SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
The subtitles alone make it too much for a 5-6 year old I think, and yeah it's a bit intense/violent by Godzilla standards. My condolences, I hear Wish is a real pile.
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Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Just theaters. And you definitely want to see this one in a theater if you can.
0neAnd0nly
Member
We didnt for Shin, so I would hope so…
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The Sum of Zero
Member
I've been recommending the movie to alot of people I know. Many of them ask why it's called "Minus One", and this meme seems to explain it well to them lol
Toons
Member
Again, this movie was good but... this meme is just asking for pandering. I thought we were supposed to be against that?
This movie gives you a human story and real world allegories as well in a neat way. Even if you weren't asking for that.. its something appreciated.
Rat Rage
Member
I can confirm: the movie is great! Given the tiny budget (for a full-fledged movie production), it's simply amazing how awesome the CGI looks! The cinematography is top-notch, also! This is the best Godzilla movie in a long, long time, way better than any of the westernized ones, which have come out in the last couple of years.
SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
So this is officially the second biggest opening weekend for a foreign language film behind Hero (the Jet Li movie that rode on the Crouching Tiger Wuxia wave), which is impressive considering that it had basically zero marketing spend behind it. It was projected on previews to gross 7-8 million but now it's looking like 11-12.
Interestingly, this is actually quite a lot bigger than the Japanese opening weekend of 7.8 million. For comparison, Shin Godzilla opened to about a half million on opening weekend in the US and made about 97% of its total gross in Japan.
Still, I can't help but feel like this would have been a lot bigger with a marketing spend. Audience awareness hasn't really penetrated the mainstream, and I think they're counting on word of mouth to give it legs. That's definitely possible, especially in the winter months, we have seen foreign films like Parasite and Crouching Tiger leg out into the new year and sometimes even grow week over week. It'll be interesting to see where it goes from here.
Interestingly, this is actually quite a lot bigger than the Japanese opening weekend of 7.8 million. For comparison, Shin Godzilla opened to about a half million on opening weekend in the US and made about 97% of its total gross in Japan.
Still, I can't help but feel like this would have been a lot bigger with a marketing spend. Audience awareness hasn't really penetrated the mainstream, and I think they're counting on word of mouth to give it legs. That's definitely possible, especially in the winter months, we have seen foreign films like Parasite and Crouching Tiger leg out into the new year and sometimes even grow week over week. It'll be interesting to see where it goes from here.
Tal Shiar Agent
Member
It was good. much better than the train wreck that is Shin, but it was very lacking. The acting was awful in a way that I didn't expect from a Godzilla film and it was very by the books.
Trilobit
Member
I think the difference is that if you go to a pizza restaurant and buy a pizza you don't want mouse turds in it. Disney insists on putting shit in their movies. Good chefs know that while the customer wants a pizza, there is still lots of room for creative decisions within that frame. But they don't serve you a hamburger and ask you to shut up and eat it. Nor do they serve you a pizza with excrements.
So it's a breath of fresh air to actually get something enjoyable without pandering or The Message in it.
I haven't seen the movie yet though, but all the high praise makes me want to pre-order the tickets asap.
Toons
Member
Not everyone agrees with you that... whatever you're talking about... is excrement.
It seems more like if I don't like bacon on my pizza so I'm suggesting that no pizza should have bacon.
But as I just pointed out you kinda want pandering. You jsut want them to pander to YOU rather than "them". Or you and NEVER them.
I dont think thats reasonable. And most of what gets called "the message" to me is ill defined, and largely inconsistent.
The fact you're saying this without even having seen the movie is also telling. Because plenty of movies, and games, got great word of mouth that have what you would describe as "the message" in it. Which goes back to my pizza and bacon analogy.
Trilobit
Member
Nah, I don't want pandering. I like to be challenged. The kind of excrements I was talking about is when the creators insist on The Message being the focal point instead of the story. And pandering replacing good character arcs.
Toons
Member
If you say so. I've seen some examples where I'd agree, and plenty I would not.
SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
I think you're inventing a narrative where Disney movies are bombing because they're "full of woke" or something rather than because they're just mediocre and samey.
Wish has a nonsense plot and forgettable songs and is attempting to coast on borrowed goodwill from Frozen. The Marvels is the 750th movie in the franchise, fairly mediocre, and targeted at younger girls who are very much not the core Marvel demographic. Neither have any discernable politics to speak of. Meanwhile Barbie made a billion dollars.
MrTroubleMaker
Member
DeathGuise
Member
This movie is fucking awesome
MaestroMike
Gold Member
Bout to watch this ish right now only me and one other couple in the theater
newtypepilot
Member
saw it earlier today. Overall it's a good film. If you expect typical old school Godzilla film, you'll like this. That said, it is not without its flaws. The story is a bit campy and there are some plot holes here and there, but it's an entertaining film. The VFX is also hit or miss in certain parts of the film, but considering that it only had a budget of $15m, roughly 10% of Godzilla vs Kong's budget, they overachieved. (meanwhile, Disney spends $25m on a single she-hulk episode ROFL)
oh if you are ww2 buff, the yukikaze is featured in this film as well. And like her real-world self, she's literaly plot armor. They got a lot small details right, like having the name of the ship written in english instead of katakana across her freeboard.
I didn't like they killed off Noriko only to bring her back in the end. It defeats the emotion impact it had on Shikishima. It was also done in a very cheesy way with the neighbour receiving the obvious news that she's alive right after he leaves on his "final" mission. I guess she survived beacuse she's infected with Godzilla's tissue, which had regenerative capabilities. If there's a sequel, are they gonna introduce characters that are infected as well?
oh if you are ww2 buff, the yukikaze is featured in this film as well. And like her real-world self, she's literaly plot armor. They got a lot small details right, like having the name of the ship written in english instead of katakana across her freeboard.
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MaestroMike
Gold Member
Lol this movie is dramatic enjoyed enough though liked seeing the warships and planes reminded me of dunkirk the last part
FeralEcho
Member
Oh no....that 40 year old lady with children from the gaming forum who has no time to read Yakuza subtitles will be devastated.
Really pleasantly surprised to see such high scores.
FeralEcho
Member
To be fair wanting a normal movie without fucking real life political garbage in it and none of the mental retardation of the woke nation is not pandering but the brain rot has installed so swiftly and comfortably in some of you that that shit is normal to you.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Movie was good! A little too melodramatic for me, that sappy kinda stuff works better in anime than live action. But I still liked all the characters. The effects were only bad in a couple scenes (mainly the nightmare which looked like a scifi original); otherwise visuals and audio were excellent. Music goes hard in the 3rd act.
SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Melodrama is the right word, and I think it's almost a big of a nod to Japanese postwar films, and that style of acting and emoting. I really liked it! But I also like old Kurosawa movies and the like.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Pretty much how I felt as well. I was waiting for the modern EDM bass drop on some of those throwback tracks, lol.
Overall I really enjoyed it, he looked menacing while in the water,and homie never skipped leg day.
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SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
How much action is there compared to say Gerath Edwards Godzilla which had 11 minutes of screentime for Godzilla?
I dont want to go there to see two 5 minute long scenes of godzilla fucking shit up.
I dont want to go there to see two 5 minute long scenes of godzilla fucking shit up.
SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
A LOT more action, and more evenly spaced through the movie. There are, I think, four major action sequences involving Godzilla in this one, and they're nicely spaced out and all of them are super memorable and great.
I couldn't really tell you what the actual time Godzilla spends in frame is, but that's not really the point, so much as the fact that he is used effectively as a threat throughout several meaty action scenes.
My big issue with Gareth Edwards' Godzilla is that he kind of blue balls the audience for the first two acts, and Godzilla only really gets going in Act 3. Also a lot of that screen time is Godzilla dealing with MUTOs, rather than humans dealing with Godzilla, as in Minus One. I think the latter is a lot more visceral and compelling.
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NecrosaroIII
Ask me about my terrible takes on Star Trek characters
I was under the impression it was a symptom of radiation poisoning.
0neAnd0nly
Member
I like Legendary G ok - but Minus One is better than ANY of them by a long shot.
There is dramatic story in between Godzilla appearances, but the other poster that replied to you nails it best - every time Godzilla appears it is very, very memorable because it is epic, frightening, and weighs on the moment.
I really think you would be in a very small camp if you DONT find this movie excellent. The movie is a war drama, a tragedy, and a horror-monster movie that drives happily through your entire range of emotions.
It isn’t final wars, monsters fighting for an hour - but Godzilla’s presence is always epic and you won’t forget it (imo).
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SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
ok. i will go watch it tomorrow. thanks!
Shouta
Member
The overall amount of Godzilla time is not that much more than Godzilla 2014, I think, but it's more evenly spaced out and it's humans directly against Godzilla rather than Kaiju on Kaiju with humans being in the middle. The action comes in at the right points which bolsters the immensely fantastic human story that is the core of the film. It's by far the easiest Godzilla film to recommend. You will not be disappointed by this film unless you really wanted a kaiju brawl which we'll be getting with the new Godzilla x Kong film in a few months.
I think Godzilla Minus One is actually pretty unique among Godzilla films because of that human story. It's not like there haven't been interesting human characters with interesting stories in the others but it's still all within the scope of a kaiju flick. They're there to help move the story along and for the audience to a little something to chew on. It's the reverse here with the human story being the main course in this film and with Godzilla being there to move the character's story forward when he shows up. It's much easier for viewers to engage with this setup than the reverse.
SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
A lot has been said about the human story and characters, but I also think it has to be said that the human perspectives in the action scenes are pretty atypical of this series.
In the old movies this was a technical limitation. You couldn't really blend rubber suit antics with human scale characters very convincingly. But even in the Legendary movies they really focus more on the monsters battling each other.
Minus One keeps the focus on human perspectives at all times, and it makes the action sequences a lot more thrilling.
Shouta
Member
All of the Legendary films do some great perspective shots to show scale when necessary but they do use the monster perspective more since they're all technically monster mashes to some degree.
Minus One has to focus on the human perspective because of the story and well, there really isn't another one, lol. And honestly, only Shin is even in a similar ballpark for a Toho film. 1984 has some pretty cool composite shots for the time though!
FunkMiller
Member
Godzilla works best when he is used as the allegory for nuclear destruction he was invented to be.
Toho could seriously make a killing by making a Godzilla movie that felt like a kaiju version of Oppenheimer.
Unknown Soldier
Member
I just got back from the theater. I saw it on the IMAX screen and it was fucking amazing. The people who say this was the best one since the OG are not kidding. I cannot think of another Godzilla film short of 1954 which I can rank above this one, including all of the recent American films.
If Toho can keep it up with this kind of quality, the Reiwa era of Japanese Godzilla is going to be the best of them all. On the one hand, yes I can see how the budget was only $15 million. But holy fucking shit did they get every dime out of that budget.
Alright, I'm ready for some monster mashing now in March when the American Godzilla franchise releases it's next $200 million big budget spectacle.
If Toho can keep it up with this kind of quality, the Reiwa era of Japanese Godzilla is going to be the best of them all. On the one hand, yes I can see how the budget was only $15 million. But holy fucking shit did they get every dime out of that budget.
Alright, I'm ready for some monster mashing now in March when the American Godzilla franchise releases it's next $200 million big budget spectacle.
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Unknown Soldier
Member
The deal with Legendary to create the American franchise has also brought Godzilla to the American mainstream film watcher in a big way, which is how this Japanese subtitled foreign film was able to be released in American theaters for the first time since Godzilla 2000. It's because of the success of the Legendary franchise that fans of the Japanese franchise can be eating so good like this.
The best part of this is how G-1 beat Wish this weekend at the box office. If that's not a microcosm of what the American film industry is like right now, I don't know what is.
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Billbofet
Member
Just got back, and I thought it was incredible. It has the right amount of humor, melodrama, action with just the right amount of cheese.
Each time Godzilla shows up it's memorable and meaningful and the ending set piece is spectacular.
I cannot wait to see it again and listen to the soundtrack until that happens.
Each time Godzilla shows up it's memorable and meaningful and the ending set piece is spectacular.
I cannot wait to see it again and listen to the soundtrack until that happens.
I don't see how this only cost 15 mill. Did every one work for free? It was incredible, powerful, and riveting. Even the leads most ardent attempts to whine, sob, and pout his way out of everything didn't ruin my enjoyment. Disney, WB, and Paramount need to sit down every single one of their executives, producers, and creatives and make them watch this movie and then question where THE FUCK those 200 million dollars are going for current american films.
The Sum of Zero
Member
And the release has been extended to December 14 in US theatres.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Godzilla Minus One: The Japanese film that’s 2023’s best action-blockbuster
Monster movie Godzilla Minus One is taking the US by storm, after reportedly being made for a mere $15m. Does it show where Hollywood is going wrong, asks Caryn James.
www.bbc.com
The movie was just solid and honestly felt off at times. Like it felt like it should have been more serious but the acting was overly dramatic. The overly dramatic acting though is fairly normal in a lot of Japanese shows. They should have picked different actors but I can understand why they picked some of these people since they are pretty famous or at least I can recognize them from other things. I'm more used to Godzilla being a friend to humanity than a territorial beast who includes humans as being trespassers as well.
SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
It's a deliberate style choice, the film kind of throws back to old-school melodrama. I can see why people who are less used to this get thrown by it -- my daughter did as well -- but I liked it.
SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Shin came out in theaters in 2016, but it was a pretty limited release and didn't do big numbers.
But yeah I think the Legendary movies got Americans to think of Godzilla more as "big" movies rather than the rubber suit B-movies past generations grew up with, too.
Like it was a problem for Godzilla 1985 that American audiences expected the movie to be campy and funny, because of their experience with the Showa movies. And the studio wanted to force that in the dub, despite the more serious tone, but Raymond Burr apparently wouldn't go along with it, so they ended up with the mess we got.
I was trying to convince my dad to watch this movie, for example, and he couldn't get over his association with the campy goofy Godzillas of his youth.
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I get the style of choice I just don't think it was done well. It felt more like they didn't quite know what kind of acting they wanted. If it was just pure melodrama then I can go with it but then it would have a bunch of serious/normal interactions and the over the top acting would not match. Maybe if they cut the movie a bit shorter and removed the day to day life stuff and just kept with the melodrama style then it would have worked better for me.
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