Posted on 05/12/2014 11:42:57 AM PDT by C19fan
Someone should tell Warner Bros. that when they’ve got a presence as big as Godzilla, they don’t need movie stars, because frankly, who remembers the characters in a rampaging-kaiju movie anyway? Still, just to be safe, the studio has stuffed Gareth Edwards’ deafening, effects-driven reboot with an Oscar winner (Juliette Binoche), three Oscar nominees (Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins and David Strathairn), an Emmy winner (Bryan Cranston) and an Olsen sister, leaving scarcely enough screen time for the monster itself. Worldwide B.O. will be massive when “Godzilla” stomps into theaters beginning May 14, bound to crush the $379 million earned by Sony’s underwhelming 1998 version.
As risky decisions go, entrusting microbudget “Monsters” director Edwards to helm a $160 million tentpole — Warners’ first Godzilla pic since acquiring the character rights from Toho in 2010 — looks downright sensible in retrospect, as the filmmaker makes good on his ability to conjure enormous scope and scale via clever staging and visual effects. If anything, it was “Monsters’” stilted live-action bits that left something to be desired, which might explain why Edwards has overcompensated so drastically when it comes to the human performances this time around.
(Excerpt) Read more at variety.com ...
H8er!
I have been awaiting this. We alway like these Historical Dramas and period pieces. I hope this lives up to the Mechant-Ivory standard.
Godzilla needs to be a guy in a rubber suit. Kids today just can’t understand that.
I still like the black and white 1950s original starring Raymond Burr as the news guy in Tokyo, which is a version modified for US audiences. I seen it more times that I can count. A favorite when I was kid.
That no good atom bomb did it. It woke up Godzilla.
I recall the 1998 Matthew Broderick remake of Godzilla, boring.
It’s getting in the high 80-percentile range on rottentomatoes, which is quite respectable - after all, Godzilla films are B-movies when all is said and done.
I look forward to seeing it when it comes out here in a couple of more days.
As to B-movies, I recall my late father’s comment on people grumbling about the dialogue in the Star Wars films: “For _______ sake, it’s based on Saturday-afternoon matinees like ‘Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe’, and let’s face it; those movies never won an Oscar for their brilliant scripts and witty dialogue, did they?”
LOL
This is ridiculous. It’s meant to be a campy B-movie, right down to the overdubbed English on the Japanese actors and the rampaging puppet.
The 1998 version was a travesty. Emmerich and company thought they would incorporate the latest findings on the anatomy of T-Rex which replaced the stand up stance with the body running parallel to the ground with the tail as a counterweight to the massive head. That is fine for T-Rex but that is not Godzilla.
This sounds like just the type of movie I always avoid.
PFL
Please tell me Godzilla wasn’t caused by Global Warming.
Here is a new released clip of the U.S. Navy trying to form a blockade to stop Godzilla at the Golden Gate Bridge. It doesn’t go to well for them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtCE_v_4CYU
Will the English dubbing include the slight offset in lip-synching, or is that only on Chinese kung fu movies?
I still think the best big lizard flick was The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. And for indestructible purveyors of mayhem my vote goes to the 1960 Brit made Gorgo. Though the music in the original Godzilla is great, particularly when announcing the arrival of the JSDF Sabres.
“...1998 Matthew Broderick remake of Godzilla,..”
Now, I thought it was great! Funny, and the special effects were excellent...
The original is STILL the original, giant guy in a rubber suit stomping Tokyo. Can’t get much better than THAT...
(Except maybe Bobcat Goldthwait in “One Crazy Summer”, where he got stuck in the Godzilla suit with a lit, burning cigar...)
I liked “Gorgo”; I remember seeing in the 70s on TV one fine afternoon.
I’m pretty much done with CGIed movies. The last couple have been so awful we’ve walked out before they were half over. Almost non-existent story, pathetic dialog, and lame acting.
How about some more movies like “Silver Linings Playbook”? Cost $21,000,000 to make and grossed $132,000,000 at the box office.
*Gallic shrug* Zee Fa-rench were amusing...
Not Reptillicus??? HARUMph, harumph, harumph!
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