The End of the King Lizard.... (Merged "Godzilla Retired")

[Kilmore]

I saw one of the more recent Godzilla movies last year or so, and one of the Japanese guys made an off-handed comment that "a similar monster went through New York in the late 20th century". So I guess that according to the Japanese, there's "Godzilla" (the American) and there's "Gojira".

 

[Mog Elffoe]

Hmmm... that's an interesting perspective. And I liked that movie much better than the original Godzilla movies anyway, which is probably why I liked that movie better!

To me, watching the American Godzilla movie was like watching a Superman movie where they decided Superman wasn't going to be Clark Kent, wasn't going to have super-strength, invulnerability, the power of flight, AND they decided to change his costume.

 

[aliensex]

To me, watching the American Godzilla movie was like watching a Superman movie where they decided Superman wasn't going to be Clark Kent, wasn't going to have super-strength, invulnerability, the power of flight, AND they decided to change his costume.

Oh, you mean this movie?

 

[Desdichado]

To me, watching the American Godzilla movie was like watching a Superman movie where they decided Superman wasn't going to be Clark Kent, wasn't going to have super-strength, invulnerability, the power of flight, AND they decided to change his costume.

To me, it was like watching Tim Burton's Batman after watching a marathon of that 60s TV show with Adam West. Not that Tim Burton's Batman was really all that excellent, but it sure makes the older material look laughable.

 

[Mog Elffoe]

To me, it was like watching Tim Burton's Batman after watching a marathon of that 60s TV show with Adam West. Not that Tim Burton's Batman was really all that excellent, but it sure makes the older material look laughable.

Personally, I never really cared for Burton's Batman. Good production value and design, great music, and that's about it. It is, of course, miles better than either of Schumacher's films. >shudder<

The older material, though, was MEANT to be laughable. The 60's Batman TV show was a comedy. It's supposed to be goofy and laughed at. Granted, a lot of the Godzilla films made in the 60s and 70s were pretty silly fare made solely for children and was also MEANT to be laughable, but even if the only Godzilla film you've ever seen is the first one from '54 you'd realize that Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin totally dropped the ball with their movie. There are more than a couple Godzilla films with an entirely serious tone that they could have drawn inspiration from. The makers of the American Godzilla film did not understand what made Godzilla special and cool. 'Giant lizard' was all they could come up with. That's like calling a movie 'Superman' and just making it about any old 'spaceman.'

 

[Desdichado]

You're not telling me anything I don't know; other than that Godzilla is supposed to be something other than just a big monster that stomps on cities. Certainly, my viewings of several Godzilla movies as a kid didn't impress me with the concept that the "character" was any deeper than that. Yet you clearly seem to be saying that Godzilla has something special and cool that I'm unaware of.

 

[Ranger REG]

I dunno. I'm of the mindset that Americans bought Japanese properties and butcher it into a bastardized version of entertainment, with the exception of the few.

I still prefer the original Godzilla.

 

[Desdichado]

I dunno. I'm of the mindset that Americans bought Japanese properties and butcher it into a bastardized version of entertainment, with the exception of the few.

I still prefer the original Godzilla.

Sure, and I'm sure many people do. I'm of the opinion that the original properties weren't that hot to begin with and the American version of Godzilla was the best thing that ever happened to it. I'm not sure how Americanizing the movie bastardizes it, though.

 

[trancejeremy]

Godzilla 2000 is now showing on TNT.

It's one of the better Godzilla movies

 

[Ranger REG]

Sure, and I'm sure many people do. I'm of the opinion that the original properties weren't that hot to begin with and the American version of Godzilla was the best thing that ever happened to it. I'm not sure how Americanizing the movie bastardizes it, though.

Call it culture clash.

I should consider myself lucky to have been around long enough to see the original Japan-produced Godzilla films.