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Post by Mighty Jack on Jun 11, 2019 14:12:14 GMT -5
So I got my Honda discs and gobbled them up.
I was a shade disappointed with Gorath. It opened alright, and the miniature work was great, but overall I found it dull. They try to pad out the thin story with not one, but two scenes of guys singing. And maybe fearing that audiences might be nodding off, attempt to spice things up with a giant walrus (goo-goo-ga-joob). Some of the music reminded me of Elfman's work on Pee Wee's Big Adventure, so I got a few chuckles out of that.
Varan was decent, but sure felt like something made for TV. Funny how in its second half, that's where the more recognizable, big screen actors, show up. Listening to the commentary track now.
Dogora was a big step up from the first 2 - I like the Cthulhu style FX, with tentacles reaching down from the sky at one point. There's also that funny scene of a sleeping guy floating down the street. And it co-stars the lovely and talented (and lovely) Akiko Wakabayashi... so that was a plus.
Space Amoeba was a kick, it was actually my favorite of the 4 because it was such a cheesy, crazy good time movie. A lot of fun.
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Post by travis on Jun 13, 2019 16:05:04 GMT -5
VARAN also has one of THE best soundtracks ever. It's ridiculously good, you can see why Ifukube re-used so many themes from it in later Toho films.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jun 13, 2019 17:26:21 GMT -5
Varan actually was a made for TV movie initially, and the filmed footage was reformatted for theaters when the deal Toho had made fell through.
I'm too lazy to look it up right now, but I believe it was initially a joint venture with a studio from another country, and when the other studio pulled out they decided to just make it a Japanese movie for theaters.
And I'm in totally agreement with Travis, that Varan soundtrack is my jam. One of Ifukube's best.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jun 13, 2019 17:26:58 GMT -5
VARAN also has one of THE best soundtracks ever. It's ridiculously good, you can see why Ifukube re-used so many themes from it in later Toho films. At the time I was watching it, I didn't know off the top of my head if he was using music from other movies, or if this was where most of them originated, and he later expanded and applied them to future features. But yeah, it's like an Ifukube greatest hits album.
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Post by angilasman on Jun 16, 2019 11:46:37 GMT -5
^ Yes, so many later themes originated in the theme to Varan! It's one of Ifukube's greatest pieces of music.
The movie was going to be a co-production with an American television company, but that company apparently folded after Toho had already done some production work. Similar thing happened with Latitude Zero. The US funding disintegrated and Toho ended up with half the budget they were supposed to have. It was a bit more dramatic there, since they were already in the process of making the movie when the other side weighed out. They had to deal with keeping Cesar Romero and Joseph Cotten around to finish the movie! Very stressful!
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Post by angilasman on Jul 15, 2019 20:50:47 GMT -5
After two decades of legal trouble (where ownership of Ultraman outside of Japan has been contested thanks to the bogus claims of a Taiwanese company) Tsuburaya has finally found a North American distributor! Mill Creek Entertainment will start releasing practically the entire Ultra Series (shows and movies) starting with Ultra Q and Ultraman on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital formats in October. Apparently, their next release after that will be of a more modern Ultra Series, so they won't necessarily be released them in order.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jul 15, 2019 21:43:25 GMT -5
I'm looking forward to the sets. I never got to pick up Shout's Q and Seven sets, which are probably going out of print if they haven't vanished already. I prioritized Super Sentai over Ultraman, personally, and don't really regret it if there are HD options on the horizon.
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Post by angilasman on Jul 15, 2019 22:26:23 GMT -5
The previous DVD sets of Ultra Q, Ultraman, and Ultraseven released in the U.S. were licenced by that aforementioned Taiwanese company and of crummy quality, so you didn't miss much. These'll be serious upgrades as Tsuburaya's HD versions are great!
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Post by Torgo on Jul 17, 2019 10:51:47 GMT -5
Godzilla: King of the Monsters underwhelmed at the box office as it fell short of $400 million (though it was far from the only movie that suffered the post Endgame slump), but we can look forward to it hitting DVD, blu-ray, and 4K on August 27 as we wait for Godzilla vs. Kong, which is rumored to be switching release dates, but with no confirmation yet. www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=25432
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jul 22, 2019 22:06:56 GMT -5
If that's King of the Monsters release isn't enough for you, well.....
SOMETHING ELSE IS COMING SOON!
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Post by Torgo on Jul 25, 2019 20:10:30 GMT -5
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Post by angilasman on Jul 25, 2019 21:57:17 GMT -5
It's been a long time coming. It's certainly an impressive-looking set, and while I'm a bit disappointed that not every English language version could be included I know the drill when it comes to working with Toho and the availability of certain materials. Along with the upcoming Blu-ray set of Ultra Q and Ultraman, the last few months of this year going to be awful expensive for American kaiju fans. Godzilla: King of the Monsters underwhelmed at the box office as it fell short of $400 million (though it was far from the only movie that suffered the post Endgame slump), but we can look forward to it hitting DVD, blu-ray, and 4K on August 27 as we wait for Godzilla vs. Kong, which is rumored to be switching release dates, but with no confirmation yet. www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=25432Honestly, I think it was a bit presumptuous to try to make kaiju movies on the scale of Marvel Superhero films. Those justify 200 million dollar price tags because they make a billion dollars because they have the widest possible appeal worldwide. Monster movies have always been popular, and I feel like Godzilla is more popular now then he has ever been, but is he popular enough to sustain a 200 million dollar price tag? I think a 100 million dollar Godzilla movie would have made the same at the box office, and everyone would be talking about what a big success it was had that been the case. Monster movies have never been about having the biggest budgets, they have always been about creative solutions within the resources they have. The best monster movie released in the new millennium is The Host, the Korean film. It's cosr something around 12 million, and having more money would not have helped it any, in my opinion. Think more John Wick, less Marvel.
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Post by Torgo on Jul 26, 2019 19:24:38 GMT -5
I don't think MCU presumption was ever really a factor. There is reasonable expectation that the marquee value in a Godzilla movie should perform higher numbers than a movie like The Meg, yet King of the Monsters still fell short of that goal, though it paced almost similarly though more topheavy. It was also reasonable to hope it would perform similar to both the 2014 film, and Skull Island, but didn't even come close.
But there were too many variables for King of the Monsters to really shine. The mixed reaction to the previous film would have probably tempered any excitement for a second film in the first place, and waiting five years for one only enhanced the cooldown on any potential Godzilla franchise. The movie was actually finished six months early, but they kept holding it for less competitive slots, yet they opened it during probably one of the worst times they could have done so. Not only did Endgame come out and, as The Weekly Planet put it, "sucked the air out of the room," they also opened the week after a phenomenally leggy run by Aladdin that had just begun. Granted we can't fully blame Aladdin, because Skull Island opened against the much bigger Beauty and the Beast and did just fine, but the fact remained that all throughout June people were ignoring most of the new competition and choosing instead to go see Endgame and Aladdin again.
But it was a lackluster month in general. Even the movies that were succeeding were being labeled by analysts as "We expected it to do better." Even Toy Story 4, which had the largest weekend of the franchise was given headlines of "It's doing okay, but it should have made more." Godzilla actually is probably one of the more middling successes this summer, and when you compare it to how poorly Dark Phoenix and MIB did, you can say it did fairly well, when it could have been an embarrassment. Whatever the case may be, Godzilla vs. Kong is already in the chamber, so the MonsterVerse rides on its shoulders now.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Sept 2, 2019 1:08:37 GMT -5
Got my BD and I have to say, I enjoyed the film more with this viewing - Anyway, during the commentary track, they tease that you might see some recognizable bones outside Godzilla's lair during the explosion. I paused and slowed the film and I can see what looks like bones, maybe a ribcage on the left side of the screen, but for the life of me it doesn't look like anyone. But then in an extra where they showed previz for the scene, it's easy to see that it's Anguirus (spoiler, for those who want to figure it out on their own)
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Post by angilasman on Sept 6, 2019 19:36:15 GMT -5
^ You can also (apparently) see his corpse in a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in the Netflix anime! He's not having a good time of it!
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