Godzilla, Kong, Gamera & Co.: The Kaiju Mega-Thread

[Kai "the spy"]

This happened back in May, but I just learned about it a few minutes ago. Akira Nakao, who appeared in six Godzilla movies, passed away on May 16 from heart failure. He was 81.

He first appeared as Commander Takaki Aso in 1993's "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II", a role he would reprise in "vs. SpaceGodzilla" and "vs. Destoroyah". He returned to the franchise as Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi in "Godzilla against Mechagodzilla" and "Tokyo SOS", and he had a cameo as the original Captain of the Gotengo in the opening scene of "Final Wars".

 

[Christopher]

I just watched the "Minus Color" version of Godzilla Minus One, and it looked good. It did a convincing job replicating black-and-white cinematography and making everything visually distinct, rather than just being the color version with the saturation turned down to zero.

Although if they were going to emulate the look of older B&W films, I almost wish they'd reshot the VFX sequences with suitmation and miniatures.

 

[JD]

This happened back in May, but I just learned about it a few minutes ago. Akira Nakao, who appeared in six Godzilla movies, passed away on May 16 from heart failure. He was 81.

He first appeared as Commander Takaki Aso in 1993's "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II", a role he would reprise in "vs. SpaceGodzilla" and "vs. Destoroyah". He returned to the franchise as Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi in "Godzilla against Mechagodzilla" and "Tokyo SOS", and he had a cameo as the original Captain of the Gotengo in the opening scene of "Final Wars.

That's really sad to hear.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

That's really sad to hear.

In cases like Nakao, I like think of it as a life well spent.

The man worked continuously from the early 1960s until 2023, he appeared in films and television shows of all kinds of genres, he was a regular in the later films of Takeshi Kitano (probably Japan's second-most revered live-action director after Akira Kurosawa), and he was also an artist who won awards at the French Le Salon exhibition in three consequtive years, and he was married to fellow actor Shino Ikenami since 1978.
And let's not forget, he was in SIX Godzilla movies.

As Kevin Smith likes to put it, that's a huge bucket of win.

 

[JD]

Wow, sounds like he had a hell of a career.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Matt Frank has just announced a new miniseries he and fellow artist and writer Sophie Campbell will do for IDW, starring Mothra in her first time headlining her very own western comic book:

 

[JD]

Awesome! I'm a huge Mothra fan, so I'm really going to be looking forward to that.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

In other comic news coming out of NYCC, Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong is getting a sequel:

 

[MikHutch]

Let the Godzilla renaissance continue!

 

[JD]

70th anniversary video from Toho

 

[Christopher]

70th anniversary video from Toho

They kinda lost me when they said Godzilla has been a "beacon of hope." I guess in later Showa, and kind of in the MonsterVerse, but more generally it's a weird characterization.

 

[thribs]

Dragon ball vs Godzilla would be a fun one

 

[JD]

They kinda lost me when they said Godzilla has been a "beacon of hope." I guess in later Showa, and kind of in the MonsterVerse, but more generally it's a weird characterization.

Yeah, that got me too.

 

[Smiley]

I recently discovered a podcast series called Thank Godzilla It's Friday inside of the Critically Acclaimed podcast. Critics William Bibbiani and Witney Seibold discuss all of the Godzilla films and the connected features from Gojira to Godzilla Minus Zero. I'm getting a lot of information and entertaining banter from it, and I recommend checking it out.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Ooh, I remember those guys from the days of the Movie Trivia Schmoedown. They're quite fun and knowledgable, so thanks, I shall look for that podcast.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

To celebrate the 70th anniversary, there's gonna be a re-release of the Godzilla movie they released a year ago:

Now, I get it on a business-level, this movie got all the awards, the box office success story, it drew in people who weren't usually fans, and, of course, yes, it is really good. But still, for the anniversary, I would have hoped for a re-release of the original. Maybe they could have done a double-feature?

 

[thribs]

I would have brought them all back. One per week.
I would love to see Final Wars on the big screen

 

[JD]

To celebrate the 70th anniversary, there's gonna be a re-release of the Godzilla movie they released a year ago:

Now, I get it on a business-level, this movie got all the awards, the box office success story, it drew in people who weren't usually fans, and, of course, yes, it is really good. But still, for the anniversary, I would have hoped for a re-release of the original. Maybe they could have done a double-feature?

Or if not the original, at least one of the older classics.

 

[Nomad]

Takashi Yamazaki announced today that he'll direct another Godzilla movie. A sequel to Minus One? No details yet.

 

[Christopher]

Logically, a sequel to Godzilla Minus One would be called Godzilla Zero. Which sounds a variety of Godzilla with no calories.