All this + dogshit ending > monster the size of a skyscraper sneaks up to thebmain characters on his tiptoes
JJ is a fricking hack who does not know how to end a film to save his life
It's easy for a monster the size of a skyscraper to sneak up on you when you can't hear shit from all the bombs raining around you and it can basically cross Central. Park in a couple of steps.
The monster was never even shown eating people, it was literally just walking through NYC and that's what caused everything. There's no reason it would have even noticed some guy in the middle of a park. If anything he should have been swarmed by the spider things if he was that close to the monster.
After they first see it outside the apartment and the girl HUD likes is staggering out of the ashes of the exploded buildings, the very first thing she says is something along the lines of "it was eating people". She repeats it that again as they keep walking. I just rewatched it two days ago.
>Where'd that shit come from
At the very end of the movie when the moronic couple are the beach on that ride, you see something dropping into the Ocean. It is assuming to be the Monster. >why is it indestructible
It's a Monster thought to be either from the deep part of the Ocean or from another planet, it is however just a baby and it's screams and howls were howls of terror not of rage, it was frightened. >Oh it can make little versions of itself
Those were explained to be some sort of parasite and not part of the creature or it's off-spring.
The lore has been retconned thanks to that piece of shit Netflix spinoff.
Zoomer scientists and their particle accelerator accidentally the whole multiverse, and Clover crawled out of another dimension.
only saw it once on tv and didn't really get it >where'd that shit come from >whys it indestructible >oh it can make little versions of its self too? >where'd that shit come from again
>Where'd that shit come from
At the very end of the movie when the moronic couple are the beach on that ride, you see something dropping into the Ocean. It is assuming to be the Monster. >why is it indestructible
It's a Monster thought to be either from the deep part of the Ocean or from another planet, it is however just a baby and it's screams and howls were howls of terror not of rage, it was frightened. >Oh it can make little versions of itself
Those were explained to be some sort of parasite and not part of the creature or it's off-spring.
Pretty innovative marketing strategy. Everything else was not as good as people imagined. It was made during the longest drought in the history of the genre since the 1940s so we had no other choice. Today iit's pretty funny to read about JJ Abrams bragging about the monster becoming the new American icon.
yeah i find it kinda hilarious as well >We saw all these Godzilla toys, and I thought, we need our own [American] monster, and not like King Kong, King Kong's adorable. But I wanted something that was just insane and intense.
Pretty innovative marketing strategy. Everything else was not as good as people imagined. It was made during the longest drought in the history of the genre since the 1940s so we had no other choice. Today iit's pretty funny to read about JJ Abrams bragging about the monster becoming the new American icon.
in retrospective almost feels like the jared leto of directors if you get my drift
I don't get those takes on either Godzilla or King Kong. For supposedly a great salesman it's just not convincing. Even if there was room for another big icon of the genre there are certan qualities that made the actual legends what they are.
Because the best monsters are characters themselves and have familiar yet distinct design. Kong is more than just a gorilla even though Merian C. Cooper said he wanted "the meanest looking gorilla". Godzilla is a mix of three different dinosaurs or rather their outdated reconstructions. Even Gamera is moe than an enlarged turtle.
No, I was there in 1990 for Tremors, in 1998 for Godzilla, in 2005 for King Kong and 2008 for Cloverfield.
I'm just confused at where this supposed drought of American Kaiju is.
Between 2004 and 2013 more or less the genre was practically non-existent with the exception of one big event (King Kong 2005) many false promises (Godzilla 3D) and bombs (Gamera the Brave). It was a difficult time. It must be how slasher fans felt after the 1980s even though there were still movies being made of course. They always are.
There's been a kaiju movie every eight years (or less) since 1990.
I'm basically in a disagreement that there was a drought.
Sure, the US doesn't pop out kaiju flicks like Catholics do babies but there's been no drought.
11 months ago
Anonymous
In Japan at least the movies were bombing. It was time for them to rest and over there it was a dead genre. In the US... well at least there was 2005 King Kong although it's a special case. It's still no renaissance that we have now.
Although the 00s didn't have as many new movies something really important happened. The original versions of the Toho movies were finally released (slowly) which began the critical reappraisal of the series. I have books with some interesting essays about the subject including one Kong fan admitting that Godzilla may have outgrown King Kong. Ironically it was written like months before Jackson's Kong.
11 months ago
Anonymous
Have you read this?
It's basically my Japanese film bible I've been hauling around since 2001.
11 months ago
Anonymous
I have some books about movies. Those related to giant monsters are: >The Making of King Kong: The Story Behind a Film Classic by Orville Goldner; George E. Turner
Fine but I also have the updated version with appendices like a list of "related" movies and man classic Kong fans are pretty insecure about any other form of special effects especially if they come from Japan >Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men. The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda and The Sons of Godzilla. From Destroyer to Defender - From Ridicule to Respect both by Peter H. Brothers
Waste of time and money. The author is a sourpuss. Some good chapters won't change the fact that you wanna strangle the bastard. >Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series by David Kalat
I haven't read it yet but from what I see it's a nice, light read. >Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski
Best non-fiction book about movies I've read. The new gold standard at least for kaiju books. >Writing Japanese Monsters: From the Files of The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies by John LeMay
Well-researched. Debunks a bunch of myths about the movies. It convinced me to order his two volumes about Showa and Heisei era films.
And that's it. Unfortunatelly many of the books I wanted are out of print and worth way more than I'm willing to pay for them. Especially Ragone's biography of Tsuburaya and Ryfle's Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (but I have the ebook version). I'm always ready to listen to recommendations because I love reading about the movies.
>I love seeing one from the humans perspective
Thoughts on the 2016 Godzilla? Everyone I know hated it because it focused on the humans more than Godzilla
Some of the best movies in the franchise focused on both. In the original the human story is phenomenal and the monster is likewise fascinating and sad. It's like nearly every time. You can't have one without the other. Same for the original King Kong although 2 out of 3 main human characters there are rather bland. Shin Godzilla doesn't "care" about the monster. He's not a character he's just "presence" but for one time experiment it works just fine I think.
Fun movie, worth watching again.
I really enjoyed the second movie as well, but the ending was such a complete frickup that it almost ruined the rest of it. The girlboss battling and defeating the monster and then driving off to keep fighting more monsters was so fricking stupid, it felt like a shitty studio decision.
The third movie is a complete abortion.
I specifically remember when this movie came out. I was working as an usher at my local kinoplex. I actually ripped the ticket for one of my college classes teacher's assistant one night. He ran out of the theater halfway through to barf into one of the toilets because he got horribly motion sick. I told him that it wasn't a big deal, and that I understood since the camera work on that movie was so unconventional. He just gave me a blank stare and left.
Good cinema experience. Good monster. Good marketing. Good lore. Good movie.
>Good lore
do you genuinely think that about jj?
I don't give a frick about jj but I enjoyed the lore that surrounded the movie.
>Good cinema experience
This. I miss this feeling.
All this + dogshit ending
> monster the size of a skyscraper sneaks up to thebmain characters on his tiptoes
JJ is a fricking hack who does not know how to end a film to save his life
It's easy for a monster the size of a skyscraper to sneak up on you when you can't hear shit from all the bombs raining around you and it can basically cross Central. Park in a couple of steps.
The monster was never even shown eating people, it was literally just walking through NYC and that's what caused everything. There's no reason it would have even noticed some guy in the middle of a park. If anything he should have been swarmed by the spider things if he was that close to the monster.
After they first see it outside the apartment and the girl HUD likes is staggering out of the ashes of the exploded buildings, the very first thing she says is something along the lines of "it was eating people". She repeats it that again as they keep walking. I just rewatched it two days ago.
The lore has been retconned thanks to that piece of shit Netflix spinoff.
Zoomer scientists and their particle accelerator accidentally the whole multiverse, and Clover crawled out of another dimension.
fun little romp with the most forced and boring romance plot line
>the most forced and boring romance plot line
yeah i guess that was pretty much their whole excuse
At least it went out with a bang
only saw it once on tv and didn't really get it
>where'd that shit come from
>whys it indestructible
>oh it can make little versions of its self too?
>where'd that shit come from again
>Where'd that shit come from
At the very end of the movie when the moronic couple are the beach on that ride, you see something dropping into the Ocean. It is assuming to be the Monster.
>why is it indestructible
It's a Monster thought to be either from the deep part of the Ocean or from another planet, it is however just a baby and it's screams and howls were howls of terror not of rage, it was frightened.
>Oh it can make little versions of itself
Those were explained to be some sort of parasite and not part of the creature or it's off-spring.
thanks cliffnotes
Pretty innovative marketing strategy. Everything else was not as good as people imagined. It was made during the longest drought in the history of the genre since the 1940s so we had no other choice. Today iit's pretty funny to read about JJ Abrams bragging about the monster becoming the new American icon.
yeah i find it kinda hilarious as well
>We saw all these Godzilla toys, and I thought, we need our own [American] monster, and not like King Kong, King Kong's adorable. But I wanted something that was just insane and intense.
in retrospective almost feels like the jared leto of directors if you get my drift
I don't get those takes on either Godzilla or King Kong. For supposedly a great salesman it's just not convincing. Even if there was room for another big icon of the genre there are certan qualities that made the actual legends what they are.
Cloverfield monster ironically looks more generic and forgettable than typical 100 ft tall fire breathing dinosaur
Because the best monsters are characters themselves and have familiar yet distinct design. Kong is more than just a gorilla even though Merian C. Cooper said he wanted "the meanest looking gorilla". Godzilla is a mix of three different dinosaurs or rather their outdated reconstructions. Even Gamera is moe than an enlarged turtle.
>But I wanted something that was just insane and intense
>It was made during the longest drought in the history of the genre since the 1940s
Be grateful if you're too young to remember.
No, I was there in 1990 for Tremors, in 1998 for Godzilla, in 2005 for King Kong and 2008 for Cloverfield.
I'm just confused at where this supposed drought of American Kaiju is.
Between 2004 and 2013 more or less the genre was practically non-existent with the exception of one big event (King Kong 2005) many false promises (Godzilla 3D) and bombs (Gamera the Brave). It was a difficult time. It must be how slasher fans felt after the 1980s even though there were still movies being made of course. They always are.
There's been a kaiju movie every eight years (or less) since 1990.
I'm basically in a disagreement that there was a drought.
Sure, the US doesn't pop out kaiju flicks like Catholics do babies but there's been no drought.
In Japan at least the movies were bombing. It was time for them to rest and over there it was a dead genre. In the US... well at least there was 2005 King Kong although it's a special case. It's still no renaissance that we have now.
Although the 00s didn't have as many new movies something really important happened. The original versions of the Toho movies were finally released (slowly) which began the critical reappraisal of the series. I have books with some interesting essays about the subject including one Kong fan admitting that Godzilla may have outgrown King Kong. Ironically it was written like months before Jackson's Kong.
Have you read this?
It's basically my Japanese film bible I've been hauling around since 2001.
I have some books about movies. Those related to giant monsters are:
>The Making of King Kong: The Story Behind a Film Classic by Orville Goldner; George E. Turner
Fine but I also have the updated version with appendices like a list of "related" movies and man classic Kong fans are pretty insecure about any other form of special effects especially if they come from Japan
>Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men. The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda and The Sons of Godzilla. From Destroyer to Defender - From Ridicule to Respect both by Peter H. Brothers
Waste of time and money. The author is a sourpuss. Some good chapters won't change the fact that you wanna strangle the bastard.
>Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series by David Kalat
I haven't read it yet but from what I see it's a nice, light read.
>Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski
Best non-fiction book about movies I've read. The new gold standard at least for kaiju books.
>Writing Japanese Monsters: From the Files of The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies by John LeMay
Well-researched. Debunks a bunch of myths about the movies. It convinced me to order his two volumes about Showa and Heisei era films.
And that's it. Unfortunatelly many of the books I wanted are out of print and worth way more than I'm willing to pay for them. Especially Ragone's biography of Tsuburaya and Ryfle's Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (but I have the ebook version). I'm always ready to listen to recommendations because I love reading about the movies.
Nice. I appreciate the list.
Found footage horror is my guilty pleasure.
Swear to god JJ chooses the worst fricking generic monster designs on purpose.
>I want my rival to Godzilla's popularity to look like something he might eat for dinner
Just look at Super 8 and Star Trek. No personality.
God tier movie imo
I love Kaiju movies and I love seeing one from the humans perspective
Concept fits the found footage trope perfectly.
>I love seeing one from the humans perspective
Thoughts on the 2016 Godzilla? Everyone I know hated it because it focused on the humans more than Godzilla
Some of the best movies in the franchise focused on both. In the original the human story is phenomenal and the monster is likewise fascinating and sad. It's like nearly every time. You can't have one without the other. Same for the original King Kong although 2 out of 3 main human characters there are rather bland. Shin Godzilla doesn't "care" about the monster. He's not a character he's just "presence" but for one time experiment it works just fine I think.
It’s a great movie but 10 Cloverfield Lane is better
according to what criteria?
how better?
Better story and cuter protagonist
The weakest part were the main characters. All were annoying and shallow. "Oh no, I must get to Beth!". "We must help Rob get to Beth.".
It could have been so much better with interesting characters you actually cared about.
Crysis 2 felt Cloverfieldy as frick. It's like you're some super soldier mutant in Cloverfield.
I only watched it in theater once, the underground scene and when that guy explodes or something while the doctors examined him were kino.
If they cut that beginning party thing down to like 2 minutes it would be better
This. Just show the dude arriving and people mingling then just do a quick cut where it skips forward in time to Clovey kicking off.
The cute girl didn't deserve to pop like a balloon 🙁
>Cloverfield
Honestly, it's my favorite movie of all time.
i miss when i though it was a half life related movie.
All Bad Robot projects that aren't Star Wars or Star Trek take place in the Half Life universe.
>I saw it
>it's a lion
>It's HUGE
Fun movie, worth watching again.
I really enjoyed the second movie as well, but the ending was such a complete frickup that it almost ruined the rest of it. The girlboss battling and defeating the monster and then driving off to keep fighting more monsters was so fricking stupid, it felt like a shitty studio decision.
The third movie is a complete abortion.
I specifically remember when this movie came out. I was working as an usher at my local kinoplex. I actually ripped the ticket for one of my college classes teacher's assistant one night. He ran out of the theater halfway through to barf into one of the toilets because he got horribly motion sick. I told him that it wasn't a big deal, and that I understood since the camera work on that movie was so unconventional. He just gave me a blank stare and left.
this movie shits all over cloverfield
This is Godzilla. This is like comparing a world champion (and GOAT) to an amateur.
It was full of new yorkers, 0/10