Plot- Some 30 years after the original attack on Toyko by Godzilla in 1954, he returns! A boat is missing and a reporter goes looking for it. When he does find it, he discovers its' crew slaughtered, and only one survivor, who claims to have seen the Big-G. And, that it is in fact giant monster that attacked the boat. To ease fears the Japanese government decides to keep things hush-hush. However, a Soviet sub is soon sank by Godzilla, prompting the Japanese to release the truth as tensions had begun to mount between the US and the USSR. Both governments want Japan to nuke Gozilla, however they refuse to confirm. They must find another way to stop the monster, as he reaches land and demolishes Toyko.
Review- American audiences best know this movie as Godzilla 1985, where it was edited and had a bunch of Raymond Burr shit added (basically the same shit that they did when they released the original classic Gojira, here as Godzilla: King of the Monsters). I actually caught it when it played in the movies as a small child. I was so pumped to see it! I was a huge Godzilla fan, and I remember loving it. I would watch it again when it aired on TV. However, it was never released on DVD, only VHS. In fact it was forever on Horrorhound magazine's list of horror movies not on DVD/ Blu-ray.
Thank Godzilla, then for Kraken Releasing who have not only put it out, but in it's uncut original non-Raymond Burr edit. It would've been nice to have them both on one release, but fuck it. This version rocks! The movie is darker, and more violent, in its original cut. In fact, so good is this version, that it definitely places it among the best Godzilla flicks, something that many say the American cut just isn't.
The acting is solid, and the human interactions are well handled. We care what they have to say, and that is many times one of the harder things the weaker entries in franchise have conveying. The pacing is pretty good, as it builds up to Godzilla coming on land. Once he does, the movie is just awesome.
The destruction scenes are rousing and violent. There is lots of humans dying onscreen, including a brutal scene where Godzilla immolates a group of soldiers with his fire breath. The miniature work is solid, as well. And, the Super-X is a kick vehicle introduced to do battle with him. I always loved this scene and vehicle as a kid. It still holds up, well today.
Sadly, after this battle is over the movie flatters a bit. The way that they choose to deal with Godzilla isn't terribly bad, but it does feel a little lackluster. The other problem is Godzilla, himself. Mind you the suit looks great, but the mechanical Godzilla debuted for this movie doesn't. He looks decidedly fake. Which is a shame, because the movie is meant to be a return to the more horror aspects of the first film, with Godzilla's first heel role in ages (for those of you keeping score the last movie before this one was the kick ass The Terror of Mechagodzilla, wherein the King of the Monsters was playing babyface to a tagteam of evil).
Picture- The pic quality here is good, but not great. Night and dark scenes look too soft and grainy. However, day time scenes look very good. In these scenes, there is some good rich colors with solid skin tones.
Sound- You can watch this one in Japanese or English DTS Master Audio 5.1. The dubbing is fucking terrible, of course. But, the action scenes sound killer in either version. Explosions and roaring will make your fucking unit rumble. It's a hell of a sound mix!
Extras- Sadly, it is pretty barebones, as we only get the Japanese trailer, and nothing else. The American trailer ain't here, cause, well we already discussed that that version ain't here either.
Final Thoughts- A superior edit to the American cut, the coming of this movie is long overdue. The fact that it is on Blu-ray is enough of a reason to celebrate. Violent, dark, and, mostly serious, it ranks among the best films in the franchise. The pic quality is good, but I do wish it could've been a little better. However, the sound is fucking devastating. Genre and Godzilla fans take heed and buy this one. Since you can get it a cheap price (10 freaking bucks!), there is no excuse for not owning it.
Title: Shin Godzilla Director: Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi Writer: Hideaki Anno Cast: Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Ren Ohsugi, Akira Emoto Year: 2016 Min: 120 An underwater menace in Japan is discovered. At first authorities scoff, at the idea that's a lifeform, but they soon realize that it is. As it reaches land, it grows and mutates into an even larger monster. America gets involved, even sending their beautiful liaison Kayoko (the gorgeous Satomi Ishihara). It gets its American and Japanese name, Godzilla and Gojira (meaning god incarnate), respectively. The Japanese military strikes do nothing to stop Gojira. In fact, it reveal it's powers. The Americans are ready to implement a nuclear attack to kill it. Can the Japanese find an effective way to stop the King of Monsters before they get nuked?
Shin Godzilla(AKA Shin GojiraAKAGodzilla Resurgence) is the 31st (29th as far as Toho goes) Big-G movie and a reboot of the series. Unlike earlier entries, some of which acknowledged the first film, this one acts as if this is the first Godzilla is attacking and appearing. Which is fine by me as continuity is mostly non-existent in this franchise anyways.Japan hasn't given us a Godzilla movie since the awesome Godzilla: Final Wars, and with the US giving their own Godzilla flick in 2014, it seemed long overdue.
It's a solid film, but one that definitely has it's faults.One of the major problems are the characters. There are a lot of them, but none are really developed save for Kayoko. And, even she is not much more than pretty American/ Japanese ambassador who is dedicated to her position but wants to help Japan. There is a lot of talking and introduction of these characters, and most of it is done via subtitles. These are on top of subtitles telling us where we are and the actual subtitles telling us what they are saying! It's a bit overwhelming, more so when they are on top of Japanese subtitles! This means we have like 3-5 subtitles on screen! Of course, this should not deter you from seeing it dubbed, as Godzilla movies are always dubbed awfully, in the US.
That being said the acting is good, but I just didn't care about anyone. There is a lot of talking by the characters. Now, on one hand this adds a welcome sense of real world feel to the proceedings. But, it really hurts the third act, as the moviejust stops to have more talkingand exposition. Perhaps some editing was in need, or at least that is how I feel.
The FX are all CGI. Some of it is not that good, especially the first version of Godzilla, which looks rather silly with googly eyes. But, a lot of the CGI is good. Especially the actual full grown Godzilla, which is amazing! Whenever he is onscreen and attacking, the movie is rocks. The destruction scenes are utterly devastating. In fact, he has not been this terrifying in ages. Godzilla is utterly menacing, as the movie has a closer horror movie feel than the series has had in a long time, with some truly chilling shot of him. The final shot in the film is one the best in the entire series. Be warned, thogh, there is not a lot of Godzilla in the movie. This ain't a tease fest like the 2014 US flick, but Big-G sleeps a lot. This is alternated with a lot of the Japanese government talking about what to do about him. But, hey when he is onscreen, it fucking rules.
Shin Godzillamaybe hurt by its flat characters and uneven pace, but it is definitely worth seeing for Godzilla fans. The adding of a real world feel adds to the upped horror factor. And, there are enough surprises in the movie to make up for the lack of other monsters. Let's hope this is the beginning of a new batch of Godzilla flicks from Toho. In the meantime, if you love monster movies, in particular Godzilla movies, you gotta see this one.
