ComicCritic87’s DVD Reviews
THE CRITERION COLLECTION: GODZILLA
Hello there friends, it has been awhile since I done a DVD review, and this review is on a film that is one of my all-time favorite films, GODZILLA which is the name in the US, but in Japan its known as GOJIRA. This new release comes from the prestigious group known as Criterion, a company that restores and release films that are “important” to film aficionados. To my amazement is that they have picked the king of giant monster movies himself to be a part of their collection, then again they released Armageddon, so even the best things in the world can have smudge marks on their records. This isn’t my first time reviewing Godzilla flicks, a few months back I did an entire rundown on the TOHO SELECTS Godzilla films that were released, so now it’s time to review what started this mighty franchise and subgenre of film making.
PLOT:
THE JAPANESE VERSION-The story of Godzilla is an allegory of post-World War II Japan, and the effect of various bomb testing’s that were done along its neighboring islands. One of these bomb tests awakes the might Godzilla who causes massive devastation and panic in Japan. The human element of the film focuses on a paleontologist, a police lieutenant, and their same love interest, a young colleague of the scientist. The scientist discovers a powerful energy source that can be used as a weapon. The final attack Godzilla leaves in his wake leads them main characters to decide on what they should do, destroy Godzilla. The film ends with a bold sacrifice leaving us with a warning that if we continue this process another Godzilla will be made.
THE US VERSION- The story follows a US news reporter who heads over to Japan where he bears witness to the shocking events of Godzilla’s rampage.
REVIEW:
THE JAPANESE VERSION
Story-The version in Japan is easily the best of the giant monster films, the story as I mentioned is a dark allegory of the fear of nuclear aggression shown by the only people to ever suffer its power. The narrative of the story has a beautiful flow to it; it’s not straight to the point, we don’t see the creature right away, we get some glimpses early on and when he attacks it’s one of the best moments in the film. What I’m sure many don’t get is how daunting of a task to create giant monster movies, the look and feel of the sets, the angles to showcase size, the lighting, the effects, the look of the monster. Everything was being created helped make a genre that is long lasting to this day. The human story is powerful and emotional, the choices and actions behind the characters are what drive them. The scientist creating a powerful weapon questions whether it’s going to be used as a means of preventing or causing war, ultimately using it to sacrifice him and the weapon, or the paleontologist questioning whether Godzilla should be spared so that they can study it and find out what it truly is. Then there is the most interesting aspect of the love triangle in a film that during a time in Japan, arranged marriage was considered normal. A Japanese girl choosing the one who she wants to love rather than the ones she was forced to be with. I love this movie, the best of the Godzilla films, the benchmark of giant monster movies, and one of the best human stories I have ever seen. The Story gets an A+
THE AMERICAN VERSION
Story- This is a huge offense, in my opinion this was essentially the most butchered films around. They cut and rearranged the events of the film, breaking up the flow of the story. They did a poor job of integrating the American character, they would have him talking to one of the Japanese characters but you would never see their face, just their dubbed over voice. The narration by the American character is annoying and takes away the flow of the narrative, he tells us everything rather than letting the story unfold and let us the audience discover what is happening. I have to keep in mind that this was stitched together in the late 50s, so they didn’t know how a story could really flow properly. This version is in very poor taste, the addition of the American character and scenes being moved around are some of the worse. You might as well just watch the original, keeping the tradition of the original being superior than the remake is highly true in this case. This version gets a D-
Music-The music in this film is beautiful, haunting, and somber. They wanted to create a sense of those to make the audience aware of the danger and fear of this force is and what it can do. The other films in the series showcase for fun and lively music here and there but the music fits the tone of the movie, they were taken it very seriously and not a joke during it. The music gets a B+
Effects- What can I say what a film such as this when we live in a day and age where CGI is used for nearly everything. However prior to the advent of CGI, this was considered some of the best use of practical effects of its time. They created an actual suit to be used and it was very heavy for the man to wear it. The best aspect for any of these films and especially the first one are the miniature sets. They had to make scale models of the various areas Gojira was going to attack and make them the correct side in correlation to the size of Gojira (his height is between 164 feet to 328 feet). They really nailed down what was to become an art form in movie making for the next 50 years until the true surge of CGI took over. The effects get an A-
Criterion review- This Company has done an amazing job with the various and minor restorations to both films, since they came out within a few years of each other. The film is a lot crisper thanks to the use of digital restoration, the sounds is much clearer, along with a minor amount changes to the subtitling, but they are very minor. The extras which are known as supplements in the Criterion version feature interviews with a few people working on the film, commentaries and a small documentary that features an event that was one of the inspirations of the film. These are some really great extras; I mean supplements, which let us see what it was like to create one of the best films around. The one aspect I have to give a slight issue with is the cover; it’s not as memorable as I hoping for. The cover is heavy in orange with the back of Godzilla walking away from a path of his own destruction. The only other complaint that I can say is that it’s called GODZILLA rather than being called GOJIRA, I’m that picky about it I know but hey when it’s from a company that focuses on presenting us with classic and contemporary films, they could have done better with the cover. The inside is actually really cool, it features a pop up of Godzilla’s head; I will give them that at least.
Overall this is one of the best versions of the film released to date. Anyone who is a hardcore fan of the character and movies should pick this up; it’s one of the best films out there, a testament to its time and one of the best science fiction and giant monster movies out there. This Criterion version of Gojira and Godzilla: King of the Monsters gets a solid A-