Toho is making their own Godzilla movies again!

[Christopher]

And of course the problem with the "he was mutated" idea is that, as I said, there were three Godzillas seen in the original Showa continuity -- two essentially identical adults and one juvenile. (Maybe a family unit? Was the original Godzilla Minilla's mother?)

Pretty much all the kaiju in the Showa era were described as either prehistoric species that had been preserved and reawakened in the present, like Rodan and Anguirus, or island deities, like Mothra and King Kong, or space creatures, like King Ghidorah and Gigan. The trope of radiation mutating normal-sized creatures into giants was introduced in American films like Them! and Tarantula (although in the latter case it was an experimental growth hormone that was amped up with radiation), but it wasn't really featured in the Showa-era kaiju films. The Japanese filmmakers just assumed that dinosaurs were much, much bigger than they really were.

 

[Samurai8472]

Supposed leak of Godzilla 2016

http://www.scified.com/godzillamovies/godzilla-resurgence-design-leaks-online

It looks like someone melted one of the suits.

 

[sojourner]

I just recently watched El Rey's Godzilla marathon and have to say, I'm pretty burned out on "man in suit" Godzilla. Give me the 2014 CGI Godzilla any day over more of that.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

I just recently watched El Rey's Godzilla marathon and have to say, I'm pretty burned out on "man in suit" Godzilla. Give me the 2014 CGI Godzilla any day over more of that.

BLASPHEMY!

Anyway, the movie will apparently use a mix of suitmation, animatronics and CGI. Considering one of the directors did the SFX on Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, where he did the same, the result should be pretty convincing.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Suit or CGI, I really don't like the new look if it's accurate.

I realize they've changed the design about a hundred times, but this one just doesn't look right.

Unless it's a remake of Godzilla vs Destroyah, where G is all irradiated, the new color scheme isn't even right.

 

[JRoss]

Zombified, more anthropomorphic Gojira is pretty scary.

 

[Christopher]

This is from someone involved with Attack on Titan, right? From what I've seen, that has a pretty grotesque aesthetic, which seems to have been carried over here. It's definitely an unusually creepy take on Godzilla. I wonder what that says about the story direction.

Anyway, it definitely suggests that this will be yet another new continuity -- Toho's eighth, after the original Showa continuity, the '80s/'90s Heisei era, and the five different continuities of the Millennium series (the last two of which were Showa offshoots that included some of the other Toho monster films as well as the original Gojira, which is the one common element of all seven). True, Godzilla did change appearance somewhat between different movies in the same continuity where Showa and Heisei were concerned, but this is so radical that it pretty much has to be new. I expect it will also be a sequel to the '54 original, but will likely disregard everything else yet again. I wonder what the backstory will be this time.

 

[Redfern]

Not really related to the developing movie, but just Godzilla in general...

There's a certain irony with the endearing lil' fan films one can find upon YouTube. Often times, the creators use stop motion animation with figurines or toys because it's more economical than building and performing within a costume. This the complete opposite situation from Ishiro Honda who opted for a "suit" because it was more practical than stop motion, the technique he originally desired.

Yes, I realize I'm comparing apples and bananas (well, the latter are even more different than oranges), but I still have to smile at the situation.

BTW, I eagerly await the delivery of my "Neca" brand jointed 1954 Godzilla figure.

The Neca figures are similar in concept to the S.H. MonsterArts releases but roughly a third of the price. I already have the 90s version. Funny enough, these two brands are often used as the stop motion figures in some the fan clips I've seen.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Nomad]

One of the theories floating around is that Godzilla is in the process of regenerating in the latest photos we've seen, and he'll look different as the movie progresses. Perhaps his regeneration is from the effects of the oxygen destroyer, and this film is a direct sequel to the original. (You could also argue for a sequel to GMK, which ends with Godzilla's beating heart being all that's left of him.) If this is a reboot, he's probably healing from exposure to an atomic blast. Either way, I like the idea that Godzilla is indestructible and will always come back.

 

[Christopher]

There's a certain irony with the endearing lil' fan films one can find upon YouTube. Often times, the creators use stop motion animation with figurines or toys because it's more economical than building and performing within a costume. This the complete opposite situation from Ishiro Honda who opted for a "suit" because it was more practical than stop motion, the technique he originally desired.

Well, as I understand it, it wasn't just a matter of practicality, but of experience. Gojira was basically Japan's first special-effects film, so they didn't have an existing talent base for techniques like stop motion.

One of the theories floating around is that Godzilla is in the process of regenerating in the latest photos we've seen, and he'll look different as the movie progresses. Perhaps his regeneration is from the effects of the oxygen destroyer, and this film is a direct sequel to the original.

They're all sequels to the original -- except maybe Godzilla 2000: Millennium, which is quite vague about its backstory, although I gather that behind-the-scenes sources confirm it to be a sequel.

Let's see... in the Showa continuity, the '54 Godzilla was disintegrated and a second Godzilla emerged in '55. In the Heisei continuity, the second Godzilla emerged in 1984, although there was some initial uncertainty about whether it was the original or a second one (Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah assumed there was only the one, but by Destoroyah, the current one was explicitly established as a separate creature). Millennium says essentially nothing about Godzilla's past. Megaguirus implies that the Oxygen Destroyer was never used at all, but there's a line about "we have to make sure there's nothing left, not like last time," suggesting that maybe a part of Godzilla survived the OD and regenerated. GMK confirms that it's the original one, regenerated after a 50-year absence. The two Kiryu films establish that the first Godzilla was killed but its skeleton survived, and a second Godzilla emerged in 1999. And Final Wars is basically a Showa offshoot that diverges sometime before Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, so it's safe to assume that its Godzilla is essentially the second one who emerged in '55 -- and who never "reformed" in that reality because it never faced the alien invasions that made Godzilla territorially protective of Earth.

Then there's the 2014 film, in which the Marshall Islands nuclear tests did not irradiate and displace the original Gojira but were instead specifically an attempt to destroy it, and in which its rampage in Japan apparently never happened. That's the only one that we can say for sure is not a sequel to the '54 original -- although the tie-in comics confirmed that Ishiro Serizawa was the son of Daisuke Serizawa from the original film. (And there's the '98 film, but that's explicitly about a different creature that's only named after the Gojira known in Japan. And it was alluded to in GMK, so I like to think it took place in that continuity.)

(You could also argue for a sequel to GMK, which ends with Godzilla's beating heart being all that's left of him.)

That would be an interesting universe to follow up on, since it's one of the darkest and most political films in the series, up there with the '54 and '84 films. Also an unusually spiritual entry, in which Godzilla is basically the embodiment of the vengeful souls killed by the Japanese war machine in WWII, and in which other kaiju are chthonic spirit defenders of Japan.

Which reminds me... I still have GMK on my DVR from last week's marathon on El Rey. I've been meaning to rewatch that at some point.

If this is a reboot, he's probably healing from exposure to an atomic blast.

The original Godzilla's skin texture was meant to suggest the texture of skin scarred over from radiation burns.

But maybe he's not healing or regenerating at all. Maybe this is just what he looks like as filtered through these filmmakers' aesthetic sense. I mean, the skinless giants in Attack on Titan aren't healing or regenerating, are they? That's just what they look like. I think.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

(You could also argue for a sequel to GMK, which ends with Godzilla's beating heart being all that's left of him.)

That would be an interesting universe to follow up on, since it's one of the darkest and most political films in the series, up there with the '54 and '84 films. Also an unusually spiritual entry, in which Godzilla is basically the embodiment of the vengeful souls killed by the Japanese war machine in WWII, and in which other kaiju are chthonic spirit defenders of Japan.

It is also the one Godzilla movie Shinji Higuchi previously worked on.

But maybe he's not healing or regenerating at all. Maybe this is just what he looks like as filtered through these filmmakers' aesthetic sense. I mean, the skinless giants in Attack on Titan aren't healing or regenerating, are they? That's just what they look like. I think.

I know this isn't what you meant, but the highlighted part reminded me of a scene in Gamera 3 (where Higuchi worked as SFX director). There was a flashback scene to the final battle between Gamera and Gyaos from the first of the 90s Gameras, but through the eyes of the new character of a young girl. Basically, we were not seeing what actually happened, but the girl's memory of it. Due to the traumatic nature of that memory, Gamera, in her mind, looked a lot more scary, so Higuchi and his team had to come up with an alternate "scary" Gamera design.

It's unlikely, but maybe Higuchi wanted to do something similar in this movie. Maybe, and I know this is a stretch, the leaked images are from such an alternate Godzilla design.

 

[Saga]

i'll take man in a suit over CGI every time. as for the suit it looks...weird. i think the neck is a bit too long.

 

[Christopher]

i'll take man in a suit over CGI every time.

I was actually very impressed with the CGI in the 2014 movie. I saw it in 3D, and the kaiju a really impressive sense of vastness to them. (Which makes it odd to me that when I saw The Martian in 3D, it just made the huge things like landscapes and spaceships look tiny and toylike.)

In general, I think the best approach to special effects is to use a mix of techniques, the best method for each shot, rather than trying to do everything just one way. Even the original '54 Gojira did that, using a suit actor for the long shots and a puppet for when they needed Godzilla's mouth to be articulated (and unfortunately the puppet was terrible and looked nothing like the suit). Lots of Godzilla movies have used a mix of techniques for different shots or different creatures, including CGI for certain shots in the 21st-century Toho movies. I gather they're using a hybrid technique here -- it sounds like they're going to be digitally morphing footage of the live-action suit to make it seem more lifelike. I guess they're trying to get the best of both approaches.

 

[Redfern]

Funny enough, I prefer the coldly crocodilian details of the puppet head used for the "atomic breath" sequences in the original film. It just looked more menacing, at least to me.

I'm just glad they didn't opt for one of the rejected designs (discussed in the audio commentary but not shown in any of the bonus disc feature). It supposed had large ears that "flapped". As silly as Godzilla became in some productions, I suspect we'd have taken him even less seriously. Yes, I recall King Cesar has rather "emotive" ears; but then, I didn't find him that menacing.

Oh, speaking of ears while watching "Godzilla Raids Again" (aka "Gigantis, the Fire Monster"), I kept them open for George Takei's voice-over work. Sure enough, I recognized his dulcet tones. He didn't dub any major characters, but he did perform a few "off camera" voices such as radio and PA announcers. Of course, now that he's so often "riffed" parodied and whatnot, I half expected to hear his now iconic "Oh, my!"

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Christopher]

Funny enough, I prefer the coldly crocodilian details of the puppet head used for the "atomic breath" sequences in the original film. It just looked more menacing, at least to me.

Whereas it looks completely comical to me. More like Cookie Monster than Godzilla. Not only does it have goofily rounded features, but its movements are so obviously those of a hand puppet.

Oh, speaking of ears while watching "Godzilla Raids Again" (aka "Gigantis, the Fire Monster"), I kept them open for George Takei's voice-over work. Sure enough, I recognized his dulcet tones.

And John Cho was part of the dub cast for Godzilla 2000: Millennium, so both Sulus have dubbed Godzilla movies.

 

[sojourner]

Funny enough, I prefer the coldly crocodilian details of the puppet head used for the "atomic breath" sequences in the original film. It just looked more menacing, at least to me.

I'm just glad they didn't opt for one of the rejected designs (discussed in the audio commentary but not shown in any of the bonus disc feature). It supposed had large ears that "flapped". As silly as Godzilla became in some productions, I suspect we'd have taken him even less seriously. Yes, I recall King Cesar has rather "emotive" ears; but then, I didn't find him that menacing.

Oh, speaking of ears while watching "Godzilla Raids Again" (aka "Gigantis, the Fire Monster"), I kept them open for George Takei's voice-over work. Sure enough, I recognized his dulcet tones. He didn't dub any major characters, but he did perform a few "off camera" voices such as radio and PA announcers. Of course, now that he's so often "riffed" parodied and whatnot, I half expected to hear his now iconic "Oh, my!"

Sincerely,

Bill

I thought I recognized his voice in that as some of the PA announcements in the control room, but I dismissed it thinking even he isn't old enough to have performed back then. Guess I was wrong about his age.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

From this story:

Yesterday, new images of Godzilla from Toho's upcoming Godzilla: Resurgence film leaked online. They gave us new looks a the ferocious creature and revealed its skin was possibly covered in radioactive burns. Now a new report explains that the city-stomping beast will go through three transformations during the film.
BMD reports that "when we first see Godzilla in the film, he is going to be a burnt-out and scarred monster," which is what we saw in the leaked photos. "But he won’t look like that the whole film. Like some of his foes before him, Godzilla will actually change as the film progresses. I’ve been told that by his third form, he should look like a much more standard Godzilla."
"We still don’t know if Godzilla is going to fight other monsters or end up being a good guy," they added. "But I have heard that this new suit is way bigger than normal, almost twice the size of an average person, which is very exciting."

 

[Saga]

i'll take man in a suit over CGI every time.

I was actually very impressed with the CGI in the 2014 movie. I saw it in 3D, and the kaiju a really impressive sense of vastness to them. (Which makes it odd to me that when I saw The Martian in 3D, it just made the huge things like landscapes and spaceships look tiny and toylike.)

In general, I think the best approach to special effects is to use a mix of techniques, the best method for each shot, rather than trying to do everything just one way. Even the original '54 Gojira did that, using a suit actor for the long shots and a puppet for when they needed Godzilla's mouth to be articulated (and unfortunately the puppet was terrible and looked nothing like the suit). Lots of Godzilla movies have used a mix of techniques for different shots or different creatures, including CGI for certain shots in the 21st-century Toho movies. I gather they're using a hybrid technique here -- it sounds like they're going to be digitally morphing footage of the live-action suit to make it seem more lifelike. I guess they're trying to get the best of both approaches.

yes, this new film will be using several different types of effects. just as the Millennium films did. i am quite familiar with these films and their making. i don't need you to educate me.

 

[JD]

I like the sound of that. I don't mind the version in the pictures, it is creepier than a lot of previous versions, but I think that makes sense if they are going back to more of a disaster/monster movie style.

 

[Christopher]

i am quite familiar with these films and their making. i don't need you to educate me.

Nothing personal intended. This is a public forum, after all, read by plenty of people, many of whom might be glad to learn something new. And I was always taught by my English teachers never to assume that my audience already knew a relevant piece of information (even when my only reader was the teacher). Better to include too much information to ensure everyone's on the same page than to include too little and risk confusion.