Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965)

Title: Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965)

Director: Ishiro Honda

Review:

There’s something about older Godzilla movies, they seem better produced than some of the newer ones; I dont know if its the caliber of directors behind these films, or the way they were made (probably a bit of both) but the production values seem higher on these old movies. I mentioned something about this on my review for Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). The polished look and feel we see on these older films had a lot to do with what veteran Godzilla director Ishiro Honda was aiming to achieve. It appears to me that Mr. Honda made some of the best movies in the whole series, and the film I'll be reviewing today, Invasion of the Astro-Monster is certainly one of them. I mean, he really did  some great sci-fi films, he even made sci-fi out of the Godzilla universe of films. Ishiro Honda  is certainly an important director from Japan. By this I don’t mean that the newer Godzilla films are a joke, I’m just saying that these older films took themselves more seriously somehow. Invasion of the Astro-Monster has many good things going for it, lots of elements that make it one of the best Godzilla films out there. Come with me as I review Godzilla film #6, Invasion of the Astro-Monster a.k.a. Godzilla vs. Monster Zero!

Story is all about these alien beings from Planet X; who call upon the help of the earthlings to battle against a creature that doesn’t let them live in peace. The inhabitants of Planet X call the creature ‘Monster Zero’ because they name everything by numbers; these aliens are numerical that way. So anyhow, we soon find out that this creature they call ‘Monster X’ is actually King Gihdorah! That’s right my friends, this is King Gihdorah, the same creature that fought Godzilla just one year before in Gihdorah: The Three Headed Monster (1964)! This is the reason why some people see this film as a direct sequel to Gihdorah: The Three Headed Monster, cause Gihdorah attacks again. So anyways, the aliens from Planet X are forced to live underground because King Gihdorah is constantly terrorizing the planet. So they ask the humans for permission to use Godzilla and Rodan to fight against King Gihdorah on the surface of Planet X! As a special prize for agreeing to help them in this matter, they aliens offer the humans the cure for cancer, and quite possibly the cure for all deceases on earth! Are these aliens to be trusted? Should the humans agree to give Godzilla and Rodan to the aliens? Will they truly hand over the cure for cancer?

Aliens take Godzilla and Rodan to their home planet

Well, what I liked most about this film is that apart from being a good Godzilla flick, it was also a great sci-fi story. This was Toho's succesful attempt at uniting Kaiju movies (giant monster movies) with more traditional science fiction, the kind of films that Ishiro Honda was making when he wasnt making Godzilla films. Films like The Mysterians (1957) for example, a film I've yet to see, but I'm looking forward to the experience. This is the kind of science fiction film that was made back then, with flying saucers that make that strange whistling sound when they fly, and aliens that come from ‘Planet X’.

Monster Zero, terrorizing the inhabitants of Planet X

On this film, Godzilla doesn’t spring into action for a long time, I think the film hits the one hour mark and we still don’t see Godzilla fighting. Godzilla is frozen beneath the sea for a huge part of the film until he is finally reawakened by the aliens. But here’s the thing about this Godzilla movie: the human stories where actually good, the characters were interesting, and well portrayed. We have Fuji and Nick, two astronauts who are the best of buddies. One is Japanese the other is American, together they explore the universe for the Japanese nation. On this particular trip they head towards the mysterious Planet X, going where no man has gone before! Cool thing is they act as if they've gone to a new planet a few times already, and they are just having a casual conversation during the flight, cracking jokes. I thought that was kinda funny also, they go on this long journey to a planet thats behind Jupiter, and they dont get up from their seats not once! Nick is in love with a Japanese woman while Fuji is an overprotective brother who doesn’t want his sister marrying her crazy boyfriend Tetsuo, who also happens to be an inventor. Fuji thinks Tetsuo is unworthy of his sister, but Tetsuo’s inventions just might end up saving the human race! Point is, the stories that go on amongst the humans are solid, a bonus in my book.

Things get crazier when the film amps up the sci-fi angle and we get to meet the inhabitants of Planet X. These aliens are a funky looking bunch, they might end up reminding you of something you might have seen in a DEVO music video. They talk in numbers and calculations, they are cold and robotic. They follow rules, to the point where it becomes constrictive. I liked this angle the film has, the human vs. the robotic. In many ways, this story comments on oppressive governments. Are we to loose our humanity in order to become a strict, law abiding society? There has to be a balance somewhere, can it be achieved? This is the core of this films story, and actually, it took me by surprise, the interesting themes. But then again, in one form or another Godzilla films have always criticized governments and their experiments on humanity, when we get right down to the core of who Godzilla is, he's a mutant caused by Nuclear Bombs hurled at Japan by the United States, the  results of years of nuclear testing near Japan. This isn’t the first Godzilla film I see that criticizes governments; Godzilla vs. King Gihdora (1989) did the same thing if I remember correctly. In fact, Godzilla vs. King Gihdorah is very similar to this one especially when it comes to having flying saucers and aliens that control giant creatures through thought waves. So this film my friends, same as the best science fiction films, comments on human nature, and why we do the things we do. The aliens from Planet X are a reflection of any oppressive government that wants to strip its people of its culture and uniqueness. God knows there’s a lot of those out there! This films message is as relevant today as it was way back in 1965.

Then there’s Godzilla himself and the monster fights! We don’t see Godzilla as often on this movie, but the rest of the movie was so interesting, it really didn’t bother me. This was classic 1960 style sci-fi and I was loving it. On this one, Godzilla and Rodan end up being dragged through space, carried to Planet X by alien spaceships. We get to see a re-match between Godzilla and King Gihdorah on the surface of an alien planet! That was pretty cool! Best part is that after Godzilla wins the fight (of course he wins it, you already know that) Godzilla does this hilarious victory dance, it has to be the funniest moment on any Godzilla movie. I mean Godzilla leaps in the air and literally does this little dance, moving his arms and legs, it was hilarious! It made me chuckle, but Godzilla's victory dance also felt kind of out of place in the film. It completely takes you out of the film, it made Godzilla a little too silly, a little too human for me. I guess this sort of thing was done on purpose though. Toho was purposely trying to make Godzilla look friendlier and less scary. They even changed his face so it wouldn't be as monstrous as the previous films.  I guess they didn’t want the kids being too scared of Godzilla, and so this is one of the first movies to portray Godzilla as saviour of humanity, though at one moment he does get to destroy a little bit of Japan, which I guess Godzilla cant help doing. It’s as if he saw houses, and the impulse immediately takes, like instinct. If we could hear Godzilla's thoughts, they'd probably go something like this: "Destroy Japan, destroy, destroy!" But then again, his brain was being controlled by the evil aliens at one point, so I have to cut him some slack on this one. His a good guy on this one, not a force of nature destroying everything. But speaking of Godzilla's 'friendlier' look, its the only thing I didnt like about the movie. He doesn't look menacing at all, in fact, the suit looks too baggy, like it doesnt fit the actor properly. I like the newer Godzilla films where Godzilla looks lean and strong and muscular, ready to kick some ass. My main problem with this one is that its too obvious that its a guy in a suit. Way too obvious and its the only reason why I didnt give the film a perfect five.

My final thoughts on this one are that it was one of the best Godzilla movies I've seen in terms of the humans. I also liked the art direction on the film which was very art deco. At times, I felt as if I was watching a Mario Bava movie when it came down to the sets and art direction, it kind of brought to mind  Planet of the Vampires (1965) which I loved so much. They are from the same era, and have a similar vibe going for them. If you like old school science fiction films, and you love Godzilla films, then this is your ticket right here. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Tree of Life (2011)

Title: The Tree of Life (2011)

Director: Terrence Malick

Cast: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain

Review:

A big thank you goes out directly to Terrence Malick, the director of The Tree of Life for making this amazing film. This is the kind of cinema that rekindles my love for film. You know how sometimes you burn out from watching bad films? How sometimes so many bad films make their way into your mind that you kind of loose hope of ever watching a film that really truly matters? A film that really truly gets to you? Well, The Tree of Life fixed all that for me. Here’s a film that is so truthful, so genuine, so full of love for life that anyone who watches it will be moved by it somehow, someway. The Tree of Life felt as if Terrence Malick took all his life experiences, everything he has ever lived and experienced, thought, and wondered and siphoned it into this one film. This is the brainchild of a lifetime of accumulated experiences. You can tell this film comes from a mature, intelligent mind that’s pondered deeply into the great mysteries of life and returned with this amazing film.

The Tree of Life doesn’t have that rushed quality that most commercial films posses. You know, where you can tell the film was made quickly in order to meet a Summer Blockbuster Season deadline. Nope, this is a film that has been festering in the mind of its creators for a while. Actually, if we’re going to be getting down to specifics, this film has been in Malick’s mind for the longest time, since way back in the days where the project was called 'Q'. Because of the risky nature of a film of this caliber, unsure producers caused the project to continually change actors and distributors since its very beginning. But filming finally started in 2008 and kept on going through the years, until recently when it was finally released in 2011! It certainly has that feel of a film that was well thought out and planned. Terrence Malick obviously took special care on this one. You can tell it was a film made with true love, true devotion for film and what you can say and transmit through it. This film comes from a filmmaker who fully recognizes the power of films. David Lynch wrote a book called “Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness and Creativity” in which among other things he talks about how ideas are like fish in a pond. The deeper you dive into the pond, the more exotic the fish you will find. It seems to me like Terrence Malick dove really deep into his pond of ideas and returned with a really exotic, moving, emotional film.

The Tree of Life is brimming with such tender moments, moments that you can just tell came from a personal childhood memory, or some true life experience that the filmmaker had. This is the kind of film where as you watch it you will constantly say things like “I remember that”, “I remember going through that” or “That happened to me when I was a kid!” I know I did. It will have you remembering beautiful moments from your childhood that you had completely forgotten about. But at the same time, like in life, it has bittersweet moments. As all of us who are alive can testify, life can change from happy to sad in the blink of an eye. I loved how the film portrayed that aspect of life in a realistic way, not as a fairytale. Let’s face it, film can sometimes be guilty of overusing happiness. Sadness and tragedy are just as much a part of the experience as everything else. The Tree of Life covers all these aspects of life, the happy and the sad. It goes from being born, to seeing your baby brother arrive for the first time from the hospital. From holding your son for the first time in your hands, to showing him how to take his first steps. To all these moments you have when you are a kid, like playing hide and go seek or being mischievous with your friends, daring each other to do “bad things”. Sibling rivalries, hatred towards parents…simply put, this is a film that encompasses a very wide range of themes.

Family life gets its fare share of screen time because at its core this is a film that explores family dynamics and it explores them from all angles. From the angle of the father, the son, the mother, the brothers, they all get their say in this picture. The portrayal of the American family in this film is very 1950’s, meaning the father is the bread winner, the mother is the housekeeper. And they all go to church on Sundays and pray before they go to bed. The dynamic between husband and wife reminded me a lot of the type of situation we saw in Sam Mendez’s Revolutionary Road (2008), a film that also explored that conundrum of the housewife with no say so. In The Tree of Life, the housewife is played by Jessica Chastain in the role of Mrs. O’Brien. She says very little in the film during the scenes that take place in the household, yet it’s her thoughts we hear most of the time. The loving nature of the female, the nurturer, the mother is what we hear the most. Rarely do we hear Mr. O’Brien’s thoughts. Mr. O’Brien, played by Brad Pitt is portrayed as half harsh man, half loving father/husband. He is a man carved the old fashioned way where men have the last and only say so in matters and the woman children are there to follow the father/husband’s lead in life. I found it interesting that it’s the love of the mother which shines through most of the film; from beginning to the very end, it is her voice that guides us through. 

Another theme that the film constantly addresses is the proverbial big question: is god real? Does he exist? If he exists, then where is he? Is he really out there? And if he is out there, then why does he allow bad things to happen? Characters say things like “I want to know what you know, see what you see” while questioning the existence of God. It’s not every movie that dares to ask these questions so openly; it is a delicate theme after all. But Malick addresses these themes with such sincerity and humility, that it doesn’t feel like slandering, or even preaching. These are just logical questions that pop up in all our minds at one point or another. I liked how when characters ask these questions, they do so in the privacy of their minds, in their private thoughts. And even when these questions are being asked inside of their heads; we hear the questions in a whisper. I guess that’s Malick’s way of letting the viewer know the reverence given to these ideas of a superior being who watches over all of us.

But ultimately, I felt as if Malick was portraying nature as the ultimate creative force in the universe, nature as God. And this was yet another reason why I loved this movie so much. I personally feel that the thing that’s worthiest of our worship or adoration is life itself. Nature is an awe inspiring thing, and Malick shows us that in this movie. At times, it felt like I was watching one of those BBC’s ‘Planet Earth’ documentaries which I love so much. These documentaries (much like Malick’s film) show us things about nature we thought we’d never see. Like Herzog in some of his films (Fitzcarraldo for example) Malick shows us places of earth that look alien to those of us who’ve never seen them. Those of us living in concrete jungles. This is yet another theme that the film puts in juxtaposition: that of nature vs. civilization or how I like to call it: Trees vs. Buildings. In the film, Sean Penn’s character looks down at the concrete jungle as he remembers fondly those days of he’s youth where he played in the backwoods of his suburban home. He looks at the buildings as if they were engulfing him, suffocating him. I loved this part of the film. Sean Penn represents the modern man who remembers being in contact with nature, who remembers a simpler life. Not a life filled with concrete, steal and glass. During these thoughtful moments he realizes that the world has gone to the greedy.

I couldn’t end this review without talking about the more “spaced out” moments of this film which are some of the most beautiful ones. Not a line of dialog is spoken during most of these scenes; the images are the ones that do most of the talking. During these scenes, visuals and music completely take over. I loved Malick’s exploration of the universe, trying to demonstrate how beautiful and vast and unexplored it is. How small we are in comparison the vastness of the universe. Its no wonder the film starts out with a text from the bible. The text is Job 38:4 in which God asks Job the following: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for Joy?” I personally have a fascination with all things cosmic, for me, it is out there where the great mysteries of life lie and so I love films that talk about these things. It is inevitable that a film that “spaces out” the way this one does will be compared to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969) the mother of all spaced out movies. Same as Kubrick, Malick plays these scenes out with a feeling of grandeur and spectacle. Be ready for sequences that are composed of visuals and music alone for long periods of time. Some might find this boring, but in all honesty, I was mesmerized by them.

Ultimately, this is a very polarizing film. When I watched this one in theaters, the crowd watched the whole film in silence, and when it was over, some applauded (myself included) and some chuckled and laugh, as if they’ve just seen the stupidest movie they had ever seen. Whoever finds this movie to be a joke has to be made of stone. This is one of the most profound movie experiences you will have. It explores life and the meaning behind it, it’s a film that says that nature, and life and all its bitter sweetness are all here to be experienced and embraced by us all, and that in the end, the only thing that matters is love. How can you go wrong with that? The Tree of Life is a masterpiece, a visual tour de force meant to be experienced with someone you love by your side, be it a friend, family or the love of your life. As one of the characters says in the film: “The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by” What a lovely message to give. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Godzilla : Final Wars (2004)

Title: Godzilla: Final Wars (1994)

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura

Review:

The reason why Godzilla film #28 is called ‘Godzilla: Final Wars’ is because Toho decided that this was going to be the last Godzilla movie they were going to make in a while. Reportedly, when Toho released Godzilla: Final Wars in 2004 their plan was to stop making Godzilla movies for 10 whole years; so this was going to be the last Godzilla movie at least until 2014-15 or something. Godzilla was going to go into hibernation so to speak. So of course Godzilla: Final Wars had to be extra special. After all, it was with this film that they were commemorating Godzilla’s 50th anniversary since his first appearance in Gojira (1954)! So this film was a “see you later” to Godzilla, at least until he is resurrected again for a new era of films, because lets face it, nothing is going to stop Godzilla from reemerging.

Godzilla is resurrected from an icy grave

On Final Wars giant monsters are attacking cities from all over the world. They are popping up in places like New York , Australia and Shanghai , but have no fear! By now, humans are so accustomed to being attacked by giant monsters (hey, it’s been 28 movies after all!!) that they’ve created their own anti-monster unit called The Earth Defense Force or ‘EDF’ for short. This unit is made up of genetically enhanced humans that have special abilities like augmented strength and agility. These ‘mutants’ have been born and raised to protect the earth against monsters, which keep popping up all over the place. Why are so many of these creatures suddenly appearing in different countries? Could it have something to do with the alien spaceship that’s hovering around Japan ?

So this was to be a special Godzilla movie because it was the 50th anniversary of Godzilla and it was going to be last Godzilla film in a while, so Toho wanted to go out with a bang. The result is this huge monster bash, where practically every monster that Godzilla has ever fought shows up! This sort of thing where a bunch of monsters show up in a single Godzilla film had been done before in a Godzilla film called Destroy all Monsters! (1968). By the way, the story for Godzilla: Final Wars is extremely similar to Destroy All Monsters, right down to having mind controlling aliens as part of the plot. On Final Wars, the aliens are called Xillians, and like most aliens in Godzilla films, at first they seem benign then they end up being evil. As I continue watching Godzilla movies I’ve come to the realization that somehow an alien race always ends up appearing on these films. This angle of alien spaceships controlling the giant monsters is something that Hollywoodhas always tried to avoid in their attempts at making Godzilla films. Director Jan De Bont (Speed, Twister) was going to include Aliens on his proposed Godzilla film, but that film never came to be. I guess Hollywood considers this angle too cheesy.

Monster X

The director of this film is Ryuhei Kitamura, the director behind Versus (2000), Alive (2002) and one of my favorite horror films from 2008, the hugely underrated Midnight Meat Train (2008). I’ve seen enough of his films to know that he loves manga style action, in other words, nothing that adheres to reality. His films are always filled with comic book style action and fights, lots of characters striking poses and trying to look cool; Godzilla: Final Wars was no exception. The Earth Defense Force is composed of these mutants that love to have Matrix-style fights that take up way to much time in the film. Actually, this would be a good time to mention that this film focuses a hell of a lot more on the humans and their matrix style fights then on the monster fights. A really good Godzilla film will try and have both a good storyline for the humans, while at the same time including good monster fights, playing a nice balancing act between the two; but never forgetting that the main reason why people have put their butts in the movie theater is to see big monsters fighting! Did Final Wars achieve this?

Well, yes and no. On the monster side of things, we do get tons of monsters on this film. A lot of them had been absent from Godzilla films for years and years, so I’m guessing Godzilla fans must have been truly excited to see all these old monsters reappearing on the big screen. Unfortunately, their appearances are really short as are the fights between the creatures. Again, the film seemed more focused on ripping off The Matrix. Just when you think you’re going to get a good monster fight sequence, bam, the film cuts back to the aliens and the mutants doing their best Neo impersonation. And speaking of impersonating characters from The Matrix, one of this films major faults is that they spend too much time with Matrix style fights! This is something I’ve noticed about Godzilla movies, they always seem to rip off some Hollywood film. For example Godzilla vs King Gihdora (1991) has a Terminator style cyborg infused into its storyline, Godzilla vs. Mothra: the Battle for Earth (1992) has an Indiana Jones type of character. Actually that one has a whole sequence that was lifted form Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom , almost shot for shot! On Final Wars, the director was sucking both of the Wachowski brothers dicks. You know how in The Matrix neo stops bullets mid-air with the power of his mind? Well on Final Wars one of the characters stops laser beams in mid-air with the power of his mind! Filmmakers behind Godzilla films need to remember, we came to watch big monsters brawl, everything else is secondary! But not on this one, on this one the director wanted to show how well he could direct action and fight sequences. And to be honest, the film does have some nifty action sequences in it For example, we get an extended motorcycle chase sequence that stands out. While watching it, I couldn’t help but notice how many shots the director stole directly from John Woo films. That motorcycle sequence reminded me of scenes from John Woo’s Hard Target (1993) and Hard Boiled (1992). 

Evil Aliens

The thing about some of these Godzilla films is that the human side of the story isn’t very well developed, humans have at times been reduced to mere by standers who stand in awe at the big monsters fighting, others will involve humans into the plot line a bit more. Often times the human side of the story is badly acted or written and you cant wait for it to be over so you can get to the monsters fighting. On this one, we get The Earth Defenders going up against the beasties, which I have to admit was a pretty original idea. Sadly, we only get to see the Earth Defense Force fight against a monster once in the whole movie. You’d think that the director would take the opportunity to have them go up against Godzilla himself or something. Personally, I would have loved that! To unite the human side of the story with the monsters instead of having them act as separate entities, the way it happens in most of these Godzilla movies. Even though the Earth Defense Force doesn’t directly go up against Godzilla, at least the filmmakers had a cool concept to play with this time around. I haven’t seen all of the Godzilla movies, but I’d say that this was a pretty novel approach. I just wish they’d taken it further!

Since this is the last Godzilla movie in a while, I thought it would be only natural to compare how Godzilla started out like in way back in Gojira (1954) and how he is in his latest and most modern incarnation in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), a pitting of the old vs. the new. I guess the biggest change between the two is the tone of the films. With it’s dark shadowy look and the ominous quality with which the creature was handled, the original Godzilla was closer to a horror film. The monster was kept in the shadows and had an evil aura to it. These new movies seem so bright and colorful in comparison. Not to mention that Gojira played its storyline pretty straight, a trait I enjoy from the older Godzilla movies. Even though with Gojira director Ishiro Honda was making a movie with a potentially silly premise, he treated Godzilla with a modicum of seriousness. He knew the premise was cheesy, but he directed a film that took itself seriously. When compared to the old films, these newer films feel more like a Manga or a comic book come to life. A lot of these newer films don’t take themselves too seriously; Final Wars is a good example of that and that aint a bad thing in my book. I enjoy both styles of Godzilla, the more serious one seen in Gojira and the more comic book style films we see today. It’s interesting to see the changes in tone and structure that these films have gone through across the years. But by far, for me anyways, this is one of the coolest looking Godzilla's. Very agile, he looks lean and strong when compared to the suits used in the older films. 

Finally, there was only one thing that I absolutely despised about Final Wars. I’m talking about the inclusion of ‘Manilla’, a.k.a. ‘Godzuki’, a.k.a. Godzilla’s son. Jeezus, this to me is the one and only Godzilla character I genuinely loath. Final Wars is the first time I’ve ever seen Manilla in action, but I gotta tell ya, the first impression is that it looks too freaking silly. It’s so obvious that it only exists to sell toys to kids. In Final Wars, the character doesn’t even figure into the story properly! In fact all of the scenes involving Manilla seem to have been squeezed into the film at the last moment. All he does is drive around with an old man and his grandson until the end, when he finally does something. Manilla’s scenes with the old man and the kid completely take you out of the movie! Some cool monster fight is happening, and suddenly we cut back to Manilla, the little kid and the old man driving around their pick up truck. I didn’t enjoy this character or his scenes at all; he could have easily been exorcised from the film. But I guess, since they wanted to bring in as many Godzilla characters as possible into this 50th Anniversary film, then that’s why we are forced to see the little monstrosity. But aside from that, this movie is a fun watch. It is every bit as over the top and fast paced as you’d expect a Godzilla movie to be. It borrows heavily from everywhere, Hollywood , Chinese Cinema, and even older Godzilla movies like Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965), in which the earth is also threatened by evil aliens and their dirty tricks. By the way, that’s the next Godzilla film I will be reviewing, be on the look out for that review! 

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5

The Four American Godzilla Films

One of the few times that Hollywood has taken a stab at producing a Godzilla film; the result was the universally panned Godzilla (1998) directed by big budget event film specialist Roland Emmerich. The anticipation for that film was pretty high; I remember everyone wanted to know what the King of All Monsters was going to look like on this new film because Sony was keeping the look of the creature under wraps. Their plan was that the only way you would get a chance to see the beast is by going to see the film. Concept art leaked onto the internet, but no one was really sure if it was the creatures’ true look. When audiences finally paid their movie ticket and got a look at this new Godzilla, most where disappointed because it wasn’t really Godzilla, at least not the way they remembered him from all of his Japanese adventures. 

Even though Godzilla’s new design displeased many a Godzilla fan, this didn’t stop American audiences from seeing this new Godzilla, which went on to make 379 million at the box office. And though a lot of people hated it, I personally had a lot of fun with it. I mean, yeah, technically this wasn’t really Godzilla; it was more of a lame attempt to make Godzilla “cooler” or un-cheesy. But as a monster movie? I think it has its moments. And it has some awesome special effects sequences. Those scenes with Godzilla tangled on the San Francisco Bridge? Classic monster movie mayhem! I think this film would have garnered less hatred if it had completely disassociated itself from the Godzilla franchise. People were expecting Godzilla, and they didn’t get it, so they hated the film. Problem is that this particular Godzilla movie was missing a lot of what makes a Godzilla movie a Godzilla movie. For example, Godzilla doesn’t fight other giant monsters! Godzilla doesn’t fire laser beams out of his mouth! His back doesn’t light up! Roland Emerich’s prime concern with making this film was to get away from the cheese factor as much as possible. Unfortunately, anyone who’s watched Godzilla films knows that cheesiness and Godzilla go hand in hand. It just goes with the territory. You can’t fight it, you have to accept it, engulf it. Only then will you enjoy a film where Godzilla fights giant Moths that shoot laser beams from their eyes. But no, from day one Emmerich was always thinking about getting away from the cheesiness. Was this a good move? Well, it certainly made no dent in the films box office intake, but Godzilla fans were not pleased. 

Godzilla thrashes the streets of New York City

Emmerich’s approach for making this film was to totally redesign Godzilla; to get as far away as he could from the original Japanese design. Truth be told, at first Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin wanted nothing to do with this new Godzilla movie. Another bad omen if you ask me. Why try and get two guys to make a film that they don’t have any passion for? But Sony had their hearts set on getting Devlin and Emmerich to make their new Godzilla because these were the guys who made the multi million dollar box office success known as Independence Day (1994). Surely they knew a thing or two about making a successful summer blockbuster, let alone a new Godzilla movie! Emmerich thought Godzilla was simply too silly a concept for him to develop. His outlook on the project changed when Patrick Tatopoulos redesigned the creature from the ground up. Understandably so, Emmerich didn’t want a man in a suit for his film. So he got Patrick Tatopoulos to give Godzilla a new look. Tatopoulos had previously worked for Devlin and Emmerich designing the creatures of Stargate (1994) and the aliens for Independence Day (1996). Once Emmerich saw Tatopoulos’s new design, he liked it so much that he knew that this was they way he wanted to go with his new take on Godzilla! 

Concept art for Godzilla (1998)

When the time came to start production, Patrick Tatopoulos actually traveled to Japan to meet with 30 Toho Studios officials to reveal his new Godzilla designs. When he unraveled his creation to them in drawing and sculpture form, they were met with a resounding silence. Tatopoulos went back home thinking the meeting had gone wrong, but to his surprise, the next day he was informed that Toho had approved the new creature design. That even though it was different, it still captured what Godzilla was all about. All they saw was a big budget summer blockbuster being produced by Hollywood which would eventually reap monetary results if the film became a hit. In the end Japanese audiences loathed the new film calling it “Godzilla in name only”. Kenpachiro Satsuma, an actor who’s portrayed Godzilla in various Japanese films walked out of a Tokyo screening saying that “It’s not Godzilla, it does not have the spirit” Essentially, what Emmerich’s film did was turn Godzilla into a big animal searching for food and looking for a place to procreate, while in the Japanese movies Godzilla was something closer to a God walking the earth. In the original Japanese films Godzilla would emerge to punish humanity for their abuse of the earth, other times he’d be the protector of the earth. Sometimes he’s a mix of both! But on Emmerich’s film he is neither of those. Emmerich stripped Godzilla of its godliness. Japanese have referenced Godzilla (1998) in some of their subsequent Godzilla films. For example in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) the Japanese Godzilla actually goes up against the American Godzilla which they call ‘Zilla’. The battle transpires rather quickly, and Japanese Godzilla kicks Zilla’s ass in a matter of seconds. Then one of the characters in the movie calls Zilla a “Good for nothing Tuna eating monster” Which I guess pretty much surmises how the Japanese felt about Emmerich’s film. It was an insult to their beloved icon. 

Godzilla gets up close and personal with his American co-stars

But Emmerich’s Godzilla film wasn’t the first time Hollywood tried to take a stab at making a Godzilla film. Actually, they tried twice before! And both times, the projects came close to getting made, then caput; nothing. Whatever came of those projects? Why didn’t they ever come into fruition? Well, as some of you might already know, I am a huge fan of conceptual artwork, if you havent done so already, check out my article on Conceptual Artwork for Films That Never Got Made. For me its always fun to go through these projects that never got to exist. Well, in my thirst for knowledge on all things Godzilla I came upon not one but two American Godzilla films that never happened. And they actually looked like they were going to be cool films! They both had great creative teams behind them! Sadly, at the time studios had no faith in putting so many millions on a what they considered to be ‘children’s films’. And in order to do these films right, these filmmakers were going to need mucho dinero, which the studios were reluctant to give. So both projects were shelved. But there are pictures and storyboards of these projects, which I’ve posted for your viewing enjoyment. So without further ado, I give you the Two Godzilla’s that Never Where! 

GODZILLA KING OF ALL MONSTERS 3-D (1983-1984) 

Director: Steve Miner

Writer: Fred Dekker

The first of the two shelved Godzilla projects was going to be directed by Steve Miner, the main driving force behind this project. Right now Steve Miner isnt regarded as much of a director. Recently he was responsible for the abortion that was Day of the Dead (2008). Boy was that a bad movie and not in a fun way. It wasn’t even a proper remake of George Romero’s original Day of the Dead film. But, once upon a time, he was a director making profitable horror movies like Friday the 13th Part 2 and 3. He’d also directed the fun haunted house flick House (1986) and the first Warlock (1989) film. He knew his way around a film, and this Godzilla was shaping up to be his biggest endeavor yet.

Story Boards for Steve Miner's proposed Godzilla film by William Stout

Miner had a respectable filmography at the time, a bunch of profitable horror films under his belt. He looked like the right guy for the job! His experience in working with 3-D on Friday the 13th 3D was going to be put to good use because his proposed Godzilla film was going to be 3-D! In fact, it was going to be called Godzilla: King of the Monsters 3-D, nifty title right? The writer behind this proposed Godzilla flick was non other than Fred Dekker, the director behind Night of the Creeps (1986) and Monster Squad (1987), not a bad couple of films if you ask me. Plus, he’d written a bunch of Tales from the Crypt episodes, and he’d worked with Miner before writing the script for House (1986). Fred Dekker is a connoisseur of sci-fi and monster films from all eras, so he knew a thing or two about what a good Godzilla movie was all about. Dekker’s story was going to have a meteorite hitting one of the U.S. militaries satellites and accidentally setting off a nuclear attack that would ultimately end up resurrecting Godzilla. The film was going to end with an all out battle between the U.S. army and Godzilla on Alcatraz island!

Godzilla animatronic made for Godzilla: King of the Monsters 3-D, sadly, it was never used

And finally, conceptual artwork and storyboards were handled by artist extraordinaire, William Stout. Even special make up effects legend Rick Baker was called in to make an animatronic head for Godzilla’s close ups! They even built an animatronic of Godzilla that was never used! ILM and Dreamquest would have worked in conjunction to deal with the films extensive fx work! The proposed budget for the project was a measly 30 million. Tame by today’s standards, but back then the studios considered it a big price tag for what they considered a children’s film, so the project was scrapped. Considering how many talented inviduals were going to be involved in making this film, I’d say the studio was getting a bargain price for this awesome movie! 

But Godzilla was not ready to die just yet…. the next attempt to resurrect Godzilla in Hollywood would be:

Concept art  by Stan Winston Studios for what would have been Godzilla '94  

GODZILLA ’94 a.k.a. GODZILLA VS. THE GRYPHON 

Director: Jan De Bont

Writers: Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott, Donald McPherson

This project was the precursor to Devlin and Emmerich’s eventual film. Tristar had been aching to do a Godzilla movie and they’d hired Terry Rossi and Ted Elliott to write a script for the proposed film. Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott are two guys who have lots of experience writing big budget money makers for studios like Disney and Dreamworks. These are the guys responsible for writing the whole Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. So Tristar hired them for the script. Next, they brought in Jan De Bont who wanted to make a Godzilla that would be faithful to the spirit of the Japanese Godzilla films but at the same time offer up some cutting edge special effects. He employed the talents of Stan Winston Studios for the creature designs. The designs speak for themselves. The Gryphon creature was going to be an awesome villain!

The 'Probe-Bat' creatures for Godzilla '94 by Stan Winston Studios, sadly they were never used! 

I have to say, I think this was going to be an awesome Godzilla movie. Of these two projects that never came to be, I think this one was going to be the most faithful to the old Godzilla films. It was going to have Godzilla go up against another giant monster called The Gryphon! It was going to have aliens, ancient civilizations and the two creatures destroying all of Manhattan during their cataclysmic fight!  Godzilla was going to have that classic Godzilla look, yet at the same time look pretty freaking cool! The final fight was going to take place on Ellis Island with Godzilla taking the Gryphon’s head and placing it on the Statue of Liberties torch!

The awesomeness that could have been Godzilla '94

This project went as far as building sets, but once again, it was the budget that scared the studio away. De Bont wanted 130 million and the studio wanted to make the film with much less, so De Bont stepped down. Ironic thing is that even though Emmerich agreed to make the film for 65 million, Emmerich’s film ended up costing more then 150 million plus promotional costs. So in the end, it would have cost them less to more or less the same to make it with Jan De Bont, by the looks of it, it would have  been an even better film than Godzilla (1998) was, but I guess we'll never really know will we?

Conceptual artwork for The Grypon 

Well, that’s it folks. I guess what these two defunct projects show us is that a lot of planning and work can go into planning a film, but if in the end you don’t convince the studios (read: the guys with the money) then chances are your project will go nowhere.  Even if you are a big shot director like De Bont was at the time. Also, it shows us that Hollywood doesnt know a good deal when they see it. The creative teams behind these flicks were beyond cool, and I would've loved to see both of these movies get made. But alas, Hollywood likes to play it too safe some times.  Gareth Edward's the director behind Monsters (2010) is the next director to attempt making a Godzilla film for Hollywood. He seems to have a genuine love for monster movies, so lets see what happens. The project is happening under Legendary Pictures, here's some conceptual artwork for how Godzilla might end up looking in that picture, what say you guys?

Well, thats it for now boys and girls. Look forward to more Godzilla movie reviews; I will be posting a couple more in the coming days! As always thanks for reading. And if you want to read more reviews on Godzilla films, go here!

Paprika (2006)

Title: Paprika (2006)

Director: Satoshi Kon

Review:

Dream movies are some of my favorite films, because they explore that strange, surreal, alluring world of the subconscious, and as we all know, every time we slip into dream world, anything goes. In Paprika, a dream machine called “The DC Mini” has been created as a way to perform psychotherapy. With the DC Mini, you can enter someone’s dreams, record them, so that you can re-watch them and analyze them when you wake up.

Is That Chiba Atsuko or Paprika?

I’ve always wanted a machine that could record dreams, because to be honest I've had some really bizarre ones! I mean, I read so much science fiction and horror, that my brains has tons of cool things to feed of on when it decides to dream!  If I could record them, they would make awesome movies. I wouldnt mind having that ability, to re-watch and analyze my dreams. Problem with some of my dreams is that they tend to disappear from my memory mere minutes after I wake up. For example just this morning I had this crazy dream that was a mix between Mad Max, Dirty marry Crazy Larry and Drive Angry! I remember it being awesome, and I do remember a couple of fragments from it, but do I remember every single little exciting moment from it? No. That’s where a DC Mini would come in handy! I remember thinking damn, I should make a film out of this freaking dream, but alas, after the day got going, that cool dream simply disappeared into my subconscious. This is the reason why Dream Journals are suggested. The  way to do it is, you take a little notebook and a pen and keep them next to your bed. Instantly the moment you wake up from your dream, you write down everything you dreamed, as much as you can remember and as fast as you can. Try to leave no details out.  You'll be surprised at the crazy things you'll find when you re-read it a couple of days later. 

I don’t necessarily think “dreams are just dreams” as many seem to think. Yeah they are whacked out and crazy, and no they don’t subscribe to reality, but they do represent whatever it is that worries us the most, whatever occupies most of the time in our minds will somehow end up in dreams. I don’t believe in dreams as a premonition, or dreams as visions, but I do think dreams are our brains way of processing our life experiences, sometimes it’s the smallest little detail we see during the day that pops up in our dream, sometimes its some age old situation we’ve been carrying around somewhere in the back of our minds through out our whole life. For example, in Paprika one of the main characters had a traumatic experience happen to him when he was a young boy, and he keeps having a recurrent dream about it over and over again. So much so that he’s secretly visiting an entity known as Paprika to help him deal with it.

The main problem in Paprika comes when the DC Mini’s are stolen from the lab where they are being manufactured. Since these stolen DC Mini’s are prototypes, they allow anyone using it to enter anyone’s dreams at any time and the person who stole it is using it for just that purpose. So suddenly random people are having waking dreams, where they walk with their eyes wide open, but they are experiencing their respective dreams at the same time. It’s up to the main characters in the film to find out just who stole these dream machines, and stop them before all of Japan goes dream crazy.

This is the kind of film that feels a bit overwhelming when you watch it the first time, there’s so many details, so much to see. The dreams are literally filled with thousands upon thousands of characters on all of which appear on screen at the same time. What a feat it must have been to animate all those characters! This is definetly the kind of film you have to see more than once to grasp completely, I don’t think one viewing will be enough to appreciate it all. One reviewer mentioned that this was a film not to be merely watched, but to be experienced. I totally agree. But again, Paprika says it best when she enters the dream world and says “Time for the greatest show on earth!” And its true, things do get pretty wild once we enter those dream sequences. A word of warning though, this just like the rest of Satashi Kon’s films are adult oriented, so expect some sexually charged dialog and a small amount of nudity. This isn’t a film for children.

An interesting aspect of the film is that one of the main characters in the film is a film buff/filmmaker so he is constantly analyzing the way films are made. I liked this angle of the film because the filmmakers took the opportunity to explore the similarities between the film world and the dream world, which I’ve always thought are pretty similar. In films, much like in dreams, anything can and does happen. A couple of scenes in Paprika actually take place inside of a movie theater where characters start talking about these similarities and the nature of films. After all, what are films if not a filmmakers dreams come to cinematic life? Even the internet is compared to dreams on this film. In one scene Paprika says to Detetive Kogawa: “Don’t you think dreams and the internet are similar? They are both areas where the repressed conscious mind vents”  

Paprika is based on the novel of the same name by Japanese author Yasutaka Tsutsui who also wrote the novel The Girl Who Leapt Through Time which recently got the animation treatment as well. Paprika was directed by Satashi Kon, an animator/director who’s films often times blend the borders between reality and fantasy, so I guess a film like Paprika was a natural step for him. There are moments in Paprika where the real world and the dream world collide! Often times you wont know if your watching a dream, or real life, which is part of the fun with this kind of film. While writing this review I discovered that Satashi Kon died last 08/24/2010 from pancreatic cancer, this came as a shock to manga and anime fans around the world. After all, this was the director behind such great films as Perfect Blue (1997), Millenium Actress (2001), and the very well received Tokyo Godfathers (2003) all of which come highly recommend. If you ever want to see an animated film that’s heavily influenced by David Lynch, check out Perfect Blue, yet another one of his films that blends the borders between the real and the fantastical; though that one is a bit darker in tone then Paprika which in contrast is bright and colorful. Before Satashi Kon passed away, he was working on what would have been his fifth film entitled The Dream Machine. He never got to finish it, but he did manage to leave storyboards for the project and recorded tapes of how he wanted the film to be made. Good news is that production for The Dream Machine is currently underway by the guys at Madhouse, one of the best animation studios in Japan . They are the guys behind such awesome animation films as Ninja Scroll, X, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, all of Kon’s films and many others. So at least the project is in good hands. Looking forward to seeing that one soon.

On my review for Ghost in the Shell (1996) I mentioned how that film had influenced the Wachowski Bros. while making The Matrix (1999). They watched Ghost in the Shell, loved it and were inspired by it to make The Matrix. In fact, they went as far as to immitate entire sequences from Ghost in the Shell, showing once again that these Japanimation films are extremely influential on American filmmakers. The same can be said of Paprika, a film that influenced Christopher Nolan when the time came to make Inception. Watch both films back to back and watch similar images and situations pop up. One of the benefits of making an animated flick is that you dont have to worry about budget limitations, and you can go as wild and as crazy as your animators are willing to draw it. These animated films from Japan really take advantage of that. If you've never experienced a Japanese animated film, search out the good ones and take a leap towards discovering how amazing some of these films are, I dont think you'll be dissapointed.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Is that Ellen Page or is that Paprika?