Why The Godzilla Movies Went From Serious To Silly
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- Опубліковано 20 жов 2024
- Godzilla started out as a serious franchise about a giant nuclear monster in 1954. But overtime the series became one filled with comedic fights, anthropomorphic creatures, aliens and robots! In this video I talk about how the movies changed and talk about the movies that made that happen the most. Going back to not only entries in this monster’s franchise, but also an American creature’s as well!
#Godzilla #Movies #Film
So technically it was Son of Kong's fault.
I don’t know if I’d say that but they went in a more silly direction because King Kong vs Godzilla was a gigantic hit. It was a goofier movie that appealed to a wider audience like kids and families which started in Son Of Kong. I do think it’s weird that Godzilla fans don’t really acknowledge the old Kong movies because they aren’t Toho, yet Toho acquired the character to make into a movie. After they found out they could make money off going in that direction they kept doing more and more like every other big budgeted franchise until it became unrecognizable to what it started out as. I think there’s even a dub of Godzilla vs Megalon that’s called King Kong: Demons From Space or something haha
@@Dragoncurve Fair point.
@@Dragoncurve agree that it was king kong vs godzilla that show being silly make money. It try to go back the first two movies with godzilla vs mothra. then we had godzilla vs the astro monster which had godzilla and rodan playing vollyball and cursing with foul language. I think then it really started doing down the kid friendly route after that.
@@Dragoncurvehi klayton can you talk about the heisei gamera trilogy in the next video please happy new year 🎆🎇✨️🎉🎊🎈
@@Marveryn I agree was watching King Ghidora and saw godzilla and Rodan playing volleyball
The original Godzilla is what helps a "generic" monster stand out in the middle of a whole bunch of similar monsters, by having true meaning. But the silly Godzilla is what makes him an icon, and making him a real character. Godzilla capacity to adapt to what he needed to be at that moment is what helps him still relevant to this day.
I agree with you and Godzilla is my all-time favorite fictional character in movie history.
Silky Godzilla 🤤
Honestly I love Godzilla so much that almost no matter what they make him look like. I'm ok with it. The only thing that bugs me about it. Is when they change the story from Godzilla being a destructive monster that leaves a party of destruction in his wake. So long they leave that streak of good he has in him as a protector of the Earth. It took me to become an adult and rewatch all the older movies to really realize that Godzilla was a metaphor. As a kid I always seen us humans as the real villain's. I can remember crying my eyes out every time they would do a fight and Godzilla would appear to have been killed. But that feeling I got when the other monster's were destroying everything and him coming in at the right time. Got my blood pumping immediately. I still love it today whenever that happens.
This mix of King Kong and Godzilla does feel reminiscent of how Legendary has treated Skull Island/Hollow Earth, as this replacement for Monster Island. Kinda cool, even if unintentional.
Godzilla vs the Thing (Mothra), was very good and treated with serious undertones: greed, murder, the atomic destruction of Infant Island, and forgiveness. Plus, you never knew if Mothra had what it took to defeat Godzilla due to her end of life. I loved that the two larvae were able to complete the battle while a teacher and her students were saved. One of my favorite movies of any genre.
Batman and Godzilla the only ones that can go from serious to goofy then back to gritty. It’s a testament of how great they are and why they are iconic
Sometimes I get the impression from fans that they think a dark and gritty tone is the only way to get general audiences to take Godzilla seriously, and I know this is a hard pill to swallow but that tone doesn't hold well for more than one movie and is NOT the way to get the G.A. to take the franchise seriously and not be seen as a joke if that is goal most fans hope could be accomplished. Using Genndy Tartakovsky's PRIMAL as the best example that comes to mind: the show is pretty dark and violent, but it has fun moments, relaxing moments, happy moments, heartwarming moments, and even comically funny moments, moments where the show knows when to lighten up to strike up a balance, none of them ruins the show and it worked better off for it, it didn't come off as something that took itself so seriously it was afraid to lighten the mood every once in a while.
GODZILLA can strike that balance too, and I personally think the MonsterVerse (as well as Heisei and Millennium) already have struck a good balance between taking its own material seriously enough but still being fun to sit through and not be afraid to have some funny moments when they can, especially with the monsters which makes them feel more like fleshed out characters rather than generic, mindless Hollywood beasts.
I wonder if the Godzilla franchise would be as long-lived had it NOT turned silly. Most of the other kaiju franchises from the time, like say Gamera and Ultraman, were largely aimed at children. Could an exception to the trend have gotten much traction? I have nothing to ground this on other than my own idle thoughts, though, so I could well be wrong.
Side note: Godzilla vs. Megalon was the first one I saw in theaters instead of on Saturday afternoon TV. It was awesome!
No, it would not. I always say that the dark and serious tone doesn't hold well past one movie, you need to lighten up a bit if you aim for longevity.
That's an interesting question to speculate about. We'll never know but it is good meat for a debate.
It's easy, the answer the question as to why Godzilla become more silly over time is because (to quote John Hammond) "KIDS!" (that and Gamera had a part in making Godzilla silly too). In fact if you watched the documentary from Animal Planet that came out many years ago called "Animal Icons: It came from Japan" they explain as to why that is. 👶🦖🧒🐢
I loved that documentary growing up. Had John Carpenter in it I think
@@Dragoncurve Yep, not only was he in it but also George Takei, Tony Timpone (editor of the Fangoira Magazine), and even Roland Emmerich and Mattew Broderick are briefly in the documentary.
Son of Godzilla is unironcially one of my favourite Showa Godzilla films. It’s fun and goofy but has a super heartwarming ending that demonstrates that even the toughest people can show love to your kids. In a time when parents in Japan didn’t show much love and were quite stern to their children, Godzilla was there to teach you it’s completely normal to loosen up.
I remember when I got into fights, as a kid, I literally used many of Godzilla's battle tactics. I didn't always win, but those tactics actually worked! For instance when I was in a fight with the neighborhood bully, I improvised Godzilla's move of swinging Hedorah by the tail and then letting him go, resulting in Hedorah smashing hard into the ground. But since I couldn't do that irl, I simply swung the bully by one arm and then sent him flying. It was fantastic!
Always a great day when Klayton talks Godzilla! Definitely came when I got notified and left a like! I won’t lie I do have nostalgia for the silly Showa era Godzilla films but my favorite Godzilla movies are definitely the more serious and more darker tone stories! :)
That's a lot of fish.
It's kind of like how Gamera vs Barugon is the darkest of the early Gamera films: no "Kenny", no goofy stuff (apart from Barugon's powers - ice from the tongue, rainbow lasers from the back), people getting murdered, but otherwise the other old Gamera films were goofy until the Heisei trilogy. I guess the original was also meant to be serious, but the Kenny and his turtle obsession make it less so.
Yes they did get silly like with the tail slide or him using his atomic breath as some type of proportion system to fly backwards. Godzilla versus the Smog Monster was one trippy weird movie. But I like it.
Off camera Hedora and Godzilla were in the trailer crib getting high inbetween takes. Fearful that Godzilla may lose his commitment as an imposing monster on camera....Toho gave Hedorah the pink slip. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I never thought of that. King Kong was the one that made the showa Godzilla movies silly. But I still love them to this day. Thx for explaining this to us man.
@Joshua 1992 That would be a cool crossover to see. What about Optimus Primal from Beast Wars vs Kong?
The history of the two franchises are so undeniably tied together. Of course, there have been other influences on both series as they have evolved and changed over the years, but they are linked together to the point where Kong has been sized up to Kaiju size since his bout with the King of Monsters. Even now, Kong is just a part of Godzilla’s Monsterverse. The two of them are the most recognizable Kaiju monsters, and stand shoulder to shoulder with classic monsters such as Dracula and the Frankenstein’s Monster.
Great video! Thanks for the entertainment!
The Gamera franchise also has it's influence on the franchise. While it's first movie was also serous, it took a turn faster then Godzilla did. Gamara was more popular then Godzilla for a long time in the Japanese box office, especially with kids. Hell that's exactly why Godzilla films had "Kenny's" in them, because Gamera did. It flipped tho, as when Godzilla went goofy goofy again and then retired Gamera picked up the slack in the 2000s, and took massive ques from the Heisei series.
I really enjoy your videos they feel like a homage to the old style you tube like when you had cinemassacre and it was just all about the fun of the monster movie.
Godzilla is usually portrayed as a destructive force of nature without any malicious intent, not truly a villain.
I think godzilla is at his best when he is evil. That's why GMK is my favorite godzilla movie.
@Cruiz Lee yes, GMK Godzilla is truly an evil monster and he's a giant Collective Spirits of War World II Victims.
@@cruizlee214 Personally I always found that movie overhyped. For me it went quickly downhill after the Baragon fight.
@@minicle426 how did the movie go down hill when the movie is no different from how it started, godzilla is still a threat and kills the latter 2 underdog kaiju. The movie is no different from its original pitch
@@Kaiju-bm4ts Godzilla's Personality in Original 1954 Film:
Godzilla, in the original Godzilla film, is a creature whose underwater habitat was completely destroyed by a hydrogen bomb test, which killed his entire family and left him burned and scarred, ultimately mutating him. Enraged and driven from his home, Godzilla took out his rage upon humanity, destroying any boats that he encountered and later laying waste to the city of Tokyo, sparing no one.
It seems to be quite common for movies to go from a darker film to a more family friendly style
Jurrasic Park for sure! The franchise has definitely copied the Godzilla films. Like the T. Rex fighting other dinosaurs is a complete rip off from Godzilla.
Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer
Waltons was friendly as Beverly Hillbillies without being as stupid.
@@garrisonnichols807 Jurassic Park copied Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost world that predates all those movies including King Kong.
Yup, Freddy Krueger turned into a puppy in his last movie in the original series.
My first Godzilla movies were the 98 version (which to me is an awesome movie)
And the Biollante movie. So you can see the night and day intro.
I genuinely grew up with both and recognized both as their own monsters, and both left a perfect imprint of the two in my mind. I was surprised how goody the Japanese Godzilla actually was- and of course being a kid I tried to watch them all. And being a small child, I didn’t understand the concept of in order watching. So I got VERY mixed impressions of the famous monster. Looking at it now- yeah. Still all over the place. Granted my taste of course lean to more mature movies, so OG Godzilla is king, Biollante is forever my true love of the series- most of the movies are still fun to experience.
Godzilla, for better or worse, is iconic and still embodies what we look for in a modern kaiju.
@Joshua 1992 because it was an entirely different kaiju. Even in its own movie it was said to be named Godzilla “after a mythical Japanese sea monster”.
The 98 Godzilla is not a Godzilla, but a different animal entirely, fondly named after its “predecessor”
@@RogueT-Rex8468 legally godzilla 1998 is still a godzilla, you're mixing up g98 with zilla. Both of which are 2 separate characters who share the same design. There's no predecessor in g98, the creature is called godzilla after a mythical creature same say gojira in 1954 was called that.
@@Kaiju-bm4ts I’m not mixing anything up at all. We’re talking about Godzilla 1998 directed by Roland Emmerich. Technically speaking, it is a Godzilla, but obvi not THE Godzilla. It’s “predecessor” (note the “”) is the name of, again, the “named after the mythical Japanese sea monster” (a quote from the movie itself when they first newsboradcast) . Meta speaking, yeah we’re aware of who they are referring to, which is of course the 54 Godzilla.
That’s why I said they are entirely different Kaiju.
The 1962 Kong vs Godzilla is absolutely hilarious! Me and my brother watch it every time we are able to get together. It actually scared me a bit as a kid. Kong was quite menacing at times and unpredictable in his behavior while fighting Godzilla. The lightening scenes are really cool.
I agree I was saying wee watching King Kong sliding down a hill
The 'silly era ' of Godzilla movies is probably my favorite behind the shin era🧟
Although I prefer Dark and Serious stuff, I also love the whacky and silly stuff. It’s why the showa series is my favorite era because of how over the top it got. Not to mention I really liked Godzilla’s transition from destroyer to savior in a way plus he became a dad, an environmentalist and a hero of sorts. Which made Godzilla more 3 dimensional than just destroying cities and blowing stuff up with his atomic breath. And funny how you mention the Batman franchise since I too love Dark and Serious Batman but I also love the 60s Batman. This was a really good video. Keep up the good work!
I'm pretty sure they made it silly because they wanted to make the franchise more towards a younger audience.
But then again I'm grateful tgat the showa era exists because if the showa era never existed, we probably would of never seen fan favourite monsters like king ghidorah mechagodzilla, gigan etc.
I’ve had the fortune (and MIS-fortune) of speaking with some G-Fans who sound like they just…don’t want to hear it when I brought up the more comedic, silly, over-the-top Showa-era films. Like they’re just so _for_ the character being what he was originally intended to be in 1954. And these certain fans are aware of how most Westerners view Godzilla _because_ of the later Showa-era films, but to *them,* THAT viewpoint of Godzilla is _’sacrilegious blasphemy’_ to them.
So thank you I once again, Klayton (👏) for putting a subject like this into informational context. 😊
Son Of Godzilla is underrated. Some of the best human characters/story in the Showa era.
Godzilla vs Megalon was the third Godzilla film I owned as well. I watched that VHS tape again and again. My dad walked in one time and asked, "You're watching that AGAIN?"
Oops. I meant to say first. It was the third one that I saw, the first one that I owned. The first one I saw was Godzilla vs the Smog Monster. The second was Godzilla, King of the Monsters.
It was the first I saw and owned
Honestly I grew up with the silly Showa Godzilla movies due to availability at my local movie store or Blockbuster though Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla II from the Heisei era as that was my first and as I got older I watched the original 1954. Honestly serious or silly or insane over the top monster wars for the fate of the planet I'll love these movies till the day I die.
Great video and interesting comments. I recently watched every Godzilla film from the first to the last ( it cost me a small fortune to get them to) but as you commented , most people have seen a few mainly growing up as children so don't take notice of the changes. But watching back to back 3 films a night with a few beers for company it was interesting as they got serious again from Shin Godzilla onwards. Very reminiscent of Gamera , which I did the same with watching all back to back. Thank f@@@k I had the beers for company then as it was a slog hearing that damn kids song every minute in the films lol
The foes of the Showa Era Godzilla franchise were:
Angiurus
King Kong
Mothra
King Ghidorah
Ebirah
Giant Condor
Gigan
Megalon
MechaGodzilla
Titanosaurus
Kamacuras
Kumonga
J.S.D.F.
Aliens
I'm SO EXCITED for the remake of "THEM" 🥰
This is amazing! I love all the original and later cheesy Saturday night movies of Toho and the reboots!
I'd watch the hell out of Godzilla versus Frankenstein.
I was introduced to Godzilla in a similar manner but had a far opposite experience of the franchise.
My dad used to rent movies from Blockbuster on the weekends, and every time, I would wander to this shelf that was PACKED with nothing but Godzilla and monster movies and ask him to get a Godzilla film. But instead of telling me, "You know what you're getting," he would say, "No, it'll give you nightmares."
For years, I was under the impression that the Godzilla movies were Japanese horror films. Not goofy guys in rubber suits, but gruesome animatronics like the Xenomorph Queen in 'Aliens' or grotesque practical effects like in 'The Thing'.
By the time I watched my first Godzilla film, the 98 American Godzilla, it 'confirmed' my horror film assumptions, and I was hooked.
I was inevitably disappointed to find out my expectations of the old Godzilla films were far removed from reality, but I've remained a fan ever since.
Godzilla has also fought characters from other franchises in crossover media, such as King Kong, as well as various Marvel Comics characters, including S.H.I.E.L.D., the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers.
Nice to see you back bro!!
Two things. First, I think there was another major influence on what quickly switched Godzilla from a deadly serious threat to an ambivalent anti-hero later in the '60s to a bona fide super-hero and protector of humanity by the '70s (before doing a switch back to the initial status quo beginning with the onset of the Heisei Era).
That other influence was another kaiju, only this one not American but from a rival Japanese studio, Daiei. The Gamera series of films was the only kaiju franchise that truly rivaled the product of Toho on the big screen during the '60s, even though it quickly faded out once the '70s rolled around and bankruptcy put paid to the giant turtle's Showa series. Gamera's debut 1965 film was similar to "Godzilla" 1954 in many ways, with Gamera being a threat to humanity, but this giant monster was sympathetic and friendly to children from the very start. When the series kicked into the monster vs. monster formula with the next film in the series, "Gamera vs. Barugon" (1966), the only one in the series without a major child protagonist, Gamera was clearly an anti-hero; but by the next one after that, "Gamera vs. Gyaos" (1967), the giant fire-spewing turtle was a total hero, friend to children, and protector of humanity from truly threatening kaiju and nasty alien invaders, much as Godzilla would become soon afterwards. And the films got increasingly silly and humorous despite the hardcore violence and genuine deadliness of the threats never going away.
Even though the humor started in the G-films a full three years before Gamera's debut, as you noted in this video, Godzilla still remained a basically serious threat to humanity in the following two G-films, beginning to change only during the final act of "Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster" (1964) when Mothra telepathically convinced the Big G and Rodan to join forces with her to preserve their territory by driving King Ghidorah away from Earth. Once Toho realized how successful the Gamera formula was as the '60s progressed, and saw how the Flying G was the only other studio to produce a true rival to Godzilla's cinematic hegemony (Tsuberaya was and is a big contender, but back then the company limited its properties to the small screen), I think this encouraged them to try and both duplicate and "stay ahead" of Daiei's success by moving the heroic and light-hearted approaches further. To that end, Toho pretty much ignored the serious and outright grim tone of Daiei's other memorable but less successful Maijin series. Of course, Gamera's status quo has been pretty much consistent throughout all his incarnations rather than going from evil to ambivalent anti-hero to outright hero and back again, as was the case with Godzilla (and I suspect this will remain the case for the Flying G's upcoming 2023 streaming TV series or movie -- I'm not yet certain which it will be -- on Netflix). Gamera's Heisei series took most of the goofiness and light-heartedness out of the tone, but the giant turtle remained a heroic protector of humanity and friend to children. Some of that goofiness was restored for Gamera's sole Millennium film "Gamera the Brave," and it remains to be seen if that aspect of his history will be retained in the upcoming "Gamera: Rebirth."
Now, for the second thing. One example of such a changing and era-adaptive character you mentioned was Batman in his films starting in 1989. However, the Batman character went through a similar back and forth metamorphosis in tone as Godzilla starting almost two decades earlier in the comic book medium. These differing interpretations of the Dark Knight followed him through various other mediums from TV shows, movies, prose, video games, etc. Batman started out as deadly serious and dark, only to morph within a few years into a more light-hearted and increasingly silly character for more three decades before returning to his dark roots beginning in the 1970s while still periodically revisiting the lighter side from time to time. Godzilla has done this throughout various mediums other than cinema too, including TV, comic books, and video games.
man,I wish I lived Godzilla and the other Kaiju like you guys did,but here in Italy,albeit the G-Man per se is well known,these kinds of movies don't really draw people,I guess the fault is also of how they were released,many of the Showa Era simply weren't released,as well as a couple of the Heisei Era,while NONE of the Millennium arrived to us,which is just sad to me.
Yeah,I was kinda like that too,I wasn't very interested in Godzilla,until 2014,when my best friend said "Do you know there's a new Godzilla movie about to release?" and I had no idea,so he introduced to the franchise,I watched the 2014 movie,fell in love with it and,in preparation for KOTM,I found and watched ALL the Toho movies up to that point,and that's how the Godzilla franchise became my favorite of all time,even kicking out Star Wars from the first place,which is crazy, 'cause I grew up with Star Wars.
And,what you say is true here too, 'cause,if I say Godzilla to someone,most of the people will basically make fun of me and the fact that I like the franchise,so,I don't know how,but the wacky part of the Showa Era is what Godzilla is most known for here in Italy as well,and I never saw it that way,I always thought it was its natural progression,but it makes a whole lot of sense that introduction of King Kong changed everything,and now I really wish we could get to see what Toho could have done with the rest of the Showa Era if that didn't happen,although (just like if we didn't have Zilla and we actually would have got the Stan Winston Godzilla,the MonsterVerse would probably not exist) we wouldn't have got many fan-beloved Kaiju,or mechas,King Ghidorah,Mechagodzilla,heck,even King Caesar,I personally love that monster,and I wish to see him again in the future
Someone at Legendary saw these Old Films, & are like "Let's Make a Cinematic Universe with These Guys".
The MonsterVerse.
Godzilla went from a Serious Metaphor of Nuclear Disaster, to a Parody of himself.
I will always love the Showa Godzilla films, but the Heisei era I'd say was the best when it came to keeping him true to his roots while still doing the big monster battles. The only one that feels Showa-ish is Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla, both because of the overall concept for the villain, and the much more upbeat score compared to Akira Ifukube's work.
Yeah the Showa era Godzilla films have a lot of goofy elements but I love them.
As much as some people dump on the silliness and comedic side of some Godzilla movies, these are the movies that introduced me to this Iconic Legend. True, I love all the Godzilla films, the silly and campy movies are the best ones for me. All Hail Godzilla
It was the 60s/70s... I wonder what would have happened if movies/TV series in general never turned out to be silly.
This guy REALLY takes the LONG WAY around the barn to get to the point.
Godzilla 1984 brought back the serious, evil-ish, terrifying godzilla we had in the 50s. But now we have the humanity saving godzilla that has no meaning in it.
19:41 i mean someone had to say it. You are 100% right there.
Huh...I didn't think like that.
Good video klayton!
LOVE GODZILLA!! THE ULTIMATE KING OF THE MONSTERS!
Thanks for the great video, I love Goji analysis!
King Kong has also crossed over into other franchises such as Planet of the Apes,[16] and encountered characters from other franchises in crossover media, such as the Toho movie monster Godzilla, as well as pulp characters Doc Savage and Tarzan.
Kinda weird how the first movie was this sad tragedy of the nuclear bomb. Glad I grew up with the 90's and 2000's.
Me too, I was born on September 23rd, 1997
Really, this back & forth is what has kept him an icon for so long, however misunderstood by some.
I've come to look at the Showa Era less like a single massive continuity, but more like 3 distinct eras cycling through the evolution of G.
Gojira, Raids Again, & Rodan are the "Foundation Series"
Everything from Mothra '61 or KK vs. G through to DAM is the "Revival Series", which acknowledges certain things from the Foundation Era (Godzilla in Ice, Rodan under Mt. Aso), but works on its own.
Then the 70s is the "Champion Era", due to the films being made for Japan/Toho's Champion Children's Festival. Ironically, it reflects G's status as the "Champion" of the Earth.
It is pretty crazy how Godzilla began as a cautionary tale almost horror movie and became a fun family friendly series. Like ALIEN going from a cautionary tale about exploration to the sequels having a scene where a spectator shouts "The xenomorph has returned! He fights for us!". However, if Godzilla didn't change over time I really don't think the series would have endured with the same popularity. It's great that certain entries work better for different ages. There's something for everyone.
I liked Godzilla since I first saw the American Godzilla were he’s in New York , I grew up watching that one , Seeing the other Godzilla did look silly and fun to watch as I saw Brandon Tenold review them , Shin Godzilla did take a dark tone and putting the monster to look zombiefyed and is sad there won’t be a shin Godzilla sequel, I do have a feeling that when Godzilla zero comes out this year it well take a more serious approach, anyways great video and happy new year everyone
4:56, Actually 1954 Godzilla is a giant Irradiated Prehistoric Amphibious Reptile.
That akrward moment when you go down a Godzilla rabbit hole on youtube, and accidentally stumble upon your favorite Jurassic Park youtuber second channel you didn't know existed😬
I like all the Godzilla movies and I have some on VHS tapes and got alot on DVD and Blu-Ray as well and I got the Godzilla, the Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975 (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray].
The movies that made Godzilla dark was Gojira 1954 (i love that movie), Godzilla Raids again, Return of Godzilla,Tristar 1998 (i watched that movie on cable re runs for hours, i also love that movie), Godzilla 2014 (that movie and the mutos designs and the fact it took place in almost total darkness and made the monsters mysterious made 2014 a sorta horror movie) , Shin Godzilla, and Minus one
Honorable mentions: Terror of MechaGodzilla, Godzilla KOTM 1956 (it was an Americanized version of 1954 so it was practically the same movie but with Raymond Burr), Godzilla vs Destoroyah, Godzilla vs Hedorah (Hedorah had so much missed potential to turn Godzilla back to his original roots of darkness and terror but they had to make Hedorah very watered down, if Hedorah makes it to the monsterverse they better not fuck him up, i want him to be nightmare fuel), GMK (Godzilla, Mothra , King Ghidorah) , Godzilla KOTM 2019 (it was kinda dark with Ghidorah having free will and almost ending the world)
Only 12 out of 38-40 Godzilla movies were dark and if the rest of the series would've stayed dark Godzilla probably would've gained a better reputation and the rubber suits wouldn't have been kinda low quality
Yep, Bond films, serious at the start more comedic elements in the 70s, and alien vs predator just replicated king king vs Godzilla or those Dracula vs the wolf man films, “we’ve got two successful independent monster franchises I’ve got a great idea why not put ‘em both together!” Cries of “genius” from assorted film executive hacks. This was a good review. I was aware of the Japanese movies like Godzilla growing up in the UK the first I saw at a movie theatre was King Kong Escapes, didn’t feature Godzilla, but Kong fighting a robot replica Kong. At college I met a kid who was a fan of the Japanese monster movies who explained the different marketing and perception of Godzilla and Kong in Japan vs US (and by association UK) audiences. In the 70s and 80s the back catalogue of the Japanese movies used to show on TV in the afternoon I recall my younger brother saying what a joke they were this video has made me realise that they were meant to be comedies or at least have comedic elements in contrast to the original.
Thankfully, the first Godzilla I ever saw was 1955 with Raymond Burr back in like 1991-92. I was around 3 years old and my family grew up watching the b&w horror classics. My parents told me that I'd rewind the Godzilla and King Kong VHS over and over until the tape would get worn out.
I continued watching all of them as I got older, but the serious Godzilla and Kong will always be the definitive versions of those characters to me. Make no mistake though, I love it all lol
Godzilla vs Megalon was my first Godzilla movie too!
So in Jurassic Park I always saw the the velociraptors at the bad guys they literally gave me nightmares and in the newer movies they're more like dangerous pets that Save the Day it's Godzilla going hero all over again
What a underrated channel.
Very interesting! Personally, I'm glad my first exposure to Godzilla was a good balance between the two. My first films were Godzilla vs Mothra, the second half of Godzilla's Revenge, and Godzilla Raids Again. Batman was similar: I watched the 1989 movie and Adam West's tv show at the same time, so it was easily understood how varied and multi-faceted these characters were. Even at the height of Godzilla fighting alien monsters, I never felt like he wasn't still dangerous.
I'm looking forward to your Godzilla Raids Again video, since it's always been one of my favorites.
Back in the 80's the silly movies were my introduction to Godzilla and I loved them,but when I seen Godzilla returns & then discovered the original I said now that's the Godzilla I want and it took me years to watch the 70's stuff again,but now as an adult I love them all but still prefer the serious stuff Long Live The King!!!!
Even tho the Showa era is kid friendly it can be surprisingly brutal at times
Magnetic powers: In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Godzilla found a way to generate powerful magnetic fields from his body after being struck several times by lightning, which proved devastating against his metallic foe. This is the only time Godzilla ever used this power.
It's amazing how things change as we age...
....like when King Kong went to fight Godzilla...using balloons. BALLOONS, KLAYTON. They transported him...via several balloons lol
Honestly they evolved for a wider audience
Finally when the proper Godzilla movie came out in 2014 that was a serious event. People were in line giggling are you gonna see Godzilla. I said yes, I am very concerned how science and technology can warp nature's design so it backfires on civilization. History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men.
17:17 to be honest, I would have like to see that movie if it gone that route with not making a godzilla king kong crossover. That premise you mentioned what if godzilla broke out of the ice and didnt fought king kong is still interesting
Hearing "very Reptilicus" made me smile
I love that movie!
I have a soft spot for all the Godzilla movies 🎥 from the late 60s and 70s, the first one i ever saw was destroy all monsters my grandfather showed me on a reel to reel projector 📽️ in B&W i still own it I am forever a Godzilla fan I especially love the legendary monster verse movies as well, I actually own all the movies and cartoons on DVD 📀 Can’t wait for the new movies in 2023 & 2024.🦖
To be fair, King Kong wouldn't survive battles against monsters like Gigan or Biollante if he held the hero spotlight.
"Godzilla is just a guy in a rubber monster suit". Yeah and Kermit the Frog is just a guy's arm in a cloth puppet.
The magic is that they make you *FORGET* it's just a man in a suit or just a little hand-&-rod puppet and for those moments we forget, it is *truly* magic!
That's what many people fail to understand.
I do prefer no comedy in the Godzilla movies. But I still want Godzilla to be able to emote because it would show that Godzilla is more than just a force of nature, and not a mindless creature.
A bit of humor here and there isn't going to ruin them.
@@MrAwsomeness360 Tell that to "Godzilla 2 King of the Monsters".
@@Firedrake-SP don't use kotm as an example when that movie was aiming to be a modernized showa era film. Godzilla against mechagodzilla had some jokes and was still well written. The gamera trilogy had some jokes and was still dark and serious. Ksi had jokes and was still well written (and the only well written MV movie at that). Adding no jokes just makes the movie dark for the sake of being dark and the anime trilogy is a prime example of that.
Gojira is a special case where it didn't need jokes because of the time of it's release. Shin gojira had some jokes but was subtle about it
@@Kaiju-bm4ts Actually, I forget to say that the humor in GKOM was terrible and pointless.
@@Firedrake-SP kotm is a movie that went overboard with it's jokes, all godzilla movies have jokes in them. It just depends on how often said jokes are used
Fun fact that with Godzilla 1954 one is the very first movie to have subtitles on a different language than English
Energy absorption and projection:
Godzilla has been shown absorbing other forms of energy besides nuclear radiation. In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Godzilla is able to harness electricity after being struck repeatedly by lightning, granting him the ability to become a living magnetic pole.
Godzilla was also previously shown being energized and awakened by lightning in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.
i love the showa its by far the most brutal and cartoony series for godzilla
I think you're right on the money! 👍🏻Your analysis makes perfect sense, but there is one thing we need to consider when understanding the reason for these big franchises going all out, or partially silly, being that unless you are an incredibly talented director, with either a huge budget or the best crew with the best tricks up their sleeves, all these characters, such as american super heros, space monsters and most absolutely definitely (😅) Godzilla, lend themselves rather well to comedy, I mean, grown men in capes and spandex isn't exactly material for a serious story.. and I doubt I need to explain why, as the premise is what it is, so want it or not, becoming the caricature of themselves is the natural progression of things.
As a closing note, I think Hollywood and the world in general, have been pretty mean with Schumacher and his Batman flicks, after all before Burton rebooted the franchise with Michael Keaton, all we had was the Adam West starring TV show, which was undeniably more of a comedy than anything else, and the comics weren't particularly good either, Batman was a "dark" character only on one off graphic novels or special short series, for decades it was a rather shitty character, it only became what we know today after Burton.. So what Schumacher did was simply ignoring Burton's work, and going back to what he probably knew Batman to be from his youth, and everyone acted as if he murdered some cinema classic...
Definitely a result of Godzilla vs King Kong
I never really thought of Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla as comedic. It has its flaws like the aliens using a human scientist to repair mechagodzilla despite the fact that they’re using technology no human should be familiar with at all, but that doesn’t make it an actual comedy movie. Even with all that though, it’s still my personal favorite of the showa series.
The third one becoming self-parody almost happened with Jaws. The third Jaws film was almost a National Lampoon film titled Jaws 3, People 0
would you like to see joe young and son of kong in the king kong universe movies?
...and the Saddest thing of all is that the Godzilla fans refuse to realize that just because any New Godzilla series starts Serious and becomes Silly in Japanese movies doesn't mean that Hollywood should repeat the Exact same mistake. like C'mon, Guys - IT'S HOLLYWOOD!
I watched the 1954 version for the first time last week. I could not believe how much bettter it was and the tone was so much different than the American version. Any one else feel the same?
Godzilla was also getting more and more popular with children, and Toho wanted to make him more child friendly. Children liking something will cause people to dumb it down and make it less dark. Just look at what happened with the Backrooms creepypasta.
I always just thought the direction change from the first to later on movies was because people liked Godzilla so much they wanted him to be the hero instead of the villian.
I’ve been watching the original Kamen Rider and it’s very clear the trend was toward making it cater to a younger and younger demographic. Even today, kids are the focus of merchandising, and merchandising is what drives content. So even without King King, Godzilla would have become goofy. I agree it happened more quickly because of the parallels with Kong.
With "King Kong Vs Godzilla" , I think Toho got a new kind of audience and they thought the best course of action was to make monster movies basic on the big match up.
I always thought Godzilla Showa era becoming silly was Toho competing with UltraMan and Gamera
my first godzilla film i remember sitting down and watching godzilla vs mechagodzilla that id borrowed from a friend/neighbor fell in love with godzilla movies ever since also him being a dinosaur didnt help :D
I enjoy all aspects of Godzilla
Dark and serious or fun and silly as long as I have a great time watching it
I like how the Godzilla franchise went into the serious tone and cheesy tones in the Showa Series (1954-1975). The Heisei series (1984-1995) of the Godzilla franchise went back to the serious tone and added fantasy elements. The Millennium Series (1999-2004) went either way like a serious tone and a cheesy tone like in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). So proud of myself for being a Godzilla fan ever since I was a toddler and younger ages in the 2000s era after I was born on September 23rd, 1997. Even with Godzilla has been my all-time favorite fictional character in movie history.
That's a lot of fish.
What i really like about the Godzilla movies is that almost all of them are in their own genre and that outside fans can all choose the movies they like more . If you like goofy and over the top check out some of the Heisei movies . You like a more horror like Godzilla check out Shin Godzilla . You like a dark and very well made story about the metaphor for the atomic bomb than check out the original . You like a more down to earth , animalistic take on on the Big G check out Godzilla 1998 . Just to name a few .
The Black face Japanese always cracks me up😅
Great video 👍
HERE’S SOME OF THE ONLY SHOWA FILMS THAT ARE MY FAVORITE:
•Gojira (1954)
•Gidorah the 3 Headed Monster (1964)
•Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
•Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
I recently did a video about Japanese King Kong, so I don't know if it's fair to blame the poor guy for everything ^_~ I think things were already heading in that direction anyway. Godzilla Raids Again is not as serious a film as the original Godzilla... There's more intentional humour and character banter in it, even though it still has a downer ending. While Rodan, Varan, The Mysterians, Battle in Outer Space, and Mothra weren't comedies, they certainly weren't the kind of serious films that Godzilla was. King Kong vs. Godzilla certainly marked the change for Godzilla towards more comedy and absurdity, but I don't think it's Kong's FAULT. It just happened to be that movie. Really, they could have had the same movie with any monster. I will agree that turning Ebirah into a Godzilla movie introduced certain concepts like "hey, smashing an island set is cheaper than smashing a city set!" but it's hard to say that things weren't already nutty after Invasion of the Astro Monster!
Invasion Of Astro Monster is definitely a crazy movie in comparison to what came before (I actually like it more than Ghidorah but didn’t growing up haha) I think Godzilla and Kong’s silliness in the 3rd movie was so popular and such a hit though, that they just tried to replicate it in everything else until the well dried up. Without that movie I don’t really think the Godzilla series in the 60s and 70s would look anything like what they turned out being after the influence of it. Which is funny for me especially because I didn’t get to see it until a few years ago. I’d always wondered how Godzilla went from dark and moody to over the top and whacky and when I saw the 1962 movie I was shocked haha
@@Dragoncurve For sure :) The one I had a VHS tape of growing up was Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, but I am also in the camp of living Invasion of the Astro-Monster more! Come on, it has aliens!
Thing that always bugs me, you know how there’s a lot kills in godzilla movie, not monsters, but a lot of human killed piloting jets,tanks and trains.