the post Harry Potter-void. A great string of films - Pacific Rim, Godzilla, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Shin Godzilla, and Kong: Skull Island have been undone by by the failures of Pacific Rim: Uprising, The Cloverfield Paradox, and to some extent Godzilla King of the Monsters. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Videos like this watch mojo video can get people to think about seeing the film again if they missed something.</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Even Japan was full ahead go, with KOTM earning 133% on its opening weekend in comparison to Shin's opening weekend. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Recouping some losses is the realistic name of the game. Warner Brothers is now retooling Kong vs Godzilla to present to audiences an "A+" film</span><span style="color: black;">. Whether that means going 180 from their Pacific Rim beginnings and make Isben, or something leftfield is any ones guess</span><span style="color: black;">. Good luck, hopefully if there is work to be done, their work is cut out for them. We can be sure that we are not rewarding what some have seen as slack filmmaking.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Our battle is a financial one, earning the Godzilla license money for Toho, Legendary, and Warner Brothers. Money is nothing to me. I live alone and only make $1000 in a house i own out right. They say vote with your dollar, and since the capitalist game is a an easy logic to follow, lets use economic force to our advantage. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">I have seen KOTM six times as of this writing.</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: black;">What can we the fans do to help? Well, for starters, let's assume you've already seen the film multiple times. If not, lets admit that though not the best Godzilla film or film ever, an entertaining and true Godzilla film has been produced. Lets enjoy it! And lets experience it once with rocking chairs on a huge screen, another time with 3D glasses, and a couple of times with the regular crowd. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Heck, find reasons to make Godzilla a group activity. Express a want to share this movie with friends, they may be open minded. The key is to be casual about it. Not a know-it-all fanboy. That's coming on too strong. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Or you could do what one South Korean fan did and saw the film 22 times atleast!</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Getting others to participate is easier than if someone started a grass roots campaign before June 6th. With the film being out, you a living breathing person, can be the voice that people listen to. Not some distant, cold, number on a computer screen or cell phone screen with a ripe red or splattered green tomato behind it. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Now that we have seen the film, we know what kind of film we are dealing with. We can now give the film a context lacking in the $100 million marketing campaign. We can prepare people not for the film they, the studio, or we expected to see, but the film we know they will be seeing. Maybe they preferred 1998 or were burned by 2014 or both - King of the Monsters will be of interest to this film.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">For people my age and older, the last 10 years meant begging a parent or finding the will and time off work to drive to densely populated parts of the country with special art/import theaters for screenings of Godzilla films. Now its a part of the zeitgeist, this cherished icon matters again. And the Americans finally got it right! </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Being a fan for now doesn't mean experiencing fandom behind a computer screen at home waiting for the mail man to bring the next figure or special edition blu ray. I can walk out, see a nice diaplay, and as a public act buy Godzilla. For newer fans, enjoy the luxury while you can. Anytime in the future can you see a special screening of anything. This is initial run!</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">My local Godzilla Store. Had two atomic blast Shin Gojis. I have one. Someone bought the other!</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Have you bought any merch? Though only 8 endcap sized pop-up Godzilla stores were in the US, chances are if you are close to an FYE, you saw something similar but way more cost effective to general consumer economics. There is, like the Titans, way more. Hats, blankets, shirts, music, and toys. Something for everyone!</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">FYE, Target, Books-A-Million, and apparently Gamestop are selling in store NECA Godzilla figures, including Mothra. The only thing that's better than buying straight from the producer is the non-secondary markets/stores that procure these items. Faster they sell the faster they restock. Say you order a figure straight from NECA, its just one more figure. Say you buy from your local Target, and they sell out, they may very well get a second shipment in of multiple figures as if to fill a aisle shelf. Though different dimensions and mass, the Bandai Creation figures, if memory serves from my time working at TRU, came 6-8 per a box. This means that sub licensors like NECA and Trends International will definitely be voicing their want of a sequel for more merchandise sales. If the newest shipment doesn't sell, any saturation of the market achieved will give less wealthy fans a way to get say a decent NECA figure, when years ago a decent scull for a single mold character with five swivel joints cost just as much as a NECA sculpted-using-the-digital-file-from-the-film figure.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Never thought I would see the day. Don't know if we will be seeing this again. </i></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;">Wal-Mart signed an agreement to sell exclusively the Jakks Pacific figures. For context, Wal-Mart was bitten by this logic once with possibly the best American kaiju film this far - Pacific Rim, which was a deal signed by NECA. Pacific Rim under performed, and NECA's participation in merchandising the del Toro tent pole could be best described as ''holding out for as long as they could". But this marketing, with less collectors market ambitions, is being given a second chance. And the Jakks Pacific figures rock. The 12" Godzilla fulfills anything lacking from their previous large scale Godzilla, including a dorsal fin size true to the film's depiction. Comparable to Bandai's 10" figure. Even better than the Bandai figure and larger than the upcoming NECA is the Jakk Pacific Rodan. While we wait for the super articulated figure, this one looks like a present day successor to the legendary Shogun Warrior relic of old. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">And when you are going to the theater, when shopping Wal Mart for Pine Sol, two pounds of ground chuck, and a Jakks Pacific Rodan, if you have any, wear a Godzilla shirt! Your clothes are good spaces for advertising real estate. Look at this mallrat now:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2Lo3g4fNbdbQ9mSIduHToKjqjn4PRMlygew6wODTI42uxRQitZKmSFhm8eQ8Z_XE-ffE7mmaexTQOXSrnuBIBYHvC16a1jwUBqIdIbhNZ7ealKEhctv4cKgBDlB_mkBYHauW_nY82q4/s1600/20190610_103727.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq2Lo3g4fNbdbQ9mSIduHToKjqjn4PRMlygew6wODTI42uxRQitZKmSFhm8eQ8Z_XE-ffE7mmaexTQOXSrnuBIBYHvC16a1jwUBqIdIbhNZ7ealKEhctv4cKgBDlB_mkBYHauW_nY82q4/s400/20190610_103727.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">If you don't have any, Hot Topic, Spencers, Journeys, and FYE got your back covered - literally. And long after, you'll have an outward piece of Godzilla that you can bring with you on your day to day travels and tribulations. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Its really that simple, its really that easy. If you need, take an extra shift at work, donate some plasma - I did. I work night shift earning $1000 a month. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">I have done all of this, because I believe. I believe Godzilla King of the Monsters to be a good, entertaining film with faults already acknowledged by the studio. I believe Godzilla is a character who, if only to break new ground in ways the Japanese wouldn't due to cultural sensibilities and financial resources, deserves whatever visions into what could only be produced by a line of Legendary Godzilla films. Because I believe that in a world that cannot give up its nukes and finds itself in an Iran-North Korean second Cold War complete with 80's nostalgia thanks to the likes of Stranger Things and Ready Player One, Godzilla will remind us of how to be. Whether its the terror of nuclear power's possible uses to the possibility to even attaining an existence where we can live peacefully in a world where those bombs exist, these films will point the way and possibly give us answers in a time repeating itself. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">I am reminded of the 80s, when Tomoyuki Tanaka compiled the ideas behind the then notion of an American Godzilla film and came up with THE RETURN OF GODZILLA, which came to America as GODZILLA 1985. At that time, the only significance achieved was a Easter egg in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and a larger relaunch for Raymond Burr's golden age career (he almost bought the American rights before passing). Now the 80's, the Cold War, Nuclear Tension, New Coke, and Godzilla is are back. Time to stand up for what we are. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">So as I finish writing the first draft, I am buying a ticket for my 7th viewing of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, complete with some Dr. Pepper and possibly a Snickers. Movie studios want you to be a consumer and buy into their product and the produced licensed from that. So I call that we do that. We will be your profit making market, with a vengeance. Long live the King.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">"No matter what happens, Godzilla will live."</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">-Steve Martin, GODZILLA 1985</span><br />
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Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-71250817230927932962019-01-17T19:17:00.004-05:002019-01-17T19:17:52.151-05:00Gamera 3 Showa Video Bootleg Alt Cover<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Incomplete Struggle for Eternity</div>
<br />Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-36946821437223347632018-10-22T16:00:00.002-04:002018-10-22T16:28:55.433-04:00D-WAR 2: Mysteries of the Dragon - Production Report and Commentary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"D-War 2: Mysteries of the Dragon" has a new tentative release year of 2020. First it was 2009, then 2016. In a production showing China's blossoming film industry joining forces with the man who tried to make the first Korean made special effects blockcbuster, Shim Hyung Rae.<br />
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Irony is the story behind D-WAR 2's production history. Though CJ Entertainment in Korea is back to support the project, its China's H&R Global Pictures acting as the main production company.<br />
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This is because Shim Hyung Rae, for reverent readers, lost Younggu Art when tales of gambling addiction and threatening of producers with flare guns hit the headlines. This, coinciding with reasons why D-WAR wasn't critically appraised moreso or more lucrative in 2007 has lead recent reports from September in Korean news outlets proclaiming that control is out of Shim's hands in a way. The script is being finished in English, has unspecified American talent giving input. Particular comment was that the script "is being refined like a sculpture." For the record, an odd uncredited credit to a Nick Alvers has popped up as a co writer of the first D-WAR (claim can be found on Wikipedia). Shim is also advising the director of D-War 2, not directing himself quite.<br />
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To remind readers, the most recent synopsis details of a fictionalized version of the space race in 1969 between America and Russia, and this space race factoring in with (a more recently released detail) war between Oriental Dragons and Occidental dragons.<br />
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Originally the plot was supposed to be Ethan finding an old lady with an Imoogi in her possession. Sadly, though fond particularly of Buraki as a character or using Imoogis as a race of creatures, connections to D-WAR might be limited. "Its connected to D-WAR, but its a different story. The tale of the dragon is what's after ascension to heaven."<br />
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If I was Korean, I might feel like Shim is getting foreign half help for his dream. Instead of a Chinese/Korean co production deal, its Shim taking his concept and letting the Chinese build on it. Bong Joo Ho mighty have succeeded more with SNOWPIERCER. While Shim may not be able to direct humans, his SFX shots and scenes just keep getting better. D-WAR's final battle is, away from the rest, fantastic directing.<br />
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What of the Chinese press? What's happening on the Chinese side of things? While new Chinese blockbusters are lighting the box office, co-American productions like PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING and THE GREAT WALL are finding it hard to produce non-sensibility-offending cross cultural productions, given these elements are calculated whenever a studio or producer is evaluating a film as product. Though finding help in directors like Denny Harlin teaching China's new crop of filmmakers tools of the trade, big productions like the Bruce Willis-leading AIRSTRIKE have been canceled out of theatrical distribution from fear surrounding tax scandals, like one Willie's co-star Fan Bingbing seems to be in the middle of.<br />
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Seems like China and Shim were made for each other. In fact, part of D-WAR's production hell is from China's awkward puberty stage blockbuster abilities. "We are talking specifically with the Chinese theater chain and four large investors, including funding, distribution and character businesses, with Chinese investment companies... The investment has been delayed due to the Sad issue in China, but I have been in contact with China first to get together, and the story is going well and the contract will be announced later."<br />
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Along with Keanu Reeves and Kevin Costner starring, China's Tang Guo Qiang is headlining. Qiang can be found playing upper caliber Chinese political figures and legends, old and contemporary, including Mao Zedong. With the exception, Keanu and Costner's involvement in all press conferences and such has been ink on paper that is a single D-WAR 2 poster.<br />
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Digital effects will be done by Chinese VFX houses. Particularly Naked Eye 3D graphics (mostly used for smartphones and lightshows) will be used in filming D-WAR 2.<br />
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Li Xin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Global Pictures of China, said: "Dragon War 2" is China 's first science fiction blockbuster. The total investment of 500 million yuan is indeed not small for Chinese film projects, but it is more than the sci-fi blockbusters currently produced in Hollywood. It is not too big, and the film is also the first film in China to be released simultaneously in the world. "Dragon War 2" has a very strong creative team."<br />
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Quote from link:<br />
media.weibo.cn/article?id=2309351000144017394174548048&jumpfrom=weibocom<br />
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China's film climate has changed since D-WAR came in in 2008 in China to gross only $4.4 million dollars. Besides Japan, China seems to be gaining some taste for the giant monster film. For example, Legendary's PACIFIC RIM franchise has been saved more than once by China at the box office, the second film being a Chinese co-production. Two films by the name MONSTER HUNT (1 & 2) have come out since 2016. Though with some scenes outsourced overseas, these Pixar-inspired films have been making healthy $300 million grosses.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qt9t2bryUeY/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qt9t2bryUeY?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
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Dragons haven't been missing from Chinese screens either, though not common. A 2011 Australian/Chinese co-production including the like of Sam Neil, THE DRAGON PEARL features two kids who find a dragon under a temple and try to help it look for its Yuh-yei-joo-esque pearl. Its animation isn't the hottest. Much easier on the eyes is a trilogy of Monkey King films, mostly starring wuxia legend Donnie Yen as the legend from Chinese myth. Of particular note is the second film which features a fight with a dragon! Likewise, The Monkey King films were produced with American SFX, VFX, and make up artists hired in an advisory capacity.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/luYTlXFcIwI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/luYTlXFcIwI?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
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Hopefully stalling on D-War 2 will cease soon now that things are coming to a head. At the same time, the last irony, may China - way more notorious of having their films and television seemingly by a very large margin consist of historical tales, legends, and political hyperbolies for the state, not fall into the same nationalist pit falls that Shim took the odds with, much more revealing unsavory business deals for these products we call art.<br />
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The world will never know.<br />
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Links to sources:<br />
http://www.newsfarm.co.kr/news/articleViewAmp.html?idxno=42215<br />
http://mnews.imaeil.com/Culture/2018101011223902355#cb<br />
http://huaren.haiwainet.cn/n/2017/0407/c3541758-30845655.html?fbclid=IwAR1wGLDR7kyEXVBXy2jRSO3L3twRbmp1lhfC69zgCYGUZlAoBpo-GZfPSaY<br />
https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1004937585<br />
http://www.koreatimes.com/article/20180411/1172552<br />
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Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-18797205424182078562017-11-28T13:19:00.000-05:002018-09-17T12:50:19.772-04:00DRAGON WARS: 10 Year Retrospective<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.dreadcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/dragon-wars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dreadcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/dragon-wars.jpg" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">D-WARS
10<sup>th</sup> Anniversary Retrospective<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">After
Criterion and Ridley Scott changed the way that we saw the home video market,
special editions of multiple monikers flood the shelves. It is only ironic that
in America, the seemingly successful notion of D-WARS getting another home
video release is an irony. It’s the 10<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the film,
but there is no hint of awareness regarding this on the packaging. It seems
Mill Creek Entertainment licensed the American home video rights for
D-WAR from Sony. The DVD case looks cool, though. on closer inspection seems to be a rushed
digital job using sub-par looking elements like logos. The image quality of the
disc itself resembles more a vcd, and there are none of the special features
that the normal American release from nine years ago came with. The usual is a
slew of new special features, whether the film deserves them or not. D-WARS is
not shown that love anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">Does
D-WARS deserve some love? From the get go, the film has been met with scorn.
(At one time) Famously a young black American with a youtube channel posted a
bad review video of D-WARS. The video made news in Korea, citing a nick name of
“bad kid”. Korean critics and audiences were split up in their evaluations
while the world saw this want-to-be-flavor of the month come and go like many a
blockbuster spectable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">Maybe
then Shin Hyung Rae accomplished what he had set out to do: make a film that
was a product of South Korean creative talent on an art direction/visual effects
point that blends in and acts like a film out of Hollywood on the market (even
if the point of reference that comes to mind is something like 2013’s SEASON OF
THE WITCH). Depending on how you feel about those goals being the reason for a
film to exist probably goes hand in hand with whether or not you like the film.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">Popping
the Sony blu-ray in, it really puts things into a certain perspective. Though
general audiences have been jaded with CGI effects, growth in photo realism in
CGI is observable only in retrospect. D-WARS’ novelty, its special effects, do
look like a product of their time, with more than a handful of shots truly looking
good by (As of this writing) contemporary standards. Though it took more than a
decade, D-WARS maybe achieved a little bit. Comparable is the remarkable SHIN GODZILLA. D-WAR's CG blows SHIN GODZILLA's out of the water. There's no one years between films.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">What
of the fates of the creative talent though? Looking over the Younggu-Art
production output, a narrative rises. You notice Shin’s intentions of getting
South Korea’s film industry to be able to complete internationally, so his
methods change. No longer practical effect, he decides to entrepreneur CGI in Korea. To help sell the films hires on American cast and crew as to fulfill a
certain standard that Koreans just cannot – and at the time did not. YONGGARY
infamously bombed at the box office and did not receive the international distribution
that Shin Hyung Rae was hoping for. D-WARS took a couple more years, and hired
on more Americans to fulfill more spaces. D-WARS was definitely more successful
than YONGGARY. THE LAST GODFATHER showed that Shim should stick to science fiction
if he is to appeal to an international audience. D-WARS 2: MYSTERIES OF THE
DRAGON has the VFX supervisor from 2014’s GODZILLA onboard in the same
capacity. Practically, did Shim atleast do good in giving Korea Koreans who
could create effects for movies? Though questionably a comprehensive resource
in looking at the repitoirs of ex-Younggu Art employees, a look through IMDb’s
pages for the staff of D-WARS says a lot. These people only have one credit to
their names on IMDb. Some of these people could have worked on Bong Joo Ho’s
SNOWPIERCER. Maybe in an alternate universe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">The
American crew’s additions are worthy of praise in areas. The sound design for
the monsters is great, and even like an American production, uses sound effects
like the Willhem scream as a metacinema flourish. Steve Jablonsky’s soundtrack
is depressingly good for D-WARS. Its initially cheesy listening, but it turns
out great. The reason its cheesy listening at first is the same reason it is
great – the musical bars that make up the soundtracks to films like THE
SHINNING and FRIDAY THE THIRTIENTH PART SIX: JASON LIVES now have an entire
score solely dedicated to it, and its heavy on action and paramount drama.
Should have known something was up though in the end when you have the composer
for Platinum Dunes composing your film. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">Personally,
as a viewer, does D-WARS offer me anything particular? Though the film hits you
over the head with it repeatedly, which really speaks to the insecurities of
the Korean talent, you have the only accessible (internationally speaking)
piece of media which uses Korean folkloric creatures like Imoogi. Dissapointing that a creature like the cockatrice wasn't used here and apparently not in any ideas for D-WAR 2. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new";">You have
particularly well directed battle scenes. Though his sensibilities are
questionable as far as story and the kind of angle you want to tell a story
through are questionable, Shin Hyung Rae learned a lot from his film previous,
YONGGARY. YONGGARY’s camera is fixed, but not studied. YONGGARY’s camera was
fixed because it helped the post production process out with the special
effects shots. A lot less intergrating of multiple plate shots (real life,
models, and cgi are three plates right there, and the cgi can be many different
layers onto itself), a more fluid camera. The LA fight scene does go through
stages, and the music, visuals, it all does a great job with getting the
audience to feel the ups and downs of one dramatic beat coming and going into
another in battle scenes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">Though
overly short, the final battle between the Good Imoogi and Buraki is a great
display of directing something that is hard to direct – two snakes fighting.
You have a square, a rectangle to compose your image in as a filmmaker, and you
practically have to fill the screen and make look good while serving the
dramatic ups and downs on varying scales with two squiggly lines. Shin Hyung
Rae’s directing of the dragon sequences are immersive, even if the actors are
obviously in completely CG environments and maybe not the best of attention was
paid to the angle of the l.a. plate to the C.G. plate, ect. Its an entertaining
watch if you need to kill about thrity minutes and you have a bowl packed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new";">These scenes put to Jablonsky's music does create a couple of truly cinematic moments, something YONGGARY lacked.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">The talent was there. If more time was spent on that which Shim Hyung Rae famously responded, "I don't make art, I make movies for kids", and less gambling and threatening of government sources of film finance, Shim's dreams could have come true. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new";">If only he realized that D-WAR has an existential delima tragically not a fleshed out theme. At SDCC 2007, a producer claimed the title D-WAR is an entendre. D-WAR could mean Dragon War. Maybe its digital war, Korea trying to throw their hat in a seemingly monopolized market. Most important is that D-WAR could mean Destiny War. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: courier new;">From the opening narration to all expository dialogue by a character actor, destiny is at play. Time is symbolically repeating itself, an ancient army now duking it out with the US military because two people were more concerned about their lives together instead of the well being of all. Even worse, neither Ethan or Sarah are well equipped for their destiny. They even start making the same mistakes as their previous selves made. Ethan never takes Sarah to the grand cave. Instead Buraki takes them to his hide out. But the quick end to the Atrox army which saves Ethan and Sarah is a literal Deus ex machina. One to expect. Buraki and his followers have been fucking up celestial movement for at least 1000 years now. Buraki himself is one to try to manipulate and change destiny, instead of compromising what individualism an imoogi can have with what their niche in nature and the holy are concerned. D-WARS isn't a Steinbeck or Dickens-esque exploration of destiny and pragmatism, but it is a light undercurrent which helps make sense of the proceedings. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">How
else has history remembered D-WARS? D-WARS hitting the big screen in America
via 3,000 plus screens was a surprise to some people. D-WAR isn’t that good,
any distributor would take a look and seriously question the practical
entertainment value of the film, despite the surface level details that the
film has dragons, a little magic, and other genre tropes. Before Syfy Channel
became reknown for their lackluster self-produced titles, there was D-WARS
leading the way, being spammed on Syfy wherever they could find a slot. Now,
Mill Creek is packaging the film with its Syfy ilk in box sets before getting a
standalone release from said distributor. When news came of D-WARS 2 going into
production, as a Chinese production no less, ScreenAnarchy’s headline read, “For
Our Sins, D-WAR 2 is Going Into Production”. Gizmodo’s sense of humor was, “They’re
Finally Making a Sequel to the Greatest Movie of All Time: D-WAR”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">People
remember the film though. I proudly hang my Dutch poster for D-WARS in my home.
Sometimes a friend will stroll through and pay a little more attention than
usual to the poster and ask about it. Their assumptions were right, its my rare
Dutch poster for the film. Fond childhood nostalgia memories, the kind that
make you cringe more than want to relive with happy remembrance and added
significance. RiffTrax has riffed the film. The film will always be there, and
some people with a taste for THE ROOM and TROLL 2 will take the film in and
give it a home, but to most people, its going to be a familiar cover in the
bargain bin at your local neighborhood Walmart. In the meantime, lets get swept
away in Shim Hyung Rae’s ambitions, and the immersive marketing campaigns of
old, thinking of the dream and not necessarily the movie that was ultimately
delivered. For me, its no better or worse than fare like MAN OF STEEL. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";">6.5/10 <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new";">For the record I would like to think a better cut of D-WAR exists out there. The AFM cut of the film ran 20 minutes longer and that's not factoring scenes cut out before that. Maybe Shout Factory could get the rights.</span></div>
Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-70020929207406740712017-03-30T16:57:00.000-04:002017-03-30T16:57:23.556-04:00Reviewing Mothra's Rebirths<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPv7bH_8ehxRnCu0WWwzXDntZpAKLg3VvCfstrUS8sQivs71rTejYkuodCNQpU3LO-LPWYrBNKjUXrKXesJCwBghiIpb8R7BwOIShDQmkx0yBO2BVljRtE2Dq00AEVi7jHF3Szxd-KcXyv/s1600/mothra-posters-final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPv7bH_8ehxRnCu0WWwzXDntZpAKLg3VvCfstrUS8sQivs71rTejYkuodCNQpU3LO-LPWYrBNKjUXrKXesJCwBghiIpb8R7BwOIShDQmkx0yBO2BVljRtE2Dq00AEVi7jHF3Szxd-KcXyv/s1600/mothra-posters-final.jpg" height="188" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Mothra trilogy seems like a series of productions just to keep money flowing from the occasional kaiju lifeblood Toho uniquely knows how to milk. Like THE RETURN OF GODZILLA, Mothra's return was a brainchild idea of Tomoyuki Tanaka, who probably had good intentions of a quality film respecting the original Motha iterations. In the end however, what we got was a trilogy of films spawned from the much fabled unproduced MOTHRA VS. BAGAN script<br />
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The first film in the trilogy is not a bad film. Its a decent enough children's film with enough development of the human characters to qualify in the most minimal of ways layered. Episodic gags with the childen and the Elias (the trilogy's version of the Shobijin) keep everything before the monster action lively and well structured. The monster action comes off the heels of the comedy, which really doesn't continue, but we have the monster action which also really reaps a great value of a Mothra film's ability to be a musical, the songs as dramatic scenes unto themselves. Of the trilogy, it combines these three qualities well - a total entertainment film. <br />
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Not that there isn't some drama in the film. Its a film with an envionmentally-fiendly message. We have parents who cannot reconcile the percieved needs and their order of priority. Director Yoneda was an assistant director with Kurosawa on his films RAN onward, pobably even learned a lesson or two from Ishiro Honda. He shows he is aware of stoy telling flourishes with the camera like slow-motion photography, but the more dramatic moments fall half flat. For example, particularly, is the scene of the father character riding the bull dozer which releases Death Ghidorah. He communicates enough visually to let audiences see what kind of scene he is intending, but the interplay of images isn't there. The more dramatic scenes only fall half-flat though, some credit is given. A Japanese HOME ALONE or BEETHOVEN would be more up his alley. Anything in the first film that would be considered cringe-worthy really are just uses of older cinematic conventions. <br />
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Similar, but not quite the same can be said about REBIRTH OF MOTHRA 2. A new director for the human drama was chosen, and it shows. MOTHRA 2 is more of the Indiana Jones-esque kind of action that drove GODZILLA VS. MOTHA (1992), which really calls to question if this wasn't the kind of atmosphere Tomoyuki Tanaka was trying to procure with the MOTHRA VS. BAGAN project. What the humans may be lacking in any development in the script, the cast makes up fo with their energetic caricatue-esque acting. Missing is the extensive musical numbers, breaking down part of the mythology that the first film in the trilogy set up - Mothra's evolutions and life stages are sung by the Elias as to be a catalyst for Mothra. <br />
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MOTHRA 2's detractors come from questionable influences from the concurrently running Gamera trilogy. You can switch out Nelai Kenai with Atlantis, Degarlah with the Gyaos, and Gamera with Mothra. Luckily, as far as the monster himself, Degarlah is a unique creation. His Barrems remind one of the Shokiurus from THE RETURN OF GODZILLA, a sign of his character arc (Descibed further below).<br />
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The third film saw the return of the first film's director, with a completely serious tone unlike the first two films, tearing at a certain cohesiveness of the trilogy. Then again, the third film is a boring rehash of the first film's ideas, just mixed in a way that the filmmakers thought were beneficial. Instead of having Ghidorah attain his energy from floura, he gets it from young human fauna. Ghidorah resembles himself and not a four legged cross with Bagan. It seems to be a failed attempt at tying to tie the kaiju stories and the human stories togeather (a possibly good move if done right, layered in with the Shobijin angle). Atleast the kaiju scenes, dramatically, work better as dramatic set pieces than the other two films. <br />
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That's the simple look at the human drama of the Mothra films. The human drama is simple enough in these films, with loose thematic connections to the original Mothra films. Crony capitalism is only really looked at in the fist two films, and both of them tie it back in with pro-envionmental themes. By this point in the franchise, a new variety of stock characters have been instituted for these themes: paper company executives and treasure hunters. <br />
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The important thing is these films made sure that Toho's SFX crew kept having work, and that Toho kept investing in newer technologies as to keep competitive. Until 2005, the first two MOTHRA films wee Koichi Kawakita's swang song. Afte winning the Japanese Academy Award for GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH and becoming the lagest share holder in Toho, Kawakita definitely had a legacy to protect, to end well. At first, it seems promising. <br />
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Kawakita was born to make these Mothra films. His visual style - manipulation of the camera and what's in front of the camea - is on full blast here. Lots of beams, transfoming monsters, use of glitter - it all fits with his fetishes. The sequences are a little more focused than usual, though it can seem at times that Kawakita's scenes consist of loosely visually or narratively connected shots. Again, the inclusion of musical numbers which have to be mixed in with the tokusatsu footage help this out alot. Meanwhile, he is having a blast at making a better Mothra prop with Mothra Leo, the best use of an actual flame thrower is part of the suit, and further use of CG. <br />
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The aged CG is forgivable, and the reusing of a four year old Mothra prop with limited mobility is forgivable. What isn't quite forgivable is a lack of some care with MOTHRA 2. The film's ambition of mostly underwater warfare between the kaiju is respectable, but there is a lack of quality. Five years previously, Kawakita filmed an underwater scene between Godzilla and Battra in GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA. Missing from MOTHRA 2 which was in GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA were the composited-in air bubbles, the processing of the sound effects to make the kaiju sound like they are underwater, details like this. Maybe too many CG shots took up the budget. Digital matteing would be another sucker of budget, and though more experimental in execution, the matte shots showcase issues with scale and lighting differences between the main plate and the composite materials of the shots at times. <br />
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MOTHRA 3's tokusatsu was filmed by Kenji Suzuki, who relies too much on digital compositing in this film (almost as bad as GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRUS three years latter). This ruins good props and suits, particulaly King Ghidoah. Luckily, just like the first film in the trilogy, set pieces are ceated via the intecutting of musical numbers and the monster action. <br />
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The best quality of the films is the handling of the kaiju's own personal drama. From the best handling of the death of a Mothra until GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS, to the tagic slaying of a samurai gone mad with Degarla, and the ambitious time traveling aspect of MOTHRA 3, the monster drama may not be as well mixed in and tied with the humans, but they have their own stories that while simple, do offer a little bit of poetry in their own right. <br />
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The other great quality to the trilogy is the new songs written for the Shobijin characters. In the first film, the compositions help give the film a light, Studio Ghibli sense of atmosphere at times. In the third film, it helps add a sense of levity to the action between Mothra and Ghidorah. The regular orchestrational pieces of the score are unrememberable, but the songs are memorable and might even lend themselves well when paired with the operatic stylings of a composer like Shiro Sagisu. <br />
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In the end, the Mothra trilogy are some nice occasional watches of made-for-the-money movie making. Its very simple fare. <br />
Mothra - 5/10<br />Mothra 2 - 4/10<br />Mothra 3 - 4/10<br />Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-31505220285663091902016-09-14T13:40:00.002-04:002017-03-30T17:14:58.077-04:00Review: COZZILLA (1977)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This was written on a library computer in less than an hour. Here’s to waiting for SHIN GODZILLA. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />The context when reviewing 1977’s COZZILLA is this: one of the many signs of an internationally successful cultural icon is the reiteration of that story by different cultures. There are a couple to note for sure, such as the German dub for GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS and the American cut itself. To add to that list is an Indian Bollywood film, GOGOLA (which might be grasping at straws) and the lost Phillipino film TOKYO 1960. Italy’s iteration of the mythos does have a couple of things to offer the original narrative, mostly in the realm of the modus operandi and not necessarily the substance. That is not to detract from COZZILLA. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />The oddest quality of COZZILLA is that it is a re-editing of a film that lacks cinemtatographic expressionism. Ishiro Honda’s style of filmmaking is closer to impressionism – a style on the rise in post-war Italy. The use of real war-time B-Roll footage (footage as new as shots from the Vietnam War and possibly as old as World War One) doesn’t cut into the film easier because of this quality. Over the whole film is the infamous coloring technique used on the film. Though reported to have been applied frame by frame, noticing patterns in the colors and the duration of these patterns say otherwise. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />Director Luigi Cozzi was at a disadvantage when he was creating his professional fan edit of GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS when Toho only supplied him with the American edit. It might not have been totally advantageous for this grand aesthetic experiment. Many of the nuclear references in the film come from a purely Japanese source, there was a chance that the added footage would have aided this original theme in being sympathized with audiences who didn’t sympathize with the themes of the original film (people who don’t see the bomb more positively than a “necessary evil” and/or sadly put more emphasis on the “necessary” part of that phrase). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new";"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />The color could have been something which was more interesting. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Cozzi must have known the limitations of his Spectorama 70 technique. Not being able to be as intricate with the color gels as others would become a scant five years later with KING KONG, this would release the filmmaker from a responsibility to be realistic with the use of color. More expressionistic, as if the CABINET OF DR. CALAGARI was able to first be filmed in color. The aesthetic could have been taken past the Hollywood gems of old or films like 1946’s STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />What expectations are filled and what revelations does COZZILLA make light of aesthetically? The use of color cannot be read into at all. It is a poor attempt to update the film simply for audience quantity sake. It’s unbridled craziness throughout. There is no use really in talking about it any longer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />What is interesting is the added footage. The film is bookended by footage of nuclear bombs going off. The beginning of the film deals with the bombing of Hiroshima. As unfittingly surrealistic the coloring is, the footage does do a good job at creating with documentary footage without any particular aesthetic imposed onto it an expressionistic linear, a dramatic and hyper-real look at the bombing. Subjecting war-time footage to slow motion effects is a great motif. Expressionism which is usually used to help stimulate an audience into believing the current emotion on the screen is happening to them is doubled by the fact that it is documentary footage that we are seeing. There is even a couple of stills that are zoomed out of blended in with the footage. With the colors added, it is hard to tell some of these shots, an effecting tool of blending at this point. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />The end of the film is not specific as far as that particular nuclear disaster. In using a cut of the film that omits Dr. Yamane’s theory of more Godzilla awakenings, there is a partial restoration of this theme. The structure is similar how a similar thought ended GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH, with one main difference: Cozzi doesn’t necessarily show that it would be another Godzilla that mankind would be faced with in the advent of further nuclear testing. These events do inform the drama, but do little else to move the story along – it’s just to establish the feeling of the real right before the metaphor is presented. These bookends are the only places within the film that any of the new music composed for this version of the film is used. The cold but rhythmic synth music not only reminds one of Goblin’s music for Gallo horror films from the time (Argento’s TENEBRE comes to mind), but it beneficially separates these sequences from the rest of the film, where the audience should have their attention. The theme’s particular melodies are only played on this second scene.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />The version of the film I am reviewing is missing two particular scenes. The first meeting in the diet where we are introduced to Dr. Yamane, and the first half of Yamane’s study of Godzilla’s path on Odo Island being seeing the monster for the first time. This edited down, split into two segments version of the film is what I have, complete with everything except the rest of the end credits. <br />Of the added footage, all of Godzilla’s attacks are enhanced in some way. The least of these is the Hillside appearance. Lighting, storms, aerial shots is what we have when Shinkichi’s death scene plays. It’s a funny dynamic. These are aerial shots. Being that Godzilla is a large animal, it enhances Honda’s intention of not explicitly showing that it was a living creature causing this destruction in the first place. Really adds suspense if you are into it. Lighting striking across Burr’s face while peering out into the storm from the tent is a good image. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />The depth bomb scene’s visual motif of tricking the audience that they were watching a real-time occurrence instead of something on television is enhanced here, though the shots of the boats Cozzi utilizes bear no semblance to the shits Honda had at hand. Cozzi tries to show it as a procedural. These bigger ships shoot off some rounds, then these smaller ships place the depth bombs in the hope of killing Godzilla.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />Godzilla’s first couple of appearances in Tokyo Bay and the railroad station is notable. With the use of slow motion, a savoring of terrified faces to out of synch sound is achieved which entices this film goer. Along with that, Cozzi positioned the JSDF to be prepared for an armed resistance of the monster first sight of him in Tokyo Bay. Interesting stuff when it’s not just gratuitous. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />Of all these added scenes, Godzilla’s main attack on Tokyo is what really wows. There is the expected re-using of shots which just played less than a minute ago, but Cozzi is a little more careful about this in the main attack scene. The natural and expected lack of sufficient lighting for the monster, along with the colors and the further degradation of the (closest to) original elements, Godzilla is not unlike a surrealist Picaso creation. Sight and sound being out of synch is used effectively, as well as a micro-scene structure of a shot showing a cause being edited into three different shots by effect shots being placed within this cause shot (which is probably slowed down). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />It is unclear whether or not, like in every other version of GODZILLA to utilize Honda’s film as a base, the JSDF scares Godzilla away with air missiles or not. If anything, Godzilla comes back onto land. He is aggravated with these missiles. Godzilla’s most threatening like this was GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL OUT ATTACK. It is during this portion, this questionable Godzilla coming back onto land to finish the job right when he was going to go back to the ocean where the film might be pure metaphor at this juncture. In a strike of operatic grandeur, the Prayer for Peace is played over Godzilla continuing his attack on Tokyo, with intercut footage that – unlike a lot of the other added war-time footage into the film – is too obviously Vietnam. Only footage missing is the infamous shot of the naked girl with napalm burns covering her body. If Godzilla is a physical representation of the bomb, and if the story is supposed to show the horrors of war via man’s interaction with Godzilla, then this is the metaphor used in it’s most abstract in the history of the franchise. Does it work? If it is your cup of tea, yes. The scene beautifully fades from Godzilla attacking admist the Prayer for Peace to the hospital scene. The hospital music/oxygen destroyer music makes for a great non-vocal tail end to the Prayer for Peace. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />One of the motifs that show that Luigi did keep in mind a kind of structure when it came to his additions is the lack of any alterations to scene involving the use of the oxygen destroyer, save for it’s actual use against Godzilla (the tragedy of Godzilla’s death is amped up by the over-kill of navy ships shooting at Godzilla while he’s, for lack of a better term, melting). This adding of a relative subtlety to the depiction of the Oxygen Destroyer really makes the weapon come off that much more profound. The oxygen destroyer is a reality still waiting to be unleashed, whereas the bomb via Godzilla has already been let loose into the world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />When watching COZZILLA, it is easy to become bored. The new synth music, the use of color and all of the added war stock footage really makes you think you’re going to see something that is a thrill a minute in the most, maybe artificially aesthetic way. But it is something that if you can get over that you’re watching KING OF THE MONSTERS plain with weird color (As if an old television set had a magnet dragged over it), you may be able to truly appreciate it when these added elements with Honda’s and Tsuburaya’s footage. It’s the most expressionistic Godzilla film, even out doing GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH, and unlike Hedorah, it isn’t trendy pop culture influencing the film.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new";"> </span></div>
Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-26143689222965186292016-07-02T23:35:00.001-04:002016-07-02T23:35:14.950-04:00GODZILLA RESURGENCE: Backlash? Really? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the last facebook posts I wrote before loosing internet access was a reply to a post by Japanese filmmaker Shinji Higuchi. One of the rare times that he will actually post about his professional life, he had posted a picture of himself in front of a Godzilla Committee banner with text claiming that he was nervous about this new endeavor. Not that he needs it from me, a person who just befriended him because of his profession, but I wished him luck. A little over a year latter, with my friend's computer at my disposal, I revel news about GODZILLA RESURGENCE, Shinji's Godzilla film (co-directed by Gainax buddy Hideaki Anno). I was surprised to hear that of the leaked photos, two trailers, revealed toys, and other bits of media that personally feed my imagination and has me excited, that there was actually a sizeable portion of the fandom that was totally against the film.<br />
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In pure editorial form, I have to ask, what the hell? Is it another case of a Godzilla film, in aesthetic and in substance, being too Japanese for my English speaking compatriots? Is the impression of Godzilla in some older fans minds so solid that additions to the iconography of a certain extreme are seen negatively? Has Legendary's American Godzilla film jaded people? Are fans not used to dueling franchise entries like the James Bond franchise was in the 80's?<br />
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAXYRYxbw08<br />
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I do not get the backlash really. I do however need to make sure that the critical work that I see myself doing (and have done since PACIFIC RIM was released in 2013) continues - putting individual films in a proper context as far as genre aesthetics and their evolution and their social significance is concerned. It is through this lens that I hope that maybe I could sway the opinion of some fans against this new Godzilla film (which, regardless of what Toho says, is the 30th Godzilla film - Legendary's film counts).<br />
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When Toho first announced that there was going to be another Godzilla film in the works by their hand, it was an odd moment. I wasn't a fan when the first American Godzilla film was released, I am a GODZILLA 2000 baby. I couldn't compare and contrast Toho's decision to make GODZILLA 2000 with their decision to make GODZILLA RESURGENCE, but the logic was (and I remember fandom luminaries like August Ragone saying this, then again human memory is only 60% accurate and this was two years and a lot of life events for me ago) that Toho was striking while the metal was hot. By time GODZILLA FINAL WARS had come out, people had been talking about how the Japanese marketplace was over-saturated with Godzilla. Legendary's film has made Godzilla popular again, and if Toho is going to make the most money they can, then this was the way to go.<br />
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Though part of what I have coined to be the Neo-Kaiju genre (a review of 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE is needed on this blog), Legendary's GODZILLA plays into the franchise's longevity. While playing into the tried and true themes of Godzilla, it added to the iconography and substance by providing a proper American take on an anti-nuclear theme. It presented us with a realistic Godzilla that didn't deviate too much from the basic design elements. It was also a well crafted film. It was also a film that came out after Fukushima Daiichi, an important dynamic to remember. It was timely and fleshed out the character in ways that definitely connected to an audience. It also reached audiences who wouldn't see a subtitled man-in-suit Godzilla to save their lives.<br />
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GODZILLA RESURGENCE's role is to continue on that work. More of the Godzilla franchise's longevity hinges on GODZILLA RESURGENCE than say the sequel to Legendary's GODZILLA 2 or their end goal, GODZILLA VS. KING KONG. What's the Japanese take on Godzilla after Fukushima Daiichi? Considering the kinds of drama that Hideaki Anno caters to in his narratives, what can he bring to the Godzilla table? How will Japan aesthetically compliment or compete with it's American contemporary? Will tokusatsu SFX come around full circle, surpassing digital images?<br />
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If we refer back to the hour and a half long interview Shinji Higuchi participated in on the Heisei Gamera DVDs, we can recall that one of his goals with his films is to produce a distinctly Japanese kaiju film. Because it is one of the only elements that we can talk about at any depth, let's talk about Godzilla's design.<br />
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<img height="225" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/Shin_Godzilla_Nico_Maquette.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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Godzilla's design is very new and very unorthodox. Almost impractical (ironic, considering that tokusatsu is Japanese practical effects). There is a lot in it that harken back to previous designs. The red glowing of Godzilla, most likely a detail of Godzilla's biology that will be newly divulged in this film, reminds a lot of people of Godzilla's design from GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH. The shape of the head from a side profile angle looks like the mushroom cloud head design that was originally scrapped when the original Godzilla film was in pre-production in 1954. Godzilla's feet have a much more interesting arc in them - digitgrade legs not unlike Stan Winston's maqette for the unmade 1994 American Godzilla attempt. Small arms, like Noriyoshi Ohrai's advance poster for THE RETURN OF GODZILLA but also posed not unlike the original Godzilla's. Five rows of dorsal fins, like the Mire-Goji design of GODZILLA 2000. Small teeth, small eyes, all of these should be familiar. The dorsal fins even resemble to one extent or another fossilized plants or even tatebanko. A lot subtleties in detail as well. It's a design that is at once extreme, transposing nicely with Legendary's more realistic design for Godzilla, but also really Japanese in aesthetic. And it is a scary design. Unnerving, unnatural, but if executed well enough will be scary - because this living creature on screen doesn't look natural, doesn't look like its existence comes without inherent pain or suffering. And it will kill you, directly or indirectly.<br />
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<img src="http://www.fantaclassici.com/img/up/annohiguchiset.jpg" /><br />
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Execution is going to be key. Except for a scene in GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL OUT ATTACK, Shinji Higuchi has been keeping his SFX work to short films. He's designed special effects for other filmmakers to use (DRAGONHEAD from 2005), but other than that, other directors have taken up directing the special effects shots in his films. When this comes to light, it puts what Shinji has been saying in NHK's series of tokusatsu-focused documentaries in a different light. It all harkens back to the work done on GIANT GOD AWAKENS IN TOKYO and GEHARHA, THE LONG AND DARK HAIRED MONSTER. It all goes back to GAMERA 3: INCOMPLETE STRUGGLE and the SFX used in that film in particular. Digital matting has progressed a lot. Such looks similar in a couple of films - from DRAGONHEAD to ATTACK ON TITAN: END OF THE WORLD. But the more time consuming digital matting of smaller details, more carefully calculated angles for matte shots, and different focuses have been mixed with CG enhanced suits and (because of all the matting) less model buildings than ever before to produce quite an effect. Let's not forget that these suits are not fully body suits anymore. The Colossal Titan was only from the waist up, as might be Godzilla in GODZILLA RESURGENCE. It allows for a better scale for the sculptors to put more detail into, more chances for individuals to puppeteer the suit, and more room for the last line of functionality - animatronics within the suit.<br />
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With the originator of these special effects at the helm, on this project, there is to be seen some truly great stuff to look forward to. If the second teaser trailer - which was great - gives those with a different opinion fuel, look no further, a recent cross promotion TV spot with PARCO that a lot of the shots used are not quite done yet - these shots are still being cleaned up and added to. Whether Higuchi and his team make the deadline is uncertain (I am still convinced that originally ATTACK ON TITAN was going to be one singular film, and that the month between the two films is what helped make END OF THE WORLD's special effects better than the first films), but here's to hoping.<br />
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Let's cut away from Shinji for a second. While it's a little disappointing to me that the dream team of the Heisei Gamera trilogy have yet to make a Godzilla film together (left with Shusuke's GMK and Shinji's SHIN GODZILLA), Shinji has someone who is also a fan of the genre and is great with very cerebral/psychological story telling, Hideki Anno. Hideki Anno is a legend. He is the dark side of anime where Hayao Miyazaki was the light side. Hideki Anno has been a colleague of Shinji's for longer than Shusuke, both finding Gainax togeather with a group of individuals who created works like YAMATO NO OROCHI'S COUNTER ATTACK. Hideki is definitely a fan of the genre, seeing his work on Evangelion (which the Rebuild films, though seeming more like another redo of those last few controversial episodes which brought END OF EVANGELION, are still damn good films). He's even gotten close to the closest thing to a scream queen modern kaiju eiga has, Ayako Fujitani, who was the subject of Anno's second film, the biographical SHIKI-JITSU from 2000. Hideki Anno has shown himself to do great work at producing narratives that, without turning the modus operani into metafiction, are deconstructions of the given genre (which is an essential point, from 2005 to 2013 the genre went through it's slasher-like metafiction phase, lets hope it has passed). He is also good at showing the mentality of his characters for the sake of the characters themselves and not the genre that their tale is in. Part of this is because Hideki Anno is a depressed person (there was once a headline in a lot of Japanese media-based publications claiming that Anno's psychiatrist pleaded fans to stop asking Anno to redo Evangelion). The man practically invented the extreme mental breakdown of a main protagonist that has become something to expect, considering its inclusion in works like ATTACK ON TITAN and TOKYO GHOUL.<br />
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<img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51PGBRBXDJL.jpg" /><br />
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Based on all of the character photos and the cast we have, and certain some of the more extreme bits of acting/directing in the second teaser trailer (shouting, that last shot of a character running with focus on his furled brow, and the including of the always extreme TETSUO THE BULLET MAN director Shinya Tsukamoto), chances are we are going to be getting depressingly well rounded characters. Godzilla is going to be scary and the characters will be faced with a certain foreboding and sense of dread that should follow a Godzilla attack, a certain foreboding and sense of dread that use to come across to me in films like THE RETURN OF GODZILLA (not anymore though). We don't know if there is room for a sequel, we do not know about the physical limitations of the story - is it simply a militaristic run through of a Godzilla attack?<br />
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There are a lot of possibilities here and seeing the source of these ideas, I am almost certain that this is going to be not only one of the best kaiju films since the likes of GAMERA 3: INCOMPLETE STRUGGLE (which had Kazunori Ito of GHOST IN THE SHELL writing for the trilogy it was a part of), but a possible gem stone of the genre as well. I cannot speak as far as an auteur theory reading of the film is concerned in Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno's filmography, but there is a lot here to expect and when the film finally reaches the likes of Kick Ass Torrents (come on, we all know the drill, scouts honor died on the internet), we'll be able to make final assessments. Until then, let's not bash this film (and in return, I won't hype it so much) and instead think about whether or not Toho and their affiliates aren't putting themselves on the fast track to over-saturating the Japanese market with Godzilla yet again right from the get go,considering that EVANGELION and CRAYON SHIN CHAN are doing what HAMTARO did a decade and some change ago.<br />
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<img src="http://67.media.tumblr.com/5939b7c8e65fa4f2a70ac827a811473f/tumblr_o4wuigVd201qcqjsdo1_500.png" />Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-7445585612866464422014-07-13T11:01:00.001-04:002014-07-13T11:01:02.563-04:00Review: VERSUS (Ultimate cut)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have wanted to do this review for a long time, but every
attempt ended up feeling as if it was not the right time. </div>
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Lets put VERSUS in a certain context – Asian cinema had been
thought of, to the masses, be mainly composed of action films. After the Shaw
Brothers’ wuxia boom in the 60’s and all that followed because of it, Asian
cinema became a market for a niche underground market. Bootleg tapes were sold
at conventions, and the films lucky enough to reach American borders were films
that stood out based on the most basic aspects of the production. RIKI-OH, the
films of Takeshi Miike, and BLACK MASK are two examples. Meanwhile in Japan, a
post-modernism was rising in the new Millenium, immediately seen in films like
WILD ZERO in 1999, which the kaiju genre would soon follow. Sam Raimi had left
his mark, independent filmmaking was on the rise, and filmmakers were mixing
elements together. Out of this avarice came Ryuhei Kitamura’s masterful VERSUS.
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Kitamura’s visionary directing (brought together by the
editor) is just grand. Not even THE MATRIX, which had come out a year earlier
and set a kind of bar, can touch VERSUS. Every form of combat a human can
subject themselves to is represented here. Swords, knives, guns, bigger guns,
hit and runs by car, all of it is here short of military warfare or giant
monsters (though the epilogue of VERSUS visually reminds reviewers of such).
Such violence is not shot in a gratuitous way like a Tarantino film or a Brian
De Palma way. VERSUS is equally gratuitous, but it is all fantasy and all for
vissal pleasure. While the writing isn’t the most complex, but Kitamura doesn’t
give us eye candy, its eye protein. In the battle which is choosing composition
vs. kineticism in a series of shots that make up a scene, Kitamura can eat his
cake and have it too. In particular to the cut of VERSUS which I prefer –
ULTIMATE VERSUS – (because the film gets a better melding together synth
soundtrack with an ethereal feel), the use of color filters is great. In the
using of colors to symbolize ideas or concepts, you can focus on a particular
color present in the environment you are depicting or you can color the whole
film, and the latter is what Kitamura went after. VERSUS ends up being a very
moody film – but not moods that bog down the viewer. Moods ethereal as the
music that accompanies the film. A continuous sense of awe, of something big
happening, something important.</div>
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As far as the writing is concerned, one could go and say
that the film makes a point of fighting being a constant in humanity’s course
through time, but this is a rare case where I would rather not dig deep. To
point out a theme by connecting certain scenes would take away from a
particular function of said scenes. You learn about the characters by their actions.
They all have a personality, and because of tribalism, their means are simple
enough, with drama coming from the motivation of the means. This is expanded
upon with VERSUS being a muti-generational film. Part of the film looks like
its taking place during the sengoku era, part of it taking place in more recent
times, and a part of the film taking place sometime in the future. </div>
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Resurrected
versions of characters change motivations overtime, which makes characters
stand out even more. Even deeper are the little (sometimes big) quarks in the
character’s actions or clothing style. Only one character has an identifiable
label (Prisoner KSC2-303). Attentive viewers who do not mind a film being out
of order (or are even people clever enough to absorb a film that is out of
order) will find Versus to be great. </div>
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The other great part of the film to talk about is the music.
VERSUS contains a synth score. One of the best attributes to an electric score
is that it can cover a greater range than an orchestra playing instruments. The
score for VERSUS does something that is almost uniquely Japanese and yet rare
all around. Drawing attention to the scene where the character dubbed “The Man”
starts killing those who he has hired on, the music gives that ethereal feeling
of almost a holy action is taking place, complete with an air of hopeless
desperation. The music for the final action sequence in the film and on
perfectly captures a zen kind of patience in battle, when the fight slows down
and so much could be said: thinking ahead for the battle in the couple of
seconds, taking a breather, a sense of awe the characters, ect. The end credits
track brings it all together, that this is an eternal battle. </div>
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These three cogs working together is what makes VERSUS the
war machine of a movie that it is. VERSUS, I would hope, will be talked about
for a long, long time. There is too much artistry in this film which has stood
the test of time, truly having excelled the genre. The film has a goofyness to
it, but the film takes it seriously (maybe not the characters, but the people
behind the camera take it seriously). VERSUS is quite possibly the best action
film ever. </div>
Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-84403742762010224462014-06-05T14:36:00.001-04:002014-06-05T14:37:02.306-04:00Godzilla Review Part 2: Direction<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Let’s talk direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Critic’s disdain
for the amount of Godzilla in the film is understandable. Forget the aesthetic
Edwards utilized. From a business/enjoyment factor (the balancing act between
business and art is in itself an art for the summer blockbuster to master),
showing only 15 minutes of Godzilla in a movie which (take away the end
credits) is two minutes shy of two hours is not the best choice. Except for
Japan, Taiwan, and Germany, Godzilla is truly the “event” film which
blockbuster films – specifically claimed by Legendary as their brand – try to
achieve the feeling of. A feeling of a rare happening. Japan had had all 29
(yes, counting the 1998 film which is legally called a “Godzilla” film)
Godzilla films theatrically released, Taiwan had every Godzilla film leading up
to GODZILLA 2000 released in theatres, and Germany got up to GODZILLA VS. KING
GHIDORAH in 1991. For Americans, after the theatrical release of TERROR OF
MECHAGODZILLA in 1978, it was a 7 year wait for GODZILLA 1985, followed by a 13
year wait for the first American Godzilla paired with GODZILLA 2000, and then
another 14 years since the film being reviewed. So business wise, it is not the
smartest. Most countries in the world has not seen Godzilla’s light flicker on
the sliver screen in over a decade and before that, two decades. But Edwards
chose an approach which has also been praised. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">First thing to
consider is whether the approach makes sense. Edward’s approach of “wait for
it” along with “lets ravel in build up” is Spielbergian in a sense. This
aesthetic is usually seen in horror films, which Steven Spielberg did have a
hat in with JAWS. Ridley Scott did the same with ALIEN, and arguably James
Cameron with ALIENS. Part of what made it work well with those films was that
through budgetary restriction predating Roger Corman with 1932’s CAT PEOPLE,
such an approach was expected. If a filmmaker decided to show the monster in
its full before the halfway mark – such as John Carpenter’s THE THING – the
filmmakers are ridiculed. Not to mention, JAWS is just a shark, just a shark. A
shark whose life has given it the know how to survive, but just a shark. ALIENS
was less horror, but has a device working for it – the big surprise isn’t the
xenomorphs, rather their queen. The surprise in Cameron’s Terminator isn’t the
Terminator himself, but the exhibition of what the Terminator actually is.
James Cameron’s evolution of such is to hold off just a little, not as much, as
your predecessors, and then when you got this one creature running amok in the
film, present the real antagonist at the end. This is where a sequel to
GODZILLA could work. In the TERMINATOR, the differing look of THE TERMINATOR
offered a device within the film which dread can continue to build. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Again, the
aesthetic borrowed from these films has you wait for the monster, making any
time the monster is on screen enjoyable and not redundant, while also building
in a building suspense that the audience can really revel in. Does it work? To
a large degree, it does. One thing audiences and critics have to understand
that the scenes, such as the tidal wave and the dorsal fins cutting the surface
of the ocean – suspense building scenes though they may be – are indeed
Godzilla scenes. Just because Godzilla is not on camera, doesn’t mean that it
isn’t a Godzilla scene. The presence is there. In the Hawaii scene, which lasts
five minutes, Godzilla is on screen for about a minute, but the sequence is
five minutes long and the audience feels it. In fact, Godzilla’s presence is
transferred to the water. When you see a runway worker crouch down to hide only
to have tidal wave water pool around him, that’s Godzilla’s presence being
alluded to. When we finally see Godzilla roar, his presence accompanied by the
first roar is all we get, and for good reason. That panning up shot of
Godzilla, and the whole sequence, is given the respect to be its own source of
awe. If Gareth had shown the fight, then our attention would be switched from
the opening to a fight scene where audiences would start gaining imput as far
as Godzilla’s presence while fighting, his abilities, ect. Audiences need to
allow their response to Godzilla’s coming ashore and first roar to resonate,
like a fine dish, savor on the palate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Latter on, the
second time Godzilla rises up (at the Golden Gate Bridge), Edwards plays with
audience expectations. Edwards paints a wide shot of Godzilla’s dorsal fins
coming towards a naval vehicle. While Godzilla fans can probably identify which
section of dorsal fins are being shown in frame, the regular audience member
cannot. Audiences can think that it is Godzilla’s back, but using the element
of surprise (not to make the audience jump, but attain a sense of awe), Gareth
shows it is actually Godzilla’s tail, and the camera pans up as the tail does. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This part of the Golden Gate Bridge scene would not have worked if the fight in
Hawaii was focused on any more than it already had been. This scene uses the
Hawaii scene as a reference point, whether the audience is conscious of it or
not. With only so much Godzilla footage being present thus far – particularly a
good set of shots of Godzilla’s dorsal fins piercing the ocean – the audience
has no other reference point. The audience is made to savor, the audience is
made to be in awe, and then be in awe based on a set up which changes your
perception of what you were initially at awe with, ect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Another element
of Edward’s direction is the long take. If utilizing the Ridley Scott meathod –
using or seem to be using multiple cameras to film one take, you can get a
bunch of takes where you can choose it leave the scene as one long take or
splice two or three of the takes from different cameras together to form a
small scene. Edwards sometimes opts for the long take. Such as the shot below:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Multiple photographic
techniques are used. Smoke. Silhouette. A juxtaposition of camera movement –
the camera moves smoothly up, but then in rough increments the closer Godzilla
comes towards the camera. Not to mention it is a POV shot ultimately. The shot
is 23 seconds long. Don’t forget the long wide shot of the flooded Hawaiian
streets, which pans right and then up to reveal some of Godzilla. That shot
lasts 31 seconds. The average shot length for a blockbuster is around 10
seconds. These longer shots, which start wide in composition and tighten around
a subject play a dangerous game. A reason why the normal shot length in a
blockbuster film is 10 seconds is because of the average human attention span.
Inspiring a sense of awe is harder and harder than it seems. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGy2rJhLezpc4IoeT1HDKBSTtvWRUt-mHIWqWaSOBn0Fh4xoObtPb7B79KFIPH8vHaJCLnMRRCRj2xbZsZzwi2BMzJYCcmi0MILsiLTwU1HAmoCEUXv56Jffo2bu0dUNzR53-NyPME7Ng/s1600/godzillareview2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGy2rJhLezpc4IoeT1HDKBSTtvWRUt-mHIWqWaSOBn0Fh4xoObtPb7B79KFIPH8vHaJCLnMRRCRj2xbZsZzwi2BMzJYCcmi0MILsiLTwU1HAmoCEUXv56Jffo2bu0dUNzR53-NyPME7Ng/s1600/godzillareview2.png" height="335" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Putting these great
images in context though shows how great some of the SFX directors of the
Japanese films cinematographed their shots and scenes. With computer graphics, filmmaking
has become a much more painterly medium, making humanity’s ability to replicate
what he sees come full circle. Within the context of CG’s limitless
possibilities, the thought that say Shinji Higuchi is quoted throughout the
film seems natural. With binding stipulation of having to depict fantastic
happenings after quantifying the quantum mechanics of such on Earth shows
suitamation and analogue effects were not that far off as long as the artists
involved knew how to use the tools given to them, were able to conceptualize
new kinds of shots, and use the tools given to come up with newer tools to make
their new concepts a reality. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbPVtYUZu-_fvNvJ1LWlSVLShIPh1Se0WEC6qbCaiBnMm7omemhoww_CYJ3M7jk_kNHqbzPoPD4cSksjO4kJNojH4QiMW5apKw8iS0adnY-5EH3Wu4WvypqgVUGVRivpBFpqZ99YZRC8/s1600/review+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbPVtYUZu-_fvNvJ1LWlSVLShIPh1Se0WEC6qbCaiBnMm7omemhoww_CYJ3M7jk_kNHqbzPoPD4cSksjO4kJNojH4QiMW5apKw8iS0adnY-5EH3Wu4WvypqgVUGVRivpBFpqZ99YZRC8/s1600/review+3.png" height="400" width="382" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">CG has given Edward’s (who is tackling both the
monster action and the human drama) an ability to find new spins on old shots.
If looking at a kaiju from a vehicle window, the shot can have the kaiju closer
to the vehicle, meaning tighter composition meaning a better sense of scale).
The clip above of Godzilla roaring for an extended time is an interesting spin –
Gamera was only 80 meters in GAMERA 3: INCOMPLETE STRUGGLE while Godzilla in
this new GODZILLA film is 107 meters among slightly different infrastructure.
Use of lines and the alleyway is similar though.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd6bp1SGIJNP2wmVHgWfTISP_anWgV4ikY5ZrjaiP2wXlpkI5XxTW0eRXyr1BcslZXLC6Uo6Y_4UuV7zAaHDfHjJfKJNHboJxqiXRJzBC1dr7q7HWVe1OHahO91iaLQukHvzFJo5KrUks/s1600/godzillareview1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd6bp1SGIJNP2wmVHgWfTISP_anWgV4ikY5ZrjaiP2wXlpkI5XxTW0eRXyr1BcslZXLC6Uo6Y_4UuV7zAaHDfHjJfKJNHboJxqiXRJzBC1dr7q7HWVe1OHahO91iaLQukHvzFJo5KrUks/s1600/godzillareview1.png" height="345" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, I know about the oragami bird's placing being foreshadowing.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Directing the
human drama is a bit different though. Often times, there is nothing completely
mind blowing about the human direction. Brian Cranston’s monologue from the second
theatrical trailer and the tracking shot introducing David Stratharin’s
character are among the more artful. Edward’s knows rhythm though, when to go
from shot to reserve shot to a shot showing what a character is talking about.
What’s important is noticing when the camera looks like it is on a cameraman’s
shoulders, when it is a steadicam, and when the camera is completely still.
There is rhythm and a methodology to such, but Edwards could use some
improvement here. Such as the phone call scene – there is no pattern here. The
lack of pattern isn’t commenting on the chaos of the situation. The camera is
moving like its handheld, but that is about it. The use of chaotic/mismatching
composition as expressionism would be obvious. Rather, the phone call scene
looks like a failed attempt at framing the characters, lining them up with the vertical
center of the frame. Wes Anderson has mastered this, but not Gareth. Its not
bad, but could be better. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt0hZAdK9ksXoViCzJnA3RsVHpBIeaZR01CY46ycSxdRkvYWqtEQq39Pdh4ypEwirqKVij2qplu-ojIbQgAjaqWz_5u9DI2HCE84mLVLwj7bhX95iUD-R7jy4XeSNqzetSwLbx_8PSEdI/s1600/godzilla+tail.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt0hZAdK9ksXoViCzJnA3RsVHpBIeaZR01CY46ycSxdRkvYWqtEQq39Pdh4ypEwirqKVij2qplu-ojIbQgAjaqWz_5u9DI2HCE84mLVLwj7bhX95iUD-R7jy4XeSNqzetSwLbx_8PSEdI/s1600/godzilla+tail.png" height="166" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Ever notice how the composition of this shot could be very similar similar to a shot of Godzilla dragging his tail?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Monster Action
Gets an A while human drama gets a B-. </span><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-63409642074429377982014-06-03T05:54:00.000-04:002014-06-03T05:55:07.792-04:00Godzilla Review Part 1: Themes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In lieu of publishing the complete review, I have opted to release it in parts. It has come to my attention that many luminaries of the American Godzilla fandom (both authors of popular texts) have either misread or misread and disliked the newest Godzilla film. In this first installment, observations are made to see what themes are expressed in this polarizing film. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Lets make clear a
couple of basics which audiences who take film going seriously should already
be aware of. Multi-layered films, films with multiple themes, have a hierarchy of
themes. What that implies is scenes within a film which could mean one thing
take on a duality. Two scenes with a shared expression could mesh together with
another scene for a reason other than why the first two scenes could be meshed together
in the first place. This is the structure of GODZILLA. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the hierarchy of
GODZILLA, the overall theme is “man versus nature”. It is because of this theme
that Godzilla has become timeless; that Godzilla is a versatile character; why
some critics see this Godzilla film as a nice blending of attributes from the
three past cycles the Godzilla films have gone through (Showa, Heisei,
Millenium). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Secondly is the
anti-nuclear theme. Many viewers who do not pay close attention to the film
will think, as Steve Ryfle has so eloquently described it, “whitewashing”. The
nuclear theme is the fall back theme for the franchise when the need for a
certain realism or darkness is desired for the film. It is a theme which is hard
for this film to express because this is an American Godzilla film. America has
a hard time accepting nuclear anything as bad. Except for filmmakers like
Oliver Stone or Michael Douglas – two filmmakers who have made this a point
over and over again (unlike Stanley Kubrick, in which the nuclear theme in DR.
STRANGELOVE is not the main focus, nor in many of the Cold War or post-Cold War
action films which uses nukes as a plot device) – no one dares to damn nuclear
anything. America has the most nuclear power plants. America, for all tense and purposes, won the Cold War. America used nukes to win World War II. Making a
film like GODZILLA also means America accepting accountability for certain
events. The Fukushima-Daiichi power plant was built with Americans and with
American technology. The Fukuryu Maru, so essential to Godzilla’s inception,
has to be accepted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">With these two
themes working together, there is a spin of time repeating itself in GODZILLA,
which gives scenes which express the aforementioned themes, that much more weight.
This theme will be expressed latter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Godzilla’s (the
character) ties with the bomb are reconstructed here. Where as many critics say
there is an ambiguity about Godzilla’s tie to the bomb in the 1954 original,
this new American Godzilla – like the 1998 Godzilla – shows scenes of Godzilla
with the bomb. If one stays with the movie alone, Godzilla was awoken when the
first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, maneuvered its way through the South
Pacific. Already man against nature is expressed here – our activities are
effecting a planet that, particularly in the 1950’s, man did not fully
understand. When Russia and America had discovered Godzilla’s existence, a
series of hydrogen bomb “testings” were conducted with the secret intent of
killing the monster. The theme of secrets ties into the theme of time repeating
itself, which will be described when we start talking about the Brody family. What’s
interesting is that the attempts to kill Godzilla, this hidden agenda,
exemplifies the real life reason tests were conducted on the Bikini Atoll in
the first place – an exhibition of how much power each country had at their
disposal. Having the title of “the country that killed Godzilla” would have
attested to the power of the respective country’s arsenal a lot more than a
bomb explosion on a deserted island with only the aftermath to be studied by
the other competing country. Godzilla is also mentioned, like in the Heisei
series, to be an animal which feeds off of nuclear radiation – radiation Godzilla
freely gets from his habitat at the bottom of the ocean, where the Earth’s core
gives off radiation for Godzilla to absorb. If one goes by the prequel comic
book’s spin, GODZILLA: AWAKENING, then the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
are the reason Godzilla is awakened. Again, man moving in a world that it doesn’t
fully understand. With World War II, man’s capacity for war has gone beyond
hurting eachother, war now effects the very thing such wars are fought over –
land. Nature is unnaturally affected, and for every action, there is a
reaction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On the other end
of the nuclear spectrum are the Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms, the
MUTOs. The MUTOs come from the same time as Godzilla, a time before dinosaurs
when the Earth was more abundant with radiation. Not an organism with aquatic
adaptations, the MUTOs go after sources of radiation on land – which because of
our post-Cold War world (a world filled with the leavings of the war such as a dormant
nuclear arsenal, nuclear waste from testings, an increase of nuclear energy
reactors), is still available in concentrated doses. Again, human activity
effecting an environment that man doesn’t completely comprehend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Here the human
characters come into play. With the first MUTO, the male, taking a power plant
as its radiation source, the focal family of this narrative is the Brody
family. This is a generational story, part of what makes this film “epic” (to
use the term Legendary utilized). The first main character to be killed in the
film was Sandra Brody. Russia, Japan, and America are good at keeping things a
secret though, explaining the event was caused by an earthquake. Playing into
the theme of secrets, Joe Brody decides to spend his final years researching
what really happened. Ford, Joe and Sandra’s son, has accepted the official
story and moved on. However, Ford still feels for his father, and is lured into
going to the Q-Zone, the new name for Janjira, the Japanese city the Brody’s
lived in before the nuclear accident. But it is too late, the male MUTO is done
maturing and is ready to come out of its cocoon. Because of this secret, Joe
Brody is killed. His dying words to his son Ford was to protect his family at
all costs. Ford, probably grief stricken over not having listened to his father
in the first place, does everything he can to join in the measures the armed
forces will execute to rid the world of the MUTOs and Godzilla. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While on his way
back in Hawaii, Ford has a run in with the male MUTO while on an amtrack. Right
beforehand, he has put himself in charge of a young boy who had been separated
from his parents – that which Ford had on his mind before the boy got stuck,
him having lost his parents. He saves the boy, and the morning after, tries to
help looking for the parents amidst the debris, only to have the child wonder
away to just find his parents. That is nature in effect. Nature had spared that
child. Time did not repeat it self here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Yet at the end of
his journey, Ford is on the boat, his mission failed, the female MUTO looking
over him. This is it. Ford lost his mother, ignored his father only to lose
him, and now he is going to die. Ford, having a son himself, knows his son will
be just like his father when he has a child, watching from afar the destruction
of his parent’s workplace. Luckily, Godzilla comes in and saves the day, and
the nuclear bomb goes off without the speculated negative side effects (this
was a point of complaint for many, but reviews have to remember that for a good
couple of hours in film time, the hundreds of MUTO eggs had been feeding off
the energy of the nuclear warhead).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, let’s go back
to scenes exemplifying the anti-nuclear theme, along with the man versus nature
theme. The plan to eradicate, by man’s hands, is to use two nukes – one to
attract the monsters off shore, and the other to kill them with the force of
the explosion. Man’s hands are not able to do this; though the weapons are more
powerful than they were 60 years ago, they are making the same mistake. The character
Serizawa points out the folly of such, and the answer he gets is “if you got a
better plan, I’m all ears”. Man goes on with his plans, and they are foiled by
that which he has unleashed from nature. The MUTOs get both bombs – one off of
a train, the other off a boat. Even more vulnerable than the nukes and nuclear
power plants is the locked away fall out, supposed to be protected. But
something happens, and it is let free. The MUTOs are like an earthquake. Can
break down a lot of what man has built. Including what has been built to
protect ourselves from ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Serizawa says “let
them fight”. Let nature figure itself out. Luckily, Godzilla – nature’s agent – wasn't going against humanity directly. The fact Godzilla is not direct in his
attacks on humanity is cathartic. Critics know that this film uses Fukushima
Daiichi as a point of reference for a real life equivalent explaining the
dangers of nuclear energy. While not effecting the power plant, the real life
Earthquake did cause a tidal wave to wipe away a lot of the Japanese cities
like Soma, which saw a 9.3 meter high wave. If critics didn't already know,
Japan is a nature-centered culture. To have nature strike so hurtfully is almost
like a betrayal. Godzilla being an anti-hero, assumed (think about it hard –
assumed) hero, is cathartic. Nature will pull through. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Nukes are bad. Secrets
will come back to bite you again and again, even if you reveal it, once it’s
too late, that’s it. And nature will strike against humanity if we mistreat it,
there is nothing one can do about it, but it will also pull through for us when
we need it to. </span><span style="font-family: Courier New;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-16572433575790492212014-03-23T22:07:00.000-04:002014-03-23T22:13:52.796-04:00Birth of a New Sub-Genre – Neo-Kaiju Genre<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmcReFOmwxnIKbUUH-mCtLDtHhE1Jb3xzxzDy5Lr9ojBg7CaqafwViu3_KDekhbhWzvYyXJ9hM0mdpEjn4k80TOSxl6r4MsZW2YqDteDgXXRLPt7gGmSEJiVbBdiDia3bGawlFyWXMKU/s1600/awww+yis.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibmcReFOmwxnIKbUUH-mCtLDtHhE1Jb3xzxzDy5Lr9ojBg7CaqafwViu3_KDekhbhWzvYyXJ9hM0mdpEjn4k80TOSxl6r4MsZW2YqDteDgXXRLPt7gGmSEJiVbBdiDia3bGawlFyWXMKU/s1600/awww+yis.png" height="181" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Originally published here:<br />
http://www.monsterislandnews.com/neokaiju.html </div>
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The Cambridge Free English Dictionary and Thesarus
defines the prefix "neo" as, "new or recent, in a modern
form". Today's modern cinematic landscape, particularly in America, is
filled with post-modernism and metaphysical films such as 1996's SCREAM and 2003/2004's
KILL BILL. Films are referencing and twisting the aesthetics of it's genre,
including films which imitate aesthetics from foreign lands. The kaiju film is
a sub-genre of the monster film. </div>
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Distinctly Japanese, the kaiju film's audience from the
genre's heyday here in North America have now grown up and are making films
themselves. Within the last five years, we have seen the come of two films,
CLOVERFIELD (2008) and PACIFIC RIM (2013). These two films, the biggest and
most notable giant monster films from the past five years, were influenced
greatly by the kaiju sub-genre. The history of the kaiju film though is that of
a foreign group of artists trying to put their own spin on a genre from a
foreign land, America which produced movies like KING KONG (1933) and THE BEAST
FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953). The kaiju film has come full circle, with the
country who originated the giant monster movie accept kaiju film aesthetics as
their own. Now is the time to explore the genre. </div>
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Questions to be asked include what has been brought over
from the kaiju genre, how the Americans have elevated the aesthetic, the
reception of the new aesthetic in the source's home country, and the importance
of the new aesthetic overall. These questions will help build a definition for
a sub-genre of kaiju film, the neo-kaiju film.</div>
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DEFINING "KAIJU EIGA"</div>
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Long has the whole of cinema's monster films, from human
sized monsters like Dracula and the Wolfman, to that of King Kong and the Kraken,
been generally called monster films, which is interchangeable with the term
"kaiju eiga". Yet has kaiju eiga been used to denote a regional
sub-genre of a genre, similar to how the Italians made the "Spaghetti
Western", a sub-genre of the western. In many books, such as Gina
Misiroglu's THE SUPERHERO BOOK, one would get the impression that kaiju eiga is
tied to the technique of suitamation, which all kaiju films exhibit. An
accurate, though informal, appropriation of what would set "kaiju
eiga" apart can be found in DAIKAIJU: GIANT MONSTER TALES. What is offered
is as follows, "To us, daikaiju tales require monsters of unreasonable
size, impossible and outlandish dimension, relativities that border on (And
sometimes cross into) the utterly absurd... daikaiju are fantastical and
provoke awe through the sheer audacity of their conception." Other
qualities include, "A perchant for city-trashing and </div>
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apocalyptic destruction. Metaphorical undercurrents. A
sense that the kaiju are more than just beasts - personality, in other words, albeit
of a non-human kind. Pseudo-scientific and metaphysical pretensions. Vast
scope. Incredible power. A certain cosmic inevitability. Daikaiju are not
scared of Man... classic daikaiju scorn man's military might... They are more
like inhuman gods than unnatural beasts."</div>
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To illustrate this point, we can compare and contrast the
1954 kaiju eiga GODZILLA to the 1953 giant monster film THE BEAST </div>
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FROM 20,000 FATHOMS. Destruction is a lot more prevalent
in GODZILLA, and when destruction is depicted, it is of a wide </div>
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scale. THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS has a monster that
can barely tower above the infrastructure the beast is put into by </div>
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the story tellers. Another defining aspect is that while
THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS helped start off the tradition of nuclear bombs
causing giant monsters to exist tradition, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS
doesn't show that the characters are aware of or feel anything in regards to
that relation, that the destruction caused by the bomb is not yet over with.
GODZILLA, on the other hand, does, as well as a lot of the other kaiju eiga to
have been produced since.</div>
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PROLOGUE: AMERICAN KAIJU</div>
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Past the numerous pop culture inspired jokes and what not
many tv shows and films made of the genre, there has been only a couple of
times in which original kaiju-eiga styled entertainment has been made. Not of
such is Power Rangers, which is considered by the main stream audience as for
kids, though a growing geek culture is seeing a change in that. 1996 and 1998
saw the release of two independent, straight-to-video productions: ZARKORR: THE
INVADER! and KRAA: THE SEA MONSTER. These films use suitamation and models of a
lower quality to depict their monsters, but the films are largely comedic and seem
to go out of their way to replicate the cheese and schlock of the films that
probably inspired them. Kaiju on television that was original by Americans is
non-existent, though the closest one would get to is the 2012 Hasbro series
KAIJUDO: MASTERS OF THE DUEL. KAIJUDO is an American animated series based on
the card game of the same name (also produced by Hasbro), based on the
Shogakukan-owned franchise DUEL MASTERS. The last venture into kaiju
entertainment would be more independent ventures like Studio Kaiju's KAIJU BIG
BATTLE. Enacted by a troupe lead by Rand and David Boren, the troupe stage
kaiju fights in a ring littered with model cities. </div>
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Recorded versions of the fights are available on DVD
through their website. Such is similar with director Takao Nakano's </div>
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DEPARTMENT H kaiju fights with people dressing in kaiju
suits to fight to the death (or strip). Merchandise included San Francisco-based
MAX TOY COMPANY's original kaiju figures by Mark Nagata.</div>
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But then things got serious.</div>
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CASE STUDY #1: CLOVERFIELD</div>
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“Japan had this incredible history of having these
incredible monster movies, and we, with the exception of King Kong, never
really tapped into that. We started thinking what if America had its own
monster.” -Bryan Burk, producer</div>
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In a 3 part interview of the ADV DVD release of the
Heisei Gamera trilogy, special effects auteur Shinji Higuchi was asked,
"The kaiju films you want to film don't need to have monster
anymore?" The answer was "yes". Through what is commonly termed
"shakycam" cinematography, CLOVERFIELD almost completely accomplishes
this. Shakycam, an aesthetic popularized by THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999) is a
variant of a broader aesthetic: cinema verite (also known as neo-realism,
according to the Encyclopedia Britannica). It is through the use of neo-realism
which makes CLOVERFIELD aesthetically a parallel to the first known kaiju film,
GODZILLA (1954). Ishiro Honda, applying his experiences as a Chinese POW in
WWII and a witness to the direct aftermath of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Bombings,
Honda's rarely moving camera creates a documentarian style which is in line
with another kind of post-WWII film, the Italian Neo-Realist film. As J.
Hoberman mentioned in his booklet for Criterion’s release of the original
Godzilla, “Its like a crazy documentary.”</div>
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The newer variation of the old aesthetic being applied to
CLOVERFIELD was meant to reach the same depicting of anxiety like the original
Godzilla. As said by Matt Reeves in his audio commentary for Cloverfield,
"From the beginning, a lot of people were saying, 'wow, the movie, does it
have this kind of 9/11, sort of, angle to it?' And in a certain sense, I think
we were always aware that it did in that we felt like it was a way of dealing
with the anxieties of our time in the same way GODZILLA (1954) was, you know.
Genre movies hold that kind of spot in film in that they deal with very real
anxieties that people have, that's why they are effective. Godzilla sort of
came out of the whole A-Bomb nightmare for Japan and the idea of this sort of
unfathomable, terrifying force and that sort of </div>
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destructive thing... and all of the anxieties that came
out of that atomic age... those monsters spoke to everyone." Unlike THE
BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, which used shakycam to heighten the feeling of realism,
footage in CLOVERFIELD had a direct real-life parallel: bystander-shot footage
of 9/11. This was America's spin on what made Godzilla dynamic. In DOCUMENT
1.18.08: THE MAKING OF CLOVERFIELD, producer JJ Abrams' motivation for the film
concerned Godzilla. "My son, Henry, and I, went to Tokyo last year. We
went to a bunch of toys stores and I realized, at almost of them, Godzilla was
still featured. It struck me that there was this iconic monster that still so
many years latter still had meaning to the culture... I wish we had a monster
like that."</div>
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When talking about the designing of the Cloverfield
monster on the DVD, designer Nevil Page said, “How much has JJ told you about the
whole Godzilla thing?” The Cloverfield monster works as a kaiju simply because
of something else Nevil has said, “Its walking on two legs, and it has the
emotive qualities of a human, but it clearly needs to look interesting and
alien.”</div>
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Such influence was also part of the limited use of music
in the film. As Matt Reeves recounts in the audio commentary for </div>
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CLOVERFIELD, "One of the fun things about the movie,
because we were actually going to see the aesthetic all the way through... we would
essentially make a movie with no score. And so there is no music in the movie
other than source music... But then, at the end, originally, Kevin Stitt
(editor) when he first showed me the cut of the movie, had taken the music from
GODZILLA, this great score from the original Godzilla and it was just great,
and we sort of thought, 'Oh, wouldn't it be fun for us to do our own version of
that.' JJ and Brian had a great relationship with Michael Giacchino, and it
turned out he was a huge monster movie fan, and that he loved all of that
Godzilla music, and he relished the idea of this... overture at the end."
All of the hallmarks of an Ifukube theme is there n the end credits theme,
"Roar!". Ostanato, the constant repetition of measures within the
music, is present with a lot of bass percussion accompanied by a
Shobijin-from-Mothra-esque choir.</div>
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As far as the story's content is concerned, the rather
large focus on the human characters is a distinguishing factor. But make no
mistake, the Cloverfield monster ravashes New York City, not even a nuclear
bomb is able to stop it (at the end of the end credits, you hear a voice say
"Its still alive"). Cloverfield follows through, in its own way, all
of the qualities which would make CLOVERFIELD fit in the dichotomy of
"kaiju eiga".</div>
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CASE STUDY #2: PACIFIC RIM</div>
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If CLOVERFIELD mirrored the original GODZILLA, then
PACIFIC RIM mirrors the middle 60's kaiju heyday. The further along </div>
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the Godzilla franchise went, the lighter Godzilla became.
The audience grew younger, and the films pandered to that young audience (which
only grew since the original film). Along with an audience change, the fusing
of Godzilla with other kaiju properties (particularly 1961's MOTHRA, a fantasy)
an the entering of screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa gave the kaiju personalities,
common enemies, and made Godzilla a dynamic character. To Eiji Tsuburaya, the
Godzilla series' special effects director, Kaiju were action science-fantasies (more
science fiction though than fantasy). Tsuburaya once said, "My heart and
mind is as they were when I was a child. I loved to play with toys and to read
stories of magic. I still do. My wish is to only make life happier and more
beautiful for those who will go see my films of fantasy." This is the kind
of kaiju film that PACIFIC RIM director Guillermo Del Toro mentions in
"Pacific Rim Featurette: Kaiju", "there is something very pure
and very full of love in monster movies, even more so in kaiju movies."
That is not to say Del Toro doesn't know of the darker origins of the genre.
When being interviewed by the Criterion Collection (which released the original
GODZILLA in 2012), Del Toro said, "Well, the first Godzilla, which I saw
as a kid, was such a gloomy movie for me. It was like a social realism, it had
such drama in it, such sense of tragedy."</div>
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Unlike CLOVERFIELD, which shows little of its single
kaiju and has a color palate of desaturated white, brown, black, and some </div>
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green, PACIFIC RIM shows a lot of its multiple kaiju in
an environment which utilizes more than a rainbow's worth of color.</div>
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Where as CLOVERFIELD was minimalist when showing the
kaiju, PACIFIC RIM has them front and center. Del Toro's view since </div>
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childhood was, "When I watched giant monster movie,
the big money shot was the monster, and in Japanese kaiju films, that's what
its about." Mirroring the variety of kaiju the Godzilla and other
franchises had, numerous monsters were necessary. Numerous kaiju resemble,
partially or to a good extent, kaiju from the Godzilla and Gamera franchises.
Knifehead looks like Guiron, Scunner resembles Destoroyah, Otachi is
considerable to a Gyaos, so on, so forth. Design technicalities aside, Del Toro
challenged his kaiju designers. one of the rules I gave kaiju designers was I
wanted to think how a man in a suit would fit in there. The kaijus are trying
to honor the spirit and feeling of the classical kaiju, we are keeping them two
legged... remind you of the spirit of the classical ones."</div>
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Remind, not copy exact sequences. As Del Toro has said,
“One of the first things I did is make it a point to not check any old movies or
any other references." To be more specific, “We should not re-watch
Gamera, or re-watch Gojira, or re-watch War of the </div>
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Gargantuans.”</div>
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Like CLOVERFIELD, PACIFIC RIM has a soundtrack that
adheres to the usual sound design of a kaiju film's score. The main </div>
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theme for PACIFIC RIM, though heavy on a rock and roll
feeling, use of percussion for the feeling of an Ifukube piece every now and again.
This would be repeated through out the rest of the soundtrack. In an interview
with Wired, composer Ramin Djawadi said, "For the kaiju, he wanted to stay
more on the traditional side, to pay homage to the Godzilla-type theme, so we
used big trombone sections.So based on those conversations, I sat down and
started writing theme ideas. Before we even put music to picture, I played him
these, and then we started plugging them into the film to see what would
work."</div>
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Epic destruction, Giant monsters which are called kaiju
that go so far as to have energy weapons, what next? PACIFIC RIM has </div>
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come at a time where every country is picking sides in a
multi-angled build up to an unknowable event. The economy is terrible, </div>
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religious extremists are waging war in the middle east,
the last truly communist country is escalating it's nuclear capabilities, and America
is coming down. This is a time where a lot of people believe that they are
living times fulfilling prophecies regarding the apocalypse. In a movement of
international optimism, PACIFIC RIM's story at large is about the whole world.
As Guillermo Del Toro has said, "I didn't want the film to be about a
country saving the world, I wanted it to be the world saving the world".
The weapons responsible for "cancelling the apocalypse" are weapons
which armed forced do not control, with the Jaeger forces going more in tune with
an independent "Ranger" style, which sub-textually offers a reason
why the Jaeger forces win. It isn't the military or the navy, its </div>
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rangers.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
THE JAPANESE CONNECTION</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Other than the obvious influence that kaiju eiga has had
on these two (soon to be three with the up-coming reboot of GODZILLA, from the
same company that produced PACIFIC RIM) films, the films have a common connection
via events in Japan. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In CLOVERFIELD, all we hear about Japan comes from the
main character Robert Hawkins' going away party for a trip to Japan. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
While such is ironic considering he is going to be the
victim of a kaiju attack, an almost genre-referential joke, it is also ironic considering
the CLOVERFIELD universe's story which is kept in viral marketing videos (which
are easter eggs on the DVD and Blu-Ray). In the viral marketing, Tagruato - a
Japanese company responsible for the production of the Slusho beverage - has an
Atlantic oil rig attacked by the Cloverfield kaiju. Interesting is that while
english "coverage" of the oil rig attack mentions Tagruato doesn't
know what happened, a Japanese television report quite clearly and frankly says
at the beginning of the report "kaiju".</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
With PACIFIC RIM, kaiju are actually caled kaiju,
complete with a dictionary-esque definition before the film plays. One of the
main characters, Mako Mori, is an english speaking Japanese jaeger pilot.
PACIFIC RIM's Japanese connection is much more well fleshed out with a couple
of important plot points having taken place in Japan or part of the
universe-specific vocabulary being taken from the Japanese language.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Alas, the films also help by being received in Japan
well. Cloverfield got a prequel manga serial the same year it was released. Published
by Kadokawa Shoten, CLOVERFIELD: KISHIN, takes place in Japan before the events
of the Chuai rig incident.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
PACIFIC RIM was well received enough that Japanese
professionals like Katsuya Terada and Yoji Shinkawa making their own </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
professional posters for the film simply because they
loved the film. Hideo Koijima wrote a multi-tweet message about PACIFIC </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
RIM, saying, “Dear twitter friends, The followings are my
comment regarding "Pacific Rim". Luckily I was allowed to tweet in
public by WB.I have never imagined that I would be fortunate enough to see a
film like this in my life. The emotional rush I had inside me was the same kind
I had when I felt the outer space via "2001: A Space Odyssey" and and
when I had touched the dinosaur in "Jurassic Park". Animation and
special effects movies and shows that I loved in my childhood days - they all
truly exist in the screen. Director Guillermo del Toro offers this spectacular
vision of massive kaijus and robots in PACIFIC RIM. This film is not simply a
film to be respected, but most importantly, it let us dream the future of
entertainment movies. Pacific Rim is the ultimate otaku film that all of us had
always been waiting for. Who are you, if you are Japanese and won't watch this?
I hope you would accept this inspirational love </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
letter that had traveled across the Pacific, written by
Director Guillermo del Toro.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
COMMONALITIES: DEFINING "NEO-KAIJU"</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This new breed of kaiju film from America can be called
"Neo-Kaiju" through following what CLOVERFIELD and PACIFIC RIM </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
has in common in terms of style and substance. When it
comes to the kaiju, the main kaiju (singular or plural) has to be close to 250 feet
tall in being able to effectively cause mass amounts of property damage within
a metropolis. American neo-kaiju are usually four armed and two legged with the
ability to be bipedal. The kaiju also have problems with parasites.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The films themselves retain a close tie to Japan, whether
it be a destination or the nationality of a character. The film also ties
itself with Japanese visual aesthetics and musical aesthetic, filming the
monster at a good portion of the time at eye level regardless of logic that would
say otherwise and a score which uses ostanato and brass percussion for a
bellowing dramatic theme or themes.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The content of the film has to show that while it has
themes tied in with the emotional toll of the story, the themes ties back to
the society that the viewer of the film is experiencing. CLOVERFIELD deals with
post-9/11 paranoia, PACIFIC RIM deals with a world whose countries have to
trust each other after a time of political turmoil, and who knows what the future
will hold.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Legendary, being a company that specializes in movies
based on properties with large fan bases with a CEO who is a fan of what his company
produces an the franchises associated, is now finishing their Godzilla reboot,
10 years after GODZILLA: FINAL WARS and 16 years after Tri-Star made their
film. A lot of what the Tri-Star film could have meant for the genre could now
be fulfilled with Legendary's new film. In an interview, the late producer of
the Showa and Heisei Godzilla series Shogo Tomiyama thought that foreign made
Godzilla films were a logical step in the life of the franchise. Shogo said,
"When Godzilla dies at the end of the first movie, a Japanese professor
says there might be more than one Godzilla. This time even though he dies, the
one who comes back for Tri-Star could be a different Godzilla." The 1998
film came and went, thus the new American Godzilla might not be all that
different, with everyone involved with Legendary's Godzilla saying a variation
of the film going back to the themes of the 1954 Godzilla. Interestingly enough,
the proof of concept trailer for Godzilla included a monologue by J. Robert
Oppenheimer, explaining his guilt for becoming the "Father of the atomic bomb". Guilt could be a
theme in the up coming Godzilla film.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As of this writing, Pacific Rim has yet to be released on
DVD and blu-ray, much less on cable television, so Pacific Rim's full impact on
the culture has yet to be felt. Cloverfield's intentions for a kaiju for
America can only be met if they were to make a sequel that captures anxieties
unique to a would so many years after world, depending on how the film's universe
reacted to the New York Attack. Are kaiju here to stay? No one knows, with talk
of summer blockbuster fatigue and kaiju maybe not catching on with the general
movie going audience. But these three films, Cloverfield, Pacific Rim, and
Legendary's Godzilla are part of an interesting new wave of kaiju film. A wave
of kaiju film which the aesthetics, created by a foreign country, have perfected
the genre and have come back to be reinvigorated with special effects and other
modern filmmaking techniques by the filmmakers who were inspired by the old kaiju
films of old. It is a product of two influence cycles. Now we can look foreword
to more independent Kickstarter-started kaiju comic ventures like KAIJU RISING
and WORLD WAR KAIJU (comic books), KAIJU COMBAT (a video game), and a Syfy channel
kaiju television series produced by Bryan Singer (Who helped reinvigorate the
comic book genre with his X-MEN films).</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Appendix:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst">
<span lang="EN">It has come to my attention that talks of a “new era” are about on the
forums and what not. In this rather informal appendix, I would like to point
out a couple of truths. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN">The first truth is that there is a line of what is and what isn’t a kaiju
film. TROLL HUNTER and THE HOST are not kaiju films. These films are in a class
of their own, particularly with THE HOST, a film more akin to Cronenberg’s THE
FLY than Godzilla. Peter Jackson’s King Kong isn’t even a kaiju film. It doesn’t
borrow any of the aesthetics of such and was made long before the start of the
Neo-Kaiju genre’s birth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN">The second point is where future Japanese kaiju productions lie. If one was
to look at more all-encompassing terms like “monster movie” or “kaiju movie”,
then yes, PACIFIC RIM can be grouped along with the newly announced Gamera film
Kadokawa Pictures recently announced. But once the dichotomy has reached its
end, there is a difference between the two films. The Gamera film is, first and
foremost, Japanese. Aesthetics seen in the way of a pre-Pacific Rim world are
going to be shown. Pacific Rim might have caused a surge of intrigue into the
over-arching genre (kaiju), but Pacific Rim – like Cloverfield and the new
Godzilla film – are films which take that Japanese aesthetic and view it
through a different lens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN">As for the odd time between GAMERA THE BRAVE and the upcoming Gamera film,
such films are not of the Millenium era. Rather, they are part of a
metafictional series. The films were self-referential of their own genre, and
they cannot be credited as the seemingly rising interest in kaiju – most of
these films faired poorly at the box office. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN">A good analogy for what is and what isn’t neo-kaiju eiga comes from the
evolution of the western. The western, like the giant monster movie, was
started in America. A foreign country took it and made it their own (Japan
turned giant monsters into kaiju, Italy turned the Western into the Spaghetti
Western), and now we have the genres coming home (the Spaghetti Western has
DJANGO UNCHAINED, kaiju has PACIFIC RIM). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<span lang="EN">Before we start using classifications fandom-wide, let’s make sure that
such make sense. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN">BTW, interesting how spot on certain things about this writing have been spot on, considering the original version of this was published a good bit before MUTO toys and such were leaked. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Bibliography</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Castro, Adam T. "Why Del Toro Warned Pacific Rim
Designers Never to Watch Godzilla." Blastr. N.p., 17 July 2012. Web. 05
Oct. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
2013. <www .blasr.com="" heres_why_del_toro_says_p.php="">.</www></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Clark, Noelene. "Guillermo Del Toro Wants 'Pacific
Rim' Kaiju to 'start from Scratch'." Los Angeles Times: Hero Complex. Los </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Angeles Times, 2 Aug. 2012, Web. 05 Oct. 2013.
<http: guillermo-del-toro-wants-pacific-rim-="" herocomplex.latimes.com="" movies="" p=""></http:><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
kaiju-to-start-from-scratch/>.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Criterion Collection. "Guillermo Del Toro on
Godzilla." Youtube. Youtube, 11 July 2013. Web. 05 Oct. 2013.
<http: p="" www.youtube.=""></http:><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
com/watch?v=I0npWmWUFyo>.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Hood, Robert, and Robin Pen. "Random Observations
from the Editors." Introduction. Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales. University
of </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Wollogong, N.S.W.: Agog!, 2005. Vii. Print.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Interview with Shinji Higuchi (special feature from
Gamera: Revenge of Irys). Pref. Shinji Higuchi. ADV Films, 2003. DVD</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Kalat, David. "Gojira vs. Destoroia". A
Critical HIstory and FIlmography of Toho's Godzilla Series. Jefferson, NC:
McFarlane, 1997. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
241. Print.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Maloney, Devon. "How the Game of Thrones Composer
Scored the Massively Epic Music of Pacific Rim." Wired.com Conde Nast </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Digital, 13 July 2013. Web. 05 Oct. 2013.
<http: pacific-rim-score-ramin-djawadi="" underwired="" www.wired.com="">.</http:></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
OtakuVerseZero. "OVZ S2 Ep9 Daikaiju Salon."
Youtube, Youtube, 03 June 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2013 <https: p="" www.youtube.=""></https:><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
com/watch?v=nJDLQdlaRL87>.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
"Welcome to Max Toy Co.". Welcome to Max Toy
Co. N.p. Web 29 Oct, 2013 <a href="http://www.maxtoyco.com/">www.maxtoyco.com</a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-3510821884164163822014-02-27T23:04:00.004-05:002014-02-28T14:43:01.477-05:00SPOILERS REVIEWED: What will the American perspective add to the Godzilla metaphor?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOLk3LIUnm2zYMsaNUKnQdf16EV0rEI9VILmCk962n2O_iRNuq76nP_mctSjG7TDB1ZnZ5RtHypu_CxsA7CdsW2vYkZDY5d7yRDqEwdAsVYPIEiNhyphenhyphentHpl7JAoXlu7uTXRb5R-yeTvBU/s1600/Vsr3wwN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOLk3LIUnm2zYMsaNUKnQdf16EV0rEI9VILmCk962n2O_iRNuq76nP_mctSjG7TDB1ZnZ5RtHypu_CxsA7CdsW2vYkZDY5d7yRDqEwdAsVYPIEiNhyphenhyphentHpl7JAoXlu7uTXRb5R-yeTvBU/s1600/Vsr3wwN.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We got smart people working on the new Godzilla film. David
Goyer knows what he is doing, considering working with Christopher Nolan –
therefore gaining story telling chops that he seemed to have been missing from
work like BLADE TRINITY. Max Borenstein and Frank Darabount added their
expertise, and now we wait for two and a half months for the film to come out.
Now, with two trailers – one which seems to have confirmed parts of the story
which a leaked script – a script a lot of people claimed to be a fabrication –
declared. The script was said to be a pre-Max Boreinstein script, but there is
definitely enough that made it through to the final product based on what we
had seen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here is my guess at the story, and an analysis of such. You
could say this is a kind of, “I told you so” vanity post. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hiroshima and Nagasaki are bombed. In the midst of the Cold
War, 1954, American and Russian Nuclear Submarines are taken down in the South
Pacific. Both countries find the beast lurking around the Bikini Atoll, and perform
a series of nuclear bomb drops in order to kill the creature. The public is
told that they were just tests, and they assume that the creature – dubbed
Gojira by people living in the area after their diety – is gone – dead. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s jump to 1999. Joseph and Sandra Brody work at a
Japanese nuclear power plant. Something goes terribly wrong. A meltdown occurs,
and while both of them try to be heroes, Sandra is locked into the plant,
leaving Joseph there to watch as containment doors doom her fate.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the intermediary time between 1999 and 2014, scientists
find a fossil and a pair of insects surrounding it in Antartic ice. Its dubbed
Jira by Proff. Serizawa, who is working with Dr. Wates – Japanese for whale. It
bears a resemblance to the creature from 1954, and based on observations the
insectoid monsters seem to be the natural predators of the… okay, I’m saying
Godzilla from this point on. With this
finding, government enforcers get into the fray…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2014, 15 years latter, Joseph and his son – Ford (who has a
wife and child of his own, wife’s name is Elle) come across something which
leads them to check the remains of the Chernobyl-esque remains of the “Q-Zone”.
This is not something officially sanctioned, and they are being watched with
the Brody men checking out the destruction. Something happened 15 years ago,
and when they are taken away via hand cuffs for arrest, Joseph demands answers.
They are owed to him. Something more happened. It wasn’t an earthquake.
Something very big attacked the nuclear plant, and killed many people –
including his wife, his son’s mother. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Going back to America, turns out that Godzilla is alive and
kicking and he is out for food. His exposure to the bomb has changed him, and
government secrets are now out in the open with the new internet age. And there
will be innocent blood on the hands of such. Out of the appearance of Godzilla
also comes the Mutos, who have been cultivating secretly in the skinholes
around the Earth. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Godzilla and the Mutos have it out at an Airport, Las Vegas,
and ultimately San Francisco. Dr. Serizawa has to find a way to kill Godzilla
while Ford Brody has to try to make sure that his wife and child aren’t new
victims, even if it means helping Godzilla win against the Mutos – who have
also been absorbing energy from nuclear weapons. Can Godzilla win against his
natural predator? Can he triumph where others of his species didn’t. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
THE STORY ANALYSIS</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oliver Stone says that the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki weren’t necessary, and it is seen as blasphemous. THE CHINA SYNDROME
comes out, and films like the original Godzilla – which have been turned into
another thing from the original intention – are no longer needed. You can
express themes via humans. Particularly when it comes to an American take on Godzilla,
you have to sell that yeah, America is guilty of actions like the Lucky Dragon
No. 5 incident. Godzilla gets to be a figure in which guilt can be conveyed. No
one will feel bad about nuclear weapons tests. People will feel bad when a
variable spawned from the bomb hurts their own. That is what Godzilla is.
Godzilla is that variable. In 1998, they chose to just look at Godzilla, the
loner of his species. And then they kill his kids and kill him just because he
couldn’t live in this world… which isn’t so tragic since you are releasing him
from a certain pain. Let me further illustrate what this Godzilla film will be
via juxtapositioning:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Japanese Godzilla was about nuclear weapons on the
victim’s side – nuclear bombs are a terrible weapon of war which effects
humanity negatively not just directly, but also through a ripple effect
culminating with Godzilla. The new American Godzilla is nuclear weapons as a
bad because when it effects nature and humanity in a negative, man tries to
cover it up and turned a blind eye – keeping secrets. But those secrets can
come back to haunt you, and the continued use of nuclear power will create
something which will feed on what it was made from. It may sound like a rehash
of the Diet debate scene from the original, but where as the revelation of
Godzilla to the public was going to effect the Japanese negatively through no
fault of their own, America (and possibly Russia) are very much at fault. And an American Godzilla cannot neccessarily damn nuclear weapons in the same way - we won WWII with nuclear weapons. We made it through the Cold War with the best nuclear arsenal. We have more nuclear energy plants than any other country. The politics are tricky, but this film does find a way. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You cover up the past, and it will repeat. That seems to be
another theme running throughout the scenario. They covered up Godzilla, and
thought they killed it. But then all of a sudden Godzilla comes back and has
another monster doing battle with him. Joseph’s wife dies, and not Ford’s may
as well. This is why a character, Yuri Tachibana in GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING
GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL OUT ATTACK was recording everything with her
handycam. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The theme of this film, as stated by the filmmakers and in a
piece of dialogue from the new trailer is that nature cannot be tamed, and
since we act within nature, we have to deal with the natural effects of our
actions, its not just the humans our politicians have to handle. Nature spews
out creatures which level the odds between itself and the humans that oppose
it, along with humans being subject to “what goes around, comes around”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
You read that here first, I would think. </div>
Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-70036378421218504962013-12-17T14:53:00.001-05:002014-03-17T05:16:13.596-04:00Chris Mirjahangir's Transcendence <div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Searching the term "transcendence" via Wikipedia, one finds that
it is a religious concept of being detached from the material world of matter
and energy, being of a greater plane of existence. That philosophy is what a
militant group of survivors bestow onto an unsuspecting family in Chris
Mirahangir's short film of the same name.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Chris obviously has use of many tools that many aspiring filmmakers do not
have. Such is ADR. Put that together with HD cameras and professional grade
editing suites, a CGI producing program, and others, a cinematic artist has
themselves a high grade production facility. Chris knows how to use these
tools. He is part of a generation that is bringing what some consider the
highest art form into reachable reality to people who do not have such access. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">We start off the film in black and white as a boy stabs at the dirt,
obviously frustrated, taking in nature along with a problem he is having – his step
father. The use of black and white isn't to inspire a John Cassavetes-esque
grittiness. Black and white cinematography relieves the cinematographer of a
lot of problems that come with lighting. Thus, it is a practical tool here. There
was only one instance of an over-exposed shot in the film. Whether or not it
was intentional, is unknown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Visual motifs are at work here. This was shot in a southern western
location. Plants and low lying rocks are about. How does Chris use them? The
presence of the rocks is more stated the farther along the narrative we go (the
more dire the situation, for the sparse couple of characters we are introduced
to, the more we see a visual allusion to a dystopia). These are also used as an example of framing.
The rocks and the wild grasses are of rough textures, particularly the grass
when the breeze is about. Have a human character sit in it, and you draw attention
with the juxtaposing. A difference between the grass and the rocks come
about when height is taken into account. In sitting, people are above the
grass. When the rocks become a visual motif, they usually dominate the human
characters. There are other examples of framing; such is the reflection off of
a mirror-like demon eye, or the space between an open car door and the car
itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Now, let’s talk how the human character's interactions tell the story. We
have a set up not unlike CHILDREN OF THE CORN, but add two characters. Maybe
THE LOST BOYS is a better comparison. A step father, getting his family back
from vacation, has problems with his adopted son. Maybe this is a personal
story. The step father says his piece to the rebellious son and continues the
ride back home. But another interruption crosses their path - a wrecked camping
site. Blood splattered remnants are about. Curiosity kills the cat, quite
literally (though it takes some time) by the aforementioned militant survivors,
who are hiding from a demon (visually referenced via the bird we see the step
son look at in the beginning). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">A question that pulsed through my mind was whether or not there was going
to be an APOCALYPSE NOW kind of character arc, where the demons everyone fears
are outweighed by the demons within the hearts of the characters. The
stepfather wants his new son killed off. He also doesn't seem too happy with
the rest of his new-found family, though he says to his step son that he has
accepted them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">The ending can lead to a lot of debatable meaning. A question to be asked
is if the demons are real demons from a real hell, or if they are a life form
that resembles a demon. Depending on which it is, the murder/suicide of all but
one character (unknown) in the film could mean a couple of things. If these are
the demons you hear of in the religions of the world, then maybe the
murder/suicide isn't as crazy as it would seem. One has to wonder about the afterlife
fate of these characters. Could the father go to hell? If the latter, only a
creature that resembles a demon, then a kind of primal thinking (not necessarily
evil) can be used to evil’s agenda – hence the father’s actions. Both religious
and non religious readings of the ending though show the ruthlessness of the
father. The father doesn't seem to care if he is killed in the end. He knows
that the pain in his ass that is his new step son is going to be killed. He
decides to kill his new wife and daughter instead. The leader of the militant
group sees it a different way, that this act of transcendence is quite real and
sees the father as the genuine, good dad. Such dramatic irony. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">The foil for the step husband and his family are Chris' own character and
his implied girlfriend. It’s all done out of love. Killing the demons, enacting
transcendence, all of it is for love; fear of that which is worse than death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">If there was only one complaint I would have, it would be a lack of enough emphasis on things like POV shots. When the
step father is on the ground and told to follow a path, a POV shot from the
father's perspective of the pathway would be nice. It’s not as bad as it could
be though, since the emphasis is kept on the face of the actor. Chris sees the
drama that comes from facial expression to be more fulfilling to the drama than
an expressive POV shot. It’s a respectable decision. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN">I would hope for an extended version or sequel to TRANSCENDENCE. There is a
lot of potential here. I liked it. Wait,
guess what? There is an extended cut!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">In Regards to the Extended Cut<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">I have been privileged to have viewed the extended cut of TRANSCENDENCE.
Its 5 minutes longer, colored, and much more dramatically satisfying edit of
the film. Fuller orchestra, more details. Spoilers and the kinds of details that
surround the film's universe's history will not be talked of here, but know
that it is a more dramatically satisfying piece. Things I liked about the
initial black and white cut of the film are not sacrificed. The Sergio
Leone-esque ending is kept. Characters are meditated on longer. Keep an eye out
for this filmmaker. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-39575586032152831872013-11-10T20:13:00.001-05:002017-03-30T17:04:53.992-04:00PACIFIC RIM is the best kaiju film since G.M.K.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When writings about the kaiju genre, the line between "what is" and "what isn't" is controversially quantified. Many say its subjective. Dracula would be called a kaiju in Japan. But, what is a kaiju eiga has to be a film in line with what popularized the genre and based on what it spawned, the collective aesthetic. Thus, criteria will be the presence of kaiju that are 100 feet tall plus the acknowledgement of Japanese kaiju eiga, whether it be mentions which matter to the story of the film to the aesthetics used in music, shot composition, ect. If a foreign adaptation of a Japanese kaiju is to count as kaiju eiga, then the character has to be represented respectably.<br />
<br />
Chapter 1: "conscious of the heritage" - GDT<br />
<br />
2004-2005 was death to kaiju eiga in Japan. The late 90's was the beginning of the tipping point. On one hand, Shusuke Kaneko predated Christopher Nolan by resurrecting Daiei's Gamera franchise with films whose quality juxtapose greatly with what came before. At the same time, the American Godzilla film premiered - an event in which fans were disappointed, Godzilla was made into a generic giant monster ripped of the qualities unique to the Godzilla character. All charm was drained out. Meanwhile, Toho tried to resurrect Godzilla from 1999-2004. Tomoyuki Tanaka had passed away, leaving Shogo Tomiyama to become the producer of Toho's Godzilla films.<br />
<br />
Shogo Tomiyama is a producer who seems sketchy. In the documentary BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE, Tomiyama claims that he tries to emphasize a "sense of wonder" with Godzilla films. Elsewhere, Tomiyama exhibits that this sense of wonder is something Tomiyama associates only in the image and not the screenplay. Oriental Cinema mentions in their review for GODZILLA 2000 "According to a Japanese talk show, Tomiyama agrees that the human subplots shouldn't propel the main story of any Godzilla films." Tomiyama's misunderstanding continued on when commenting on 2001's GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL OUT ATTACK's success being more so than 2002's GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA. As shown in an interview on Henshin!Online [in context of box office numbers], "Not as well as GODZILLA-MOTHRA-KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK but better than GODZILLA X MEGAGUIRUS. I think, as in the case of GMK, last year's box office success was partly owed to the animated co-feature HAMTARO (Tottoko Hamutaro). But as a producer, I seriously tried to find any specific reason why GMK had been more profitable than GODZILLA X MECHAGODZILLA." GMK was almost the last Godzilla film of the Millennium series. GMK brought Shusuke Kaneko in to direct a Godzilla film many say is the best since the 80's, if not, since the Showa series. Shogo Tomiyama is a producer who lacks an artistic viewpoint that could balance out the business side of his thinking.<br />
<br />
For the rest of the Godzilla series, Shogo Tomiyama brought back a director who had failed with GODZILLA X MEGAGUIRUS, Masaaki Tezuka, who luckily made two good Godzilla films, only to bring in Ryuhei Kitamura in a career-killing move to make GODZILLA: FINAL WARS where there was more emphasis on other film-source styled human fighting in lieu of kaiju fighting. While Kitamura's film was an aesthetic failure on an anniversary year, Tezuka's attempts were outshined by Hollywood productions. With GODZILLA, MOTHRA, MECHAGODZILLA: TOKYO SOS, box office attendance was skim considering that at the same time, Japan had American imports THE LAST SAMURAI and FINDING NEMO for the choosing.<br />
<br />
The principle at play here is a paradox. Godzilla films have become entertainment without much of a social message and keeping on to the heritage kept to using suit (though CG has started being used as a main proponent, starting with GAMERA 3 from 1999). Problem is that the miniature effects alienate CG-savvy audiences who lack suspension of disbelief. Tomiyama saying in a HenshinOnline interview that Godzilla films are meant to be "entertainment, not political movies", something which has always been a backbone to give kaiju films substance to counterbalance the aesthetic-specific special effects, shows a lack of knowledge regarding the mechanics of the genre. The Masaaki Tezuka films from 2002 and 2003 tried to tell a tale of life after death in a very science based world, but it didn't work.<br />
<br />
After GODZILLA:FINAL WARS, the kaiju genre quickly took a turn for the satirical. ULTRAMAN: THE NEXT, a henshin property with kaiju that has been able to survive due to television was the only real winner here, complete with a darker take on the generally light hearted franchise. Big productions otherwise failed. GUILALA'S COUNTER ATTACK, which contained potty humor with a sprinkle of meta-humor didn't click with audiences. GAMERA: LITTLE BRAVES was a good family film, with some great direction, but the changing of Gamera's roar was only the top of the list as far as why it didn‘t click with audiences. The American produced DEATH KAPPA went out of its way to be “traditional” when it was not matting images together while mixing in whacky humor, including a cameo by a transvestite. Meanwhile, the only success kaiju eiga had in Japan were smaller independent projects like G, GEHARHA, DEEP SEA MONSTER REIGO, RAIGA which gained notoriety for being quality productions, but the metaphysical comedy was still reigned in. There was a change in the audience. The dichotomy for what passed the test for realism grew more complex thanks to films like THE DARK KNIGHT or IRON MAN. Realism was traded in for realistic. Kaiju eiga is a mix of science fiction and fantasy, a mix which doesn't get a lot of audiences. If there was going to be any resurgence in the genre, it was going to be something unexpected.<br />
<br />
The possible rebirth of the kaiju film came out of left field, from America. Fans doubted it possible, considering 1998. First was 2008's CLOVERFIELD, a film which utilized a shaky-cam aesthetic for realism with a film that knew its heritage with the back story being regarding the Tagurato oil rig, an Ifukube-esque end theme, and a manga pseudo-sequel. Kaiju eiga has been through aesthetics resembling blockbusters, Italian neo-realism, German expressionism, and now late 90's fake-documentary variation of cinema verite. A lot of the logical scientific questions a cynical viewer might ask would be forgone due to emphasis on characters and the effects of the monster's presence and lack of emphasis of the monster itself. This kind of film is what Shinji Higuchi, special effects director of the 90’s Gamera trilogy was talking about in his hour and a half interviews on the Gamera trilogy DVDs.<br />
<br />
What helped turn audiences away from kaiju eiga will help bring it back. The comic book movie climate has started opening doors for the mass marketing of other properties that was once seen as niche and geeky. These doors would let pass films which would technically be superior to the franchise installments that preceded it. 5 years after Cloverfield, PACIFIC RIM and a reboot of GODZILLA are here. This is where, when speaking about terms of heritage, PACIFIC RIM fits into the scheme of things (bringing in the aesthetic of world creation).<br />
<br />
CHAPTER 2.1: THE REVIEW<br />
<br />
The beginning of PACIFIC RIM is not unlike what you might see in Cloverfield. We get a kaiju film which shows us the kaiju head on, and brings us into the world of the film not going metaphysical with its substance. We are shown the emotion a character who has lived through this since he was 15 is feeling. In this monologue, we also get wrapped up in a logical turn of events. The first kaiju attack was memorialized (like 9/11), the success of the Jaeger program spawned a merchandising franchise in the gun-ho spirit of success (like World War II with characters like Captain America and films like Kelley's Heroes), and now the latest downturn in the kaiju wars where the kaiju are evolving faster than the Jaegers are being improved, and our main character - in one of the most emotional scenes in the film where Raleigh Brackett, all grown up and getting to fight the kaiju that have haunted his world since he was 15, looses his brother in a fight with the kaiju Knifehead. PACIFIC RIM concerns the end of the war, with the audience being treated to emotion backed up by details that give the proceedings an air of realism. This done via some shaky cam footage via news station footage, rogue guerilla direction (focus on a main subject is kept, but there is an uneasiness in the movement of the camera). The knife head fight is filmed in the same way as the rest of the movie, regular.<br />
<br />
Then we are treated to a beginning credits sequence not unlike that of a Masaaki Tezuka Godzilla film or 1989's Gunhed. Pacific Rim fits.<br />
<br />
If the beginning credits didn‘t suffice, there are other instances in which Guillermo Del Toro and Travis Beachman‘s script show their skills as fictional universe creators. The question of kaiju corpses has been answered with architecture centered around kaiju bones echoing the modernist buildings structured around trees. It also has an answer in a kaiju black market, which parallel's China's very real black market for endangered animal parts which have scientifically questionable effects on one's physiology. The question of kaiju motivation is also answered via the same as GODZILLA VS. MONSTER ZERO; aliens wanting to conquer (question of timing is answered due to global warming a la GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH, unlike 2001 YONGGARY). The Jaeger program's rise and fall play's into the question of kaiju evolution and biology, detailed like ever before. Present is a two brain explanation showing that, like Godzilla or Rodan, the main source of inspiration for the kaiju’s internal biology are the dinosaurs. The brief mention of kaiju cults is like an indirect reference to readings of kaiju by people like Norio Akasaka who saw Godzilla as "a representation of the spirit of soldiers who died in the South Pacific", though Pacific Rim seemingly dismisses it. The fantasy is not in the divine but how something that would be atomically unstable in this world could exist.<br />
<br />
The Jaeger program has it all too. Reminiscent of Gundam G or Evangelion in its engineering, the process by which is a good source of drama for the characters that, while relatable, is fiction enough to make it fantastic. Of course, the Jaegers are there more for a visual since giant robots is a future reality for the viewers. There is Top Gun esque machismo which pilots of older Jaegers are ridiculed and the like.<br />
<br />
Chapter 2.2: The Evolution of what giant mech mean for Japan<br />
<br />
The Jaegers though bring about a subtext to PACIFIC RIM. The use of the mecha, and the appearance of a Mecha toy, is indicative of a cultural context. In the very quick prologue of the film, we already see the national pride that the Jaegers are cloaked in with images of a child waving to a Jaeger followed by a parade of soldiers in a Jaeger exhibition. At the final scene of the Knifehead battle, in Anchorage, Del Toro makes a visual allusion: a tin toy robot. Tin toy robots, some of the oldest Japanese pop culture toys, a predecessor to the culture that creatively spawned the Jaegers, are icons. Japan took over the industry, taking what was originally a Nazi-era German product (nice, considering the Jaegers have a German name) and made it Japan’s own to the point that they became the toy making capitol of the world, a title they still own. The mecha-pride doesn't stop there.<br />
<br />
The fact that there is a good Japanese connection to the film means that the following shouldn't be taken with a grain of salt. Consider that Mako, the most important female character of the film, was very young when she lost her parents to a kaiju attack and was almost killed specifically by a Ganimes-like kaiju. She was very young at the time (and the majority of the film takes place in 2025), it is easy to see that Japan was one of the first countries attacked by Kaiju. In a country whose atomic tragedies have made it a post-apocalyptic country, a kaiju attack is almost a repeat of such. Where as Mako's character makes an interesting comparison for Ayana in GAMERA 3, Japan's history (as shown in the film) is not unlike an almost restaging of Godzilla. Very much a metaphor which could be applied to the Heisei Mechagodzilla, the Jaegers are not just the only thing which can handle the kaiju physically, but it is almost beckoning of WW2 and post-WW2 sentiments. As mentioned by Crispin Freeman in ANIME: DRAWING A REVOLUTION, robots in Japanese culture have taken on an almost divine status, the physical embodiment of science getting humans closer to the celestial, almost embodying a kami sentient being for Japan. Mecha like Tetsujin 28 (Gigantor) evolved out of this notion. WWII Japanese citizens imagined a giant robot laying waste to their antagonist, America. This is the role that a Jaeger might take for a character like Mako. The physical aesthetics of the Jaeger, particularly Gypsy Danger, could be seen as a point against this, but Mako riding Gypsy Danger talks more to the sense of teamwork that the countries that share the Pacific Rim took up. But, as Mako starts piloting a Jaeger (and the untold story of Japan’s Jaeger - Coyote Tango) it is almost as if Japan has turned a one time resent against who were ultimately the good guys and turned it toward a global threat - the world saving the world being a theme Del Toro has stressed.<br />
<br />
Chapter 2.3: Kaiju<br />
<br />
The physicality of the kaiju is what makes the film the most legitimate as kaiju film. As Del Toro has said in interviews, the kaiju were designed with one (of many) factors in place: the kaiju had to look as if they could have been alternatively played by a man in a suit. Not only that, but a good bunch of the Pacific Rim kaiju resemble kaiju we know and love. Knifehead looks like Guiron, Otachi looks like Gyaos, Leatherback looks like King Kong, and Scunner looks like Destoroyah (in the head). Alas, unlike the Godzilla from 1998 or even the Cloverfield monster, these kaiju take attacks head on and are more aggressive than any animal you have seen. There are energy attacks utilized as well as chemical ones which all<br />
kaiju should have.<br />
<br />
The heart of the kaiju though is the question of what kind of place the kaiju hold in nature. In a move which kaiju fans (particularly ones who grew up with the kaiju eiga of the 80's-90's), Raleigh Beckett likens the kaiju in this narration, "There are things you can't fight - acts of God. You see a hurricane coming, you get out of the way. But when you're in a Jaeger, you can finally fight the hurricane. You can win." The kaiju are a force of nature, reinforced with the use of the anti-kaiju wall, a parallel of _. Are the kaiju a force of nature? If the answer is yes, then wouldn't they have to be naturally occurring? Indeed, foreign life forms (in this case, extra terrestrials) taking over an eco system for their own use is natural. Its a gargantuan in magnitude example of competition. But considering that the kaiju are actually genetically engineered by an intelligent cause (other than man no less), are they really a part of nature? Is it the new phase of resource competition or something else? Looking back on the Heisei Godzilla films where Godzilla was a force of nature, the fact that instead of being awaken he was awakened makes us re-question such a dichotomy, a need to define or redefine "force of nature" considering the kaiju coming from a non-natural occurrence. This is what the Jaegers are fighting against. And these two backgrounds are what makes PACIFIC RIM a good piece of dialectic filmmaking, a film that interacts with film heritage.<br />
<br />
Chapter 2.4 - Direction<br />
<br />
The script for PACIFIC RIM does what its creators intended it to do. It kept itself simple, without delving too much into commentary of socio-political topics or too much emotion. Considering the filmic landscape as of recent, it is quite refreshing. Even a master like Akira Kurosawa said that good movies should be, enjoyable. Too much brain in a film might turn off viewers who, while liking some brain in their film, do not want to do miss out on other qualities of the film. Occasionally, such makes sense. Not too much substance to follow is a relief to the casual viewer. The lack of focus on Raleigh’s pain not only keeps his pain from trumping Stacker Pentecost’s, but also makes Raleigh seem like he has done a good job of covering up his brother’s death - something he must get over if to pilot Gypsy Danger again. A certain coldness that comes upon men who become dogs of war. But the real reason why the simplistic script for PACIFIC RIM is that such simplicity juxtaposes with the other half of filmmaking - the actual filming.<br />
<br />
Though, as Scorsese has said, digital images have made film into a more painterly medium, mis en scene is still a factor. Del Toro drew inspiration from paintings such as Francisco Goya’s THE COLOSSUS, Hokusai’s THE GREAT WAVE, and the boxing paintings of George Bellows. Along with a close connection to films such as WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS and other Showa era works, Del Toro studied so that he could attain the “Sense of wonder”, that “sense of awe”. When it comes to the scenes with kaiju and/or the Jaegers. The fight scene in Hong Kong is the best example of this, many shots which are well directed. Del Toro makes it so that the angle of coverage and movement of the camera compliment and magnify what is actually going on. Leatherback's grandios apperance has two shots - one being sharing the shot with an out of focus Cherno Alpha, Striker Eureka being covered up in the shot by Leatherback emerging, with the following shot using Leatherback's jump in the air and the water falling off of him and his added height from being ontop of Cherno Alpha just making Leatherback seem that much more gargantuan. The lighting in the middle of the shot helps intensify Leatherback's presence all the more. The same goes for when Leatherback grabs at Gypsey Danger. Del Toro frames the shot so that Leatherback’s arms cover most of Gypsy Danger, and all around great waves of water fill the frame, covering Gypsy Danger even more. The direction not only shows what is happening, but uses colors, lighting, and how characters and objects in the frame to add to the actions an emphasis.<br />
<br />
The color timing for the SFX scenes is also directed (as mentioned by Del Toro in official youtube videos). The color code of the film seems to be that if you are fighting in a place that is primarily colored blue, then the kaiju are going to win. The closer you are to colors of green, yellow, magenta, red, the more likely the Jaeger are going to win. If it is a scene in the daytime, then the Jaegers are going to win. As Del Toro told the Wall Street Journal, Pacific Rim utilizes“crazy color palettes” and “very romantic, crazy atmospherics.”<br />
<br />
Other good tibits of direction include digital effects when it comes to the filmming of regular scenes with actors and actresses. Such is when Raleigh looks at the Jaegers in the Shatterdome, with Raleigh moving at normal speed and everyone else going as if the shot was filmmed at a faster frame rate. We have a very Ang Lee-transition where a work person in the Shatterdome moves past the camera, on one side of the person is the previous shot, the other side is the next shot. Not to mention, in the last bit of Mako's reminicience, we have a transition where the same rock formation that the camera pans in front of transitions to a much wider aerial shot, with the camera not zooming out or panning upwards.<br />
<br />
CHAPTER 2.5 - CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT<br />
<br />
PACIFIC RIM is a tightly written film. A film full of subtleties when it comes to the human characters, this will become a film which the more you watch it, the more you will notice little tibits which, while subtle, will help give a fuller view of the Pan Pacific Defence Force Characters. As mentioned by other people who have written about PACIFIC RIM, there are little things to notice like how the Kazinski's behave toward eachother (the wife being easily the more expressionate in combat and in simple human things like calling a husband to lunch), while Mako dies the tip of her hair to the blue she was wearing when she was attacked by Onibaba. There are other, maybe better, examples of this within the film.<br />
<br />
Such is with the TOP GUN-esque drama between Chuck Hansen, pilot of Striker Eureka, and Raleigh. Its not so much that Raleigh is dangerous, but another layer added is Raleigh being made a reason why the Jaeger program had resources shut down and the government cancel the Jaeger program until Striker Eureka saved Sydney, Australia from a kaiju. Travid Beckham and Guillermo Del Toro know better though and add more to the dynamic. The first thing to realize is the respect that is given to Raleigh by Stacker Pentecost and Chuck's father, Herc Hansen. Another thing to pay attention to is the pro's given to Raleigh's fighting style. Very much in a Jeet Kun-Do manner, it is commented by Mako as deviating from standard combat style, being unpredictable in the risks taken. Raleigh even quotes Bruce Lee from ENTER THE DRAGON when he fights Mako saying that "this is not a fight, this is a dance". A third thing to mention is that, unlike Iceman from TOP GUN, Chuck Hansen and his father end up making the same kind of mistake that Raleigh and his brother make at the beginning of the film by disobeying Stacker Pentecost, going into a situation they did not understand the full parimiters of, and have Leatherback send out an electromagnetic pulse disabling Striker Eureka. But, alas, Chuck isn't such a bad guy. Though saying to Raleigh that he quite likes his life and doesn't want to die, he ends up dying like the hero he has set himself up to be when needing to take out Scunner and Slattern.<br />
<br />
Then we have the whole bit in reguards to Stacker and Mako's history and the process of Raleigh, being proffessionally close to Stacker and personally close to Mako, learning of the history. Something the film does is use different aspects of this same process to keep us from wondering too much and guessing, correctly or not, what happened. Such is when we might start getting some feeling that Stacker adopted Mako, after seeing Mako's pleading with Stacker (in Japanese) to keep his promise and seeing that Mako was saved by Coyote Tango. Before we find out anything, we become distracted with the next scene of Stacker - in an elevator - wiping blood from his right nostril and taking a pill to help relieve such. Alas, when it comes to Raleigh finding out Stacker is sick, we see that Mako is kept in the dark of such. Having drifted, if Mako knew her father figure was sick, Raleigh would know (and Mako's inexperience with the drift is evidence, she is not able to hide or not take certain memories from the drift). Mako's having to leave her father behind, knowing he will die because of the cancer, because of the wages of battle, or because of the bomb strapped to Striker Eureka's back, is just that much more tragic because she did not know until a couple of hours (at most) before that her father figure was sick.<br />
<br />
CONCLUSION<br />
<br />
There is probably a lot more that can be said about PACIFIC RIM then what has been talked about above, but this is what I have noticed after seeing the film only three times, weeks in between each viewing. At G-FEST, a lot of people showed dissapointment with the film, while I say it is a kaiju-sized achievement. For those eagle eyed viewers, you will notice that the film means to show visuals that use color nicely and have those being the main show of artistry rather than the writing, while the writing might be good enough to capture the attention of some of the more tentative viewers. Broken away from the totally metaphysical and self-refferential except in style, PACIFIC RIM might reinvigorate Japan's movie makers to make kaiju one again, a film to point to where the genre can and could go. Its flashy without outsourcing from other films, it interacts with themes from its genre-brethren, and is truly epic. PACIFIC RIM is part of a sub-genre of the kaiju sub-genre (which is a sub-genre of monster films in general, separated by aesthetic differences) that I christen the Neo-Kaiju genre, and it is this film - unlike CLOVERFIELD or the upcomming GODZILLA, that I think Eiji Tsuburaya would have wanted to make for Eiji's favorite audience, the children. Here's to PACIFIC RIM 2!Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-49069495497287592302013-09-04T17:15:00.003-04:002013-09-04T17:17:21.306-04:00Review: Criterion's release of GODZILLA (1954)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello people who still visit this blog. I am reminded of a lot of sites I used to frequent and I remember people talk about priorities and such. Because of life (among other things), yes, blog postings are more and more scarce. But, there are some things which I shall bring to the blog. Hear of a film called WILD ZERO? Yep. An in-depth review of Ryuhei Kitamura's VERSUS? Yep, that too. But right now, thanks to us humans valuing birthdays, I was blessed from my brother the blu-ray of Criterion's Godzilla and from another friend Criterion's blu-ray of SEVEN SAMURAI. SEVEN SAMURAI isn't a big thing, but Criterion's Godzilla is something that I find is lacking in some reviews so I want to throw my two cents into the ring.<br />
<br />
Here we go.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">WAITING FOR GODZILLA NO LONGER</span><br />
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As the title suggests, this is a sequel to an article from G-FAN issue 53. At one time, you could only see the original Godzilla film if blessed with a theatrical re-run or a rare television airing. With VHS, the want was waned But with DVD came a new want: wanting to see the film at its most pristine. Though thoughts of the Japanese cut conjure, a fully preserved cut of KING OF THE MONSTERS also come to mind. The Simitar DVD (whose licensed status remains challenged) was for a long time the only release that had (in a faux widescreen presentation) the (un)original Transworld logo preceding the film. Eight years latter, Classic Media released the film sans logo, but with (out of order) end credits since unseen except for those who were friends with the owner of the 16mm print with it. As for the original cut, with the exception of the bootleg market (which got serious in the 90's), seeing the original film was almost a life defining moment. No longer. Thanks to Classic Media and particularly Criterion, the prophetic hope that we'd see these two films complete has not only occurred but we Americans are blessed with the best presentation of the two cuts of the film in the world (even better due to Toho's renown conditions of American releases which keeps quality below their own releases for marketing reasons).<br />
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The most crucial bit of the release for me was the new subtitle transcript. A certain bootleg release from the 80's has been claimed to have the best one. Since then, we have had BFI, Classic Media, and now Critrion. Criterion's subtitles truly does a justice revealing information otherwise unsaid with Classic Media's transcript. Only two errors came by me - Emiko simply saying "hai" or yes to her father when turning off the light (subtitle read "Yes Father", pretty sure she would have said "hai hadasima" if it was the case) and "shishkio" being translated as "damned beast" instead of simply "damn it" (which, only a minute latter when we hear it from an unseen speaker, it is translated properly). I there a subtext being considered I am not aware of?<br />
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The picture quality of Criterion's release of the Japanese cut is nothing short of immaculate. As Kalat said, this is how audiences in Japan probably saw it. Detail and cleanness is great. No adjusting of picture levels here. Sure, if you look at a site like dvdbeaver.com, you'll find instances of edge enhancement, but it seems all the big releases have such. Next case. Funny enough, claims of a lavender print of KING OF THE MONSTERS swept the fandom in hope. In viewing the film, material before Steve Martin comes to the air port looks pretty bad. The liner note book accompanying the set says that thousands of instances of print damage had been removed, but one has to wonder. Was the lavender print only good from this one scene and on? The American scenes/shots of course look best, but it varies.<br />
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When comparing the CM DVD to the Criterion Blu-Ray, I learned something important about the image of DVDs, why the CM DVD is so much brighter than the Criterion blu-ray. On the Criterion copy, the film looks like it is being run through a projector, you can tell that the film is made of frames going by a remarkable 24 fps. The lighting looks like it is inconsistent, but it isn't. CM tried to correct this by leveling out the brightness to make a more stable image, but in result the picture looks a little faded, if not fuzzy. Bad enough Classic Media cuts short the fades to black and omit’s the thanks to the marines at the beginning.<br />
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The most important thing to consider though is the new subtitle translation. Because it is Criterion, it can be taken for granted that subtitles are going to be better translated than Classic Media’s effort. The matter of fact is that Criterion’s subtitles are better, but playing the two versions on two identical DVDs at the same time is an odd experience. Criterion gets a point for translating more of the opening credits. From there, it is a little odd. One thing that Criterion has a 95% advantage over Classic Media’s translation with is the use of phrases. When the families are pleading with the authorities to release details about their loved ones, they seem a little to passive in Classic Media’s transcript. Criterion has a more forceful approach. Through out the film, Criterion’s transcript has characters saying more correct phrases. The one time I noticed Classic Media might have the advantage here is on the train ride where the glasses wearing salary man says “it stinks” in the Classic Media version vs. Criterion’s “ I've had enough”.<br />
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Sadly, both versions also miss out some bits of dialogue. Criterion leaves out only the little bits though. Classic Media leaves out whole causes to some reactions, such as the crowd in the beginning when it is revealed some more information is revealed, causing the families to go rushing into another room.<br />
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Criterion does also have better details than Classic Media. The building that Yamane was asked if there was a way to kill Godzilla is called the Disaster Relief Headquarters by Criterion, but oddly enough the Anti-Godzilla Headquarters by Classic Media.<br />
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The only other thing to say about the Criterion release’s subtitles technically is the translation of common phrases. There seems to be some inferential bits which might be cultural. When Emiko replies to her father’s wanting the lights off in his study, she simply says “hai”, and with Classic Media, it is subtitled simply as it should - “yes”. Criterion has it be “yes father”. When Shinkichi is saying shishkio (bad romanji, I know), it is simply damn it. Criterion adds a bit more to it, but when another background character says it, it is translated properly.<br />
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The final bit to say about the subtitles is that Criterion’s subtitles are oddly poetic. Particularly when it comes to Yamane’s lines when explaining his theory post-Odo Island and when he explains that there is no way to kill Godzilla considering his resurrection. Criterion has Yamane say that Godzilla was “baptized” in the fire of the H-Bomb. Poetry after the H-Bomb indeed. Its great, and not cheesy. Just makes it more captivating for this viewer.<br />
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With Classic Media still the main holder of American home video distribution rights of the film, hopes that special features from their DVD release were a no-go to keep the earlier product still sell-able (and for us, not take up disc space). This has kept some critics from calling this the definitive home video release (that would be the 40th anniversary Laser-disc Box Set). The lack of an image gallery or special features talking of other little things about the film would also be a negative, but one who know what the Criterion collection is will proclaim that the special features are there only to "enhance the appreciation of the art of film". So nothing like the publicity campaign (images have poped up of Godzilla balloons being put atop buildings) or cool tidbits like Toshiro Mifune attending GODZILLA's shinto purification ceremony before principle photography. New interviews with Akira Takarada, Haruo Nakajima, Yoshio Irie, and Eizo Kaimai. The duo interview with Irie and Kaimai is the most enlightening, containing information that was not in the Classic Media DVD set or books like Godziszewski's THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODZILLA (rather, that book goes far more in-depth with deleted scenes and un-filmed script bits, which either Classic Media or Criterion's release goes into) or Kalat's A CRITICAL HISTORY AND FILMOGRAPHY OF TOHO'S GODZILLA SERIES. Nakajima and Takarada says little we didn't already know (from many sources, including special features on the Classic Media releases, BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE, or SciFiJapan's youtube show). What truly is great is the ported over Akira Ifukube Interview from the Japanese DVD/Blu-Ray (Ifukube even mentions that the interview is for the first DVD release of the film). Ifukube's little history with Eiji Tsuburaya before production began is truly great.<br />
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Of course, we have a feature on the Daigo Fukuryu Maru. People who bought Criterion's release has probably relinquished any desire I have had to buy BFI's R2 UK release. The information in the short is great. Just too bad that it is almost overkill, with the documentary, Kalat's commentary, and the insert booklet. This leads to another flaw (subjective) with Criterion's release - its very apologetic. If there is a chance to tie the film to Kurosawa, it will be mentioned. Over and over again. Kalat even asks for our indulgence. Criterion was destined to release Godzilla (listen to the KOTM commentary for the connection), and with all of this, one has to wonder what happened to the Criterion that in the 90's wanted to release all the Godzilla films Simitar ended up releasing.<br />
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But I digress: David Kalat is a great commentator. I always was favorable of Kalat. When it came time to get myself a Godzilla book, I chose his. Its a great book, and I don't regret getting it over JAPAN'S FAVORITE MON-STAR. The book has highlights and my own notes all through it. Very worn. Him doing the commentaries here is something I am fine with, even if people say he errors in his commentary for GHIDORAH, THE THREE HEADED MONSTER.<br />
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The beginnings of the commentaries sets up a nice context for the film, but alas, show boating his book (that I already own) is a little much. But there is a lot of information here. Reading that Terry Morse Sr. kept a print of the Japanese cut out of admiration for the film. The more practical information such as the Rashomon bit is also appreciated. While the Ryfle/Godziszewski commentary for KOTM from Classic Media's almost equally great DVD release focused on the more intimate making of anecdotes (complete with quotes from the horse's mouth via audio recordings).<br />
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In distancing himself from the Classic Media offering (and since it shares commentators, BFI's release), Kalat takes a much more analytical approach instead of keeping to production anecdotes (lest it helps explain how character archetypes were implemented). When it comes to making of anecdotes, Kalat goes into something August Ragone has been (wrongly) criticized for - going into bios, particularly with people who have not really been fleshed out in other information sources. A propaganda film maker during<br />
the third reich involved? Hell yes. It ultimately culminates to an interesting reading of Serizawa's suicide from a political view point (which does factor in the history of the war criminal, supposed spy Eiji Tsuburaya, and even Liberal pacifist Honda). It is great.<br />
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It seems I didn't talk about the audio. To tell the truth, I am not an expert listener. Lets assume its better because that's whats good for the world.<br />
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Criterion's release of GODZILLA is damn near perfect. Keep the Classic Media DVD (not blu-ray) and this. It is a great duo which just shows the greatness this film has been shown in America (it never got that good in Japan).<br />
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Thanks to Immy Batiham Erasmus for letting this review be possible.Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-36314336236690101582012-12-08T18:37:00.002-05:002012-12-08T18:37:57.968-05:00Review: RETURNER (2002)<br />
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<i>Coolest DVD Cover in the author's opinion</i></div>
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It is hard for me to review this film without being a little subjective for nostalgia's sake. I caught it on television for the first time since I lived in Memphis (which was 6 years ago). The reason why it is hard for me to review a film such as this is because when it came to be watching Japanese films, some of the first ones I saw I didn’t see again till recently. RETURNER is one of those films. Such juxtaposition between my views on these films then and now proves interesting.<br />
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I saw RETURNER when I first started to notice that some channels on television actually did show some Japanese films that were not kaiju related. This included ONMYOJI, ONMYOJI 2, VERSUS, KUNOICHI: LADY NINJA (which was especially interesting seeing how (even though I didn’t know it at the time) it was the first film I got to see with the character Yagyu Jubei in it, and was also very pornographic), JU-ON, and the last of the Shintaro Katsu Zatoichi films.<br />
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Of course, in the move, things changed. A lot of those films stopped coming on. It was not that bad, since the Sundance Channel and IFC - at the time - indulged me with their offering (which helped introduce me to a lot more). But it wasn’t till this past year that I finally got to watch - for the first time in ages - films like ONMYOJI and RETURNER.<br />
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RETURNER was a weird film for me. Luckily, I saw it before I saw any of the Matrix films. Additionally, I saw it around the same time I got exposed to the Terminator franchise. Already, I am just naturally dispositional to like the film more than the more experienced, older audiences. Along with that, I saw it at the same time I saw Ryuhei Kitamura’s VERSUS. That duo is a very interesting thing to get exposed to at the same time - young me would kind of want to start thinking all Japanese action films had their main protagonist be leather trench coat-clad with their enemies being gangsters from one side of the Sea of Japan or the other, involved with something from the science fiction or horror genre.<br />
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For those who do not know, RETURNER concerns a young girl going back in time to stop a group of Chinese gangsters (with a Japanese member) from screwing around with a space craft holding an extra terrestrial monikered “daggra”.<br />
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With all that I have told you now, you will now see why there is influence from the TERMINATOR. Even a bit from INDEPENDENCE DAY if you dare to read too much into it. THE MATRIX comparisons come from the visual style instead of the substance. In fact, the slow motion in Returner is not like the Matrix's at all. Where as the Matrix did bullet time to just make a pretty picture, the slow motion in Returner is a side effect of the use of a time-slowing decide our protagonists have at their disposal. It actually serves the story.<br />
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In a more innocent time (when I first saw this film), I just thought this was a fun action film with some cool direction. But, since it is six years latter, I know a lot more about film. I know a lot more about how filmmakers can express ideals almost subconsciously into their work. And I also know this film was made by the last guy to legitimately show Godzilla on the big screen in Japan (Even if for a few seconds) - Takashi Yamazaki. I guess I cannot say I expected the greatest movie ever, even with Yamazaki’s name on it (seeing how much acclaim he has gathered since his ALWAYS films). It did feel a bit more welcome seeing that it is from him though. But then, we get to something quite interesting about the film…<br />
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The anti-Chinese sentiments. It is Chinese gangsters that are the main antagonists. Their Japanese member ends up turning his back on his Chinese friends. We also find out that in the future, the last resistance against the Daggra aliens is in Tibet (Daggra is a Tibetan term). In other words, Tibet is the last standing ground for a Triad fuck up.<br />
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But some will think that conclusion is very close to one “grasping at straws”, so we’ll just keep that to a simple curiosity. Other than that, this is a science fiction story which isn’t purposely trying to put a mirror to humanity or anything like that. Instead of a theme being expressed, we just have a group of characters acting out on the premise which involves their histories (check this out - Milly’s (the main female character) history is the future). Milly’s partner in the present day (now our past of 2002) is Miyamoto, someone who grew up in China and was an indirect victim of the child slave industry lead by his arch nemesis - Mizoguchi - who is the Japanese member of the Triads who is going to lead the fuck up. Milly and Miyamoto’s scene together have a certain warmth to them which really keep the film character driven, and that is where the film excells.<br />
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Yes, it has some great SFX (mostly CG), but the not-too-complex story and the warmth coming from their scenes together really do help the film from being derivative. But that’s RETURNER, a simple film with a couple of good things going for it. It’s purely an entertainment and a well made one at that.<br />
Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-31999566160366559102012-11-25T12:54:00.003-05:002012-11-25T12:57:10.291-05:00HEAVEN AND EARTH Theatrical/Uncut Edit List<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">This is not the first time that this blog has had material related to the film HEAVEN AND EARTH (1990) on it. For a more traditional review of the film, please follow the link here:</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">http://journalismg2km.blogspot.com/2010/05/heaven-and-earth-1990-ten-to-chi-to.html</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">This article is of differences in edits. Indeed, HEAVEN AND EARTH has an extended "uncut" version released in Japan on home video, seemingly only been released in Japan. The uncut version of the film is 21 minutes longer than the theatrical cut, but both versions of the film contain shots and extensions of scenes unique to themselves, hence more variance. It is such that it can be compared to the different cuts of Ridley Scott’s LEGEND. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">This is a list of the differences in the two cuts of the films. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the Theatrical Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Though possibly only in the version on American home video, there is a small prologue which sets up the time and location of the film - like this being 16th century Japan and that the two war lords is Kagetora and Takeda. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Use of Different Angles</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">During the village raid coinciding with the beginning narration, different angles are used for the cavalcade of horse-laden samurai coming down a hill. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the Director's Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">When Kageora has a letter of praise read to him in front of his peers, the directors cut extends the scene considerably. We see the ceramony revolving the opening of the letter being a lot more formal and complicated. Added shots make the scene more formal. Unlike the theatrical cut, we have a documentarian shot panning down the middle column of fellow samurai, titling names and positions of those in attendance. Most important is also the expression that instead of paying all of his attention to the opening of the letter, Kagetora is looking at a stone idol of the god he has dedicated himself to - Bishamonten.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the Theatrical Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">The letter scene ends in the theatrical cut with Kagetora saying thanks for the letter. Where as the directors cut skips ahead to a deer hunting scene, the theatrical cut keeps to a scene of Usami - one of Kagetora's most trusted men - talking to Kagetora during twilight next to his castle in Echigo. Kagetora ponders on his right to be a ruler when it meant the slaying of his brother. Usami reassures him. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to Theatrical Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">The deer hunting scene which leads to Kagetora meeting Nami for the first time is extended a bit with shots of Kagetora drinking from a stream, expressively getting off his horse, and the deer he was hunting looking back at him. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to Director's Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">While Kagetora watches Nami and other priestesses play the flute and bells, a shot of an elegant waterfall is inserted, causing not only an extension of the scene but also an extension of the music being played. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">After this scene, the differences between the two cuts get more drastic. The theatrical cut goes onto play a scene (which would come up latter in the director's cut) of Takeda, his lover Lady Yae, and other soldiers looking at a mountain range which marks the final barrier before extending Takeda's dominance to Echigo and questioning Kagetora's war title, "the Tiger of Echigo". The directors cut goes into a scene which would be played latter in the theatrical cut of Takeda being shown a bunch of rifles which, due to Kagetora's dislike for them, will give him an advantage in future battles. Again, there is stipulation over the "Tiger of Echigo" moniker.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Both the theatrical and directors cuts synchronize back together with the next meeting of Usami with Kagetora in a house. In the scene, halfway through we see Nami and we have the first dialogue the two characters say to each other in the film. Dialogue is the same and takes up the same amount of time, yet the shot choices are different. The theatrical cut adds in shots of Kaegora looking at Nami pouring a beverage where the directors cut keeps the camera and shots more stagnant (the Kurosawa influence bleeding in) on Nami. The directors cut goes onto show the scene of Takeda, Lady Yae, and some men looking over the mountains and talking of Echigo. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the theatrical cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">The scene is extended with Kagetora and Nami looking out at the rain, with Kagetora asking Nami if everyone’s destiny is pre-determined. It’s after this that the theatrical cut shows the scene of Takeda looking at the guns his soldiers are going to use. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Afterward, both cuts resynchronize to a scene of Kagetora - now with mustache - checking out rifles that his men will use.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the Directors Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">The dialogue about rumors of a traitor to Kagetora is extended on a bit in one take, keeping all in the frame scenic a la Kurosawa. After added dialogue, shot progression goes back to being the same as the theatrical shot. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Different Shot Progressions over same audio</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">The scene where Nami plays her flute for Kagetora and gives him a book on battle strategies is different only in what can be more scenic - a more intimate view of the romantic sub-plot or a more distant view. The theatrical favors the more intimate view where as the director’s cut chooses the distant path. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the Director’s Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Durring this scene, Nami questions as to why Kagetora hasn’t married yet. Kagetora watching Nami walk away in the cherry blossom filled breeze is the same, but afterward, the directors cut has an added short scene of Kagetora riding his horse during a full moon in a cherry blossom field - thinking of Nami (this scene can be viewed in Tetsuya Komuro’s music video for Heaven and Earth). </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the Theatrical Version</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Instead of a wide establishing shot as shown in the directors cut, the theatrical cut has a shot of samurai blowing horns, signaling battle. Additionally in the theatrical cut, the battle is extended a bit before the traitor that Kagetora is weeding out decides to use balls of fire as a weapon. Theatrical cut has more shots of the fireball offensive. There is also more close ups of Kagetora when his envoy is speaking to the traitor of the possible death of his son and wife (right before they are killed).</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Different Shot Progression</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Kagetora praying and meditating after having killed a wife and her child plays out the opposite way in the directors cut. Same shots, different order. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the Directors Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Along with a longer shot of Takeda’s men going to Usami, making Usami a traitor, the convos the two have is extended at the beginning. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Both cuts synchronize to a shot o Takeda talking alone with Lady Yae of establishing a possible naval force. A purple sky shot from a lot earlier on in the theatrical cut is move to after this in the director’s cut. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the Theatrical Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Durring the initial set up for the first real battle between Kagetora and Takeda’s forces, we see Usami talking to Kagetora before we have the shot of Kagetora and his generals looking over the cliff to see the plain filled with Takeda’s men. Director’s cut simply has an extended version of the cliff shot. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the directors cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">With the initial attack (which includes Kagetora establishing bridges to help men enter the plane), the battle starts sooner and individual shots last longer than their counterparts in the Theatrical cut. This includes an extended cut of Takeda asking his men who is Echigo’s best warrior. Theatrical cut has extra shot of Kagetora watching the Battle. The celebratory dance by Kakizaki (the best warrior of the battle) is longer and is of alternate shots in the directors cut.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to Theatrical Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">We have a scene where Kagetora talks to his men before having to gun down Lady Yae. Tetsuya Komuro’s melody for heaven and earth can be seen being played by a soldier playing the flute at the beginning of the shot. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the Director’s Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">When the frame rates for the shots start speeding up to give the scene momentum via slow motion, the director’s cut inserts an image of an enraged Takeda, having learned his mistress is acting on her own accord. Not a necessarily good choice. Shot progression of actual shooting differs from Theatrical cut. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">The next three scenes are of Takeda’s retreat after Yae’s shooting, talk of Usami being a traitor to Kagetora, and Nami talking to her father Usami of his betrayal. It is that order in the theatrical cut, while in the directors cut, it is first talk of Usami being a traitor, then Takeda’s forces retreating and then Nami talking to her father.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the Director’s Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Nami feints after talking to her father about his treachery to Kagetora</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to Theatrical Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">There is an extra shot of Kagetora looking at the sun rise before he writes a letter to Usami, telling him of the learned treachery and of the duel to be had as judgment. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">The battle between Usami and Kagetora is the same dynamic as the scene where Nami gives Kagetora battle strategy books. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to Director’s Cut:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">More shots of grass waving in the wind and of Kagetora demanding entrance to see Nami once she learns that he killed her father. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">In the smoke signal scene, the directors cut has a simple wide shot of the Takeda base raising a smoke signal with horses riding towards the camera. The theatrical cut plays it more complex, with the camera zoomed in on the pale of smoke, only to go onto a wide shot of a mountain range showing the use of smoke signal. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to the Directors Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Takeda’s forces dispatch to the Kawanakajima plain, yet have to maneuver through some foggy mountains. In the Directors Cut, we see Kagetora’s men move in front of them. The foggy Saigo Mountain scene has additional scene in the directors cut of Takeda’s point of view of things, moving Kaegtora footage back a bit. This also includes interesting CG soldiers walking across a map of the area, showing where Takeda was taking his men. Takeda’s discussion of strategy after this is extended in some places in the director’s cut, followed by more CG map footage. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to Director’s Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">News of Nami’s death to Kageotra is drawn out a bit longer in the theatrical cut. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Now, for the rest of the film, there is only the main battle for the Kawanakajima plain. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique to Theatrical Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Shots of spears held to the sky climbing up the hill with chanting is extended, along with added shots of a pleased Kagetora added in. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Unique in Directors Cut</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bfb28f; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Bitstream Vera Sans, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Individual shots of the battle are longer in the directors cut. Alternate close ups are also utilized along with new shots showing Takeda’s use of rifles. By the time Kagetora and Takeda meet, the two cuts have two different battles (both on horseback, fighting on the stream still). </span></span><br />
Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-84986292433513360902012-07-09T13:15:00.004-04:002012-07-09T13:34:17.154-04:00Looking back over DEATH KAPPA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioYRl_K0d75B-3ht49SDneQiPGRV4QzqXViurbhZbrqYOOqJGbWIGYGaIvhDFNQPfUevmSpl4nunOGU6MbLDp_M92y8RzumoJrKwRLC0KhKACyM9zbplmS1Ko7tU5mcBw9cUa5f2vziyVN/s1600/deathkappa-poster2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioYRl_K0d75B-3ht49SDneQiPGRV4QzqXViurbhZbrqYOOqJGbWIGYGaIvhDFNQPfUevmSpl4nunOGU6MbLDp_M92y8RzumoJrKwRLC0KhKACyM9zbplmS1Ko7tU5mcBw9cUa5f2vziyVN/s320/deathkappa-poster2.jpg" width="243" /></a></div>
This is a review for DEATH KAPPA, a film which can be only described as "horsepucky". It is, to an extent, a fun film, but also a boring film. You are either in the mood for this film or not. While watching it this past time, I was a "middle" mood, thus I am on the fence with this film. This film seems to have a message - since a JSDF member says that Kappa taught Japan something it forgot... well... the audience might have learned what he is talking about (not like all of Japan was following the main female protagonist's story like we are).<br />
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Oh yeah, here is the plot of the film.<br />
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Kanako is an unlucky young lady. Many a time in kaiju eiga have Japanese "idols" cast in a film, but this time around, our main character is... or atleast was an idol. The idol curse is the typicall Hollywood trajedy - people love you for so long and then they go on to the next thing. Idols are subject to the buisness side of the entertainment industry - they are products. Sooner or later, the audience will tire of you and go for the next thing. Either that or they will not buy your products at all, making you a bomb. Kanako didn't go anywhere. The materialistic life didn't work out, so screw it, it is time for her to get back to the old country to take care of her grandmother.<br />
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However, when she gets back to the country side, she has a couple of reminders of her life in the big city. Her town is just now getting her merch (which doesn't seem to be selling), and right as she meets her grandmother again, a couple of arrogant teens run over her grandmotheer and leave her for dead - along with bumping into the ocean (with their car) a Kappa shrine. For those who do not already know, the Kappa is a Japanese sprite of shinto belief in which is classified as a goblin with turtle like qualities.<br />
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To fulfil her grandmother's dying wish, Kanako has to take care of the Kappa. It is more of an act of devotion rather actually taking care of a sprite... the wish is like saying to someone to take care of the demon in the basement... until it turns out the shrine dumped into the ocean comes alive and eats the cucumbers which were left out for it.<br />
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This first act is a nice little metaphor for escaping the modern materialistic culture and escaping back into the more spiritual, olden cuture... of Japan.<br />
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Meantime, it turns out that there is a threat within this little town. Problem is, the threat on the surface seems to be good meaning, bringing back the pre-WWII Spirit of Japan. Kanako and the people who ran over her grandmother are kidnapped by decendents of Japaese WWII soldiers who want to bring an elden Japan back... with mutated fish-like creatures which were originaly going to be used in the war. Kanako is saved from these bad guys in a scene which is an amalgram of weird, Saving Private Ryan, and Texas Chainsaw Massacare. It ends with an interesting mix of prctical and CG effects of an atomic explosion. It's the perversion of the drama angle in 1963's ATRAGON.<br />
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Such an explosion releases a seemingly unrelated monster (or maybe related, it is not specified, but the main antagonist monster looks similar to the fish soldiers) named Hangyolas who ravages the big city, the JSDF, kills Shinji Higuchi (or rather a character played by him), and battles in iradiated Kappa - DEATH KAPPA - in a battle which mixes sumo, what we can see in a Bruce Lee film when he gets the nunchaku out, and a little kaiju volleyball from a 1966 Goji film.Afterwards, Kappa rips Japan a few new assholes until Kanako wets his plate (he is a kaiju that needs to stay moist).<br />
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I guess the message is this: Japan was better off idealistically back some time ago, and the modern materialism or the radical Showa-era spirit are pretty bad things. I guess.<br />
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Maybe this whole meta-kaiju movement where kaiju films have to be parodies on the genre is the way of feeling good about something like GODZILLA-FINAL WARS, which wasn't a parody but might as well can be. When it comes to directorial decisions, how do you deal with DEATH KAPPA's style? You try to make a live action anime evidently. That is what the direction seems to be like. An example of anime-esque direction which can be seen here as is the direction is not always logical, rather, acts to add dramatic substance. Sudden costume changes and the flying with the lance shots are evidence of this.<br />
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One has to wonder if this is something which was done to attract the audience. It would make sense. DEATH KAPPA is so over the top like it's brother productions like THE MACHINE GIRL and TOKYO GORE POLICE. Maybe even more. Which brings to the next point to clear up (or maybe just wonder about), the American influence of this film. Of the three companies that worked on this film, the one which got top billing is Fever Dream Productions. Another company credited with producing the film is Tokyo Shock. Connecting these dots, it seems as if Americans cannot do kaiju right.<br />
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But you got to give it to Tomoo Haraguchi for going the extra mile in bringing us this film, seeing how he directed both the human drama and the kaiju action. He has experience directing both types of scenes, having been involved with the SFX of the Gamera and Godzilla series as well as a director of his own films (KIBAKICHI, which is a yokai film). If execution of certain styles shows the utility of a good director, then I guess Haraguchi did a good job. Just that the script which he was given... sucked. With the TWILIGHT ZONE and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE showing their heads of influence, one has to wonder.<br />
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DEATH KAPPA needs a bit, and only a bit, of praise for something though in regards to the SFX side of the production - the creation of Hangyolas. While the suit is meant to look fake, but the kaiju himself looks as if he could kick some major tail. Thankfully, for some individual shots, Haraguchi doesn't go for the documentary approach. It seems almost as if a crane was used for some sweeping shots (even though it could just be the camera moving on track). It is the bit of new wave which is welcomed wholeheartedly.<br />
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DEATH KAPPA isn't in need of much more discussion. It was a project to replicate the kaiju eiga of old while making fun of it. The score has to sound epic and Ifukube-like, the SFX has to show strings with all effort to cover them up thrown out of the window, and it doesn't need to be deep. This film, like most kaiju eiga, are products of a money making machine called the film industry, only DEATH KAPPA is more of this than the other products.<br />
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Death Kappa is a film which can be enjoyable to watch, but if you are not in a "Death Kappa" mood, forget about it. The bad just raises questions about how the poking fun/meta-physic aesthetic works with kaiju eiga and questions regarding the involvement of American companies involved with the production of kaiju eiga. At least the film can be fun though, with it's message of going back to your roots to save the world and in doing so becoming more spiritualistic (if I saw a Kappa, I'd convert to shinto) and crazy mix of anime direction of the human drama and good ole fashioned kaiju scenes (for the most part).<br />
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6/10Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-33165611758924184552012-04-08T13:08:00.002-04:002012-04-08T13:32:00.810-04:00Guy Tucker: The Secret GODZILLA 2 Winner<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GDdp0LJ1xoM" frameborder="0" width="420" height="315"></iframe><br /><br /><div align="center"><em>Skip to 6:29 for the meat of this story</em></div><br /><div align="center"><em></em></div><br /><div align="left">Those who were around for G-CON ‘96 and attended already knew this bit of information. Those newer to the fandom (the author’s generation) probably do not know this. As mentioned in the article about GUNHED (the last article published before this), there were techicaly three winners of Toho’s GODZILLA 2 contest. Jim Bannon, who ended up having his story turn into GUNHED, Shinichiro Kobayashi who wrote GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE, and unofficially Guy Tucker.<br /><br />I contacted a close friend of Guy Tucker’s, August Ragone, and this is what he had to say:<br /><br />"What Guy said was true — I read a copy of the script right before Guy sent in it to Toho. I wonder if I still have a copy of this script somewhere... </div><br /><div align="left"><br />The psychic girl in his screenplay had a direct connection to the antagonist monster — not Godzilla — and her motivation was similar to the girl in GAMERA 3. Revenge. Kind of like Katsura in TMOG, actually. The monster's name was Ankyron. The opening of his screenplay had Godzilla going white-hot from radiation overload — kind of like a meltdown — and attacking Hong Kong."<br /><br />This is most interesting. Chances of ever reading this script is against us, but it does leave some to the imagination. Imagine if things turned out differently, such as Tucker’s script being the one chosen and that elements from Kobayashi’s script were stolen. Fate is interesting. </div>Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-71912920920465367052012-04-02T11:28:00.011-04:002012-04-04T12:36:27.100-04:00The Deal with GUNHED<div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGCy4r1IunjZYiVIsTsuL52Cki7BD_S-T5Ytd6iqhyVWFfsUsTUPqFQK9jMYlhmQ2HROsx5WAerWrFMUTZHSJmMdAF1QKCKwS53SkpQiRdNUbgkFiPA2TGj_PpkaSmRpGlM7dhYv7BNXQ/s1600/GunHed.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 405px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 472px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGCy4r1IunjZYiVIsTsuL52Cki7BD_S-T5Ytd6iqhyVWFfsUsTUPqFQK9jMYlhmQ2HROsx5WAerWrFMUTZHSJmMdAF1QKCKwS53SkpQiRdNUbgkFiPA2TGj_PpkaSmRpGlM7dhYv7BNXQ/s1600/GunHed.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />GUNHED is pretty bad. Thus, this review of the film will be written in such a manner.<br /><br /><br />One can think of it as this: director Masato Harada is going through the news and Koichi Kawakita is talking about what is probably his greatest work: Gunhed. Harada would think, "Shut up Kawakita". Except for the production designer Fumio Ogawa, composers Toshiyuki Honda and Takayuki Baba, and special effects director Kawakita, Gunhed is probably a stain on the resumes of those who worked on it. It is an oddity of the type one rarely sees. A blunder which will make people critical of films like GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRUS think twice about what is an actually bad Toho film.<br /><br /><br />It seems GUNHED was to be released internationally in theatres.* We have some characters speaking fluent English, including Brenda Bakke from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and a black guy who falls under the stereotype that the black guy gets killed first. Turns out, GUNHED was based on one of the stories turned into Toho’s GODZILLA 2 contest. It seems there were three winners. You have Shinichiro Kobayashi, whose script lead to GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE. Then there is Guy Tucker who was unaccredited for the creation of Miki Saegusa and would go on to have elements used in future Godzilla films (a la the intro to GODZILLA VS. DESTROYAH). Finally, there is Jim Bannon. His script was turned into GUNHED. This is what his original script was basically:</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"><a href="http://tohokingdom.com/cutting_room/godzilla2.htm">http://tohokingdom.com/cutting_room/godzilla2.htm</a><br /><br />What we got was Gunhed, directed by Alan Smithee (I thought that the use of that pseudonym was an American tradition). Alan Smithee is actually Masato Harada… which if you keep with credits, Harada is a Japanese Academy Award nominated director who we Americans most likely know as… the main antagonist from THE LAST SAMURAI with Tom Cruise (?). Guess there has been odder stuff out there.<br /><br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 448px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 250px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.hotflick.net/flicks/2003_The_Last_Samurai/003TLS_Masato_Harada_009.jpg" border="0" /><br />The story of GUNHED goes something like this: In the year 2005, a whole island was used for the building of a super computer. Being used to make robots, the system KYRON 5 (Vista model) decides that humans are unnecessary a la TERMINATOR. Instead of risking war on a global scale, they fight the computer on its own island. What better to fight off robots than with more robots. Humanity brings in GUNHEDS, which are not too unlike Gundams or as some internet bloggers have likened too, Transforming tanks. Kyron 5 fights them off with biobots, which are robots made from humans put in a green liquid, and the Aerobot, which is a gargantuan leviathan of a robot. These little Gunheds are like David against the Aerobot Goliath. Two big outreaching claws and three "eyes" which shoot out explosive lasers. Even more ballsy, the Aerobot doesn’t even care about breaking through the compound’s walls and pipes (this island’s structure is like the Dante’s inferno of robot cities) just to get to it’s target. It is a truly bad ass robot. Long story short, the Gunheds were effective enough to make ongoing fighting of Kyron 5 unnecessary. These people nipped that Judgment Day in the bud.<br /><br /><br />Back in the outside world though, computer parts become scarce enough that they are more valuable than gold. Enter our heroes. Flying aboard the Marry Ann (might make you think of COWBOY BEBOP in passing. If anything, it will make you think of Lone Star‘s ride from SPACEBALLS), you have a bunch of bandits who scavenge to sell on the black market. You have the black guy, an Asian chick who can speak English, two Japanese guys who are going to get killed just as easily as the two aforementioned members, Bebe, and our main protagonist, Brooklyn. As in Brooklyn Dodgers. He wears a Dodgers uniform under his clothes (yet his character claims he doesn’t know what it means).<br /><br /><br />The bandits fly down to the island to grave rob the Gunheds (which, at least the one Brooklyn revives latter on in the film, have a real personality to them, so it is pretty bad). Already, they are off to a bad start. Not only will exploring for severed Gunhed parts going to be difficult, but they see that there is a (Walker) Texas Ranger Helicopter smoldering in the background. Something’s up.<br /><br /><br />As the Bandits go through the 200+ levels of the compound, they find some interesting things. Such as an advanced Pepsi dispenser. They also find a surviving member of the Texas Rangers helicopter, Nin (the Star Trek chick). Together, they go looking around. The bandits find what they want, but along the way they end up wanting what Nin was sent to the island to get, a vile of Texmexium (yes, ridiculous I know). Turns out, Texmexium has taken over Nuclear capabilities as the ultimate power source (imagine if Godzilla had some of what those super computers were smoking).<br /><br /><br />It seems as if the Kyron 5 system is still alive enough though. Out of the blue, a biobot knocks Bebe into a vat of green stuff which in turn turns her into a biobot (SUPERMAN 3 anyone?) who is out for one thing: the vile of Texmexium our heroes have. With the Texmexium, Kyron 5 will be back to being fully operational and after a hopeful clean up of the island, will start to rage war on humanity. I could stop now, but there is one other thing which needs to be mentioned in this summary - on the way, Nin and Brooklyn run into two kids - Seven and Eleven. 711. A gas station reference. God.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51m9c9ENIjL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><em>Manga by Kia Asamia</em></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify">C’mon man… there is more cheese, but you’ll have to buy the film to experience it.<br /><br />The direction on the human side of things is nothing spectacular. The writing is full of cheese. The editing (as many internet bloggers have attested to) is of the caliber that should have been bestowed onto Tommy Wiseau’s THE ROOM. Yet the SFX, the production design, and the score help. The film has a definite feel to it. Atmosphere of the type is something not easy to achieve (the opening sequence is really good at this). There is a feeling that you are watching a live action anime (not to make someone think of the craptacular G-SAVIOR). That helps. In fact, it might answer for some of the film’s oddities (such as Seven’s random mannerisms).<br /><br /><br />The important question is how could things like this get so messed up? Like said, the script was cannibalized into something else. What elements were added to the film? Midnight Eye interviewed director Harada and an interesting bit of information came up: "At one point, I wanted to do a sort of remake of SAHARA with Humphrey Bogart, and that kind of story was incorporated into the Gunhed story." Those who want to make comparisons can read what this page has http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara_(1943_film)<br /><br /><br />On top of that, Harada seemed to have already known that Japanese post-production services sucked (At the time). In fact, Harada did some interesting stuff with this information, using it to involve an American company. "So I need the Lucasfilm people to work on the Gunhed sound effects. They agreed with that, so we went to the Skywalker Ranch, near San Francisco, and I had really nice discussions with the staff there. I had already designed all the different sound effects, like one hundred different tones, 10 different sounds for Gunhed alone." Then Toho comes into the picture. "…Toho, when we talked about the budgeting, just cut the post-production part. So although that was a basic condition between me and the producers, they just totally ignored it. And then I had to compromise with the sound people in Japan. So certain things I was promised didn't show up…"<br /><br /><br />But of course, the editing is something which we have to come back to. It’s been an American tradition that the director sits with the editor to edit the film together. Isn’t that the way it is in Japan? If not, it damn well should be, because director Harada seems to have a good head on his shoulders, he was just fucked with a good bit. Editing for GUNHED was done by Yoshitami Kuroiwa (probably doesn’t help to note that the first name has the word "shit" in it). GUNHED is plagued with bad editing. That is something which is not debatable. What is debatable though is weather this was the work of a bad editor or if it was an age thing. For my money, it is the latter. Looking up resumes, Kuroiwa - as it turns out - was a major editor. THE RETURN OF GODZILLA and BYE BYE JUPITER are little in comparison to titles like SWOD OF DOOM and KILL (both of which got Criterion releases). GUNHED was made the 55th year of Yoshitami’s being in the industry. He made his bones early on in the late 50’s and all through the 60’s. Either age was getting to him or Toho’s system changed or he didn’t have director Harada sit down with him. Point being, this is not the work of a bad editor.<br /><br /><br />On the thespian side of things, only one thing can be said: If acting was a priority in this film, then it would only be a priority to two people - Masahiro Takashima and Brenda Bakke/ Masahiro Takashima does a straight foreword job with his role. It is totally believable and isn't as bad as his Japanese or Asian co-starts. Brenda Bakke is an interesting actress though. She plays it all cool, calm, and collective. The fact she does it as much as she does makes it seem as if she is over-doing it. It works in some cases, but not all cases.<br /></div><br /><br /><div align="justify"><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/d_YMFiofEr8" frameborder="0" width="560" height="315"></iframe></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify">Now we can start talking about the good things with this film. Upfront is the soundtrack. Though called repetitive and such, it has a distinct Japanese feel to it. Synth heavy, the work by Toshiyuki Honda and Takayuki Baba gets certain moods out which help compliment the film quite well. Such as the main theme (the video above). It mixes the obligatory techno-feel that the soundtrack should have (due to what the film is about), but other beats in the piece help give the film the general feeling of a technological jungle (which Island 8J0 is).<br /><br />The production design is the best aspect of the film. For $10 million, Fumio Ogawa really pulls it off. Except for some shots durring the main battle, the matting is great. Especially when paintings are used (hence why they are great in comparison to the aforementioned battle shots - paintings don’t move). Another simplistic effect are the wire frames. Considering this came out the same year as GODZILLA VS. BIOLANTE (which used wire frames for some of the pre-battle sequences), GUNHED blows the kaiju film away. Of course, they would be CG enhanced with Kawakita’s Japanese Academy Award winning GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH, but this is really a great exhibition of such a technique. There is even use of CG in the film which, considering the Godzilla series’ progression under Kawakita, was a surprise. A floating mine attracted to human voices featured in the film are rendered in CG are good looking. Why the wait till GODZILLA VS. DESTORYAH for some proper use of CG (this is not including things which can be interpreted as computer simulations a la some shots of SPACEGODZILLA and MECHAGODZILLA) via helicopters? Heck, if the CG used here was of the same quality as the alternate version of Mothra’s wing unfolding, I’ say Kawakita should have kept the shot. Not to mention that the Godzilla films had bigger budgets than this film.<br /><br /></div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 256px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 190px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.toho-a-park.com/event/img/gunhed23-3.jpg" border="0" />Of course, Kawakita isn’t known for his matting shots and his wire frames. He is known for his in camera work. There is no suits, but rather models. But what models. The large canvas the matte paintings serve to illustrate the island with is replicated with models quite nicely. Of course, it is a no-brainer that the most famous aspect of the film - the 1:1 scale models of the Gunhed and Aerobot (made of fiberglass) - help a lot. Of course, these seem to be used only in close up shots (this is not a Ridley Scott film) and there are models (much smaller I’d assume) which do most of the job. But, when it comes to "most of the job" the models here succeed. Maybe because these mechanical monsters are much closer to the size of a human than Godzilla is or that these mechanical structures are more reality-based, but the effects like the Gunhed’s triple-barreled Gatling gun’s effect is one which the viewer would thin "I bed it’ll resemble the effect tanks have on Godzilla, tanks shooting flares". While it is the case, it is much improved thanks to the scale. Of course, of note is the intro to the film, which combines all of the above along with a nice clouds ‘n thunder shot. This really was Kawakita’s masterpiece. If one was to see this via the R2 DVD, one could argue that this should have been the film Kawakita was to have gotten a Japanese Academy Award for. It should also be noted that this film is a favorite of James Cameron. Any Terminator comparisons are warranted, but take note that the AMP suits in Avatar look a good bit like Gunheds.<br /><br /><br />In the end, GUNHED is just Toho’s equivalent of a Michael Bay film. Great visuals, crappy execution of the story. At least GUNHED has a cool story which deserves to be revisited (especially in this post-Matrix world). As for why the story is executed so poorly, it is all in the post production. It seems Toho just did not give a damn. Maybe because of changes within the entertainment industry at the time, things were being changed around and GUNHED was a victim of it. Maybe Toho is just poor that way. To note, turns out Kadokawa (who would buy out Daiei a decade plus some later) co-produced the film. Could this be a reason why a GODZILLA VS. GAMERA would not happen (speaking on a business level)? With Toho’s crooked way of doing things, I wouldn’t doubt it. I’m just happy that the score, along with some aspects of the film at least make the film undeniably Japanese (making it seem as if we follow one specific Gunhed the whole film through, and that Gunhed seems to have a kami, along with a very Japanese-felt soundtrack).<br /><br /><br />*Why I say that GUNHED was aimed for international distribution and that such things as the inclusion of an American actress is not something that was a limitation of the script - Toho could have changed that.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Links:<br /><a href="http://www.toho-a-park.com/event/index.html">http://www.toho-a-park.com/event/index.html</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/Gunhed2039">http://www.youtube.com/user/Gunhed2039</a> <a href="http://www.midnighteye.com/interviews/masato_harada.shtml">http://www.midnighteye.com/interviews/masato_harada.shtml</a></p>Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-83361402564062333892012-02-29T09:43:00.005-05:002012-02-29T17:16:58.979-05:00Review: Mill Creek G3 Blu-Ray<a href="http://www.hairballmedia.com/gamera_trilogy_3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 445px; height: 262px;" src="http://www.hairballmedia.com/gamera_trilogy_3.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span><u><br /></u></span></div><br /><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; "><span><u><br /></u></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>Here we go again. Evan Brehany talking about Gamera 3. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>Thanks to a series of fortunate events, I was able to own the blu-ray release of GAMERA 3: INCOMPLETE STRUGGLE which was released by Mill Creek. The Heisei Gamera trilogy has been a lucky one, looking back on it. All three films are great works for the genre, in particular the third one which is something of a milestone in Japanese cinema. More importantly, the films have been lucky here. Each and every release of the films here in America (on a digital format) has been a great product. Anamorphic widescreen (most of the time), fair picture quality, a wealth of special features which are from Japan (Save some embarrassing material ADV produced), all in subtitles. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>Does Gamera’s luck continue into the blu-ray age? </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>Of course it does. Thanks to the insane cheapness of the blu-ray for GAMERA 3 and the double feature blu-ray of the previous installments, these films are not only among the first kaiju films to be released on blu-ray here in America but are also very accessible to even the most scrooge-esque of collectors. Because of such popularity, this particular product has been noted for it’s three hours worth of material to the trilogy as a whole. Such a package seemed out of the scope of my imagination. Mill Creek Entertainment has been known to bootleg crappy pan and scan prints of the Showa Gamera films for years now (though it seems it is only GAMMERA THE INVINCIBLE is being done now in a multi-pack). This was definitely something out of left field. Almost as big of a turn around as what Classic Meidia showed back in 2007. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>But how does the package handle itself overall?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>VIDEO: 4.5/5</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>I cannot comment on the quality of the high definition transfer. I can only hope it is beautiful. The best special effects the kaiju genre has to show for and I am stuck watching it in 480p due to not owning composite chords or a HDMI chord. I can however speak about different aspects of the picture though. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>In comparison to a copy that I own (sourced from the next to last printing of the R2 DVDs), I can say that the new transfer is better in terms of color. The colors are not as vibrant as what my DVD has, but in return that has something I haven’t noticed before - the amount of bleeding in the picture. It’s not a big difference, but it is noticeable. The bleeding might not even be bad, for it creates a more atmospheric appearance (like how one might like to watch films on VHS). For those who see bleeding as a problem with past releases though, you’ll like this transfer.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>AUDIO/SUBTITLES: 4/5</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>You are going to have to refer to other reviews for more specific and technical based analysis on the disc’s audio. You got two Japanese tracks and an atrocious dub track (I have never seen GAMERA 3 dubbed and I do not plan on it).I will say that even though I am using regular A/V chords to connect my player to my tv, there are some elements which I could hear better than what I could otherwise. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>What should be mentioned here though is the subtitle tracks. No, I am not going to complain about them too much. Either they are too big or they are late. I’d personally have the latter. I can piece together what subtitles go with what section of the video. I will complain about the fact that this is a new subtitle track. I am complaining about it because some of the old mistakes the translation on the ADV DVD release had are made. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>For example, when Nagamine finds out that Ayana has a magatama, we go over to the scene of a phone call in which one whole line for Asagi is, “Magatama”. On the ADV DVD, that is translated not as the proper noun it is “A curved black jewel” (a magatama is a magatama, to say “curved black jewel” is like replacing a proper noun with descriptive adjectives). It is worse on this commentary track in which the line is translated as, “You found one?”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>There is also noun misusage when Ayana tries to prove herself to the female bullies at school by going in and trying to lift the rock out of the cave. Ayana asks what is in the cave only to be told “…a monster or something” (line is basically the same on both releases). The antagonist chick does not say monster, rather yokai. Yokai like gappa or one of those things from Daiei’s Yokai series (Great Yokai War anyone?) It seems Japanese terms are being ignored. That’s part of the charm of the Gamera trilogy, they are more Japanese than their Heisei Godzilla counterparts.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>One improvement was better though. After Gamera’s attack on Shibuya, you have Ayana’s little brother calling her to come see what is on the television. On the ADV DVD, the subtitles translate what he is saying (which sounds like “ohniynjah”, clearly not “Ayana”) as “Ayana”. On the new translation, it is read as “Come quick!”. Easier to believe. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>SPECIAL FEATURES: 5/5</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>For you Gamera die hards and fans out there, this is the reason to get this one disc. In fact, because of this reason, every fan in every country - including Japan - should own this Blu-Ray. The answer is simple - the three hours of material on this disc is material sourced from the Japanese laserdisc box sets for all three films. That is a big deal. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; ">The fact of the matter is this - three main companies handled the video releases of material pertaining to the Gamera trilogy. You had Amuse Video, Daiei Video, and Kadokawa Video. The model was like this: never copy something from one medium to another. If something was released on VHS, do not put it on laserdisc or DVD. If something was put on laserdisc, do not put it on DVD or VHS. Even in Japan, if something was put on DVD, VHS, or Laserdisc, it did not go onto the blu-ray. The Japanese blu-ray for the Gamera trilogy only had one special feature - a three part feature (just a whole bunch of interviews edited together and split into three parts). Unless you had a laserdisc player or bought materials from an illegal source, there was no looking at the special features in the laserdisc box sets.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>Until now. Even more interesting, Mill Creek Entertainment has gone the extra mile to even subtitle the material for us. Not everything from the blu-rays are on here now. For example, the laserdisc box set for GAMERA 3 did contain the music video for “Tell Me Once Again”. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>Rightfully so, most of the material on the blu-ray belongs to GAMERA 3. It starts off with a Gamera test which shows off the terrible sliding the back shell platelets were prone to. After this and the material for the first two films are over with, there is the “REVENGE OF IRYS REMIX”. To those who do not own the G3 LD Box set, this feature was actually supplemented with a book. The remix is basically the sound mix/track (sound effects, dialogue, ect.) for areas of the film that used SFX and instead of the scenes playing out like they do in the film, they are made up of corresponding B-ROLL footage. For example, with the atmospheric battle between Gamera and Irys, Gamera ramming himself into Irys would be shown via two guys holding shoulder and head props of the kaiju with the following attack changing to in-progress CG work. You see what computer programs and such the production team used. You can edit in each of these bits into their corresponding places within the film and you wouldn’t go out of the 108 minute running time (and if you do, it is just by a little). It is quite a unique feature.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>There is also G3 trailers, which unlike the ADV DVD do not come subtitles (for the record, for those who didn’t get it, the vertical line of text at the beginning of some of the trailers is the same text that goes up the beam of light Irys is producing on the poster. It says “I will never forgive Gamera”, which is quite more hefty than “Godzilla dies”).They are not as plentiful as the ADV DVD either. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>The best piece is the deleted scenes. Sure, the subtitles are out of sync for this, but at least they do not take up the entire screen. While some say the deleted scenes help answer things about the film, they actually (for me) form more questions than answers. While I can see why they would be cut out, the deleted scenes with Asakura Mito and Kurata Shinya should have been kept. Would have helped with the mythology. Such as further allusions to the I, CHING, the questioning of Nagamine’s theory that the Gyaos truly were biologically engineered, and such would have been so grand. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE gets the short end of the stick here, with just a short little tidbit. But what a tidbit! Talking about specific equipment the crew has to use and specific camera lenses and such really are great for those wanting to learn about the technical making of a kaiju film. Adds to a dictionary such as “oh, that prop is a kapock figure” or “those guys helping out the suit actor are Gamera kakari”. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>GAMERA 2 has basically just a bunch of b-roll. With the material being sourced from a laserdisc, it should come as no surprise that there would be problems. The images on screen are too dark for a section. But, it is not all that bad. The making of the Legion suit, the b-roll with certain scenes and such really is interesting. Just too bad that some of the more important things, like the quick usage of motion capture in GAMERA 2 wasn’t in with the clips. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>That being said, this is great when it comes to the actual making of the films. Yes, as it has been said, those who are completists should definitely keep their ADV DVDs. No doubt about it. But, both products together gives one quite the comprehensive insight. Again, if there has to be one reason to pick up this disc, this is the reason. With the Japanese laserdiscs going for over $75 (the GAMERA 3 laserdisc rising towards a $200 price ticket), it is wise to buy this blu-ray. This goes for fans in every country. Germany, China, Mexico, Iraq. If you are a kaiju fan who cares about seeing making ofs and such, you should get this rather cheap disc. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>OVERALL:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>Originally, I was going to hold out for the Japanese blu-ray box set. Thanks to finding an unused gift card under the oven, I was able to buy this blu-ray from Walmart. To have thought I would have waited for such is inconceivable. The film is presented nicely, and probably greatly if I had a HDMI chord or composite cables. The extras are the selling factor of the release and are a must. Only bad thing to say it is with neither release the subtitles for the special features are perfect. Chances are, if you are as well informed as me in your research, you have been bits of the special features on youtube (They were uploaded on there before the blu-ray was release, sans subtitles), but the G2 material is new to me. And it is subtitled. It’s great! </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>4/5</span></div>Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-41264443868657295302012-01-30T00:17:00.006-05:002012-01-30T00:27:21.884-05:00Review: AKIRA<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYB81AmAStNln-SxqEr728_LYglrbQ-h9IXHrLpS6jypkN6InIyAKIWHHz4OSbNmlialLOwxdlCfT07QuF2KXLXnbeHCmgyvtvMy2r0W43am438IDpWmMDHgDm8ACWV94UIbc2iyEYpQY/s1600/akira.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYB81AmAStNln-SxqEr728_LYglrbQ-h9IXHrLpS6jypkN6InIyAKIWHHz4OSbNmlialLOwxdlCfT07QuF2KXLXnbeHCmgyvtvMy2r0W43am438IDpWmMDHgDm8ACWV94UIbc2iyEYpQY/s320/akira.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703291735412491170" /></a><div><br /></div><div><div>This is my AKIRA review for Tohokingdom.com. It seems that the reviews were ultimately not taken down, but in advent that the main site might go down due to unforeseen events, I want to go ahead and make a back up here. If I had anything to say about this piece, I have to say that it is one of my favorites. Along with trying to think of interesting ways to describe the film and be through with my review, I also (like the ONMYOJI review) drew inspiration from the late Guy Tucker. Particularly with his review for Matango, his inclusion of production notes and anecdotes was truly inspirational. Now, if I have any regrets of the sort about this piece, it might be the comparisons with the score description. I'm on the fence on weather or not I was over doing it, but it is one of my favorites.</div><div><br /></div><div>Enjoy!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>By Evan Brehany, 4/5 Stars</div><div><br /></div><div>Before anime became a national obsession for outcast teens, before most high schools had the now regular anime clubs, and before Toonami or Adult Swim or any of that, anime was next to unheard of. Only remnants of series like Gatchaman and Gigantor (aka Tetsujin 28) kept the memory alive. Instead of having something like Dragon Ball Z or Pokémon come into the general public’s mind when talking anime, there was one film which made the stylistic medium big and noticeable. This was it. With production processes that were unorthodox in Japan and with style and substance unorthodox to Americans, Akira shook the ground and garnered critical acclaim, while accumulating the first anime fans (who would screen VHS copies of the film at their local colleges).</div><div><br /></div><div>Akira details the troubled mind of Tetsuo, who’s life gets turned upside down as he becomes the fifth person (that we see on screen) to develop telekinetic powers in the world. Tetsuo, who has an inferiority complex, is part of a biker gang run by Kaneda - a childhood friend who keeps putting him down. The biker gang, along with a rival clown gang, government rebels, and the general public live in Neo-Tokyo, a man-made island which takes up most of Tokyo Bay. Neo-Tokyo was born out of the destruction of Tokyo, which not only brought upon another world war but also public awareness of one of the original four individuals who had telekinetic power, Akira. Tetsuo struggles with his maturing powers along with a vengeance against a society that had always put him down as Kaneda, along with some rebel militants, try to save him. Meanwhile, discord in the government is afoot as corrupt politicians - prepping up for the 30th Olympics to take place in their city - try to cut off the military’s operation on containing individuals with ESP abilities.</div><div><br /></div><div>Knowing full well that this is an adaptation of a notoriously large (2,000+ pages) work by Katsuhiro Otomo, things would be cut when written into a single film‘s screenplay. Hence, it is easier to talk about the film’s shortcomings rather it’s exceptional feats. There are many themes handled in Akira, but some that are surely underdeveloped would be the political side story. Obviously, we can see that the politicians are meant to be lampoons of their real life counterparts, but the theme is clearly underplayed. You do not feel anything one way or the other when one of the politicians (trying to escape Neo-Tokyo with millions in bonds and a mouth full of blood pressure medication) dies in the street. There could have been more substance with this aspect of the story. We are given Neo-Tokyo as a reflection of the Tiger Country-Era of Japan, but little is successfully accomplished.</div><div><br /></div><div>The other aspects are handled well. Tetsuo’s inferiority is detailed in the cause and effect, though it is not terribly cerebral when it comes to getting into the mind of the character. It is a more original way to carry out what could be interpreted (in part) as a revenge film (and even larger, a film about an individual with ESP, more on that subject next paragraph). It should be said though that Tetsuo’s revenge against his oppressor and wanting to break free had indeed put him in the wrong, after all, great power comes with great responsibility. If you abuse it, you lose (i.e. too bad you had an inferiority complex, you've got a bigger job to do). The use of power is also used in a way akin to the Christian concept of sin - abuse it and it controls you instead of you controlling it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another theme the story tackles is the use of ESP, something executed differently than the norm. The take on ESP in general is different than what an American (or maybe a Japanese viewer) could expect. Not only is it more violent and graphic, but it also shows the effect it could have on human life - from aspects such as friendship to whole social orders in metropolises. Additionally, many critics have pointed out more undertones of the film though, such as the fact that Tetsuo developing his telekinetic abilities could be seen as an allegory for teens and their experiences going through puberty.</div><div><br /></div><div>When it comes to anime though, one aspect of a film gets easy to review since directing, cinematography, set design, and other such areas tend to roll into one. That is the animation itself. Akira was, at the time, a groundbreaking production having involved animation techniques like pre-scoring the audio. Though expensive, it allowed for lip synchronization. Along with certain lighting techniques executed during the Asahi Production's transitioning of the art into film cells, this production has a lot more night scene than a normal anime of the time, and shows a lot of detail without having to go for the usual bluish colors normally used to signify night with definition.</div><div><br /></div><div>Additionally, with the pre-scoring technique, the images of anime characters are no longer as stagnant as they once were. The lip movements are based on acting done before lip moments are animated, giving a new layer of reality to the already detailed and layered artwork which exhibits artistry and detail more common of the most experienced engineers. And to say layered, it means that multiple sheets of plastic containing images are placed over the other - giving a faux three dimensional look to the film. One of the great things about the animation is that it works for both the non-anime and anime cottoning peoples - the female characters are not overtly cutesy, the good guys and the bad guys are not overly obvious via the size of their eyes, and other such stereotypes for anime are avoided.</div><div><br /></div><div>With the presence of pre-scoring, the portrayal of the characters by the actors and actresses are important here. The film is filled with voice stars to be, including Mitsuo Iwata as Kaneda (who tokusatsu/Henshin fans may know from the Japanese version of Power Rangers Samurai,Samurai Sentai Shinkenger and part of anime series such as One Piece), Nozomu Sasaki giving voice to Tetsuo (Sasaki would go on to voice the lead in Yu Yu Hakusho), Col. Shikishima being acted by Taro Ishida (famed Kingdom Hearts actor and part of Juken Sentai Gekiranger), and the good doctor Onishi voiced by Mizuho Suzuke (who has done the dubbing on such films as the original Star Wars Trilogy as Darth Vader and The Godfather as Vito Corleone). Akira is limited in regards to female characters that matter, but in that corner we have Mami Koyama (ofGiaking fame) voicing Kei and Tetsuo’s girlfriend Kaori being voiced by Yuriko Fuchizaki (Kiki's Delivery Service).</div><div><br /></div><div>It is tough to grade voice work in that you pay much more attention to the vocal tones and amount of flamboyance in the vocal performance, unlike a traditional film performance in which body languages plays a good part of the overall act. It is easy to compare the original Japanese language audio compared to the 2001 Pioneer-commissioned dub track. The Japanese actors make the film seem more "real" - less stereotypic sounding than the American dub track (common of other anime dubs, as well). No over-exaggerated diction to over-clearly show "what's happening" between characters in the Japanese vocal track. That is the problem with American dubs to an extent - they are stereotypic to the situation. The Japanese acting is more soulful and really does the film justice as a whole, except for the "Discipline" scene in the beginning of the film (which the dubbing adds to a good bit).</div><div><br /></div><div>The music is what gives the film it’s most (at-first) alienating quality. The music isn’t anything less than extraordinary. It is somewhat of a benchmark, as Akira Ifukube was not only brave enough to use ostinato but produce a more Western score than what was the norm at the time with Godzilla, or Nobuo Uematsu taking a song he had already written, making the sound more operatic with larger orchestration, and infusing a metal edge to it for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. For Akira’s score, a musical group known as the Geinoh Yamashirogumi (lead by Tsutomu Ohashi) was given a demanding task for the score. Two things were demanded of their skill - for the score to sound futuristic while holding to a sensibility relatable to the (then) modern sensibilities, coupled with the request that the score be conducted before the film was even finished, much less without whole scenes being ready.</div><div><br /></div><div>Variety is what makes this score a positive listening experience. With that edge, the score not only pushes away from the usual (and possibly all-too predictable) scores of cinema but also gives us something new to listen to (which is why the music may alienate first time watchers). Ohashi utilizes both organic and inorganic sounds for the soundtrack, with it’s futuristic sound coming from a source that is timeless - a 16-beat pattern which is said to be in the human DNA. The instruments made to comply with this musical framework are what seems to be somewhere around five hundred voices, the Indonesian Angklung (a bamboo instrument), the gamelan (which is played to the pelog and slendro musical scales which go along with a 16 rhythm), and more. In addition to the sound module method and the chanting of character names, the music captivates the viewer and of itself should be a reason to re-watch the film. When you listen to the soundtrack by itself, you find out that the piece entitled "Requiem" is actually played at the beginning and at the end. Its versatility makes it so that at the beginning it is what energizes the viewer into the film with a build up of momentum and when the more choral parts come into play at the end, it all comes together to make your viewing soar.</div><div><br /></div><div>Akira is a film that went against the grain in terms of substance, style, and execution, and while it may not be as great in terms of story telling as it’s manga counterpart, the style and execution is something to still be marveled at. It was a ground breaker in Japan and what saved the anime fandom in the US. There are valid reasons why AKIRA was on Empire’s "100 Best Films Of World Cinema " list. Just keep an eye out for who else may be watching with you, the film does have mutation scenes more gruesome than John Carpenter’s The Thing, brief nudity, and animal death (two German shepherds).</div></div>Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-63774331862123350162012-01-27T12:52:00.005-05:002012-01-30T00:58:16.767-05:00Review: SHINOBI: HEART UNDER BLADE (2005)<a href="http://cdn.mydramalist.info/images/titles/1000.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 350px;" src="http://cdn.mydramalist.info/images/titles/1000.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div>This is something which shouldn’t surprise a lot of people - kaiju films (of either the scientific or fantasy genres) are not the main tokusatsu films anymore. Tokusatsu means special photography. So, of course, anything with special effects or visual effects can be considered tokusatsu (though now, it does have to come from the Land of the Rising Sun). Thus comes films like SHINOBI: HEART UNDER BLADE. The film’s SFX were such that Shochiku had a demonstration of the making of the SFX at the TFT Tokyo Fashion Town building (West Wing), done by Kazuhiko Mino (who IMDb doesn’t have an adequate page on). </div><div><br /></div><div>It is also interesting that the type of film SHINOBI is has a good bit of appeal from many different cults. Not just Japanese cinema otakus, but also from anime fans (who can count the film as a sort of non-official adaptation of BASILISK) and a breed of fan quite their own, modern chanbara fans (people who would actually pair this film with Kitamura’s AZUMI, which I thought was interesting to say the least). What should we make of SHINOBI?</div><div><br /></div><div>For those unfamiliar with the story of BASILISK, SHINOBI concerns the Kouga and Iga ninja clans (who you might have seen play very small roles in films like MAKAI TENSHO). Knowing that these two clans have skills which make them dangerous to “normal” society, Tokugawa Ieyasu and his advisors plan on wiping out both clans by having them fight each other (meaning having to break a bond the clans made with the Hatori Hanzo family). If this doesn't succeed, then the plan is to cannon ball both clans in an act of gross genocide. It is masked as a competition to decide the successor to Ieyasu Tokugawa. This isn’t too good of a thing, for there is somewhat of a Romeo & Juliette affair afloat - a young man from Kouga and a young woman from Iga love each other. But fate has it be that they are in charge of their clan’s representative groups. </div><div><br /></div><div>Oh the drama. </div><div><br /></div><div>Seeing that this film is admired on three fronts, let’s grade it from those first. Most importantly is the CGI. Using Maya and even creating new functions within it (Mesh Aniport), the result that Japan comes up with still look different than American, Korean (Younggu-Art), or German (Centropolis) CGI works. The look is just different. This concerns things like creating whole environments like the Kouga clan’s village's mountain side and crevasse which is set upon. Is it necessarily good? Well, if we were talking about the end result having to look realistic, Japan has only a bit more to catch up upon . The Japanese are getting better. One problem with films like GAMERA 3: INCOMPLETE STRUGGLE (which helped pioneer CG usage in Japan), matching a CG model to it’s analogue doppelganger, was a challenge. It is less of a challenge now, and unless you see making of documentaries which show off pre-visualization and in-progress shots, you wouldn’t know that the character Tak Sakaguchi (VERSUS) plays is for a good bit of time CG (knowing what the actor has been willing to go through (chipping of teeth), I would think he’d be alright with crane work). Knowing that this was a 2005 film, I can just imagine what Japanese CG looks like now (I have yet to see the latest film adaptation of BATTLESHIP: YAMATO).</div><div><br /></div><div>From an action point, it can be considered one which trades dynamic direction for more interesting weapons. To continue a comparison with Kitamura’s AZUMI, Kitamura is a more dynamic director of action than Ten Shimoyama (maybe because this was Shimoyama’s fifth feature). The variety of angles, camera movements, and the flow created from such is something Kitamura should be commended for. SHINOBI should be commended for being more imaginative with what actually happens than how it is depicted (though the film does get more stylized as you go on, to match up with the abilities of the Shinobi). A variety of weapons from all over the place (not just Japan) are used (this is given detail in a behind the scenes tidbit on the DVD), even to the point that it compliments a character played by Kippei Shiina (who, in this films, shows that he could be a live action Sephiroth if a live action FINAL FANTASY VII film was to be optioned). Only thing to be criticized is that some of the chosen five die to quickly in the movie in too quick a fashion. </div><div><br /></div><div>As for being an adaptation of the manga/anime… I have no earthly idea. Nor would I think most in America’s anime clubs would know either. Knowing that it is officially an adaptation of THE KOUGA NINJA SCROLLS by Futaro Yamada, I cannot speak of that either. </div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking from regular film criticism, Ten Shimoyama does a good job with the film when it comes to everything having an elemental feel. Safe except from a questionable is-it-or-is-it-not-a-green-screen-shot, the feeling of nature is in the film almost as if Haruhi Kadokawa directed this. Of course, modern influence is helping the feel along with color filters (brown for the Kouga’s mountainous village and an aquatic blue for the Iga’s river-side village). That isn't to mean that the usage of such isn't as bad as it is here in America, where as natural colors cannot come out due to the filters. The characters that end of mattering the most are given the best shots while the other shinobi are introduced with their name on screen and everything (similar to Hugo Stiglitz's part in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS).</div><div><br /></div><div>If anything should be criticized, it should be the writing. Even though there is a likely chance that SHINOBI was written in a way that it wouldn't be over 2 hours long, SHINOBI is a film which I would have wished they went all the way into a 2.5 hour film and I think it would have still succeeded in the success it has had. As mentioned, some characters die too quickly and the way which they are killed is just as swift. The only characters who are given development are the ones who can make it passed the 1 hour mark. The rest are dead meat. This is sad for some of the Shinobi on both sides sound like they could have some pretty interesting story arcs. Instead, one might think that they are used only to convey one ideal in a conformist fashion that our main two characters (Gennosuke and Oboro) do not seem to think it is right: since Shinobi are raised to do battle, that is what they must do otherwise, there is nothing. Take the characters either way you must, either undeveloped or used to flesh out a certain philosophy. </div><div><br /></div><div>What we have when it comes to the film is a basic study of shinobi in the world. What is their place, and how will the outside world tolerate them? Forget that a bunch of the characters within the two ninja clans are having philosophical troubles about weather or not they should fight. There is a much bigger picture. It is a VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED type situation we have. It is like that in which there is a breed of humans who have skills above that of the rest of the human population. Natural selection or artificial selection will occur one way or another. The chances of co-existence aren't existent. So, artificial selection seems to be the choice the lesser-skilled majority choose. Meaning, they choose to kill off the Shinobi. </div><div><br /></div><div>What does the film do with this?</div><div><br /></div><div>Just shows that regardless of the Shinobi being human also, the majority will still execute the genocide. That of course is brought to an end when the Shinobi seem to symbolically give up practicing their art (Oboro destroys her eyes at the end of the film). More could have been done with this theme, but to complain about it further would serve to only show off philosophical skills and such, which is not the point here.</div><div><br /></div><div>The actors in the film are of a good quality. Jo Odagiri (who seems to have been under some fire from the Henshin otaku recently) plays Gennosuke. The multiple award winning actor has won Japanese Academy Awards for work he has done such as Bijomaru in AZUMI (the character Tohokingdom bashed for being too feminine (which I thought was actually a good thing)) comes back and does a more "manly" job this time around. He actually does as good of a job to let the audience know (when watching the film subtitled and in Japanese like it should be viewed) that what seems like over acting in the English language isn't when you can speak Japanese. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yuki Nakama, gravure model and a person that the readers of this blog will probably remember as being adult Iris' first victim before getting her boyfriend in GAMERA 3: INCOMPLETE STRUGGLE. The use of models and such in films is something even America does (take a look at Michael Bay's work). The comparison though is one which makes perfectly clear that either the Japanese are just naturally better at the theatrical arts or their directors are a lot better. Nakama, along with Odagiri, shows full emotions and is a character that I felt some remorse for by the end of the film. She does a good job, but not as good as the rest of her cast, which except for one other person doesn't add up to much. </div><div><br /></div><div>That person would be Kippei Shiina. The person referred to as a male Sephiroth earlier plays maybe the most interesting character of all - a nearly immortal Shinobi. Having foreign weapons and the insight of an old person, he actually ends up telling Odagiri's character certain aspects of the Shinobi's place in history. He even has a poetic death. Shiina is an award winning actor, but to think that he has not won an Academy Japanese award and Odagiri has is truly something to ponder about. He knows how to play wise. Just too bad we don't see more of this character. </div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, SHINOBI is a film which if given a longer running time would have been a better film via more development and maybe more meaning. But for what it is, it is an enjoyable film which entertains and is distinctly Japanese in flavor and will please many the Nippon eiga otaku. Action is good, the basic study of the shinobi's place in the world is interesting, but it is just too much of a studio film to reach the horizons that it could have broadened itself to. </div>Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7135097931530205916.post-20430196472817098112012-01-09T19:54:00.000-05:002012-01-09T19:55:26.355-05:00State of the Blog 2012It is 2012, thus it is called for to type up a sort of "state of the union" address to you, the patrons of this blog. 2011 was not a very good year, and this is not on the basis that the news feed was bad for the year. The amount of news being miniscule and less than that of 2010 was to be expected. What is bad though is that I have learned that as you get older, real life crashes down and burdens come up, only to show that you not only have priorities, but such priorities are going to tire you out more often than what you are used to. I used to pump out material, but not anymore.<br /><br />.<br />Of the misfortunes which have plagued me the last year (and those who know where to look know of what I speak), the most important to talk about would be the fate of my laptop. My HP Pavilion laptop (which I have had since summer 2008) is finally breaking down. Basically, my computer is literally dieing of old age. Long hours of use year around has taken it’s toll and the future of it isn’t clear. What is clear is that to fix whatever problem I seem to be experiencing, it usually calls for long periods of waiting followed by longer periods of restarting the poor laptop over and over again. It seems to be a weekly cycle.<br /><br />.<br />If I am on the net, I will hopefully get stuff done. I told a person, who I was forwarded to on good terms, that I would help promote a certain documentary which will excite kaiju fans who can speak English while also rekindling friendships which I feel bad for abandoning. More writing will be done, and hopefully better writing, even if I have to start doing it in longhand and wait to type it up digitally. The DAM DVD review was meant to be edited but due to certain problems it hasn’t been possible. By the time this is posted, it will have been edited. Writing will continue again, though to tell the truth, doing writing on Japanese films is hard without a reliable computer source (just the way things are).<br /><br />.<br />If there is anything which anyone wants, feel free to post a comment at the bottom. Remember, I have to approve all comments thus if you do not see it appear immediately, do not panic, it’s all cool. I just want to leave on this note: hope that a piece of SPACE MONSTER GUILALA I have been working on for some time will eventually get completed (anyone who can translated Japanese and would like to team up on this please contact me).Evan Brehanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01394914193791312069noreply@blogger.com0