American Godzilla is about Godzilla, Japanese Godzilla is about Life | Video Essay
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- Опубліковано 14 бер 2024
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Accented Cinema - Episode 127
Don't let Godzilla distract you from the fact that in 1998, The Undertaker threw Mankind off Hell In A Cell, and plummeted 16 ft through an announcer's table.
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I actually have an explicit reason my art teacher hated seeing anime style in High School. He was a judge at scholastic art competitions and saw so much of the same shit. Through some questioning my class realized he had to specifically go through mountains of teenagers' Black Butler fanart submitted for competitions. At that point the class just gave it a pass because we all understood what that would do to a guy.
Lol don't forget about all those "How to Draw Anime/Manga" books that were advertised in Scholastic's book fares.
The art teacher at my high school said his main issue was people not exploring different mediums and styles while in a learning environment. If you taught yourself to draw manga (like one of my cousins did thanks to DBZ) that's great and shows some passion for art, but it's important not to box yourself in so you can experience more influences and develop your own style. Learning about the history of art in the higher level classes wasn't about being a history class but a chance to explore the evolution of technique and style and preferences and standards over time. He often said to me from across the hallway to the electronics class I was in, that he could teach anybody how to draw, or paint, or sculpt, or do photography, if they really wanted to learn. I of course stubbornly said "not me though" and was content just to be friends with the more artsy types and find my creativity in mechanical and technological abilities.
The art teachers didn't get what made Anime style so famous among children, if only they watch anime from a young age, they will understand 🤣
well theyre not children theyre mature adults
Sorry to tell you but art teachers just teach Photoshop now a days
And Godzilla finally won its first Oscar award in 70 years.
And it also is the same year as it's prequel, Oppenheimer won Oscar
For visual effects. Well deserved, but still.
I call B.S.
How was it not even nominated for Best Original Score.
@AccentedCinema Godzilla vs King Kong 1962 should've won best picture, in my opinion, along with Godzilla 1954 winning best International film
Having been recognised by the Oscars, it is now, finally, a worthy franchise.
I dont want politics to "stay away from movies" I want politics in movies to SAY SOMETHING. So much "politics" is just grandstanding and empty support for whatever is popular, Its empty and soulless. But hollywood is too scared to take risks to make anything interesting....
if 2023 is any indication with all the huge box office bombs, they're going to have to start taking risks again or become irrelevant.
Acolytes of Horror has a really great video on this exact thing, “Horror That Fears Politics”. I thought he did an amazing job about horror movies that want to say something really politically shocking but are too afraid of alienating the widest possible audience.
Well to be fair, supporting what's popular saying something, you just maybe aren't a fan of what's popular. But also it's a bit of an oxymoron because what's popular by definition will always be widely supported, so it sort of sounds like you're just against the social structure of popularity itself. This all sounds a little aggressive I realize and I just wanna say I largely agree with you I just wanted to point all this out
@@IzzetTempo youre focusing too much on that one word. i meant like lowest common denominator "war is bad" type statements
@@elizabethtangora4353 ill check it out
The Monsterverse does have an underlying theme: humans' relationship with nature. The problem is that it's barely (and poorly) explored in the movies most of the time.
No, no compromises, Monsterverse is about Nature and Humanity Toho is about War, end of story. I'm not gonna be clout bullied into accepting this trash take.
@@PaizuruInsanal
Who's bullying you?
@chalmskinnproductions
Ohohoh right soooo son of godzilla was want no it Wasn't
That's what fanfic is for.
No seriously a lot of MonsterVerse fanfic does a much better job of it (including my own, if I may be so presumptuous). And G14 and KSI don't do a half-bad job of it either.
KOTM... On paper I like it, but I do think a few more reviews of that script would have done wonders for the final product.
@@junoniathesilkwing4221 As if the same couldn't be said of the entire Showa era of Godzilla movies. The plots for Godzilla movies didn't start getting consistently good until the Heisei era; but the Monsterverse isn't just trying to represent the Heisei and Millenium eras, nor are they trying to be their own thing like the '98 failed movie tried to be - they're a love letters to ALL of Godzilla's fandom & history. Not just the good ones, but the schlocky ones too.
'Are you strong enough to think about the hard questions in life?'
What an excellent final line.
maybe instead of "thinking about the hard questions in life", people should actually do the hard things in life first, then decide whether their question is even worth pondering.
Not going to lie, the idea of Godzilla representing American fascism is... Deeply uncomfortable. And that is the reason I should be thinking about it more.
I have no idea how to represent that in an artistic medium, but I'm sure there's someone with actual artistic talent who does.
@@TheFirstLaughingFool "American fascism" like what? When America was attacking Japan in WW2?
@@GameFuMaster you need to ask more questions in general
@@TheFirstLaughingFool maybe you should actually think about the things you say first.
This is exactly how I felt after watching Godzilla Minus One! Godzilla was what moved a very human story forward, it wasn’t the center of it!
Sometimes. Try watching some of the Godzilla films made between then 1954 and now. Godzilla's been a lot of things, including the star of the show.
@@ElvenRaptor The point is that the Power Ranger Godzilla movies kind of suck.
@@Hypogean7 Then 2/3rds of the entire Godzilla franchise sucks, too.
@@ElvenRaptor ...Well, yes. Don't tell me that space cockroaches, the dough baby and the Godzilla dropkick are masterpieces.
@@Hypogean7 So, you're not a Godzilla fan, then huh? You're just a tourist, and a pretentious one at that. Get out of my fandom. Godzilla can and has been many things. People like you want to limit the scope of what Godzilla can be, so please go back to whatever pretentious art school you slivered out from.
As a HS art teacher, my response to kids drawing anime/manga was more or less what you describe in your conclusion. I didn't discourage kids by saying it wasn't allowed or wasn't art, but I did say that since I took their artmaking (and my job) seriously, if they were going to draw manga, then we needed to approach it not as a derivative shortcut, prescription, or way to avoid looking at the world. Rather, we could look at the HUGE stylistic breadth across anime to see how different artists come up with their own visual solutions to artistic problems, and how carefully these artists observe the world around them (including anatomy, and environment, both of which are quite detailed in a lot of manga my students loved).
But isn't there value in just being a skilled artisan in a specific style? So what if they're not creating original artistic expression? There's just as much value in creating a product, whether for personal enjoyment or for commercial use, if in fact there's a demand for such work.
Not everyone is going to be a Picasso, just as much as not everybody is going to be a Beethoven. Nor do they necessarily want to.
@@Checkmate1138 This... is a terrible take. When learning art, it's best to learn breadth, a range of styles. The point isn't whether or not everyone is going to be Picasso or Beethoven. The point is that, in teaching art, it's the responsibility of the teacher to introduce their students to the variety that exists, and to hold them to standards in terms of how they execute.
The idea that "there's just as much value in creating a product" so totally and utterly misses the point of high school art education that it's hard to know where to begin.
@@petermhz Okay...what's the point of visual art education?
@Checkmate1138 let's start with the fact that art is expression and therefore has always a meaning. If you just draw something to be a product that's not art. It completely misses the fundamentals
“Reality itself has become a controversial topic.” Pretty much sums up our current state of movies and television
I argue of that to humanity as a whole.
@@CB-eo6xo sadly I have to agree
Pretty much sums up all mainstream Anglophone media these days, not just movies or television, really.
@@DrBunnyMedicinal This isn't exclusively an English-speaking problem. Literally everywhere on the planet is experiencing this issue, including Japan.
@@Hawkatana I'll have to take your word for it. I limited my statement to the primarily English speaking world because that's all I know of (or can read) directly.
As a world-wide phenomena though, it's even more tragic and scary, I have to say.
2:15 - My grandpa (who died of cancer before I was born) was an observer at Castle Bravo. I had never put together the tests and Godzilla until today. I certainly wasn't told about the fishing vessel caught under the fallout.
The Castle Bravo explosion yielded several megatons higher than anticipated and distributed radiation over a huge swath of ocean, including one island that had to be evacuated, then re-evacuated. Had it worked to specifications the men on that boat would likely have been fine but the sheer power and unpredictability of the science being conducted at the time spelled death and/or lifelong complications for a number of unfortunate innocents.
Well, in truth...most TOHO Godzilla films in the past aimed to do little more than what the Monsterverse is currently doing. Even when they attempted to bring in deeper, more meaningful themes it was usually washed out by spectacle and/or lax execution. Only a handful of TOHOs outings have successfully plied serious human/geopolitical themes into their kaiju spectacle
I agree. Some people can always read deeply into it, and could do so about the 60s and 70s Godzilla movies. Or about the current american Godzilla movies.
Yes Mothra is also a symbol for nature etc. but if you watch anything past '54 Godzilla it immediately becomes very overwhelmingly silly.
Yeah that's something people tend to ignore when making the point that japanese Godzilla is serious and deep and american Godzilla is just meaningless CGI
@@gustavoclarindo101 yea theres a few too many armchair Godzilla "aficionados " lately that are acting like Minus One is the standard quality/tone for TOHO offerings, when its really more of an outlier. Most of the TOHO Godzilla catalog looks like a predecessor to the Monsterverse
@@razorfett147 yeah i saw a Corridor video where they say the same stuff "oh my god the japanese one is so serious and scary, the american one isn't scary, it's just goofy". They must think there are only 3 japanese Goji movies, the original, Shin and Minus One
@@gustavoclarindo101 Yeah. I've seen people comment about these "grifters" coming into Godzilla after the success of Godzilla Minus.
I recently rewatched Cloverfield and that spurred me down a road of watching 9/11 footage videos since that movie is a reflection of that day. From the sudden attack of the monster on NYC, the choice of it being filmed on camcorders, the scenes of people covered in ash and the protagonist heroically going back into the carnage to rescue a person despite the chance they won't make it, the entire movie is all about the events that happened. The next big budgeted kaiju films made and released in the west like Pacific Rim and most of the Monsterverse while fantastic, lack that sort of edge. Kong Skull Island however is awash in Vietnam reflections and war in general. Samuel Jackson's rage over not being allowed to finish the fight and becoming obsessed with Kong (Kong and Viet Cong haha), the scene where the soldier unpins a grenade and goes to let the skull crawler eat him, sacrificing his life to save his comrades. But the skull crawler just hits him with his tail and the soldier's sacrifice is pointless and changes nothing. It even comments on the nature of geopolitics with John C Reilly's friendship to a Japanese pilot, the Cold War split between East and West and Kong himself becoming an ally over the course of the film. This is also indicative of Vietnam, a nation that continues to build up a relationship with the United States and move past the horrible events 60 years ago.
Sadly I can't see Hollywood in general, and the Academy more specifically, as having anywhere near the spine to tolerate a similar look at the whole COVID pandemic (and the rampant/overwhelming official denialism especially) nearly as quickly as Cloverfield did with the September 11 attacks.
I'll be pleasantly shocked if it happens nearly as quickly as the boom of movies actually explicitly about/set in Vietnam and the Vietnam war did, in fact.
@@DrBunnyMedicinal A movie about it needs to be made I don't think it should be a kaiju movie. Godzilla and most of his pals being metaphors for the new age of warfare and the destruction it can cause makes sense, since technology has allowed a few people to be able to wipe out all life on the planet with the presses of a few buttons. COVID is a microbe and while there have been kaiju that started as microbes before, I feel like turning it into "giant monster goes brrrr" loses the impact. But idk. Imagine a kaiju attacking Shanghai and going eastward towards LA all while the powers that be downplay it and assholes blame the devastation of Shanghai on something stupid like "inferior Chinese construction methods" and nobody takes it seriously until up from the depths it arises.
I grew up watching pro wrestling and Godzilla, the Showa era specifically. I think the Monsterverse handles the spectacle of giant monsters punching each other in the face very well. I also am enjoying Japan's recent thematic offerings.
I think Godzilla is Japan's character to be serious with, and they're on a hot streak right now.
I feel like Dougherty was going for a movie about coming to terms with that which has caused you harm historically. But he also tried to have his big fun match up movie, which led to a tonal mess
Honestly if you cut the more useless characters as well as Madison and Rodan (as much as that pains me to say), you'd have a much more cohesive movie.
An easy solution to that was having Ghidorah pass over some of the Caribbean islands and causing havoc just by flying over. With the US government focusing on finding and stopping him but, also show then ignoring the citizens of the islands on the aid they need.
@@dagobertobobadillajr7670 Are you making reference to the slow aid response to Puerto Rico after that hurricane some years back? "The Caribbean Islands" is a vague term & political entities that are NOT American territories are not the responsibility of the U.S. to help before helping its own people. It's ridiculous to expect the U.S. to divert attention & resources away from stopping Godzilla to get aid to Haiti or the Dominican Republic or the Bahamas.
The first question and last quote you said about art school and anime made me remember my college students days. My art teacher told me that as well, she hated the fact that we only drew anime anatomy and characters, copying generic styles from anime, manga, wester comic books, etc. I never understood it at first until she told us to learn the fundamentals, sharpen our observing skills, and copy from life. After we master those 3 things that's the time when we can fully explore and draw anime to our heart's content. The points you said in this Godzilla video specifically Godzilla Minus One were the same thing, the western Godzilla movies are lacking, as oppose to the Japanese Godzilla which is about life. Thank you for making this video, we appreciate the time and effort you put in to this.
I love both American Godzilla and Japanese Gojira
me too, it's like we're getting the best of both
@@anthonybird546 The MonsterVerse would have been my favourite thing ever as a kid, and it's still really fun now. Getting that and mature and thoughtful Godzilla stuff from Toho at the same time? It's terrific.
Tbh the existence of American Godzilla is actually a win for the Japanese one - it’s a Trojan horse of Japan. The original Godzilla was a criticism of unethical nuclear testing by the US in Marshall Islands. This was still when US controlled and censored any anti-US information in Japan. So Japan made Godzilla do it fools Americans to think it’s just a big monster film. So the Americans going “whoo monster, cool” and making Godzilla films is just so ironic and Japanese people often think it’s funny Americans enjoying Godzilla, which is the representation of them.
@@CarolineNiggAyaLee-Janetyour spreading misinformation
@@ChonkCrocnah Godzilla fans are just in denial.
I just love how Godzilla can be dark and silly
I think that's what Cloverfield manages to do that the other Hollywood Godzilla films don't as much, Cloverfield is about and a reaction to something very specific.
I think you're being a bit uncharitable to at least Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The condemnation of eco-terrorism is a surface-level read of the story, there's a larger metaphor there about Man's attempts to control nature, ignoring or worse embracing the harm their hubris causes to their world and themselves, and the importance of letting go of the illusion of our own superiority if we want the world to heal. ("Are you saying they'd be our pets?" "No. We would be theirs.") Kong: Skull Island has similar metaphoric value. I would tend to agree that Godzilla vs Kong failed to pay off what its two predecessors set up though, it was much more of the fan-servicey "dream match" you're talking about.
Sarizawa (sp?) & the questioner said, "Are you saying GODZILLA would be our pet?" & "No, we would be HIS," but I suppose you could extrapolate that to all the titans. What made no sense about that movie was how rapidly Vera Formiga's (sp?) character repented of her actions. She released the monsters to destroy human civilization & then was surprised when the monsters began destroying human civilization? "Oops, I did it again," is not a soundtrack.
I’m real happy for you and I’m’a let you finish but American Godzilla is about Man’s powerlessness when compared to nature. It’s not even subtle about it, brother
The reason I always loved Godzilla is how versatile the franchise is and the monster's role in which it can be dark and serious or campy fun and super cheesy. Films like Godzilla Minus One, Shin Godzilla, and the 1954 classic brace the dark and serious subjects like war and politics. Whereas films like the Monsterverse movies and the Showa Era brace the cheese of Godzilla in which it's all meant for fun.
In a way, Godzilla can be compared to food and how they taste. Serious films like Godzilla Minus One would be a tender rib-eye steak with lobster tail, baked potato, side salad, garlic butter toast, and a glass of red wine. Campy films like the Monsterverse movies would be like a glaze donut triple bacon cheeseburger with buffalo chicken cone (buffalo boneless wings with fries & mac n cheese inside a paper cone), fried oreos, and a large cherry coke you order from a Chicken Charlie's stand at a county fair. Both of these meals I've mentioned taste good but only satisfy a certain taste, much like these movies.
Hell, both directors of Godzilla Minus One and the Monsterverse films are good friends and respect each other's works. In fact, Godzilla 2014 (though it's the weakest in the Monsterverse, in my opinion) is the reason why Toho made Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One in the first place due to the films successful box office sales causing them to revisit the franchise long after Godzilla Final Wars. 🦖
Agree, love both
I would slightly disagree (at least with 2014 and KOTM 2019). It looks Like GxK later this year is going to be more popcorn fun like GvK 2021. Godzilla and the monsters in 2014 and 2019 are embodiments of natural disasters, or forces of nature. Godzilla in 2014 creates a tsunami when he emerges, Rodan in 2019 emerges from a Volcano, Ghidorah's body produces a storm. They represent natural disasters that we cannot stop and must learn to live with, and coexist. There must be a balance with nature. The emergence of the titans, increases as we presently see with climate change. I also love how they are explicitly connected to myths and legends that unify culture. Now there is certainly a critique to be made that by making G14 an ancient natural monster, and not the product of nuclear testing, or other human actions makes it more palatable to the West. The Monsterverse, like the 80s-90s Godzilla straddles both the fun and substance, and I hope is continues, even if I would prefer more serious Shin/Minus One style.
This theme is explored better in the Monarch TV series. The show is decent, I think.
I'm still watching it and enjoy it pretty much. When all is said and done and the Mosnterverse concludes, I would love to get your full take, much like your Gamera video!@@AccentedCinema
@@AccentedCinema It's a lot harder (at least for me) to immerse myself into the monster verse after all these... goofy stuffs. I love 2015, Skull Island, KotM. In Monarch it have this scene where the heroine suffering PTSD episode because of the event from 2015, showing how damaging these monsters was not just in property but to people livelihood.
We also see how the society adapted to the world post giant monsters like they're supposed to be. That they're living in fear in a world where giant terrifying force of nature exists and that we can't do anything to stop it. Boring drama aside, the show did quite a decent job freshing out the universe.
but after GvK1 threw all the harrowing stuff out the window, it just became another boring cgi fight Transformer-like movie. I'll never look at these goofy cgi puppets and think they're supposed to be scary ever again, it just so disappointing tbh.
You do realize everything American Godzilla has done has been covered first by the Japanese in the 60's and 70's? I knew there would be a wave of these type of America vs Japan videos after Minus One. Godzilla can really be anything, that's how the franchise has endured for 70 years.
Thank you. I'm glad someone said it.
He did address that
@@Kasar_Logic It was more to cover his ass than any actual intellectual honestly.
Watch the video, please.
@@Stathio I did. The point is still bullshit.
I haven’t seen a movie that made me cry in YEARS Godzilla minus one literally one of the best movies I’ve seen
Run! It's Godzilla!
It LOOKS like Godzilla, but due to international copyright laws, it's not.
But we still gotta run like it is godzilla!
@@danielkamehameha
Though it isn't
@@robstefani9853 AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
Godzilla Godzilla Godzilla
Well, at least it’s not Doctor Skipper….😅
But also, there is nothing wrong with escapism. If the original 1933 King Kong can be escapist (yes, it was, look for whatever subtext you want, but primarily it was escapist) then that shows escapism has its value in cinema.
It’s not a bad thing if Godzilla goes that route especially in the MV. The real problem is the way they executed things like story and characters.
Coming from someone who watched wrestling, and am currently excited for the new Godzilla movie, I get that.
But I do think a balance can be achieved. That's why I raised RoboCop and Aliens are examples. The MonsterVerse can have a strong underlying theme, while still be escapist.
@@AccentedCinema yeah that’s fair.
Also pacific rim, that movie is pretty escapist, maybe with some thematically underneath but seems primarily escapist, but also it has a story and characters that are fleshed out very well, if anything the MV couldve followed that film’s example.
@@yuyaricachimuel555 Or just hire Del Toro.
@@AccentedCinema that is also fair yes.
Guy seems to be a huge G fan and he does really good stories with his films. Would’ve been perfect
@@AccentedCinemathey do have underlying themes…
This makes me very interested for what America has planned for Ultraman with the new movie this year.
I can only imagine how different it will be!
@@kaineriley5930 What are you talking about? "Rising" is the _third_ American Ultraman production...
I remember when Shin G came out in the US. I loved it. It's one of my favorite films, not something like "favorite kaiju film" or "genre film". Tearing out all the godzilla stuff and you're left with this harrowing story about ordinary people scrambling to do the right thing in the face of endless red tape. I believe it succeeded in telling that story. It’s a very gray one, too. Heroism measured by making snap decisions and cutting diplomatic deals and all that. I was genuinely surprised by some reviews and G fans writing it off due to being "too Japanese" or “political”. Left me dumbfounded. I was like “Did we watch the same film???” Yeah... Godzilla is Japanese. VERY Japanese. The MOST Japanese. That being said, Shin G, in my humble American opinion, was a universal story about navigating the trenches of bureaucracy while human lives are at stake.
Looking forward to Minus One hitting home video.
His ass disliked Shin btw. He just likes it now because there's like several hour long videos explaining it. He called it Hopeless and nihilistic.
I can see why someone would think that. But I believe what challenges his take is the conversation between our protag and the Japanese American diplomat at the end. Yeah, there's a huge chance Shin G will wake up from the ice, but hopefully after the events of the film, everyone will work together to come up with a new solution to stop it despite all the shady back dealings they had to come up with. It's that gray area. Mimics real life. @@PaizuruInsanal
@@PaizuruInsanaland that's the valid criticism of Shin. It was too bloated in its messaging
Godzilla Minus One may not have released in most of Asia, but it's great to still see Godzilla content from creators in Asia.
I've personally been pretty irritated by comments saying that Minus One "can't" be released here because of the events of WW2 and how Asian countries were affected. Not that what Japan did back then wasn't terrible, but we are more than capable of handling the kind of nuanced messages depicted in the Japanese Godzilla movies. We're not bound by a tragedy that happened 80 years ago and i don't know why people think we are.
(And thank you SO MUCH for mentioning GMK in this video. It's my all time favourite Godzilla movie and it's often overlooked by most casual fans.)
Naive fools .
Japan ruling elites maintained their innocence ...of Crimes Against Humanity .
They admire their War criminals and does beautification of it's Militaristic past !
It’s really about asian nationalism. You can’t afford seeing something as human after depicting it as the evilest of all evil for three generations.
Actual godzilla fans acknowledge gmk most of the time, it's casual viewers who aren't godzilla fans that praise minus 1 but act like a film gmk never existed
It's expected to release in Asian markets over the next few months. It's basically a very late release for some reason.
@@NoMustang273where'd you hear that?
Godzilla is big enough to be in both movies about Godzilla and movie about life. I find it weird that some people think there can be only one.
There is no grey. Only black and white. Pick one
@@gtafan110010says who?
@@sabretoothtiger4314I just did, obviously. You dumb?
@@gtafan110010 Thats the stupidest shit I've ever heard.
@@gtafan110010 Sarcasm....?
Which version of Japanese Godzilla is about life? For Toho, it's about money.
and Sony isn't?
@@danthsmith Who's talking about Sony?
I mean, they literally list the movies in this video.
your mom.
That's why it worries me if Toho decided to greenlight a Minus One sequel, knowing how successful and more money they invest, Toho will surely want to interfere more on the production
I wouldn't say GMK's message is for Japan to move on and away from it's past, quite the opposite. The core of the film was built off of the country's eagerness at the time, and even to this day, to bury and forget its own atrocities and war crimes Imperial Japan committed during the war. Godzilla embodies not just soldiers but all the lives lost during Japan's involvement in the war. The character Yuri very bluntly says to never forget the past, a message of keeping the worst mistakes we've committed with us so we never return down that dark path and move on towards a brighter future.
A pretty good essay that sums up my general thoughts on the MV myself. Good work!
That is the thing though
Hollywood Godzilla was inspired by Showa Godzilla. This was what Godzilla was to them. Godzilla was rage. It was power. It was a big giant middle finger to all the horrors of universe. Godzilla is defiance.
I'm surprised you didn't bring up how Kong: Skull Island was a condemnation of the U.S's involvement in Vietnam, similar to how Predator was. It's basically exactly what you were asking America's Godzilla to be.
This new idea the japanese godzilla is so profound only applies to a few films in the franchise. Def the last 2 films. I mean has anyone ever seen the showa era?? Thats big ass goofy monster mayhem. Godzilla 2014 had an interesting plot before brian cranston got wasted but everyone complained about how sliw that film was and how they only wanted to see monsters brawl. Well ya got that and now everyone is making fun of godzilla and kong. Listen godzilla minus 1 is one of the best of the franchise no doubt but lets not forget that godzilla in japan has seen its fair share of over the top silliness.
Thank you. I'm glad some people are saying.
I’m glad Japan is keeping Godzilla’s soul alive.
Thank You for articulating it so well. I feel like Godzilla Minus Zero is like fine caviar, while American Godzilla is like fish sticks with ketchup.
Great essay, a great answer to a real anime problem ! Congrats! 👏
Yessssss finally a video about Godzillaaaaaa
It's a wonderful love letter to Godzilla, and I'm so happy that there are people who understand the essence of this monster movie this far. However, I also love the American Godzilla because it explores a different side of Godzilla.
Your suggestions on how to take inspiration from real life for a new Godzilla film are not cringe per se... but I do imagine cringe execution when thinking about how these types of ideas have been handled in the past 10 or 15 years in Hollywood. When I think of Robocop, for example, as you pointed out it's a satire on rampant capitalism, but that's the story's background. The world molds and shapes the characters, yes, but the characters and their relatable conflicts within that world are front and center in the narrative, which is what most Hollywood films can't seem to achieve these days.
I feel that the first Legendary Pictures Godzilla movie was a bit of a metaphor for the USA's relationship with nuclear weapons, and how destructive a conflict between two (or three) nuclear superpowers would be to those who have nothing to do with the conflict.
But the ones that came after the first were clearly just intended to capitalize on the first movie's success, which makes them pretty faithful adaptions of the Shōwa-era movies they're based on, which were created for the exact same reason.
Love love loved this one even more than usual
Excellent video!
The American films examine national responsibility for the environment through the lens of generational trauma. The baddies are technological overreach, colonialism, radicalization and corporate greed (2014, Kong, Monsters and GvK). The goodies are children who lost parents to the baddies (Brody’s dad to radiation, Kong’s parents to the skullcrawler colonizers, Russell’s son to the first movie, and the trio of Madison+Kong+Gia to the last two+climate change). Godzilla is the unthinkable ideal, the unstoppable force we could be if we overcame our divisions and worked together for the greater good.
Colonialism? Are you talking about Kong: Skull Island? In what way is colonialism a part of the story? I didn't see the film.
@@DonnaBrooks The baddies in Kong are invaders of various types, most obviously the skullcrawlers. Mind you, the human protagonists are also invaders, albeit of different kinds.
Wonderful !
I think you’re underestimating the first two Godzilla movies. And why shouldn’t the American ones be about Godzilla? They are made for fans, by fans, of a very Japanese product.
didnt expect you to make a video on this franchise but honestly idk why i didnt
good vid as always
At least it's not another, "Monsterverse bad/woke, Minus One gud (Which it is), me smart" video. I just roll my eyes on those.
It's kinda that but less offensively ignorant.
@@TheRadioSquare At least he admits to enjoying them instead of pretending like he's above it.
New respect for Chaplin here.
Godzilla Japan, Godzilla America. It’s like vanilla and chocolate, both are good.
A lot of anti-war Japanse films are more akin to anti-American movie, including the first Godzilla. They're not introspective enough to dive into the horrors and pure chaos the Japanese created during WW2 and as a result, most of them come off as victimizing themselves rather than showing the aggressors that they truly were. Miyazaki is another great example of this.
Japanese Godzilla is about Godzilla
American Godzilla is about commercialism
Wonderful video.
Accented Cinema + Godzilla! ❤
I think overall, The American Godzilla movies have in their dna the message and tones from Yoshimitsu Banno, the director of Godzilla vs Hedorah as it presents Godzilla as an environmentalist force of nature in which elevates itself against humanity's meddling.
While that's a concept used in some Japanese movies, this makes it more palatable to the American audience without the moral questions of the Nuclear tests and how it affected the Japanese as well as the Bikini Atol citizens. This is also echoed in the Blue Oyster Cult song which makes no mention of nuclear weapons.
It's no surprise that Banno was credited as producer and got the Monsterverse started with Legendary, even credited after his passing in 2017.
The real questions are then, did Banno understand Godzilla, and is Legendary still keeping Godzilla as a kaiju Captain Planet while the directors move torwards a more fantastical direction?
Say, what is your take on Shin Godzilla, did you change your stance on it?
But american godzilla does have a message. Its not super deep but its message is about the self correcting power of nature and how nature cannot be controlled. You can coexist with it or fight it and lose.
Realistically people just watch godzilla movies to watch giant monsters beating the shit out of eachother
I remember learning in my teens that Beat Takeshi was a comedy actor before he was my favorite Badman... my little mind was blown.
Great video
Is (2014's) American Godzilla not a metaphor for climate change? Especially through the lens of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, it very much feels to me like the series about how we have been destroying the planet, and the damage we have caused is now coming back on us. In Monarch we see how, as in real life, we've known how climate change has been progressing for like seventy years, but for reasons of greed, or pride, or obstinance, or even incompetence, we've stubbornly refused to actually do anything about it.
From this perspective, Mechagodzilla isn't just coming out and jumping Kong and Godzilla, interrupting a hype fight with an even hype-er one, it's a representation of corporate greed (this mechagodzilla being created by a corporation), that attacks both nature (Godzilla), and human ingenuity (Kong), who then needs to be stopped.
great video
I love this title, even though I just started watching
great job
All your videos are great, but this one particularly so.
Well said!!!
ah yes, Japanese Godzilla is so refined and substantial unlike American Godzilla...just don't look at 90% of Japanese Godzilla movies.
yeah this one rang kinda hollow to me, there are only 5 American Godzilla movies my dude. There may well be a time when western screenwriters and directors decide they want to make one that's more like like original, but until then it isn't really strange for the American Godzilla films to reflect the Tokusatsu stuff since there is far more of it.
I actually think that the Gareth Edwards film from 2014 is among the best Godzilla movies...sure its not as good as '54, shin or minus one but I do think it's better than the vast majority of Japanese Godzilla movies.
Final Wars is a silly camp filled mess of a Tokusatsu film, and remains one of my all time favorites in the whole franchise. I guess one of the notable things about Godzilla is that he has two distinct legacies.
Thank goodness. A sane take.
Actually most Japanese godzilla movies aside from gojira, shin and minus one had commentary themes and messages in them and are also well written compared to the monsterverse lol.
@@Godzilla-jr5gi "are also well written compared to the monsterverse lol."
In your opinion.
@@Godzilla-jr5gi the monsterverse movies have a strong theme of man's hubris versus nature. They still don't compare to the more serious Godzilla movies because (save for 2014) they are overtly silly and let their zany nonsense distract from the themes.
saying that "most" of the Japanese movies are better written is kind of laughable. Most of the Japanese Godzilla films are much like the monterverse movies that come after the Gareth Edwards film... Tokusatstu absurdity muscling out narrative and tone.
@@PerplexedPlayers "They still don't compare to the more serious Godzilla movies because (save for 2014) they are overtly silly and let their zany nonsense distract from the themes."
So, you think the polygon trilogy (which are serious toned Godzilla movies) is better written then most Japanese Godzilla movies?
What if monsterverse godzilla represents the unforgiving existence of nature, oh wait, i guess too much hentai and wiabu stuff prevented you from thinking that.
I think Godzilla can be both: the wrestler-superhero figure that pats us in the back and shows us a great time, and the "divine beast" that keeps us in check, warning us of what can happen if we don't get our shit together.
It's just that in this day and age, we probably need more of the latter. The former needs to be earned.
I would argue that while American Godzilla never confronts war or other topical political issues, it’s not apolitical. When the big CGI fights aren’t around, the recent films have consistent moral arguments over whether to coexist with or to dominate the kaiju. Coexistence is represented by good-hearted children, while domination is represented by ambitious corporations or a fearful military. The adult protagonists are often portrayed as being on the fence, and they succeed if they listen to the children. The films are encouraging the viewers of any age to adopt a conciliatory attitude toward nature. If it doesn’t come across as politically challenging, that’s because it’s not. The approach lacks nuance and brushes aside any parallels to real life, so its message is easily dismissed as filler to a monster battle movie. It wouldn’t be difficult to make such parallels either; most kaiju fight scenes in cities are a dozen 9/11s, but it’s hard to portray coexistence as a solution if you point that out much. Sympathizing with destruction isn’t a wholly American problem; Ultraman is only heroic if you brush off the massive explosions and collapsing buildings. The one time I remember this being called out is the debut of Ultraman Mebius, but even then the aspect of collateral damage is minimized and soon forgotten.
Thanks
I'm so glad you ask those questions. For at leaat I can't think of the question to ask. I may ask a question that needs constant re-editing.
Excellent
This is something I’ve been talking about for a while and it’s nice to see it summarized so succinctly!
Oh Nimona has some strong godzilla imagery
No wonder Japanese Godzilla AKA Godzilla Minus One deserved to win Oscar 2024 because it teaches life.
Nonsense .
It's for VFX ...
Geopolitics played a major part in giving the Oscar to GMO.
@@peekaboopeekaboo1165 "geopolitics" lmao it's an IP that was made in Japan but split into the Japanese version and American version it's no wonder the Japanese one won after decades
@@peekaboopeekaboo1165you clearly ain’t a Godzilla fan lmao.
@@kingkaijuboygodjira3116
I'm a Godzilla fan .
The Creator has the best VFX of any movie in 2023 .
@@peekaboopeekaboo1165 *BHOJO GOURANGO BHOJOHORI MANNA*
I just want to say here since it's relevant, that Toriyama probably inspired more people in terms of sheer numbers than any of those Old Masters and fuck college art snob professors lmfao. They don't know shit.
Great video though, I agree wholeheartedly. Nothing wrong with mindless Godzilla akin to pro wrestling but man, g minus one hit so different,
No doubt there are a lot of art teachers who are just snobs.
But the good ones, who want you to focus on basics first, are the ones who wants you to *become* the next Toriyama, and not just be a fan of his.
Very well stated and very well done. As an American about to turn 72 years old, I still recall watching Godzilla (albeit the American version) for the first time on television in 1960. It's darkness made an impression on me and I never saw the original Japanese version until it became available in 2006. It is a film that to me should stand alone without sequels (as I feel about many films).
I have some godzilla to watch
I will say this now and probably forever, the American Godzilla is about the man (Godzilla) and his life, and the Japanese Godzilla is about what he represents.
Both are good
Godzilla in 2014 was representative of the forces of nature in response to human activity.
In 2017, the film was about Americans desire for War causing destruction
2019, was a film that dealt with the consequences of loss and faith, as well as leadership.
As well as showing how important humans are, hence why it’s revealed that the whole of humanity is actually a Titan.
Godzilla was the “God” figure of the story who seemed cruel given the events of 2014, but in the end had the best interests for Nature, for Balance.
Ghidorah is basically the Devil, a dictator with selfish intentions who was chosen out of initially good intentions but led to the death of millions.
GvK dealt with the dangers of power over nature through technology. in other words Technology becoming the New God.
We see that Apex essentially makes a deal with the Devil to achieve this by using Ghidorah to create their False God.
Kong’s axe is an example of his ancestors abuse of nature for technology, a disrespect to Godzilla. A weapon that was used to fight his kind. Hence why Kong drops the axe, to show he won’t use it against Godzilla who he recognizes is rightful king of monsters
Did these films perfectly execute these ideas? No, especially GvK - they really really cut that film down to its bare bones - but don’t say they have nothing to say.
The Monsterverse movies all have a common theme of Man vs Nature. Throughout each movie, we see man's futile attempts at controlling nature. I don't think it's fair to say that American Godzilla doesn't have important messages because it is absolutely there. Kong: Skull Island shows the destruction that war brings to not just nature, but aslo people. Godzilla 2014 shows how helpless man is against these forces of nature. King of the Monsters has a lot of thing to say about faith and beliefs. Up From The Depths has a great video about the spirituality of KOTM. And Godzilla vs Kong shows humanity trying to weaponize nature to kill Godzilla. The execution certainly could use improvement, but you can't deny this films have so much heart put into them
"Godzilla KOTM was disgustingly/refreshingly apolitical" they say about a movie about ecoterrorists who unleash an alien monster on the planet because they think the solution to the environmental crisis is genocide.
@@MonsterKidCory Right!!
The faith angle in King of the Monsters is wild. Ghidorah is buried in Antarctica as a reference to Satan's imprisonment in Dante's Inferno, where he is depicted as having three faces.
@@MonsterKidCorythey didn't who Ghidorah was, you're talking from the perspective of the audience who know Ghidorah since the 70s in universe none of them really knew him.
@@CarcharodonMegAnd in Godzilla in Hell Godizlla obliterated Hell and willed himself back to life? I think this attitude towards KOTM as if the franchise never pulled anything like that before is just wrong. Of Japan did it why can't i do it to? They drew the rules first, if they made Godzilla fly, why can't you?
What's wrong with liking both? I enjoyed Minus One big time with it's deep and tragic story telling with it's human characters along with the sheer destruction that surely befits the classical depiction of Godzilla symbolizing the horrors of the atomic bomb and I even congratulated Godzilla getting an Oscar but I'm also looking forward to New Empire just to watch epic kaiju fights along with the lore of the Titans and Hollow Earth. It comes to show that Godzilla, over the years depicted in many movies in shows, can be MANY things.
There's no need for Minus One fans being hypocrites and trash talking on the Monsterverse when earlier Godzilla shows have done things that the Monsterverse is doing. Heck, Monsterverse is what helped revive the Godzilla franchise as a whole. If Godzilla 2014 didn't happen, than we wouldn't have Shin and Minus One Godzilla to this day.
This is my new favourite video of yours, so many good points been made!
Is this why Godzilla Minus One was not released in theaters in China? Living in Hong Kong, I am furious that I still cannot watch it…
The best Monsterverse movie was “Kong: Skull Island,” precisely because it took its cues from films about he Vietnam War. The Monsterverse has laid some groundwork for connecting Kaiju to he climate catastrophe, but so far they haven’t had the guts to fully follow through on it.
As a long time Gojira fan (and seeing how much Godzilla became popular in the west) its nice to see a good, neutral take on both visions and its flaws
Neutral? He shits all over the Monsterverse, basically calling it cowardly.
The progression of art goes like this....
First are the innovators, then the Masters. The imitators then copy them.
Dr. Skipper this is what a video should be. A well-constructed and well written video. He has done his research and understood what the monster verse and Godzilla is about.
Great video!!!! I don't entirely agree with the GMK interpretation but thank you for sharing this. I wish American Godzilla had that edge.
Gareth Edwards did try to make an America critique monster movie, it turned into Monsters and its sequel but didn't stay with Godzilla.
Correction at 3:20: in GMK, Godzilla is not born from the rage of dead Imperial Japan's soldiers, it's born from the rage of their victims. It's a protest against how Japan doesn't like to officially acknowledge Imperial Japan's atrocities.
Great comment! "Godzilla Minus One" made this very clear!
Reminds me of a video I watched called “Why Does Miyazaki HATE America?”.
Let's be fair here... Is there anything Miyazaki doesn't hate at this point?
@@ElvenRaptorme (he doesnt know i exist and im not from north america i win)
A lot of bias in this video, if I'm to be honest. As many have said in these comments, the theme of the Monsterverse movies has always been man's punishment for the believing itself to be above the natural order of the world. This is best characterized in Samuel L Jackson's character in Kong, whose story arc is about the domination of nature and the world through military force, only for him to be destroyed by his own hubris. Also, speaking of wrestlers what does Godzilla Final Wars teach us about "life", because it actually had a wrestler/ MMA fighter as a main supporting role? That aliens use a lot of hair spray and wear shiny suits? Or that Don Fry speaking English to his Japanese co-stars and them answering him in Japanese is symbolic for the need to break down cultural barriers? If you want a humanistic take on the Monsterverse, Monarch Legacy of Monsters has some good plots about found family, survivor's guilt, and the effect of the previous generations' decisions on their descendants (though, to be fair, this is a TV series on a streaming platform rather than a wide release movie). Godzilla has been a double standard series (allegorical sci-fi drama vs campy sci-fi action film) for a long time and saying that the Monsterverse is soulless just because it leans more heavily on one side of that legacy while only briefly mentioning and hand waving away the fact that the Japanese series gave rise to the "men in rubber suits" stereotype is unfair. Godzilla can and likely always will exist on both ends of the spectrum. Though, I would not mind a Monsterverse or even stand alone Legendary attempt at the more allegorical drama as you suggested, particularly the Pandemic/ Denialism idea you mentioned.
This all day.
This is a well worn topic, I love Minus One I get why its popular and beloved.
But jeez the fans should stop bashing on the Monsterverse for embodying the other parts of the kaiju king's legacy. Its not like the Japanese movies have always needed to only be one thing either, and even Toho and Japanese people approves of the Monsterverse.
If you can write godzilla as a powerful unknowable symbollic allegory or alternatively an empathetic powerful animal with complexity, you're doing a good job representing godzilla.
We dont need more remakes of the 1954 movie, I think Shin Godzilla and Minus One are enough for now. Minus One in particular blew it out of the water in terms of human characters too.
I agree that there is place for both faces of Godzilla
But the fact that Hollywood can only see one face, speaks kinda bad about us, if we *cant* do both then maybe, belive it or not, there are problems with how hollywood makes films
A cursory search on UA-cam shows how many videos are titled "Godzilla Destroys Hollywood". So I can understand why G-fans are feeling apprehensive about these comparisons.
Just to be clear, I enjoy the MonsterVerse films immensely. This is not a "bad or good" situation, it's more so "good to great" contemplation.
@@AccentedCinema You're obviously mature enough to know the nuance of the character and franchise, but i keep seeing a depressing amount of people who love demeaning a movie that hasnt even come out yet just so they can flaunt how intelligent they are for approving of one specific new hot movie made in Japan.
I had my eyes open wide when i saw Shin Gojira.
Not about the Godzilla, but how people at goverment (bureaucrat) worked in that crisis.
How they act according the rule to solve the problem.
Thats amazed for me somehow
Great video!
I appreciate that you love art as a message container, it's fundamental reiterate in this age the basis of how make a work of expression.
And I think myself that Japanese Godzilla has so many movies who talks about something interesting and important.
Despire that, Godzilla x Kong The New Empire is one of most anticipated movies for me, because I love giant monsters who kick ass.😁
I know! I'm one of those dudes who complains about endless sequels and mindless blockbusters.
And I'm still going to see GxK.
@@AccentedCinema 😊
I know that is controversial but I try to report the Godzilla cinematic eras aside the Batman eras (one of the longest running characters in pop culture):
- Batman 1944 / Godzilla 1954
the first ones
- Adam West Batman / Showa Godzilla
The campy ones
- Tim Burton Batman / Godzilla 1984
The rebirth
- Batman TAS / Heisei Godzilla
The Renaissance
- Nolan Batman / Millennium Godzilla
The modern ones
- Schumacher Batman / Godzilla Final Wars and Godzilla 1998
The over the tops
- Snyder Batman / Anno Godzilla
The Revival
- Reeves' The Batman (
/ Godzilla Minus One
The contemporaries
It can make no sense but I find it interesting.
@@AccentedCinema
For your information...
SARS-CoV-2 was discovered in waste water sample dated March of 2019 in Spain .
Only the U$ troops that participated at the Wuhan World Military Games on October 2019 ...gets sick with flu !
I honestly wish I could like this video twice instead of just once. Thanks so much! I really enjoyed it!
Look, compared to videos by certain other channels on this subject (you all know the ones), yours in certainly more balanced and somewhat better researched. There are still a few shared mistakes and misinterpretations, not to mention you overlook the deeper themes that do exist in the MV, but overall, I appreciate the presentation here.
That said, there's still one major issue I take with the thesis, and it's a similar issue I take with those other videos: You say that the more escapist Godzilla will never measure up to the meaningful ones, and still land on the side of that being a disappointment.
My response to that is: And? Who cares if a movie isn't political?
Let me answer your closing question. Am I strong enough to think about the hard questions in life? Yes, actually, I am. Now I ask you: why should I, or anyone else, have to think about those hard questions all the time? Are we not allowed to take a break and just have fun?
Arguably, the progenitor of the whole Kaiju genre is King Kong (1933). It was one of the biggest theatrical hits of that year, despite the fact that the Great Depression was at its lowest depths. Do you know why it succeeded? Do you know why people were still willing to spend money on tickets for it even though doing so could cut into a meager food budget? They did it for the escapism. King Kong has no particular commentary about current events, and the themes it does possess are unobtrusive. This meant audiences could just go to the theater and, for a few hours, be transported to a fantastical world of myth and monsters, allowing them a brief reprieve from their worries.
Did I also mention that the original King Kong is considered one of the greatest films ever made?
Look, I don't oppose politics in entertainment so long as they are presented well, and unfortunately, they're not these days. Hollywood has made plenty of movies addressing political topics, including tentpole films, and they largely tend to be awful because 1) they're ham fisted, and 2) they focus so much on the politics that the story is left wanting. Godzilla Minus One handled its politics much smoother, the way American movies used to do. That said, Minus One is not great because it's political. It's great because it tells a deeply human story about guilt and survival, which could be told with or without politics. It's just a bonus that the political commentary was handled as well as it was.
That said, there is value in escapism. A movie having no meaning, one that simply wishes to entertain for entertainment's sake, should not be seen as a "guilty pleasure". It should be seen as a fun time at the movies, a way to enjoy yourself, a thing you can bond over with friends because of how funny or cool it is.
Sometimes we enjoy a song because it's catchy, a book because it's pulpy, and a movie because it's fun. What it has to say is secondary, and if it has nothing to say at all, oh well. Most of us don't care to live in a perpetual state of "everything must be political" anyway.
Beat Takeshi? I knew him as the guy whose castle always got invaded.
The current monsterverse Godzilla movies are pretty much have the same spirits as the versus phase of Toho Godzilla, I mean Final Wars is pretty much a kaijuu royal rumble, and my friend, who is an art professor and a godzilla fans, he said that Godzilla King of Monsters is pretty much a spiritual successor of Final Wars