Comments on: Understanding Godzilla http://blog.gearsonline.net/2009/04/understanding-godzilla/ A blog about mecha, anime, science-fiction and Japan Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:48:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Tim http://blog.gearsonline.net/2009/04/understanding-godzilla/comment-page-1/#comment-411 Tim Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:54:30 +0000 http://blog.gearsonline.net/?p=211#comment-411 Why haven't more people seen this? I know what you mean. I am presently 18, and more often than not, if Godzilla is brought up in a conversation the first reaction is "How old are you?" Why haven’t more people seen this? I know what you mean. I am presently 18, and more often than not, if Godzilla is brought up in a conversation the first reaction is “How old are you?”

]]> By: Alexander Knighton http://blog.gearsonline.net/2009/04/understanding-godzilla/comment-page-1/#comment-384 Alexander Knighton Sun, 04 Apr 2010 06:33:07 +0000 http://blog.gearsonline.net/?p=211#comment-384 This has always pissed me off too since I was a child. I grew up in the odd position of having access to subtitled, uncut VHS editions of many of Toho's tokusatsu films, especially the Heisei films. My father, an English major and history buff, despised the foul dubbing that plagued practically all the US releases of these films. He didn't want me to be exposed to entertainment that purported half-assed English voice-overs in lieu of a developed foreign language. He made great efforts to go out and find copies of these movies in their native language, especially chancing upon the Video Daikaiju service that you mentioned in your article. Thank God he did...or else I probably would have never fallen in love with Godzilla the way I did. The Heisei films were not movies I watched for campy pleasure; I treated them with respect, just as film fans nowadays are apt to treat the latest Christopher Nolan "Batman" films. Of course I was just a kid at the time. I grew up watching Godzilla films with great enthusiasm, reading publications like G-Fan to educate myself on the backgrounds of how these films came to be. I learned the names of actors, directors, composers and SPFX technicians who worked on these productions. Meanwhile, I missed out on popular Hollywood culture. For example, as a 10 year old child, I could easily tell you who Akihito Hirata was and what he starred in. But if you asked me a question about Tom Cruise, I would be dumbfounded. After my formative period, I emerged into the world of popular cultures and was horrified to find all these misconceptions and prejudices about these films. What bugged me excessively was just the ignorance possessed by so many voyeurs of cinema. If I had to settle down and take time to learn the names and faces of distinguished American celebrities, then why couldn't the Japanese celebrities that I respected during my youth get the same respect? But alas, such is the problem with being exposed to the wrong cultural atmosphere during your youth. As an adult, I recently went back and watched all the Heisei films in order again to see if they lost appeal with the passage of time. I was pleasantly surprised to find that these films were just the same as I remembered them. Obviously the series got worse as it went along, but some entries, like "Godzilla vs. Biollante" still astound me to this day. The atmosphere of Japanese cinema is so markedly different from the atmosphere of Hollywood cinema, that I actually find myself disappointed with the latter in many instances. And that's how I've always viewed "Godzilla" films: not as mindless, low-budget schlock, but as professional SPFX films produced by a different culture. It pains me that so many professional US film critics are unable to see past this discrepancy and to this day, continue to spout out ill informed opinions and statements about these films. The simple fact that Ishiro Honda and Akira Kurosawa collaborated on many occasions seems to elude many US critics who continue to insist that Honda's films be damned and Kurosawa's films be praised. It's really a shame...if Kurosawa himself supported Honda's efforts, then why don't we? This has always pissed me off too since I was a child. I grew up in the odd position of having access to subtitled, uncut VHS editions of many of Toho’s tokusatsu films, especially the Heisei films. My father, an English major and history buff, despised the foul dubbing that plagued practically all the US releases of these films. He didn’t want me to be exposed to entertainment that purported half-assed English voice-overs in lieu of a developed foreign language. He made great efforts to go out and find copies of these movies in their native language, especially chancing upon the Video Daikaiju service that you mentioned in your article. Thank God he did…or else I probably would have never fallen in love with Godzilla the way I did.

The Heisei films were not movies I watched for campy pleasure; I treated them with respect, just as film fans nowadays are apt to treat the latest Christopher Nolan “Batman” films. Of course I was just a kid at the time. I grew up watching Godzilla films with great enthusiasm, reading publications like G-Fan to educate myself on the backgrounds of how these films came to be. I learned the names of actors, directors, composers and SPFX technicians who worked on these productions. Meanwhile, I missed out on popular Hollywood culture. For example, as a 10 year old child, I could easily tell you who Akihito Hirata was and what he starred in. But if you asked me a question about Tom Cruise, I would be dumbfounded.

After my formative period, I emerged into the world of popular cultures and was horrified to find all these misconceptions and prejudices about these films. What bugged me excessively was just the ignorance possessed by so many voyeurs of cinema. If I had to settle down and take time to learn the names and faces of distinguished American celebrities, then why couldn’t the Japanese celebrities that I respected during my youth get the same respect? But alas, such is the problem with being exposed to the wrong cultural atmosphere during your youth.

As an adult, I recently went back and watched all the Heisei films in order again to see if they lost appeal with the passage of time. I was pleasantly surprised to find that these films were just the same as I remembered them. Obviously the series got worse as it went along, but some entries, like “Godzilla vs. Biollante” still astound me to this day. The atmosphere of Japanese cinema is so markedly different from the atmosphere of Hollywood cinema, that I actually find myself disappointed with the latter in many instances.

And that’s how I’ve always viewed “Godzilla” films: not as mindless, low-budget schlock, but as professional SPFX films produced by a different culture. It pains me that so many professional US film critics are unable to see past this discrepancy and to this day, continue to spout out ill informed opinions and statements about these films. The simple fact that Ishiro Honda and Akira Kurosawa collaborated on many occasions seems to elude many US critics who continue to insist that Honda’s films be damned and Kurosawa’s films be praised. It’s really a shame…if Kurosawa himself supported Honda’s efforts, then why don’t we?

]]> By: August Ragone http://blog.gearsonline.net/2009/04/understanding-godzilla/comment-page-1/#comment-29 August Ragone Sat, 18 Apr 2009 06:54:16 +0000 http://blog.gearsonline.net/?p=211#comment-29 Thanks for posting this... nice finding substantial posts about Godzilla out there. Would you like to link blogs? My name is August Ragone, and I am the author of EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS (Chronicle Books), about the man who created all of these creatures. Oh, by the way, this summer, I'm producing a big Godzilla film festival out there in San Francisco, called GODZILLA & THE MONSTERS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. Our special guest is Haruo Nakajima, who played Godzilla from 1954-1972. It's going to be a great show. You can read more about it, here: http://shock-it-to-me.com Peace, August Ragone Thanks for posting this… nice finding substantial posts about Godzilla out there. Would you like to link blogs? My name is August Ragone, and I am the author of EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS (Chronicle Books), about the man who created all of these creatures.

Oh, by the way, this summer, I’m producing a big Godzilla film festival out there in San Francisco, called GODZILLA & THE MONSTERS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. Our special guest is Haruo Nakajima, who played Godzilla from 1954-1972. It’s going to be a great show.

You can read more about it, here:
http://shock-it-to-me.com

Peace,
August Ragone

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