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Thank you so very much for the time and care you put into this review.

I am heading to the theater in about 15 minutes, as soon as my hanging buddy gets here. Guys only night. Already have tickets for tomorrow's show with the family.

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Ok, saw it.

Here is the good and not so good from my perspective. Don't read if you don't want spoilers

The good:

  1. Magnificent visual effects
  2. The monsters are bigger than in any previous Godzilla film that I have seen.
  3. Godzilla's blue atomic breath
  4. Good storyline.
  5. Nice connection with 1954 original
  6. A couple of good odes to past G movies, like the poster with a European Peacock butterfly (Mothra) in the front of a classroom, and a moth cocoon in a tank.
  7. Nice belligerent MUTO creature design and development (although not original...see below). Good weapon with the EMP.
  8. Good fight at the finish.

The not so good:

  1. Godzilla design in my view was too much of a departure from "classic." Irregular spikes and skin texture were ok, but the legs/feet are too elephantine, and the body, arms and head were far too mammalian/bear like. I have seen better out of some talented Japanese sculptor's resin models, from which, the art department of this film should have taken a clue.
  2. Godzilla's fins light up slightly when discharging his atomic breath, but it is barely noticeable. In fact my friend didn't notice it at all. Old school, where they lit up brightly right before the atomic breath discharged, was better.
  3. As nice as the MUTO was, I could not help but think that the species originated on Klandathu. If you don't know what that is, you should. Look it up.
  4. Bryan Cranston's part is excellent, and he excels at it. We are led to believe in trailers that he is the main human character in the film. They should have stuck with him until the end. Unfortunately, the end comes way earlier for him than it does for the movie, and in his place we are left with his son, Aaron Taylor Johnson, and his Johnson's wife, Elizabeth Olson. These two are essentially cardboard cut outs, and are not given enough to work with. That is a writing issue, or perhaps an acting issue. After Cranston's dramatic performance and loss, it is hard to have much empathy for them. Neither comes anywhere close to generating the level of gravitas that Cranston does.

Nit picks:

  1. The carrier in the film is CVN-88, as the USS Saratoga, which did not, does not, and will not ever exist as a Nimitz class carrier. It would have been easy enough to pick a real ship, or not even refer to it by name as it was not necessary.
  2. Russian sub found on dry land being snacked on by the MUTO is called an Akula nuclear sub, but looks more like an oversized KILO diesel
  3. There are numerous scenes featuring soldiers holding their ground and firing small arms at this 500 tall lizard and the MUTOs......right before they get smashed. I just can't imagine anyone doing that. Anyone with a brain would be running like hell and calling in air strikes. Also, there are small arms bearing helicopters jumping into the fray on a regular basis like mosquitoes. However, not a single JDAM or LGB is in site. No B-2's or B-52's, or AC-130s. The F-35s streak by a couple of times, and there is that one scene of them falling out of the sky. That's it.
  4. Godzilla gets precious little screen time. The fight scene at the airport in Hawaii is viewed first (briefly) from the perspective of the passenger terminal, then switches to Olson's son watching it on TV in SF. Why would Edwards make a film about giant monster fights with high def, surround sound, and glorious CGI technology, then present the first major fight on a television in a character's living room? I know the conventional wisdom in horror films is keep the monster off camera as much as possible, like in Alien, but this is not really a true horror film. It is a completely different type of movie. No, we don't need to be saturated with monster fights to the the point of "blah," but when there is a fight, keep it on screen for bit longer. Edwards was doing his best to keep the monsters (especially Godzilla) off stage as much as possible until the finale, but it was obvious to the point of frustrating. With the airport scene, it was over before it ever really got started. If I had been directing the scene, I would have shown the fight set up and start, switched to a TV feed for a few seconds to establish a connection with our hero's family , then go back the the real fight. Let em duke it out for a round (two or three minutes), then move on. Do some more set up work to get ready for round two, then set up the grand finale.

So, for me at least, with Godzilla 2014, the glass is 3/4 full. I am still waiting for the Mother of all Godzilla movies remake. I am sure there will be a sequel.

Edited by DutyCat
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Possible small spoilers ahead ( to expand on DutyCat's post).

Another small point you missed DutyCat, in the scenes where the Superbugs are attacking the MUTO on Hawaii, the outside shot shows the correct Superbug, then the interior shot is of an F-35 cockpit complete with Pilot and F-35 helmet, then front of cockpit shot shows the full width F-35 LCD display, then back to exterior shots of Superbugs falling out of the sky.

And I struggled to believe that the MUTO could have flown (I don't think he dragged) a russian sub that far inland, when the MUTO was a fraction of the size of the sub. I'm sure it's strong but not that strong.

I agree about Brain Cranston's character dying so quickly, having him to the end would have made the movie a lot better.

The shots of Hawaii were a bit weird too, despite only having been to Hawaii once, I don't think there is anywhere on the beachfront in Honolulu where the mountains rise up so quick from the beach, not until you get round to the eastern side anyway, but then you aren't in honolulu any more...

Did anyone else think that the scene with Cranston and his "son", standing in the abandoned city, looked like it had been lifted straight out of the Stalker series of games. It was as if someone has inserted 2 Stalkers from the game straight into a japanese city.

But as I said, I felt they were small muckups, and didn't feel they "broke" the movie. Most people won't notice them and the muckups with the aircraft, only armed forces personnel, aviation enthusiaists and us modellers will notice, Joe Average will have no idea they aren't the same aircraft.

Edited by CyNaKyL
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Please excuse my ignorance, but I have two questions.

1. What is a MUTO?

2. What are "Easter eggs"? I keep hearing/reading this term. Are they surprises?

1. Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Object

2. little surprises hidden in scenes for fanboys

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I just saw it this morning and I really liked it. As far as the "look" of Godzilla, I really liked it. I'm a younger fella so I'm not emotionally invested in the older versions, that being sad this Godzilla looked like a bad mama jama! I disagree with the glowing spikes. The scene were it was debuted showed the glow starting in his tail and working its way up his back till he let loose. I really do wish there was more of 'Zilla in the movie because his scenes were so epic. Here is hoping theres another one in the future.

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Possible small spoilers ahead ( to expand on DutyCat's post).

Another small point you missed DutyCat, in the scenes where the Superbugs are attacking the MUTO on Hawaii, the outside shot shows the correct Superbug, then the interior shot is of an F-35 cockpit complete with Pilot and F-35 helmet, then front of cockpit shot shows the full width F-35 LCD display, then back to exterior shots of Superbugs falling out of the sky.

And I struggled to believe that the MUTO could have flown (I don't think he dragged) a russian sub that far inland, when the MUTO was a fraction of the size of the sub. I'm sure it's strong but not that strong.

I agree about Brain Cranston's character dying so quickly, having him to the end would have made the movie a lot better.

The shots of Hawaii were a bit weird too, despite only having been to Hawaii once, I don't think there is anywhere on the beachfront in Honolulu where the mountains rise up so quick from the beach, not until you get round to the eastern side anyway, but then you aren't in honolulu any more...

Did anyone else think that the scene with Cranston and his "son", standing in the abandoned city, looked like it had been lifted straight out of the Stalker series of games. It was as if someone has inserted 2 Stalkers from the game straight into a japanese city.

But as I said, I felt they were small muckups, and didn't feel they "broke" the movie. Most people won't notice them and the muckups with the aircraft, only armed forces personnel, aviation enthusiaists and us modellers will notice, Joe Average will have no idea they aren't the same aircraft.

Saw it again last night and paid very close attention all the way through. The only real complaints I have are Cranston being killed off so early (aside from the creatures, he was the best asset the movie had), and lack of screen time for Godzilla. Aside from that...70.gif

Good point about the size of the Russian sub and the flying MUTO.

There main jets shown were not Superbugs, they were F-35's. Look closer. The only scene I remember where they might have been F-18s was when two, 2 ship sections streaked by the monorail at the airport. Maybe not even then.

About the blue glowing spikes; after my second viewing, I was incorrect in saying that the blue, glowing spikes are barely noticeable. In fact they make a point of building them up in series from the tail to the head before Godzilla discharges his nuclear ray breath..just not very brightly. I was just expecting something more/different.

Yes, falcon20driver, I am emotionally invested in the classic Godzilla. I saw them when I could when I was a youngster, and have them all(except for the Showa "kiddie'' ones, which I cannot stomach) on DVD.

I also have a bunch of expensive Japanese resin and vinyl models which I will build and submit here in the coming months/years...if Steve will have them.

Edited by DutyCat
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Yes, falcon20driver, I am emotionally invested in the classic Godzilla. I saw them when I could when I was a youngster, and have them all(except for the Showa "kiddie'' ones, which I cannot stomach) on DVD.

Me too fellah! I did some stuff for the BBC in 90s about the Godzilla movies. Hence my big fat man-tear at the end because Gareth done good and brought my icon to the screen in a respectful, exciting way.

Meanwhile, Gamera isn't going to be left out of the spotlight:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/okla-angler-catches-100-pound-dinosaur-looking-turtle-article-1.1793082

Talking of which, there's a moment in G14 when G and MUTO square off and the sound effects fade - reminded me of Gamera and Iris squaring off at the end of 'Gamera 3'.

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There main jets shown were not Superbugs, they were F-35's. Look closer. The only scene I remember where they might have been F-18s was when two, 2 ship sections streaked by the monorail at the airport. Maybe not even then.

I mean the ones in Hawaii. I know that the superbugs took off from the "Saratoga" and flew over the airport. When they were attacking the MUTO in the hills, I'm sure I remember thinking Superbugs with F-35 cockpits, so it's possible they also screwed up by turning the Bugs into F35's on screen somewhere between the carrier and the MUTO. When the MUTO releases his EMP I'm sure I remember seeing the Superbugs (not F-35's) falling out of the sky (aerodynamics and gliding be damned!) and crashing where the Delta guys were. I know the fight scene at the end had F-22's and F-35's so I'm pretty sure it's just the first big fight scene they mucked up.

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I mean the ones in Hawaii. I know that the superbugs took off from the "Saratoga" and flew over the airport. When they were attacking the MUTO in the hills, I'm sure I remember thinking Superbugs with F-35 cockpits, so it's possible they also screwed up by turning the Bugs into F35's on screen somewhere between the carrier and the MUTO. When the MUTO releases his EMP I'm sure I remember seeing the Superbugs (not F-35's) falling out of the sky (aerodynamics and gliding be damned!) and crashing where the Delta guys were. I know the fight scene at the end had F-22's and F-35's so I'm pretty sure it's just the first big fight scene they mucked up.

The planes falling out of the sky into the water looked like F-35's to me.

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One last thing that did make me nearly spit out my popcorn, in one shot the camera pans around a characters bedroom and amongst the toys there's a made up Airfix Saturn V rocket - I did the decals for that kit and there, up on the big screen was something I'd done, a bit of me in the Godzilla movie!

Jonathan. .. I will sit through the Good, the bad and the ugly SO I can DEFINITELY say I saw your Decal work. ... :yahoo:

Bet it looked good too :worship:

Edited by HOLMES
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Caught a midnight show last night..Mandie wasn't interested, so I went to the show after she went to bed (as a third-shifter, I was gonna be up all night anyway.)

Anyway, I loved it..best "popcorn movie" I've seen in a long time. I haven't had that much of an adrenaline rush in a theater since first seeing "Independence Day" back in 1996.

Bryan Cranston was great, but the rest of the characters a little thin..goes with the territory I guess. There's always got to be a "family torn apart the the crisis desperately trying to get back together." It was nice to see the military portrayed as professionals, especially the Admiral played by David Strathairn. The soldiers and sailors weren't the usual bumbling idiots (well, aside from a tendency to bunch up and get stomped on while trying to take out a Kaiju with small arms) and Strathairn's character isn't a cigar-chomping "nuke the b******ds" stereotype..he's sober professional trying to defend humanity with very limited options.

Big Bad Mr. G. was a great homage to the original, although I thought they could have gotten a bit further away from the "man in a suit" look while still keeping his integrity (I'm talking about the aforementioned elephantine feet and rather ridiculously humanoid arms.) Still, the first time he let out that signature roar I couldn't help but get goosebumps. I felt the director kept a nice balance of suspense and action..keeping Godzilla largely concealed until the final showdown. I found myself getting more excited during the buildup scenes than the actual monster battles. Said battles were visually stunning..it was nice to not have to sit through a bunch of rapid-cut, headache-inducing CGI-fests. The slower pace of the monster scenes actually give you a feel for how truly massive the critters are.

I didn't notice any of the aircraft discrepancies noted above..but then gray kerosine-burners all look alike to me anyway (guess that makes me a "propist"). I did think I saw an F-14 on the carrier, but the shot was only a second or two long so I can't be sure (it's the scene were "G-zill" dives under the ship.) The only military hardware nitpick I noticed was that the tanks sounded more like diesel engines than turbines..but since I'd already bought into the premise of a 350-foot lizard it didn't break my suspense of disbelief.

One review I read said that what sets this one apart from other "rampaging giant monster movies" is that here humans really are largely irrelevant..there's no "lone wolf" hero who goes against orders and takes out the Boss Villain while coolly delivering dry one-liners. There are plenty of heroics, and characters you can root for, but the over-arching theme is "this is way bigger than us, and our only real option is to keep our heads down and stay out of their way." As I mentioned above, if you're willing to buy into the premise 350-foot nuclear-powered monsters battling each other then the rest of the movie maintains a pretty good feel of plausibility. They obviously left the door open for a sequel, but for once we're treated to a sci-fi movie with reasonably complete, self-contained story, rather than just another "opening film of a franchise" or just a bunch of CGI action set-pieces stitched together by a paper-thin plot.

SN

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Caught a midnight show last night..Mandie wasn't interested, so I went to the show after she went to bed (as a third-shifter, I was gonna be up all night anyway.)

Anyway, I loved it..best "popcorn movie" I've seen in a long time. I haven't had that much of an adrenaline rush in a theater since first seeing "Independence Day" back in 1996.

Bryan Cranston was great, but the rest of the characters a little thin..goes with the territory I guess. There's always got to be a "family torn apart the the crisis desperately trying to get back together." It was nice to see the military portrayed as professionals, especially the Admiral played by David Strathairn. The soldiers and sailors weren't the usual bumbling idiots (well, aside from a tendency to bunch up and get stomped on while trying to take out a Kaiju with small arms) and Strathairn's character isn't a cigar-chomping "nuke the b******ds" stereotype..he's sober professional trying to defend humanity with very limited options.

Big Bad Mr. G. was a great homage to the original, although I thought they could have gotten a bit further away from the "man in a suit" look while still keeping his integrity (I'm talking about the aforementioned elephantine feet and rather ridiculously humanoid arms.) Still, the first time he let out that signature roar I couldn't help but get goosebumps. I felt the director kept a nice balance of suspense and action..keeping Godzilla largely concealed until the final showdown. I found myself getting more excited during the buildup scenes than the actual monster battles. Said battles were visually stunning..it was nice to not have to sit through a bunch of rapid-cut, headache-inducing CGI-fests. The slower pace of the monster scenes actually give you a feel for how truly massive the critters are.

I didn't notice any of the aircraft discrepancies noted above..but then gray kerosine-burners all look alike to me anyway (guess that makes me a "propist"). I did think I saw an F-14 on the carrier, but the shot was only a second or two long so I can't be sure (it's the scene were "G-zill" dives under the ship.) The only military hardware nitpick I noticed was that the tanks sounded more like diesel engines than turbines..but since I'd already bought into the premise of a 350-foot lizard it didn't break my suspense of disbelief.

One review I read said that what sets this one apart from other "rampaging giant monster movies" is that here humans really are largely irrelevant..there's no "lone wolf" hero who goes against orders and takes out the Boss Villain while coolly delivering dry one-liners. There are plenty of heroics, and characters you can root for, but the over-arching theme is "this is way bigger than us, and our only real option is to keep our heads down and stay out of their way." As I mentioned above, if you're willing to buy into the premise 350-foot nuclear-powered monsters battling each other then the rest of the movie maintains a pretty good feel of plausibility. They obviously left the door open for a sequel, but for once we're treated to a sci-fi movie with reasonably complete, self-contained story, rather than just another "opening film of a franchise" or just a bunch of CGI action set-pieces stitched together by a paper-thin plot.

SN

Good review.

The movie is getting mixed reviews from the critics and the public. I think it is important to point out that even though this movie was intended for a large general audience to make some money, the director made also made it with fans of the genre in very much in mind. For the most part, Edwards avoided the usual romantic entanglements and one liners that the public and critics seem to like, thank goodness.

However, personally, I would have gone a good bit darker. I would have kept the focus on Cranston, keeping his character alive and suffering for most of the movie, having him lose everything in the process ....his wife, son, grandson, then finally his own life. I would have also shown a lot more human suffering in general....like in the original film from 1954. If you watch the Gamera trilogy of movies from the mid 90's, in the fights Gamera has with Legion and Iris......Gamera is spitting out fireballs and stuff, and people that are in the way are getting roasted/vaporized by the dozens, right there on screen. In G14, we did see a nice scene where some soldiers get smashed, but we never see large numbers of people or individuals getting caught up in the carnage directly. No significant injuries/radation burns are shown in G14. The horror portion in largely avoided, which unfortunately, is the way it has to be in these movies. They cost so much money to make. They have to be marketable. We had grade school kids in the audience with us. If they had made it like I am suggesting, there would have been significant public backlash about taking a beloved character and surrounding him with real human suffering that the general "popcorn flick" audience would not be able to handle. I think Edwards, for the most part, did a great job, given all of the boxes he had to check off. One of the main criticisms was not enough screen time for Godzilla. That was probably purposeful as they will likely use more screen time to propel the sequel.

Edited by DutyCat
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Opening worldwide weekend box office has been just short of... $200 million!

Sequel has been confirmed.

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/godzilla-sequel-in-the-works-at-warner-bros-legendary-pictures-1201185365/

I hope they bring Edwards back. What faults there were in the film also bedevil some directors of far more experience - but the flip side is that the good stuff also far exceeded some directors of far more experience.

Dutycat, funny you mention Gamera because this film reminded me of Gamera 3, especially the moment when - cursor over to avoid read possible spoiler - Godzilla and the muto square off and all the sound effects are drained away leaving the scene in almost silence, much like when Gamera and Iris square off in the eye of the typhoon.

Ironically Gamera 3 was criticised at the time by fans for having so few set pieces - saving them all until the last third - but which now is seen as perhaps the best kajiu film outside of the 1954 Gojira. Gamera 3 also has a strong female lead cast that easily passes the Bechdel test.

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Saw it today and absolutely loved it. I admit it...I have the attention span of a gnat, so any movie over 90 minutes usually loses me, so when I saw this thing was 2 hrs. and change, I kind of cringed a little bit. I was absolutely transfixed from beginning to end. It was GREAT! I did catch a couple things, though.

-The Navy still has UH-1N's kicking around?

-As was mentioned above...the USS Saratoga, CVN-88? And Nimitz class?

-It was briefly on-screen, but I caught it. The C-17's they HALO-jumped out of...Edwards tailbands and "HH" tailcodes.

-Minuteman III's on freight trains? Really? Although their representation of the Minuteman was somewhat accurate.

Really a great movie though. I'll let the inaccuracies slide, because it's not a documentary...LOL.

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Gents,

I saw it on a late night showing at my local here in the UK on Saturday. I came away quite impressed and I didn't think it suffered from a lack of monster screen time. One thing I always have fun with when watching these kind of rampaging monster or alien invasion films is seeing how well they accurately depict the military. It always seems that common sense and basic military logic is usually sacrificed in favour of a flashy visual effect. I thought this one was better than most but still suffered from a few silly moments.

Why would a complete carrier battle group sail in formation with Godzilla? I remember one overhead visual showing him just off the carriers bow. Bit hard to conduct flight ops with any kind of manoeuvring room. I don't think at any point in the film (I hate to call them 'movies') is it established by the admiral that Godzilla is on their side and not liable to turn on the CBG - they had tried to 'nuke' him once before, and plan to do so again.

Nice visual of a DDG sailing under the Golden Gate bridge with the camera then panning to the other dozen or so CG and DDG's tightly packed bow to stern in the bay. Again, no manoeuvring room and would you really deploy them like that?

Why does a helicopter or fast jet always have to get too close to the monster/alien/whatever. It's almost as if the crews know one of them must buy it for the director and crash in the most spectacular way possible (in this case on top of a airliner parked at the gate of Honolulu Airport).

The biggest mistake of the film - working M-1's that hadn't broken down or run out of gas :P/>

One question. Why in some films or tv shows (or even techno thriller novels come to think of it) is a real warships name used, and in others a fictional name invented? Clancy for example always used a real ship, even if it bought it in the book, but most others don't. Personal preference, or is there another reason?

Gary

Edited by gary1701
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Any reasons as to why?

For as much hyp, the movie got I thought it was very dull. Jurassic park was much better as was the King Kong movie from the mid 70s. I'm not saying don't watch it, but this is one of those films that if I never see it again I will be fine.

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For as much hyp, the movie got I thought it was very dull. Jurassic park was much better as was the King Kong movie from the mid 70s. I'm not saying don't watch it, but this is one of those films that if I never see it again I will be fine.

Hard to see were you are coming from here, unless you were looking for the same kind of person/monster personality interface and human love story interface as was in King Kong. Frankly, I think that sort of approach would totally undermine what the primary objective was here.

Same with Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Godzilla 98, etc, which are full of typical little one liners, romantic subplots, and light hearted moments. Those are all negatives for what this movie was supposed to be.

This movie was intended to be different from the typical summer fare......more of a serious, "what if" horror film, like the original. Not a joke in that one, but there was a pivotal romantic subplot.

Edited by DutyCat
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