Godzilla
01-01-2005, 11:43 PM
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00066KWCY.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
DVD Review
Movie Rating: *** out of ****
Extras Rating: ** out of ****
Movie Review: The first movie of the Godzilla Millennium series to actually be a sequel to a previous Godzilla movie other than the original, in this case if follows up 2002's Godzilla X Mechagodzilla. 2003's Godzilla: Tokyo SOS isn't nearly as good as GxMG, but it's a satisfying end to the Kiryu "trilogy" (trilogy is arguable, since other Kaiju movies obviously took place in between the original Godzilla and Godzilla X Mechagodzilla. The only ones that are confirmable are Mothra, Frankenstein Conquers the World, and War of the Gargantuas. One could easily place other Kaiju films like Rodan or King Kong Escapes into this timeline as well).
Masaaki Tezuka has already solidified himself as an excelent Godzilla director. His first Godzilla film, Godzilla X Megaguirus, was a wildly entertaining (and refreashing, I might add after the very serious toned Heisei series) flashback to the good old days of the Showa series. Those monster battles were the most fun fights I've seen in a Godzilla film in years. His second film, Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, was outstanding. He really made Mechagodzilla come alive and the character given to Godzilla is undenyable. Godzilla: Tokyo SOS is his third Godzilla film, and it's his weakest. He does get a lot of things right, but they seemed to be seperated into blocks so the audience can view them one at a time.
The most blatant problem was the characters, who aren't as interesting as they were in Godzilla X Mechagodzilla. The very, very hot Yomiko Shaku does return to the role that helped make Godzilla X Mechagodzilla better than most of the other Millenium Godzilla movies, but in Tokyo SOS it's a mere cameo. I couldn't help but wonder how she would have handled the situations in this movie had she been the main character instead of the ones that were given. The new characters on the block aren't as interesting until the final thirty minutes where they really shine with some heroic moments that make the second half more thrilling than the first, so they're not a total loss.
The story of this movie actually reminds me of another trilogy wrap up that came out in 2003 (which ironicly also involved big ass robots), the Matrix Revolutions. The first half of the film gets that pesky plot out of the way, and during the second, all hell breaks loose. The rsesult is one of the most extensive fights in Godzilla history. Is it worth the noticably Godzilla-less first half? Kinda. The fights weren't as fast or furious as Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, but they're cool enough.
As for the monsters themselves, Godzilla and Mechagodzilla both seem to take a backseat this time around, but what really shines is Mothra. I'm not a fan of Mothra, and I probably never will be. Everytime I see her, I shudder, because puppetry on flying creatures has always been shakey in Kaiju films. This is especially noticable in the case of Mothra because she's supposed to be elegant and graceful, but ends up bulky and clumsy. However, Tokyo SOS is the first time Mothra ever felt real to me. Her movements are absolutly perfect. Bravo effects team. You've done the impossible.
I've been very satisfied by Toho's Godzilla offerings lately. Godzilla's been on a winning streak of wonderful films since 1995. Godzilla: Tokyo SOS doesn't break that streak, but it's the weakest Godzilla film since 1994's Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (although it's still better than that), and out of the five I've seen, the weakest of the Millennium series so far. But like the likes of Back to the Future, the Matrix, and Evil Dead, the Gojira X Kiryu trilogy is something that I'd love to experience back to back to back in the near future seeing how it's a continuous story. Kind of like a Gojira, Gojira Reloaded, and Gojira Revolutions.
Millennium movies ranked:
1. Godzilla 2000 ****
2. Godzilla X Mechagodzilla ****
3. Godzilla; Mothra; King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack ****
4. Godzilla X Megaguirus *** 1/2
5. Godzilla: Tokyo SOS ***
Extras Review: Writing a DVD review of a Japanese Kaiju flick that went straight to DVD may seem pointless at first, however, I think of it as a way to get word out to other Kaiju fans whether the disc is actually good or not. In this case, TriStar's heart seemed to be in the right place when it came to extra material, but royally screwed up in the spots that may seem like "minor details" to them. While it may be minor in a way, it does become bothersome and irritating.
Japanese language with English subtitles: This is exactly what I'm talking about in the above paragraph. While I'm extremely excited about TriStar releasing these movies with their original Japanese language, would it be so hard not to screw up the subtitles? Their previous recent Godzilla release, Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, came with subtitles that translated the original Japanese language. This time, they've gone back to their old tricks in just subtitling what they put into the English dub. Usually, this would be a minor annoyance, but it's turned major when it causes some inconsistant continuity with Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, which this movie follows up. In that film, in the Japanese language and in the English dub I might add, they refered to Mechagodzilla as Kiyru (which added a wonderful bit of freashness to the updated Mechagodzilla, if I do say so myself). The Japanese version still refers to him as Kiyru, however TriStar decided to screw with the continuity by refering to "Kiyru" as Mechagodzilla or just Mecha G. OK, big deal. What makes this annoying to me is that they did a splended job with keeping the original lines in the subtitles last time, but, like I mentioned before, this time around they decided to sub their own dub so we get a bunch of scenes with characters talking about Kiyru and refering to him as Kiyru, but the subtitles telling us they're saying Mechagodzilla. Maybe it's just a pet peeve, but I'd at least like consistancy.
English dub: Once again, inconsistancy is the problem. Like I said above, they even refered to Mechagodzilla as Kiyru in the English dub of Godzilla X Mechagodzilla. This time they throw it out the window. Very annoying. As for the dub itself, after being spoiled with the original Japanese language, I can't listen to the crap voice actors that TriStar hires so I only listened to bits and peices. The conclusion is the same one I always come to when I listen to a TriStar dub: Same old crap.
Toho Produced Behind the Scenes Featurette: Finally, a real goody. It's fun to see the Godzilla suit in action on a stage, and this a nice little feature because of it.
Previews: (In zombie voice) Must buy DVDs. Product placement tells me so.
Godzilla: Tokyo SOS Japanese Teaser (Good for them for including this. Why couldn't they do this with other releases too?)
Godzilla: The Series - Monster Wars (this is actually an old add for videos released in the late ninties for the cartoon series based around the 1998 Godzilla movie. It's an odd choice to use to advertise the Monster Wars DVD since it never mentions Monster Wars or DVDs at all. As for Monster Wars itself, I saw it a long time ago, but they were probably the best episodes of the series' run)
Godzilla Compilation DVD Trailer (advertises Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, Son of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Godzilla 2000, Godzilla X Megaguirus, Godzilla; Mothra; King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, and Godzilla: Tokyo SOS. The only footage in this trailer is from Tokyo SOS, so it gets rather tedious to hear them talk about other movies)
Steamboy (I'll pass. Not into anime)
Kaena: The Prophecy (looks...weird. Maybe it'll be of interest to some people, but I'm not going to give this trailer a second glance)
Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid (Can't blame Sony for trying. They probably figured that a sequel to a giant rubber snake movie would appeal to the people who bought the giant rubber lizard movie. Didn't work. The original was crap, and I'm staying away from this one. Unless I'm in an MST3K mood)
Get to the damn point already: Godzilla: Tokyo SOS is the weakest of the Millenium series so far. But I still haven't seen Final Wars. While the DVD may be "less than perfect," what did you honestly expect? It's Godzilla. Not Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or Hero or one of those artsy asian flicks. Die hard Godzilla fans are going to buy this DVD regardless just to see their hero in action. Just be warned, their great subtitle job on Godzilla X Mechagodzilla seems to have been an accident. This is their "apology."
DVD Review
Movie Rating: *** out of ****
Extras Rating: ** out of ****
Movie Review: The first movie of the Godzilla Millennium series to actually be a sequel to a previous Godzilla movie other than the original, in this case if follows up 2002's Godzilla X Mechagodzilla. 2003's Godzilla: Tokyo SOS isn't nearly as good as GxMG, but it's a satisfying end to the Kiryu "trilogy" (trilogy is arguable, since other Kaiju movies obviously took place in between the original Godzilla and Godzilla X Mechagodzilla. The only ones that are confirmable are Mothra, Frankenstein Conquers the World, and War of the Gargantuas. One could easily place other Kaiju films like Rodan or King Kong Escapes into this timeline as well).
Masaaki Tezuka has already solidified himself as an excelent Godzilla director. His first Godzilla film, Godzilla X Megaguirus, was a wildly entertaining (and refreashing, I might add after the very serious toned Heisei series) flashback to the good old days of the Showa series. Those monster battles were the most fun fights I've seen in a Godzilla film in years. His second film, Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, was outstanding. He really made Mechagodzilla come alive and the character given to Godzilla is undenyable. Godzilla: Tokyo SOS is his third Godzilla film, and it's his weakest. He does get a lot of things right, but they seemed to be seperated into blocks so the audience can view them one at a time.
The most blatant problem was the characters, who aren't as interesting as they were in Godzilla X Mechagodzilla. The very, very hot Yomiko Shaku does return to the role that helped make Godzilla X Mechagodzilla better than most of the other Millenium Godzilla movies, but in Tokyo SOS it's a mere cameo. I couldn't help but wonder how she would have handled the situations in this movie had she been the main character instead of the ones that were given. The new characters on the block aren't as interesting until the final thirty minutes where they really shine with some heroic moments that make the second half more thrilling than the first, so they're not a total loss.
The story of this movie actually reminds me of another trilogy wrap up that came out in 2003 (which ironicly also involved big ass robots), the Matrix Revolutions. The first half of the film gets that pesky plot out of the way, and during the second, all hell breaks loose. The rsesult is one of the most extensive fights in Godzilla history. Is it worth the noticably Godzilla-less first half? Kinda. The fights weren't as fast or furious as Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, but they're cool enough.
As for the monsters themselves, Godzilla and Mechagodzilla both seem to take a backseat this time around, but what really shines is Mothra. I'm not a fan of Mothra, and I probably never will be. Everytime I see her, I shudder, because puppetry on flying creatures has always been shakey in Kaiju films. This is especially noticable in the case of Mothra because she's supposed to be elegant and graceful, but ends up bulky and clumsy. However, Tokyo SOS is the first time Mothra ever felt real to me. Her movements are absolutly perfect. Bravo effects team. You've done the impossible.
I've been very satisfied by Toho's Godzilla offerings lately. Godzilla's been on a winning streak of wonderful films since 1995. Godzilla: Tokyo SOS doesn't break that streak, but it's the weakest Godzilla film since 1994's Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (although it's still better than that), and out of the five I've seen, the weakest of the Millennium series so far. But like the likes of Back to the Future, the Matrix, and Evil Dead, the Gojira X Kiryu trilogy is something that I'd love to experience back to back to back in the near future seeing how it's a continuous story. Kind of like a Gojira, Gojira Reloaded, and Gojira Revolutions.
Millennium movies ranked:
1. Godzilla 2000 ****
2. Godzilla X Mechagodzilla ****
3. Godzilla; Mothra; King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack ****
4. Godzilla X Megaguirus *** 1/2
5. Godzilla: Tokyo SOS ***
Extras Review: Writing a DVD review of a Japanese Kaiju flick that went straight to DVD may seem pointless at first, however, I think of it as a way to get word out to other Kaiju fans whether the disc is actually good or not. In this case, TriStar's heart seemed to be in the right place when it came to extra material, but royally screwed up in the spots that may seem like "minor details" to them. While it may be minor in a way, it does become bothersome and irritating.
Japanese language with English subtitles: This is exactly what I'm talking about in the above paragraph. While I'm extremely excited about TriStar releasing these movies with their original Japanese language, would it be so hard not to screw up the subtitles? Their previous recent Godzilla release, Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, came with subtitles that translated the original Japanese language. This time, they've gone back to their old tricks in just subtitling what they put into the English dub. Usually, this would be a minor annoyance, but it's turned major when it causes some inconsistant continuity with Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, which this movie follows up. In that film, in the Japanese language and in the English dub I might add, they refered to Mechagodzilla as Kiyru (which added a wonderful bit of freashness to the updated Mechagodzilla, if I do say so myself). The Japanese version still refers to him as Kiyru, however TriStar decided to screw with the continuity by refering to "Kiyru" as Mechagodzilla or just Mecha G. OK, big deal. What makes this annoying to me is that they did a splended job with keeping the original lines in the subtitles last time, but, like I mentioned before, this time around they decided to sub their own dub so we get a bunch of scenes with characters talking about Kiyru and refering to him as Kiyru, but the subtitles telling us they're saying Mechagodzilla. Maybe it's just a pet peeve, but I'd at least like consistancy.
English dub: Once again, inconsistancy is the problem. Like I said above, they even refered to Mechagodzilla as Kiyru in the English dub of Godzilla X Mechagodzilla. This time they throw it out the window. Very annoying. As for the dub itself, after being spoiled with the original Japanese language, I can't listen to the crap voice actors that TriStar hires so I only listened to bits and peices. The conclusion is the same one I always come to when I listen to a TriStar dub: Same old crap.
Toho Produced Behind the Scenes Featurette: Finally, a real goody. It's fun to see the Godzilla suit in action on a stage, and this a nice little feature because of it.
Previews: (In zombie voice) Must buy DVDs. Product placement tells me so.
Godzilla: Tokyo SOS Japanese Teaser (Good for them for including this. Why couldn't they do this with other releases too?)
Godzilla: The Series - Monster Wars (this is actually an old add for videos released in the late ninties for the cartoon series based around the 1998 Godzilla movie. It's an odd choice to use to advertise the Monster Wars DVD since it never mentions Monster Wars or DVDs at all. As for Monster Wars itself, I saw it a long time ago, but they were probably the best episodes of the series' run)
Godzilla Compilation DVD Trailer (advertises Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, Son of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Godzilla 2000, Godzilla X Megaguirus, Godzilla; Mothra; King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, and Godzilla: Tokyo SOS. The only footage in this trailer is from Tokyo SOS, so it gets rather tedious to hear them talk about other movies)
Steamboy (I'll pass. Not into anime)
Kaena: The Prophecy (looks...weird. Maybe it'll be of interest to some people, but I'm not going to give this trailer a second glance)
Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid (Can't blame Sony for trying. They probably figured that a sequel to a giant rubber snake movie would appeal to the people who bought the giant rubber lizard movie. Didn't work. The original was crap, and I'm staying away from this one. Unless I'm in an MST3K mood)
Get to the damn point already: Godzilla: Tokyo SOS is the weakest of the Millenium series so far. But I still haven't seen Final Wars. While the DVD may be "less than perfect," what did you honestly expect? It's Godzilla. Not Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or Hero or one of those artsy asian flicks. Die hard Godzilla fans are going to buy this DVD regardless just to see their hero in action. Just be warned, their great subtitle job on Godzilla X Mechagodzilla seems to have been an accident. This is their "apology."