Godzilla (2014) Video Game [PS3 and PS4]

Godzilla (2014) Video Game

aka Godzilla VS [Japan PS4 Version]

Genre: Fighting / Action | Players: 1 (Offline) or 2 (Online PS4 only) | Developer: Natsume Atari

The opening cinematic of the game teases action, with monsters going head to head, military responses, dramatic camera angles, and, of course, destruction on a grand scale.

The tutorial that follows is presented in a wonderfully apt way, with a grainy B+W hue that's reminiscent of the first Godzilla movie - and with Akira Ifukube's iconic music playing throughout, the tone is set in suitably dramatic fashion. All in all, it reinforces the notion that getting to play as Godzilla is going to be as good as many G fans thought it would be. [1]

But when reality hits, after just a couple of levels, it hits with a kaijū-sized thump. You may even feel your hopes crumble like a tiny model city during a giant creature brawl. I sure did.

Dogora (1964)

aka Giant Space Monster Dogora (1964)

Dir. Ishirō Honda

The mystery of disappearing television satellites in Earth's orbit, strange happenings at street level, and a detective hunting a well-organised group of diamond thieves would seem to be independent events to most onlookers, but in a daikaijū movie such things rarely are...

The alien creature, which resembles something from the ocean depths, isn't just attacking Japan, but they have a respected doctor who's researching something related, so they're better equipped to discover its weakness.

There's nothing particularly special or memorable about the film, so while it may be of interest to genre fans due to the creative talent involved (Ishirō Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Akira Ifukube), it's one that casual fans can probably safely skip.

Daimajin Kanon (2010)

Daimajin Kanon (2010)

26 episodes, approx 24 minutes each.

A Japanese tokusatsu show that has the usual explosive combat scenes scattered throughout, but the masked heroes aren't the main focus of the narrative. Instead, the story revolves around a pretty, young University student, Misaki Kanon (Yuka Rikuna), who moves to Tokyo in the hope of becoming a successful lyricist and singer.

To survive in a harsh environment, one needs to adopt an equally harsh attitude. For Misaki, the city is that environment. Her usual sensitive, fragile personality will be eaten alive if she doesn't do something uncharacteristic to protect it.

If you've watched any amount of Japanese animation, then you'll likely have encountered a similar set-up, but Misaki isn't as simpering as the full-blown animated stereotype typically is.

The ups and downs can be predicable and there are times when she could be accused of making a mountain out of a molehill, but the setbacks and departures from the daily routine add to the overall story when you consider her role in each one. Character growth needs challenges, irrespective of whether they're real or imagined.

Daimajin: Film Trilogy (1966)

Daimajin (aka Majin): Film Trilogy (1966)

Dirs. Various (see below)

A kaijū trilogy produced by Daiei, which is the studio that gave us the original Gamera franchise. The 'Majin' features in all three films, but their stories are otherwise unconnected.

01. The first entry, Daimajin (1966); aka Majin / Majin, the Monster of Terror / Majin, the Hideous Idol [Dir. Kimiyoshi Yasuda], is an altogether more sophisticated breed of film than the big turtle got. It's a quality jidaigeki about clans, control, and a merciless militaristic coup. It's a male dominated tale, but the few women that do feature wield the kind of power that matters.

The creature is like a crushing force of nature or an angry god's retribution personified, punishing the evils of mankind. It takes a long time for its 'kaijū' aspect to appear onscreen, but in all probability you won't miss it because the drama that occupies the remainder of the running time is excellent and holds its own. It keeps colours naturalistic but still manages to look beautiful.

King Kong: The Toho Movies (1962–67)

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Dir. Ishirō Honda

I reviewed KKvG in my Godzilla: Shōwa Era Films (1954-74) post, but it was from a 'Godzilla movie' perspective, not a King Kong one. Logic says I should re-watch it from a Kong perspective, but I vowed never to suffer its woeful story ever again, so I've simply copy/pasted from the previous post, with some minor editing. I don't think my overall opinion would've changed much, anyhow.

The most positive thing that I can muster to say about KKvG is that it's the first King Kong movie to be shot in full widescreen and on colour stock. It's pretty terrible otherwise.

Fans who only want a monster bash will have to wait an hour before the two titans even meet, and when it happens it's laughable.

Godzilla Singular Point (2021—)

Godzilla Singular Point: Series One (2021)

Dir. Atsushi Takahashi / Episodes: 13

A thirteen episode anime TV series co-produced by studios Bones Inc. and Orange.

Chronologically it was released after Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018) in the Reiwa Era, but it's not connected to any of the feature films.

It begins with talk of a haunted mansion and a possible ghost or vampire, but moves away from that into crazy science - and I do mean crazy. It introduces and explains its concepts well, so it's simple enough to keep up, but it'll require some major acceptance on the part of the viewer. That's if you can actually read what the hell it is that's being presented or said.

Subtitles are sometimes onscreen for a mere fraction of a second and quite often they're white text on a white background, making it almost impossible to read anything without having to pause the episode. That particular issue was solved in the days of silent cinema!

Mothra (1961)

Mothra (1961)

Dir. Ishirō Honda

The début film for Toho's other famous kaijū begins with a typhoon in the Pacific. It forces a ship's crew to seek refuge on Infant Island, a place believed to be radioactive.

A return expedition to that same location uncovers something wondrous, which the less moral members of humanity typically disrupt, enslave and exploit. Their selfish actions bring an island god incarnate to their door.

Not inherently evil — in fact, with intentions that are objectively honourable — Mothra nevertheless brings death and destruction to much of Tokyo, with a force that's interestingly similar to the one that wrecked the sailors' ship at the film's beginning.

Action scenes are typical of kaijū films of the era. The miniature buildings are great, but what really stands out on repeat viewings are the exotic flora and Polynesian-esque culture.

Yonggary (1999 / 2001)

Yonggary (1999 / 2001)

Dir. Shim Hyung-rae

Alien intervention on Earth causes a 250 million-year-old creature estimated to be around fifty times the size of a Tyrannosaurus to go on a wild city-smashing rampage.

It's a South Korean monster movie with a plot that's objectively no worse than some of Japan's lesser works in the same genre, but the acting is mostly awful and the creature effects are an utter travesty. And even though it's an East Asian production, the spoken language is English, so every face-palm bad one-liner from the militia hit my cringe-meter directly.

Wikipedia reports that the creature scenes were filmed with suit actors but replaced with CGI in post-production. To me, that's like swapping a potentially worthy vinyl record collection for mp3 versions of the same. To carry the analogy further, the cartoonish look of the CGI is the audio equivalent of a 128 kbs encode, at best. It's doubly depressing when you consider that the miniatures (e.g. city buildings and alien space craft) are pretty good.

Godzilla: Reiwa Era Films (2016—)

29. Shin Godzilla (2016)

Dirs. Hideaki Anno + Shinji Higuchi

NOTE: numbering continues sequentially from the Millennium Era. For simplicity I've used English titles, but it's always the Japanese language versions of the films that I refer to.

Another hard reset of the franchise, with a new creature design and new origin story behind it.

The majority of the film involves politicians, bureaucrats, military leaders, etc, talking about how to deal with the irradiated daikaijū threat.

It utilises fast cuts to give the impression that things being discussed hurriedly is some kind of compensation for things being uninteresting - but it's really not. The first hour in particular is dense with such dry, ponderous dialogue.

Godzilla, referred to as male more than once in the English subs, is mostly CGI, mo-capped so that it moves kind of like a man in a suit. It gets points for good intentions, but ultimately it's just another CGI creature with zero personality. If I wanted that I'd watch the American films.

Godzilla: Millennium Era Films (2000-04)

23. Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999)

Dir. Takao Okawara

NOTE: numbering continues sequentially from the Heisei Era. I've used English titles, but it's Japanese language versions of the films that I refer to.

Unlike the previous eras, i.e. Shōwa and Heisei, which had their own continuity within their respective timelines, the Millennium era films are mostly standalone stories, functioning as alternative sequels to the original 1954 film. As such, the only Godzilla film one needs to have seen prior to Godzilla 2000: Millennium is the aforementioned 1954 original.

In G 2000 the military want to kill the kaijū with their modern day bad-ass weaponry. Meanwhile, a father and daughter team (Takehiro Murata and Mayu Suzuki) want to study Godzilla. But not just from afar, like storm chasers they dare to get up close and personal as it heavy-foots through the city.

Godzilla: Heisei Era Films (1984-95)

16. The Return of Godzilla (1984)

Dir. Koji Hashimoto

NOTE: numbering continues sequentially from the Shōwa Era. For simplicity's sake I've used English language titles for each of my Godzilla reviews, but it's always the original Japanese language versions of the films that I refer to.

The Heisei Era is almost exclusively a case of Godzilla vs [ANOTHER] kaijū; the exception is the first film, which is a reboot of sorts, being a sequel to the original 1954 film that ignores the other fifteen Shōwa films. It was a deliberate attempt to return the series to its origins. It successfully made Godzilla scary again. No longer something to be mocked, Godzilla is total fucking destruction.

The first proper reveal of the rejuvenated beast is impressive, with newly added facial animatronics that enabled it to have nuances like never before.

Godzilla: Shōwa Era Films (1954-74)

01. Godzilla (1954) 

Dir. Ishirō Honda

NOTE: for simplicity's sake I've used English language titles for each of my Godzilla reviews, but it's always the original Japanese language versions of the films that I refer to.

The monstrous growl that's heard over the film's opening credits foreshadows what's to come, which can be summed up as the Japanese people facing a monstrous terror that the rest of the world has never seen. It begins at sea and then moves inland.

The creature responsible for the inhuman roar — the monarch of kaijū eiga — is a force to be reckoned with, for sure, and is more than just an excuse to have a guy in a rubber suit trash tiny models. You don't need to be a history scholar to pick out the many wartime parallels: nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific, irradiated wells, air raid sirens, and footfalls that sound like distant bombs impacting and exploding are all highlighted.

Rodan (1956)

Rodan (1956)

Dir. Ishirō Honda

If you were to list the events of Rodan as a simple flowchart, it'll read just like many of the less inventive kaijū eiga from the era:

Human story

|

Creature(s) awaken(s) + atomic power is mentioned

|

Creature(s) rampage during last 30 mins + JSDF shoot weapons repeatedly to no avail

|

Quick fix

|

End.

What sets it apart is that the human story it offers up is better than most. There’s a feeling of genuine concern between the folks of the small coal mining village, while the terror they experience is shared among the workers and the usually distant decision makers.

Ultraman: The Next (2004)

Ultraman: The Next (2004)

Dir. Kazuya Konaka

I don’t know much about the Ultraman franchise, so I went to Wikipedia for information about where The Next fits into the overall scheme of things and how it relates to what came before and after.

The article states that the film is part of a three-phase reinvention called the Ultra N Project, an undertaking that was designed to reinvent the hero for an older audience. That seemed like an excellent jumping on point for someone like me.

Prior to it I was watching the awful Ultraman Ginga TV series. The difference is staggering.

The titular hero doesn't appear until approx 40+ minutes into the running time. Until then it focuses mostly on crafting a drama about an F-15 pilot named Shunichi (Tetsuya Bessho) who loves to fly almost as much as he loves his wife and young son.

Terror of Godzilla (1988): Comic Miniseries

Terror of Godzilla (1988)

Author and Illustrator: Kazuhisa Iwata  |  Translators: Mike Richardson / Randy Stradley
Page Count: Approx 30 per issue (176 total)

A six-issue miniseries set thirty years after the first Godzilla film (1954). Japan has been free of kaijū trouble since then, but a natural volcanic eruption in the Pacific Ocean changes that. So put down your coffee cups, JSDF, because it's time to suit up!

The first thing you ought to know is that the English language edition published by Darkhorse is the original manga translated, but it's been coloured.

I'd have preferred it was left as it was originally intended, but in all fairness it's not a bad job and the upside is we get it on better paper stock than Japan did. I'm going to take the optimistic stance and say that things could've been much worse, truly.

Artwork is Tezuka-inspired. Issue one is occasionally gruesome, but subsequent issues are less interesting.

Rebirth of Mothra: Film Trilogy (1996-98)

Mothra (1996)

Dir. Okihiro Yoneda

The first in a trilogy of Heisei era 'Rebirth' films for the eye-catching winged kaijū known as Mothra.

The cutting down of a forest to provide Japan with paper uncovers an ancient, hidden tomb, which holds an evil just waiting to be released, and not unlike the process that uncovered it it'll suck the life from the planet if it’s not stopped.

It's a children's adventure story with upfront and important messages about the value of a stable family unit and the need for conservation of the environment. If you somehow fail to pick up on the lessons, they're sledge-hammered home at the end.

The bickering mother and father aren't oblivious to the fact that their parenting methods are producing a bickering brother and sister, but they're too wrapped up in their own worries to correct it.

The Mysterians (1957)

The Mysterians (1957)

Dir. Ishirô Honda

A festival, what should be a time of joy for all concerned, is interrupted by a mysterious fire. The blaze is followed not long afterwards by an earthquake that shakes the same community. The quiet little mountain village is about to lose the quiet part of its nature.

It;s an alien invasion film from TOHO that once again paired director Ishirô Honda's imagery with the sounds of master musician Akira Ifukube, both of whom had worked on the first Godzilla (1954) film. It has a kaijū of its own for a while, a kind of giant, robotic, metal mole-man, but mostly it's a regular sci-fi film with FX that are really amazing for the era; equal what Gerry Anderson would still be doing over twenty years later! Not just in the model work. The props and set dressings inside the spacey alien dome are also top quality.

Gamera: Millennium Era Films (2006—)

Gamera the Brave (2006)

Dir. Ryuta Tasaki

Kadokawa's re-imagining of Gamera is a significant departure from Daiei's Heisei era style and as such deserves to be judged by different criteria. It's very much a children's movie, but it's one that has the potential to touch their hearts and stay in residence there as they grow and mature.

It follows Toru (Ryo Tomioka), a boy not yet come to terms with the death of his mother a year before. Toru has friends but spends much of his time alone. When he finds a baby turtle, they form a strong bond. He protects it and as it grows it protects him in return.

It's a sentimental journey that isn't without its explosive moments, but the real punch in the story is the simplicity by which it's told and the lingering aspect of the perfect ending.

Gamera: Heisei Era Films (1995-99)

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995)

Dir. Shûsuke Kaneko

GotU is the first of three films in a hugely successful Heisei era reboot for Gamera. It's actually the ninth outing for the turtle in total, but seeing as how it's a reboot, and a shit-ton better than any of the previous films, it's the perfect place to start if you're new to the franchise or are unsure if it's even for you. It's arguably the weakest of the trilogy, but still good and a great taster for what follows.

It's a kaijū movie that builds tension in the usual way, by having a small group of humans tracking the destruction left by the beast(s) before the eventual reveal. The beasts are familiar, giant, carnivorous, featherless birds.

There's an ecological message beneath the chaos, but it's the destruction of model cities that most people want to see and in that it doesn't disappoint.

Gamera (the creature) is awesome. He looks like a fat, stumpy turd on radar, but when he surfaces he's towering and menacing with none of the bad comedic decisions that were forced upon him in some previous films. It's a triumphant return.

Gamera: Shōwa Era Films: Part Two (1969-80)

Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)

Dir. Noriaki Yuasa

NOTE: Shōwa Era: Part One is HERE.

Film number five features a trio of plucky under-tens investigating a spaceship that landed not too far from their location. The 'plot' develops and after much chicanery the blade-nosed Guiron goes pointy-head to turtle-head with the titular, heroic kaijū, who spends more time getting to the actual battle location than he does engaging in it.

There's flame-breath, boyish heroics and city destruction for kids; space-ladies in figure-hugging polyester for dads; and, no, there's nothing much of note for moms, unless reinforcing the belief that moms are the only women you can trust counts.