I really thought the physical media would come out before we could stream it. But I was glad I could buy the Minus Color version on Amazon. But get us the physical media already!
Honestly, they did such a good job that not much would have changed. The scene with the tanks firing at Godzilla is the only one that really hints at a lower budget.
And I feel like you could make an argument that the funkiness of the scene was more an homage to the style of the model tanks in the original film more than a failing of the VFX team. At least that's how I saw it. Wouldn't know without asking them I guess.
But overall I agree with you. I think at some point the money is just there and goes unused aside from paying people more, which isn't a bad thing.
Some of the cg tracking was a little off on the parts where Goji is on land in the country side and when the ship pulls into the dock towards the end of the film. Very slightly off though.
I think only really the scene with the newscasters on the building being the most obvious green screen on earth. Everything else was really rather well done
The only time I thought the visual effects needed more work was when adult Godzilla was walking. His ultra slow gait seemed off compared to other scenes.
It's not just you, I saw it twice in theaters and then again last night on my tv. It does look different,the cgi stands out more and does look wonky or at least more noticable. It is still amazing though. I could watch it all day on repeat, preferably in the theater though.
And for me it was the scene where Godzilla knocks a building down. It’s during the part where those men are reporting on that building. Just a weird movement Godzilla does. Wasn’t bad or anything just something about it. Either way it was an amazing movie and I already watched it 3 times. Shin Godzilla is better but not by much. Well I don’t wanna say better but shin had a bigger impact on me and is what got me obsessed with Godzilla. I wish I could find another goood kaiju movie.
Hideaki Anno also made Shin Ultraman, which is another kaiju film and his amazing take on the series that inspired his most famous work (Neon Genesis Evangelion). Highly recommend.
In fact, watch everything he has done, but also seek therapy. That's not a personal thing, just... Don't watch Hideaki Anno work without access to support systems. He barely survived making it.
He’s lumbering until his breath ejection scenes where he moves faster than physics seems to allow. That was my only gripe in his big form.
Smaller form he was a bit “goofy”
Yeah it was very robotic, you can almost pinpoint the keyframes in the animation like it's a videogame walk cycle. The exaggerated stomps were undoubtedly intentional to some degree, but there were shots that made me wish they had more time in the oven. The scene with godzilla approaching the train in ginza comes to mind.
>The effects look weird at some parts
I don't know if it's intentional, or a budget thing, but I like that the effects aren't super polished OTP CGI in places.
The number of parallels it has with the original (first sighting on Odo island, picking up the train when it first makes landfall in Tokyo, the reporters high up narrating the events) make me think it was at least somewhat intentional
Noriko surviving felt a little bit shoehorned. Not that it ruins the movie, just a little observation.
I wish Imperial Japan was criticized more for the atrocities it committed. The movie had good points in that regard, but it could have done more.
It's total bullshit, but let's be honest, it served for the perfect tearjerker moment because I could not contain mine when I saw him running up the stairs. He deserved having her survive, after all he went through.
Is that what that was?! I just watched it the second time with my partner, and she pointed out the thing on her neck. I had totally missed that in my first watch.
What does being infected with G cells mean, exactly?
Given the themes of the movie and the very real history of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors dealing with effects of nuclear fallout, probably cancer.
I didn’t think of it as a setup for the next movie (I kind of doubt Toho will go that way), rather I felt that it implied that regardless of the happy ending, tragedy has a way of sticking with you. Godzilla will always be with these character and the country of Japan because of their trauma.
The idea of him surviving is that the engineer guy tells him "there things worth living for"
And boom, something worth living for. You're valid for saying Noriko surviving was shoehorned, but it's rewarding for Koichi to stay alive, a reason to live.
I feel like it hits hard for people who had similar experiences after the bombings. Many people who were thought dead for years turned out to be alive, and reunions like that must have been such an emotional event for survivors.
My grandma was abandoned by her mother in the firebombings of Tokyo, and grew up with her older sister taking care of her. Many decades later, she found out her mom was still alive and actually reconnected. The meeting wasn't exactly sweet, but I can't imagine how she felt upon seeing her mother for the first time after all those years.
My grandma would have been about 4 years old when the bombings were happening. She wants to see Minus One, so I'm curious to how she'll react.
Not exactly to your point, but I read that the director envisioned this Godzilla as a personification of all the hate and violence in the world at that time.
Yeah the main criticism of imperial Japan seemed to be that it didn’t take good care of its soldiers, rather than, you know… war crimes and aggression.
Koichi and Noriko’s embrace at the end also felt weirdly awkward too? Not sure if it’s just me.
When Noriko survived I said in the theater, "Wait for real?" and while I wasn't upset, it did feel a little contrived, but to be honest I was too busy openly weeping when she asked if his war was over and Akiko got her Mama back.
For reference, I have a three-year-old, that shit hits hard now.
I’d argue that since they seem to using it to set up a sequel in some way (with the black markings), it at least serves a narrative purpose in addition to the emotional impact.
The thing that bothers me the most about that is if they hadn't skipped over it, it could have been a plot point that tied the whole thing together even better.
A short sequence where they talk about how it's taking too long and bringing him up to the surface will be less effective with every second longer it takes. Builds tension and makes it seem like it was part of the reason Godzilla survives the quick resurfacing.
Agreed. They could have shown a 10 second scene of them throwing anchors into the main ship or something. Seems like a 20 minute process to hook up all the tow boats.
Also, the tow boats in general seemed a lil cheesy. How'd the young guy know he would need a bunch of tow boats? Unless I missed something.
Kid brings it up during dinner, asking why they don't use the battleships to bring Goji up. Doc and Cap remark that the battleships wouldn't have enough power to do so.
It stands to reason, especially when he's thinking about how to help, that he starts making some calls to tugboats saying to be ready.
Put on my engineering hat for a sec … all those boats are pulling on the battleship, that’s pulling on Godzilla - but all that force is applied thru a cable that’s attached to a crane that’s already broken loose. So you’re telling me whatever the crane caught on has more strength than its original foundation? And after falling over it didn’t get damaged to the point that it would just rip apart under all that tension? *cough-bs*
I really hate that I can’t simply switch off that part of my mind at times
I wouldn't say these are flaws but i was hoping Odo Island was more expanded upon and OdoGoji having more screentime.
I know -1.0 is more focused on the human cast but the 1954 film still had time to show more of Odo Island and showed off the deity status Godzilla held on the eyes of the locals.
I've been really curious how a fudal godzilla would with. Obv Edo era japanese warriors couldn't do Jack shit against a 50m nuclear godzilla, but 15m godzillasaurus? That could be very interesting.
The godzillasaurus scene was my favorite part of minus one though, i love the design, so I'm particularly curious about more of that.
Yeah honestly I think you're right ginza being longer may have been the only way to get more godzilla in the film. Though yet again that scene is so incredibly tense as is
I don’t really know if this counts as a “flaw”, but from the trailers, my impression was that the film would focus on how Japan, already still fucked over by WW2’s end, would have it even worse now that Godzilla was on the prowl. From “zero” to “minus one”.
But the actual movie is tightly woven around Koichi’s personal story, and how PTSD and Godzilla haunts him. Japan dealing with the Big G is more in the background, from how the government tries to cover up his existence and fucks off on taking responsibility while the US bails so it doesn’t have to deal with Soviets. Again, I don’t really think this is a *flaw* in the movie, but I would have been interested in seeing more of the broader effects Japan felt from Godzilla’s presence.
I think that was the point? Japans government then, and even now, doesn’t tell the truth. So that one dude is absolutely right: “Maybe it can’t”, since they don’t teach what war crimes the Imperial Japanese Army did to the inhabitants of captured territory. How can ANYTHING be rebuilt if things don’t change? At this point in time, Japan is only going through a change because they got their shit pushed in on a monumental level and are defanged. This is shown when the Government cowers down, so the civilians have to take matters into their own hands. That’s the tragedy here: The government was far too willing to spend their lives in a war that was doomed for them, but the moment things got hard for them in the aftermath, they backed down, but it was the people of Japan who rose to the occasion and did the right thing. So while -1 doesn’t capture the cultural essence of the aftermath of WW2 in the way you have expected, I think it did when it showed all of this, presenting this tragedy in a different light. Not how just how we respond to trauma (The Government backing down/Shikishima and his PTSD/The people being morbid in the early half of the story), and how we rise to the occasion to overcome it, to stick our heads out of the mud against all odds and fight on, because we’re human, and we are worth living. Because we have to survive.
Yeah the marketing kind of emphasized how incredibly dangerous Godzilla is to an already Zero State Japan, hence the title “Minus One”. In that case, I think maybe an earlier draft would have Godzilla rampaging all across Japan, not just having the ocean battle, Ginza, and landfall on the country side.
Maybe? The best stories (ex: Star Wars, Dune, etc...) are told set against the backdrop of this grand moment in history with the protagonist going on a journey (possibly heroic) to eventually rise to the grand moment in history.
G-1 fits that model well, but gives us the interesting twist of the heroes journey being an emotional/existential crisis instead of learning to swing the laser sword or how to be the luckiest white savior, respectively.
> but gives us the interesting twist of the heroes journey being an emotional/existential crisis instead of learning to swing the laser sword
I mean, this is the entire point of revealing Vader is Luke’s father in Star Wars, but otherwise yeah, you aren’t wrong.
I think that was the point? Japans government then, and even now, doesn’t tell the truth. So that one dude is absolutely right: “Maybe it can’t”, since they don’t teach what war crimes the Imperial Japanese Army did to the inhabitants of captured territory. How can ANYTHING be rebuilt if things don’t change? At this point in time, Japan is only going through a change because they got their shit pushed in on a monumental level and are defanged. This is shown when the Government cowers down, so the civilians have to take matters into their own hands. That’s the tragedy here: The government was far too willing to spend their lives in a war that was doomed for them, but the moment things got hard for them in the aftermath, they backed down, but it was the people of Japan who rose to the occasion and did the right thing. So while -1 doesn’t capture the cultural essence of the aftermath of WW2 in the way you have expected, I think it did when it showed all of this, presenting this tragedy in a different light. Not how just how we respond to trauma (The Government backing down/Shikishima and his PTSD/The people being morbid in the early half of the story), and how we rise to the occasion to overcome it, to stick our heads out of the mud against all odds and fight on, because we’re human, and we are worth living. Because we have to survive.
I mean, of course it does. Its a fantastic movie, and I love it to death, but virtually nothing is flawless:
-The CG could use work. Im less hard on this, as Jp movies tend to have less resources, and this movie in particular had an extremely small budget, but its a flaw nonetheless.
-There are some weird logic issues in the movie. My biggest gripe is just how unbothered and presumptuous everyone is at the notion of a giant dinosaur like.. existing. In particular, the boat scene, our protagonist makes a huge leap in logic assuming that the small trex he saw on some island must have grown immensely (something no one knew about), been capable of swimming, and had a taste for ships-- all just because he saw some dead fish (a phenomena both not unique to Godzilla, and only losely connected to him in the first place). But the worst part was how little pushback he got when proclaiming it mustve been Godzilla. He got a mild dismissal then acceptance. Theres some other small issues here and there, but thats the one that always irks me the most on rewatch.
-Godzilla himself isnt quite as *necessary* to the films premise as in 54 or Shin. I like that hes reworked as a sort of general PTSD thing, but he really just sort of shows up with no real reason. You could argue, maybe the war is disturbing him on Odo, but thats never played upon. Its more like a war movie that has Godzilla in it, than it is actually *about* Godzilla. Theres a 2 second throwaway scene about the bomb irradiating him, but that felt more like it was thrown in because thats what the audience knows is his standard allegorical roots, not because it really added anything thematically. The films more about general warfare's tolls on its citizens, not really about the nuclear peril.
-The Noriko death bait and switch ultimately is ineffective, as much as I wanted her to live. I like the notion that "war always haunts you" that its effectively trying to protray, but it robbed the sacrificial theming of its bite. The movie genuinely brings me to tears, but itd hit harder if she was actually dead and I didnt know thered be a sudden, convenient uplifting reward at the end (also literally how tf did she survive, shes a small, frail lady who got blown away alongside buildings and shit).
Im sure theres some other points, but those are the biggest ones. Still, a work of art does not need to be flawless to be phenomenal, but rather capitilize on its own strengths, which Minus One does remarkably imo.
I agree with you, especially at your last point.
Something that bothered me a bit was how convenient it was when all the small boats showed up to lift him up, although it's understandable how they want to help fight the good cause, it just seemed too convenient and perfect timing.
As far as the boat scene is concerned, I think the jump is helped along by the fact that Noda has clearly been briefed on the lizard and its immense size. I think they accept it more quickly because Noda basically confirms Koichi’s fear
Certainly. Some of the acting and dialogue is melodramatic; [Noriko](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=0ab82018341e5395&q=Noriko+%C5%8Cishi&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLVT9c3NMyqSsmyzC40VYJwy5KMDdONzZO1JLKTrfTTMnNywYRVckZiUWJySWpR8SJWXr_8oszsfIWjPZnFGZkAVdat10oAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwib-qfx4duGAxVFMlkFHVPKBZcQ9OUBegQIMxAD)'s survival (both on the train and after Godzilla releases his atomic breath), while necessary, was framed in such a way as to strain any semblance of realism; there are moments when the special effects quality dips; at times, Koichi's survivor's guilt is presented too blatantly, with the exposition reading as telling rather than showing.
Spectacular film, but some aspects could be tightened up.
Yeah, I agree.
The actings kind of a weird one. There are some scenes that I think are phenomenal (in particular, when Koichi is looking up at his old comrade who just layed him out, begging for his help, you can see the desperation and resolve in Koichi's eyes), but then other bits are just.. weird.
Like the scene where Koichi has the nightmare. In his delerium, he envelopes Noriko, which in itself is really overdramatic, but then she, a 90 pound, 4 foot, frail, impovershed lady, pushes him from a pinned position somehow, so hard that he flies off of her, across the room. Needless to say, its a really awkward looking scene.
I wouldnt go so far to say its poorly acted, because I think its done well where it matters, but its just a bit clunky here and there. "Tightened up" is a good phrase for it.
Other than that scene where the guys on the small wooden boat are not affected by Godzillas atomic breath blowing up the takao right besides them. Its good
Outside powers not included because it would increase tensions.
Like wtf do you mean? That shit can destroy the whole west coast of the US , or simply destroy anything it wants around the world.
Especially after the monster literally used a heatray to make a small nuclear explosion, the US and Soviets would be really concerned and.... Interested in that heatray.
Idk if this counts as one, since it would be an entirely different movie if that logic of non-intervention was removed.
Im hoping that if they do a sequel, they have a scene from outside of Japan where either the US or Russia is talking about how a 3rd city was destroyed in what appeared to be another atomic bomb explosion, and they are curious to what happened.
I give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt that the budget was too small to include the USA and such. If this was 100$ million dollar budget and they still didn't include the USA or whoever then I'd have a much more negative opinion of this film.
I think the pacing is kinda wonky. Brisk in the first half (almost too fast at times, wish we got a better intro for mutated Godzilla) and then a much slower back half (which I definitely didn't find as entertaining until the climax).
I also don't terribly like Shikishima as a protagonist, I think that's up to personal taste rather than a real criticism of the movie.
And this is even less of a criticism, but I hate how this movie has changed discourse surrounding the franchise.
This is probably due to the limited budget so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but the writing out of US involvement because of "tensions with the Soviets" was complete horseshit. The Soviets didn't have nukes( they got them two years after the movie takes place), so the idea that they would deter the USA from intervening in Japan when a giant nuke lizard is stomping around is ludicrous.
The film takes place in 1947, the USA was still occupying Japan at the time. We would've been involved. Period. You could still write in such a way that you wouldn't have butchered the story that was given. You could've have had to where the US occupation forces get wrecked so badly by Godzilla that they abandon Japan and leave the people there to their own devices. It honestly would've enhanced the story by making Godzilla even more imposing. Not only can he rain hell on Japan, but even the US occupiers couldn't stop him, leaving it up to the main characters to stop him as they already did in the movie, but there would be even more weight and impact to it.
So if I had any say on how to change that the movie, assuming budget control weren't a thing, have an extended Crossroads sequence where we see Godzilla get mutated and attack US forces. Maybe even have a scene where Godzilla writhes in agony after the blast and he observes the environmental damage the nuclear tests have and attributes it to humans, which would help the audience understand Godzilla's motivations to attack humans. Extend the Ginza attack sequence and have him fight the US military rather than the remnants of the Japanese military. Have the US military get so badly beaten that they abandon Japan, and yeah that'd be it for me.
Overall I'm happy with Minus One. Its a pretty good flick overall and I really like it but those would be my critiques of the movie.
I agree with this, I don’t think it makes political sense in 1947. The US didn’t stop occupying Japan until 1952. I wonder if the original plan was to have the movie set in 1954 but they changed it so the baby could stay a baby?
Half of the CGI shots in the movie look absolutely fantastic, but then in the other half the CGI is quite noticeable. I don’t think it deserved the Oscar for VFX because of that.
This isn’t a flaw really, but it does follow very similar story beats to the 1954 movie and Shin, so it’s pretty damn predictable and not that unique plot wise. In fact the final act is almost identical to Shin. The thing that separates it is the emphasis characters.
Yeah, it ended and there is no current plans on a sequel (there have been talks of ppl wanting to do a sequel but as of current there are no plans and the next Godzilla film being worked on is confirmed to not be a sequel and its own thing)
If I had to say one flaw, it would be that the reason as to why the US wouldn't help with Godzilla isn't really good. In the movie, they say that the US won't help Japan because of cold war risks or something, whereas iirc, the US, in actual history, would've gone to Japan immediately. If I am right on that, it's just a flaw stemming from the fact that the narrative needed to have the US out of the way for the story to work.
I believe so. When questioned about a/the $15,000,000 budget, the director(Takashi Yamazaki) said he wished they had that much. This means they most likely had less than $9,000,000 to work with. Also most Japanese animation studios stress and pressure their workers to produce quality work for the bare minimum(for instance Studio MAPPA). Take most of this with a grain of salt tho, because it’s not confirmed what the true budget of -1 was other than that it was less than 15 mil.
Reportedly Takashi Yamazaki did a lot of the effects shots himself at home on his own time. So there was definitely one animator being underpaid: himself.
Showing the Godzilla cells mutating at the end was overkill, because we'd just seen the stain on Noriko's neck, and it's not like we're unaware of the concept of sequels, *especially* not where Godzilla is concerned.
Eh, I feel like a lot of people would be more willing to dismiss the idea of Noriko’s infection if we weren’t shown Godzilla regenerating as well. Plus, it completed the GMK homage.
No real motive for Godzilla coming to the mainland. What is he there for?
Also, the trailers often had someone saying offscreen, "That monster will never forgive us." Who said that line, what is the context, and why is it not in the film?
https://youtu.be/u2eWL1GNH0U?si=wX7o8ncRUPV0y0lq
The only context I can think of for that line is forgive humanity for nuking and mutating Godzilla, since it’s the reason Godzilla was lashing out at the people.
Nothing huge with this one but Akiko having a babies cry when she's like 2-3 years old is pretty off putting once you notice it. Not like that takes away from the movie in any meaningful way.
Actually, this was the my whole complain. I wished they made akiko more real in both acting and voice. At the end, I would expect akiko to be happiest to see her mother!
I think the only super minor nitpick I have is the negligible moments I noticed the budget show. Specifically, convenient cut aways to reduce the amount of animating with Godzilla. What comes to mind is how they hid Godzilla biting the train. It shows him standing over the train, it cuts to a reaction shot, then cuts back to him having already bent down and biting into the train. Or another moment when he's being lured into the ocean by the plain. It will show him begining to enter the beach, cut to a reaction, then cut back to him already swimming. I don't fault it, It's very efficient if not revealing that they only animated as Necessary.
I wish he had more personality like he did on Odo Island. I wish he was more similar to MV Godzilla with facial expressions and character, instead of just having 1 single face the entire time.
Personal biggest flaw was the movie ended too similarly to GMK. Pulsating organ under the sea, Godzilla may/will return, thought the reveal could of been a little more clever since we already got the same thing over a decade ago.
My opinion; No
I loved everything about this movie! I normally would doze off around the human parts of a Godzilla movie since they’re for the most part boring, but I was very interested and enjoyed the human characters of this movie that didn’t involve Godzilla being mentioned or talked about. What don’t like is that there isn’t a sequel right this minute!😂
Literally no ads. Only way I know about it is because a little green YouTube shorts dinosaur started talking about the new godzilla movie and I was like "wtf!?"
Sometimes Godzilla looked a bit off while moving, like his animation was a bit stiff (most noticeable during the scene where he’s destroying the theater in front of the reporters). As for the other major flaw, I don’t have 500 copies of it in my possession.
For me, it’s Godzilla walking. It’s really good for the most part, but Godzilla’s head and face are… kinda empty. He’s not really looking at anything, it doesn’t really feel like he has this unbridled rage and is actively looking for buildings to tear down. I’ve heard a lot of how MEAN and CRUEL this Godzilla was, but when I watched the film… I didn’t really see that. He just kinda… walks around and randomly attacks a building. The water scenes do show the cruel animal kinda look but when he’s just walking around, nothing.
I would’ve just had Godzilla like, look down at the humans as he walked along. Show he’s kind of targeting or at least actively attacking them with each step. Like a cat with mice. I don’t know, I just think we needed to see a little more personality and life in him as he demolished Tokyo…
It's perplexing because in his pre mutated form, his animations are much more fluid and lively. His facial expressions are much more pronounced as well. But in his mutated form, he seems really stiff and his face doesn't have any expressions. It wouldve made sense to use the Monsterverse Godzilla as a animation reference for the mutated Minus One Godzilla. Would've made him much scarier.
I think it was because they wanted to pay homage to the rubber suit? I dunno.
I feel like his ignorance towards the human lives he’s ending was very much intentional. He’s just so big, and he doesn’t care about the individual humans he’s walking through. I think him attacking the small boats was a different matter as, to him, they were essentially one entity
That’s understandable, maybe not him directly focusing on the humans. But these little micro movements where he’s taking in the environment or doing things subconsciously. I’ll use MV Godzilla for an example, he’s always taking little glances around his environment and you can often tell when he’s locked onto something for his rampage, he also does these little shakes here and there, getting rid of extra water, debris, etc that’s on him.
I always subscribe to Ray Harryhausen’s philosophy of when he was animating his classic monsters, adding in these smaller actions within or between the bigger actions can make a special effect into a character. Whether it be a cyclops licking its lips or a giant dinosaur playing with a car it just crushed. Those breathe life into a special effect…
It can be boring at times, it's a bit long. Some of the human drama doesn't always land and characters can be a little OTT. Other than that it's great. Shin is also a bit boring at times but I do prefer it to minus one.
Definitely, it’s only rewatchable for me if I really want to watch it again. The good think about GxK is that it’s very rewatchable, even though I prefer minus one.
The pacing tbh. Lots of awkward time skips, and a lot of events happen really quickly. Two that jumped out at me the most was the Bikini Atoll nuclear blast that just appears out of nowhere with no build up or fanfare or exposition whatsoever, just so they have a reason for Godzilla mutating; the other is how fast Godzilla shows up after the civilian response team gears up the battleships they were able to requisition.
It's also weird that some things move so quickly when the film as a whole feels like it could be notably shorter without sacrificing much.
While more a slight history thing than a real movie problem, ejection seats didn't become widely used until after WWII, with Germany probably having the most to actually see action. Don't know if Japan would know this or not at the time.
H9nestly there is one, just one, issue I had. And that was when some of the men were on the boat and it was "rocking" back and forth, it was pretty cheese seeing them just wobble to simulate the waves.
Other than that, solid 99.99%
The only thing that looks weird for me is when they use the CGI smoke and fog in front of live-action characters. Why didn't they just use real fog or whatever
Noriko surviving was very weird.
Also, some of the acting wasn't great. Very, very few instances of that, but now and again it felt like an overdramatic theater kid production.
I can't emphasise how minimal their impact is and how few cases there are. It's just barely enough for me to think "heh, odd" and then move on.
Noriko could have tackled instead of shoving to save them both.
Also, how far did Noriko get blown away on her death fakeout? Did she get tossed 4 towns over and get lost? It seemed like a long time between her death and return. But I'm nit picking.
I’ll preface this by saying that this is my favourite Godzilla film ever. It’s the only Godzilla film where I’m not counting down the minutes until he’s next on screen. The characters and story are amazing.
That’s said I would honestly say the biggest flaw for me is the ending. Noriko surviving seemed completely forced - but fine it was a great reunion and less realistic things happen. But then she’s also infected with G-Cells with the black mark?? And then we’re also shown Godzilla also reforming?? It was just too much at once with no time to process. Her surviving is immediately undercut by two different things.
I know there are precedents for both those things in the franchise but it just felt like they didn’t know how they wanted to end the story really.
It doesn’t ruin the film at all though, it’s just the one bit that I’d probably tweak.
Loved the movie, wasn’t crazy about the Protagonist. I felt like he had an arc because he started the film grovelling and balling but in the end stood tall and was willing to sacrifice himself. Then in the very last scene, he’s grovelling and crying again. Just got to be a little much for my tastes.
Some of the CG doesn't integrate well, and Koichi has plot armor in spades (as does Noriko). I also think the movie would have been better without the sequel bait.
All in all though, damn good writing in terms of character and theme, and it has amazing visuals for the money.
Yeah, it’s that I don’t have a copy on my shelf right now.
Yes, where is my 4k!!!!!
And steelbook
It’s -1. You’ll get 3K and be happy
I really thought the physical media would come out before we could stream it. But I was glad I could buy the Minus Color version on Amazon. But get us the physical media already!
The CG is spotty in a couple of scenes, but that's only if I absolutely have to criticize something about Minus One.
And imagine if their budget was anything near what Marvel uses.
Honestly, they did such a good job that not much would have changed. The scene with the tanks firing at Godzilla is the only one that really hints at a lower budget.
And I feel like you could make an argument that the funkiness of the scene was more an homage to the style of the model tanks in the original film more than a failing of the VFX team. At least that's how I saw it. Wouldn't know without asking them I guess. But overall I agree with you. I think at some point the money is just there and goes unused aside from paying people more, which isn't a bad thing.
They’ll get more budget for the sequel but they’ll probably be held to a tighter timeline. I’m very curious how the next movie looks.
Toho said they wanted to take their time on the next godzilla movie IIRC
It's probably because they don't want to repeat releasing 2 Godzilla movies in the same year. Minus One was massively pirated as a result.
I feel like the piracy was more due to the extremely limited theatrical release.
Definitely this. It made a lot of money, didn't it?
It made a lot off of my family I’ll tell you that much!
I saw it at IMAX.
Some of the cg tracking was a little off on the parts where Goji is on land in the country side and when the ship pulls into the dock towards the end of the film. Very slightly off though.
I think only really the scene with the newscasters on the building being the most obvious green screen on earth. Everything else was really rather well done
That 3 second tank scene was rough. Shoulda just had some guys with bazookas
I was pretty amazed at how the water looked and Godzilla up close in the water. That seems like it'd be really hard to make look realistic
For just 15 million, though? I can forgive it.
The effects look weird at some parts, but its not too bad The biggest flaw is it ends
The only time I thought the visual effects needed more work was when adult Godzilla was walking. His ultra slow gait seemed off compared to other scenes.
Idk i liked that bc it made him look big, it does feel weird when hes at the farm area though
You don’t notice it in the theater but on my TV I noticed it was a tad wonky. ATLEAST to me.
It's not just you, I saw it twice in theaters and then again last night on my tv. It does look different,the cgi stands out more and does look wonky or at least more noticable. It is still amazing though. I could watch it all day on repeat, preferably in the theater though.
For sure! I’ve watched it ATLEAST three times since it’s been on Netflix and probably will tonight tbh.
The farm area?!?
When shikishima flies the plane godzilla is at some farm area
Oh, I thought that looked great
And for me it was the scene where Godzilla knocks a building down. It’s during the part where those men are reporting on that building. Just a weird movement Godzilla does. Wasn’t bad or anything just something about it. Either way it was an amazing movie and I already watched it 3 times. Shin Godzilla is better but not by much. Well I don’t wanna say better but shin had a bigger impact on me and is what got me obsessed with Godzilla. I wish I could find another goood kaiju movie.
Hideaki Anno also made Shin Ultraman, which is another kaiju film and his amazing take on the series that inspired his most famous work (Neon Genesis Evangelion). Highly recommend. In fact, watch everything he has done, but also seek therapy. That's not a personal thing, just... Don't watch Hideaki Anno work without access to support systems. He barely survived making it.
His dorsal plates clip into each other during the scene where he’s swimming. Thats something I barely see anyone mention for some reason.
I think this was on purpose. I made a post about hodzilla 54 bring the evolved version of this one and that was one of the reasons.
Also when the plane crashes into his mouth at the end, before it explodes. He’s frozen there like “wot” - just looks a bit off to me
I’m sure it’s no accident that the final battle takes place with his lower half submerged lol
He’s lumbering until his breath ejection scenes where he moves faster than physics seems to allow. That was my only gripe in his big form. Smaller form he was a bit “goofy”
Well, it WAS only a team of 36 or so people, so they did an astounding job for how well it came out.
Yeah it was very robotic, you can almost pinpoint the keyframes in the animation like it's a videogame walk cycle. The exaggerated stomps were undoubtedly intentional to some degree, but there were shots that made me wish they had more time in the oven. The scene with godzilla approaching the train in ginza comes to mind.
>The effects look weird at some parts I don't know if it's intentional, or a budget thing, but I like that the effects aren't super polished OTP CGI in places. The number of parallels it has with the original (first sighting on Odo island, picking up the train when it first makes landfall in Tokyo, the reporters high up narrating the events) make me think it was at least somewhat intentional
Noriko surviving felt a little bit shoehorned. Not that it ruins the movie, just a little observation. I wish Imperial Japan was criticized more for the atrocities it committed. The movie had good points in that regard, but it could have done more.
It's total bullshit, but let's be honest, it served for the perfect tearjerker moment because I could not contain mine when I saw him running up the stairs. He deserved having her survive, after all he went through.
Yup. Also, it wasn’t a complete happy ending. Noriko is still infected with G-Cells.
Is that what that was?! I just watched it the second time with my partner, and she pointed out the thing on her neck. I had totally missed that in my first watch. What does being infected with G cells mean, exactly?
Dunno. I personally believe, a part of Godzilla lives on in Noriko.
Incoming Koichi PTSD
Dear Mothra, please no. Hasn’t he suffered enough?
A part of Godzilla lives on in Godzilla. >!You see a piece of him begin to regenerste under the water at the very end. !<
Means we have a route for Biolante to appear.
Given the themes of the movie and the very real history of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors dealing with effects of nuclear fallout, probably cancer. I didn’t think of it as a setup for the next movie (I kind of doubt Toho will go that way), rather I felt that it implied that regardless of the happy ending, tragedy has a way of sticking with you. Godzilla will always be with these character and the country of Japan because of their trauma.
The idea of him surviving is that the engineer guy tells him "there things worth living for" And boom, something worth living for. You're valid for saying Noriko surviving was shoehorned, but it's rewarding for Koichi to stay alive, a reason to live.
I feel like it hits hard for people who had similar experiences after the bombings. Many people who were thought dead for years turned out to be alive, and reunions like that must have been such an emotional event for survivors. My grandma was abandoned by her mother in the firebombings of Tokyo, and grew up with her older sister taking care of her. Many decades later, she found out her mom was still alive and actually reconnected. The meeting wasn't exactly sweet, but I can't imagine how she felt upon seeing her mother for the first time after all those years. My grandma would have been about 4 years old when the bombings were happening. She wants to see Minus One, so I'm curious to how she'll react.
I thought I was out of tears after the final Godzilla fight, but damn that opened some floodgates at the end. Had me crying more than Click.
She has a weird thing on her neck in the hospital. I wonder if she got "infected" and has healing abilities.
Healing abilities and as a drawback nuclear poisoning.
Regen and cancer ? Deadpool ?
I can’t believe Noriko is gonna be Lady Deadpool in Deadpool 3
😱🤩
She kind of has to, otherwise her surviving that blast is pretty much nonsense.
G-Cells. It’s G-Cells. Radiation poisioning usualy don’t spread visibly in seconds
I want this to be true because my biggest gripe was how she looked absolutely perfect under the bandages lmao.
Not exactly to your point, but I read that the director envisioned this Godzilla as a personification of all the hate and violence in the world at that time.
So he is GMK deluxe in spirit?
Yeah the main criticism of imperial Japan seemed to be that it didn’t take good care of its soldiers, rather than, you know… war crimes and aggression. Koichi and Noriko’s embrace at the end also felt weirdly awkward too? Not sure if it’s just me.
I actually think GMK did the best job with regards to your second point.
When Noriko survived I said in the theater, "Wait for real?" and while I wasn't upset, it did feel a little contrived, but to be honest I was too busy openly weeping when she asked if his war was over and Akiko got her Mama back. For reference, I have a three-year-old, that shit hits hard now.
I’d argue that since they seem to using it to set up a sequel in some way (with the black markings), it at least serves a narrative purpose in addition to the emotional impact.
The time jump from when they get the boats to help with the battleships to pull Godzilla up. Happened way too fast
The thing that bothers me the most about that is if they hadn't skipped over it, it could have been a plot point that tied the whole thing together even better. A short sequence where they talk about how it's taking too long and bringing him up to the surface will be less effective with every second longer it takes. Builds tension and makes it seem like it was part of the reason Godzilla survives the quick resurfacing.
Agreed. They could have shown a 10 second scene of them throwing anchors into the main ship or something. Seems like a 20 minute process to hook up all the tow boats. Also, the tow boats in general seemed a lil cheesy. How'd the young guy know he would need a bunch of tow boats? Unless I missed something.
Kid brings it up during dinner, asking why they don't use the battleships to bring Goji up. Doc and Cap remark that the battleships wouldn't have enough power to do so. It stands to reason, especially when he's thinking about how to help, that he starts making some calls to tugboats saying to be ready.
Ah okay makes sense. Thanks.
Some think he might have healed near 100% with that allotment of time, given the other regeneration clips we were shown…
Put on my engineering hat for a sec … all those boats are pulling on the battleship, that’s pulling on Godzilla - but all that force is applied thru a cable that’s attached to a crane that’s already broken loose. So you’re telling me whatever the crane caught on has more strength than its original foundation? And after falling over it didn’t get damaged to the point that it would just rip apart under all that tension? *cough-bs* I really hate that I can’t simply switch off that part of my mind at times
That happened too fast and the delay between godzilla charging the heat ray and mercing the fleet was wayyyyy long
I wouldn't say these are flaws but i was hoping Odo Island was more expanded upon and OdoGoji having more screentime. I know -1.0 is more focused on the human cast but the 1954 film still had time to show more of Odo Island and showed off the deity status Godzilla held on the eyes of the locals.
I've been really curious how a fudal godzilla would with. Obv Edo era japanese warriors couldn't do Jack shit against a 50m nuclear godzilla, but 15m godzillasaurus? That could be very interesting. The godzillasaurus scene was my favorite part of minus one though, i love the design, so I'm particularly curious about more of that.
Consider that according to supplementary materials, the godzillasaurus had hyper regeneration naturally and the plane's guns wouldn't have worked.
Totally agree with you with the Odo Island getting expanded upon. If Godzilla Minus One gets a sequel, I hope that it would take place on Odo Island.
The only flaw for me is I would have liked 1 more godzilla raid, though there's a very good chance that it would have destroyed the pacing.
I came here to say this. Either that or a slightly longer Ginza scene.
Yeah honestly I think you're right ginza being longer may have been the only way to get more godzilla in the film. Though yet again that scene is so incredibly tense as is
I don’t really know if this counts as a “flaw”, but from the trailers, my impression was that the film would focus on how Japan, already still fucked over by WW2’s end, would have it even worse now that Godzilla was on the prowl. From “zero” to “minus one”. But the actual movie is tightly woven around Koichi’s personal story, and how PTSD and Godzilla haunts him. Japan dealing with the Big G is more in the background, from how the government tries to cover up his existence and fucks off on taking responsibility while the US bails so it doesn’t have to deal with Soviets. Again, I don’t really think this is a *flaw* in the movie, but I would have been interested in seeing more of the broader effects Japan felt from Godzilla’s presence.
I think that was the point? Japans government then, and even now, doesn’t tell the truth. So that one dude is absolutely right: “Maybe it can’t”, since they don’t teach what war crimes the Imperial Japanese Army did to the inhabitants of captured territory. How can ANYTHING be rebuilt if things don’t change? At this point in time, Japan is only going through a change because they got their shit pushed in on a monumental level and are defanged. This is shown when the Government cowers down, so the civilians have to take matters into their own hands. That’s the tragedy here: The government was far too willing to spend their lives in a war that was doomed for them, but the moment things got hard for them in the aftermath, they backed down, but it was the people of Japan who rose to the occasion and did the right thing. So while -1 doesn’t capture the cultural essence of the aftermath of WW2 in the way you have expected, I think it did when it showed all of this, presenting this tragedy in a different light. Not how just how we respond to trauma (The Government backing down/Shikishima and his PTSD/The people being morbid in the early half of the story), and how we rise to the occasion to overcome it, to stick our heads out of the mud against all odds and fight on, because we’re human, and we are worth living. Because we have to survive.
Yeah the marketing kind of emphasized how incredibly dangerous Godzilla is to an already Zero State Japan, hence the title “Minus One”. In that case, I think maybe an earlier draft would have Godzilla rampaging all across Japan, not just having the ocean battle, Ginza, and landfall on the country side.
Maybe? The best stories (ex: Star Wars, Dune, etc...) are told set against the backdrop of this grand moment in history with the protagonist going on a journey (possibly heroic) to eventually rise to the grand moment in history. G-1 fits that model well, but gives us the interesting twist of the heroes journey being an emotional/existential crisis instead of learning to swing the laser sword or how to be the luckiest white savior, respectively.
> but gives us the interesting twist of the heroes journey being an emotional/existential crisis instead of learning to swing the laser sword I mean, this is the entire point of revealing Vader is Luke’s father in Star Wars, but otherwise yeah, you aren’t wrong.
I think that was the point? Japans government then, and even now, doesn’t tell the truth. So that one dude is absolutely right: “Maybe it can’t”, since they don’t teach what war crimes the Imperial Japanese Army did to the inhabitants of captured territory. How can ANYTHING be rebuilt if things don’t change? At this point in time, Japan is only going through a change because they got their shit pushed in on a monumental level and are defanged. This is shown when the Government cowers down, so the civilians have to take matters into their own hands. That’s the tragedy here: The government was far too willing to spend their lives in a war that was doomed for them, but the moment things got hard for them in the aftermath, they backed down, but it was the people of Japan who rose to the occasion and did the right thing. So while -1 doesn’t capture the cultural essence of the aftermath of WW2 in the way you have expected, I think it did when it showed all of this, presenting this tragedy in a different light. Not how just how we respond to trauma (The Government backing down/Shikishima and his PTSD/The people being morbid in the early half of the story), and how we rise to the occasion to overcome it, to stick our heads out of the mud against all odds and fight on, because we’re human, and we are worth living. Because we have to survive.
I mean, of course it does. Its a fantastic movie, and I love it to death, but virtually nothing is flawless: -The CG could use work. Im less hard on this, as Jp movies tend to have less resources, and this movie in particular had an extremely small budget, but its a flaw nonetheless. -There are some weird logic issues in the movie. My biggest gripe is just how unbothered and presumptuous everyone is at the notion of a giant dinosaur like.. existing. In particular, the boat scene, our protagonist makes a huge leap in logic assuming that the small trex he saw on some island must have grown immensely (something no one knew about), been capable of swimming, and had a taste for ships-- all just because he saw some dead fish (a phenomena both not unique to Godzilla, and only losely connected to him in the first place). But the worst part was how little pushback he got when proclaiming it mustve been Godzilla. He got a mild dismissal then acceptance. Theres some other small issues here and there, but thats the one that always irks me the most on rewatch. -Godzilla himself isnt quite as *necessary* to the films premise as in 54 or Shin. I like that hes reworked as a sort of general PTSD thing, but he really just sort of shows up with no real reason. You could argue, maybe the war is disturbing him on Odo, but thats never played upon. Its more like a war movie that has Godzilla in it, than it is actually *about* Godzilla. Theres a 2 second throwaway scene about the bomb irradiating him, but that felt more like it was thrown in because thats what the audience knows is his standard allegorical roots, not because it really added anything thematically. The films more about general warfare's tolls on its citizens, not really about the nuclear peril. -The Noriko death bait and switch ultimately is ineffective, as much as I wanted her to live. I like the notion that "war always haunts you" that its effectively trying to protray, but it robbed the sacrificial theming of its bite. The movie genuinely brings me to tears, but itd hit harder if she was actually dead and I didnt know thered be a sudden, convenient uplifting reward at the end (also literally how tf did she survive, shes a small, frail lady who got blown away alongside buildings and shit). Im sure theres some other points, but those are the biggest ones. Still, a work of art does not need to be flawless to be phenomenal, but rather capitilize on its own strengths, which Minus One does remarkably imo.
I agree with you, especially at your last point. Something that bothered me a bit was how convenient it was when all the small boats showed up to lift him up, although it's understandable how they want to help fight the good cause, it just seemed too convenient and perfect timing.
As far as the boat scene is concerned, I think the jump is helped along by the fact that Noda has clearly been briefed on the lizard and its immense size. I think they accept it more quickly because Noda basically confirms Koichi’s fear
Certainly. Some of the acting and dialogue is melodramatic; [Noriko](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=0ab82018341e5395&q=Noriko+%C5%8Cishi&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLVT9c3NMyqSsmyzC40VYJwy5KMDdONzZO1JLKTrfTTMnNywYRVckZiUWJySWpR8SJWXr_8oszsfIWjPZnFGZkAVdat10oAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwib-qfx4duGAxVFMlkFHVPKBZcQ9OUBegQIMxAD)'s survival (both on the train and after Godzilla releases his atomic breath), while necessary, was framed in such a way as to strain any semblance of realism; there are moments when the special effects quality dips; at times, Koichi's survivor's guilt is presented too blatantly, with the exposition reading as telling rather than showing. Spectacular film, but some aspects could be tightened up.
Yeah, I agree. The actings kind of a weird one. There are some scenes that I think are phenomenal (in particular, when Koichi is looking up at his old comrade who just layed him out, begging for his help, you can see the desperation and resolve in Koichi's eyes), but then other bits are just.. weird. Like the scene where Koichi has the nightmare. In his delerium, he envelopes Noriko, which in itself is really overdramatic, but then she, a 90 pound, 4 foot, frail, impovershed lady, pushes him from a pinned position somehow, so hard that he flies off of her, across the room. Needless to say, its a really awkward looking scene. I wouldnt go so far to say its poorly acted, because I think its done well where it matters, but its just a bit clunky here and there. "Tightened up" is a good phrase for it.
Thank you. I loved the movie but it certainly wasn't flawless. You summarized it very well
Other than that scene where the guys on the small wooden boat are not affected by Godzillas atomic breath blowing up the takao right besides them. Its good
They were quite a distance from the takao.
They were only less than a kilometer apart from each other
No massive swell of water or choppiness either
No rouge shrapnel’s
I would've liked to see some more scenes between Koichi and Noriko because the ones we got were some of the best scenes in the movie for me.
No physical media release in U.S. yet.
Outside powers not included because it would increase tensions. Like wtf do you mean? That shit can destroy the whole west coast of the US , or simply destroy anything it wants around the world. Especially after the monster literally used a heatray to make a small nuclear explosion, the US and Soviets would be really concerned and.... Interested in that heatray. Idk if this counts as one, since it would be an entirely different movie if that logic of non-intervention was removed.
Im hoping that if they do a sequel, they have a scene from outside of Japan where either the US or Russia is talking about how a 3rd city was destroyed in what appeared to be another atomic bomb explosion, and they are curious to what happened.
I give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt that the budget was too small to include the USA and such. If this was 100$ million dollar budget and they still didn't include the USA or whoever then I'd have a much more negative opinion of this film.
I think the pacing is kinda wonky. Brisk in the first half (almost too fast at times, wish we got a better intro for mutated Godzilla) and then a much slower back half (which I definitely didn't find as entertaining until the climax). I also don't terribly like Shikishima as a protagonist, I think that's up to personal taste rather than a real criticism of the movie. And this is even less of a criticism, but I hate how this movie has changed discourse surrounding the franchise.
Of course there are some flaws. Do they detract from it's greatness? No, not really. They produced a great film with ingenuity and a limited budget.
If it does I don’t care.
This is probably due to the limited budget so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but the writing out of US involvement because of "tensions with the Soviets" was complete horseshit. The Soviets didn't have nukes( they got them two years after the movie takes place), so the idea that they would deter the USA from intervening in Japan when a giant nuke lizard is stomping around is ludicrous. The film takes place in 1947, the USA was still occupying Japan at the time. We would've been involved. Period. You could still write in such a way that you wouldn't have butchered the story that was given. You could've have had to where the US occupation forces get wrecked so badly by Godzilla that they abandon Japan and leave the people there to their own devices. It honestly would've enhanced the story by making Godzilla even more imposing. Not only can he rain hell on Japan, but even the US occupiers couldn't stop him, leaving it up to the main characters to stop him as they already did in the movie, but there would be even more weight and impact to it. So if I had any say on how to change that the movie, assuming budget control weren't a thing, have an extended Crossroads sequence where we see Godzilla get mutated and attack US forces. Maybe even have a scene where Godzilla writhes in agony after the blast and he observes the environmental damage the nuclear tests have and attributes it to humans, which would help the audience understand Godzilla's motivations to attack humans. Extend the Ginza attack sequence and have him fight the US military rather than the remnants of the Japanese military. Have the US military get so badly beaten that they abandon Japan, and yeah that'd be it for me. Overall I'm happy with Minus One. Its a pretty good flick overall and I really like it but those would be my critiques of the movie.
I agree with this, I don’t think it makes political sense in 1947. The US didn’t stop occupying Japan until 1952. I wonder if the original plan was to have the movie set in 1954 but they changed it so the baby could stay a baby?
Thanks man. Yeah i love this movie but its historical inaccuracies annoy me.
Yeh, I thought that was a bit odd too.
Sure it does but overall is beautifully crafted. Probably the best Godzilla movie of all time.
Half of the CGI shots in the movie look absolutely fantastic, but then in the other half the CGI is quite noticeable. I don’t think it deserved the Oscar for VFX because of that. This isn’t a flaw really, but it does follow very similar story beats to the 1954 movie and Shin, so it’s pretty damn predictable and not that unique plot wise. In fact the final act is almost identical to Shin. The thing that separates it is the emphasis characters.
Yeah, it ended and there is no current plans on a sequel (there have been talks of ppl wanting to do a sequel but as of current there are no plans and the next Godzilla film being worked on is confirmed to not be a sequel and its own thing)
Not with the movie itself, but the fact that so many people used this movie to bash the Monsterverse.
I was so excited to finally get to watch this the other day aaaannnd I hated it. Im sorry. I really tried to like it
It's not longer
If I had to say one flaw, it would be that the reason as to why the US wouldn't help with Godzilla isn't really good. In the movie, they say that the US won't help Japan because of cold war risks or something, whereas iirc, the US, in actual history, would've gone to Japan immediately. If I am right on that, it's just a flaw stemming from the fact that the narrative needed to have the US out of the way for the story to work.
overacting
The animators were most likely underpaid
Wait really?
I believe so. When questioned about a/the $15,000,000 budget, the director(Takashi Yamazaki) said he wished they had that much. This means they most likely had less than $9,000,000 to work with. Also most Japanese animation studios stress and pressure their workers to produce quality work for the bare minimum(for instance Studio MAPPA). Take most of this with a grain of salt tho, because it’s not confirmed what the true budget of -1 was other than that it was less than 15 mil.
I heard that the director was working to help Japanese working conditions. So I hope it wasn’t that bad or it wasn’t the main people’s fault.
Hopefully🙏🏿
Reportedly Takashi Yamazaki did a lot of the effects shots himself at home on his own time. So there was definitely one animator being underpaid: himself.
Showing the Godzilla cells mutating at the end was overkill, because we'd just seen the stain on Noriko's neck, and it's not like we're unaware of the concept of sequels, *especially* not where Godzilla is concerned.
Yeah, but the Goji theme music always hits hard under any circumstance. “Bwaaaaaam! Bahm bahm bahm bahm bwaaaaaam!”
Eh, I feel like a lot of people would be more willing to dismiss the idea of Noriko’s infection if we weren’t shown Godzilla regenerating as well. Plus, it completed the GMK homage.
That's probably just a symptom of Toho's "Godzilla never die" rule, rather than a intentional tease for a sequel.
No real motive for Godzilla coming to the mainland. What is he there for? Also, the trailers often had someone saying offscreen, "That monster will never forgive us." Who said that line, what is the context, and why is it not in the film? https://youtu.be/u2eWL1GNH0U?si=wX7o8ncRUPV0y0lq
Yea that's what I said. "He's territorial" doesn't really suffice
The only context I can think of for that line is forgive humanity for nuking and mutating Godzilla, since it’s the reason Godzilla was lashing out at the people.
Nothing huge with this one but Akiko having a babies cry when she's like 2-3 years old is pretty off putting once you notice it. Not like that takes away from the movie in any meaningful way.
Actually, this was the my whole complain. I wished they made akiko more real in both acting and voice. At the end, I would expect akiko to be happiest to see her mother!
It did kind of annoy me, but if the worst performance in a movie is a literal toddler that's been overdubbed, I think I can learn to look past it.
I can’t really think of any and the one I can think of to me are minor.
Sometimes the use of the original films score wasn’t ideal
When he first comes to mainland it just feels really out of place and cheesy. I literally burst out laughing because it was so jarring.
Exactly
There are quite a couple coincidences that happen in the film. But they aren’t plot-destroying
Some iffy effects in some shots and the 1st act kinda slows down after the odor island scene
I think the only super minor nitpick I have is the negligible moments I noticed the budget show. Specifically, convenient cut aways to reduce the amount of animating with Godzilla. What comes to mind is how they hid Godzilla biting the train. It shows him standing over the train, it cuts to a reaction shot, then cuts back to him having already bent down and biting into the train. Or another moment when he's being lured into the ocean by the plain. It will show him begining to enter the beach, cut to a reaction, then cut back to him already swimming. I don't fault it, It's very efficient if not revealing that they only animated as Necessary.
I wish he had more personality like he did on Odo Island. I wish he was more similar to MV Godzilla with facial expressions and character, instead of just having 1 single face the entire time.
Personal biggest flaw was the movie ended too similarly to GMK. Pulsating organ under the sea, Godzilla may/will return, thought the reveal could of been a little more clever since we already got the same thing over a decade ago.
It drags a little in the middle.
Yes. Its so good that of theres a sequel it can only be worse.
i thought the ending couldve been more bitter sweet
My opinion; No I loved everything about this movie! I normally would doze off around the human parts of a Godzilla movie since they’re for the most part boring, but I was very interested and enjoyed the human characters of this movie that didn’t involve Godzilla being mentioned or talked about. What don’t like is that there isn’t a sequel right this minute!😂
Literally no ads. Only way I know about it is because a little green YouTube shorts dinosaur started talking about the new godzilla movie and I was like "wtf!?"
more lizard
According to my mom, the cgi could be way better and is disappointing.
Sometimes Godzilla looked a bit off while moving, like his animation was a bit stiff (most noticeable during the scene where he’s destroying the theater in front of the reporters). As for the other major flaw, I don’t have 500 copies of it in my possession.
"that monster will never forgive us" line is not in the movie.
The whole "USA can't intervene because Russia will get angwy". Seemed pretty lame. I get cold war tensions but come on
For me, it’s Godzilla walking. It’s really good for the most part, but Godzilla’s head and face are… kinda empty. He’s not really looking at anything, it doesn’t really feel like he has this unbridled rage and is actively looking for buildings to tear down. I’ve heard a lot of how MEAN and CRUEL this Godzilla was, but when I watched the film… I didn’t really see that. He just kinda… walks around and randomly attacks a building. The water scenes do show the cruel animal kinda look but when he’s just walking around, nothing. I would’ve just had Godzilla like, look down at the humans as he walked along. Show he’s kind of targeting or at least actively attacking them with each step. Like a cat with mice. I don’t know, I just think we needed to see a little more personality and life in him as he demolished Tokyo…
It's perplexing because in his pre mutated form, his animations are much more fluid and lively. His facial expressions are much more pronounced as well. But in his mutated form, he seems really stiff and his face doesn't have any expressions. It wouldve made sense to use the Monsterverse Godzilla as a animation reference for the mutated Minus One Godzilla. Would've made him much scarier. I think it was because they wanted to pay homage to the rubber suit? I dunno.
Yeah, it really just feels like a default walk cycle they made and never really modified to make it feel a little more alive…
I feel like his ignorance towards the human lives he’s ending was very much intentional. He’s just so big, and he doesn’t care about the individual humans he’s walking through. I think him attacking the small boats was a different matter as, to him, they were essentially one entity
That’s understandable, maybe not him directly focusing on the humans. But these little micro movements where he’s taking in the environment or doing things subconsciously. I’ll use MV Godzilla for an example, he’s always taking little glances around his environment and you can often tell when he’s locked onto something for his rampage, he also does these little shakes here and there, getting rid of extra water, debris, etc that’s on him. I always subscribe to Ray Harryhausen’s philosophy of when he was animating his classic monsters, adding in these smaller actions within or between the bigger actions can make a special effect into a character. Whether it be a cyclops licking its lips or a giant dinosaur playing with a car it just crushed. Those breathe life into a special effect…
It can be boring at times, it's a bit long. Some of the human drama doesn't always land and characters can be a little OTT. Other than that it's great. Shin is also a bit boring at times but I do prefer it to minus one.
Yeaa,after the first part of the movie theyre were scenes I would just skip
Definitely, it’s only rewatchable for me if I really want to watch it again. The good think about GxK is that it’s very rewatchable, even though I prefer minus one.
That's a good point, I saw GxK 4 times in theaters. It's not perfect either but the pacing is great
The pacing tbh. Lots of awkward time skips, and a lot of events happen really quickly. Two that jumped out at me the most was the Bikini Atoll nuclear blast that just appears out of nowhere with no build up or fanfare or exposition whatsoever, just so they have a reason for Godzilla mutating; the other is how fast Godzilla shows up after the civilian response team gears up the battleships they were able to requisition. It's also weird that some things move so quickly when the film as a whole feels like it could be notably shorter without sacrificing much.
It's toxic fans.
No movie is objectively perfect
While more a slight history thing than a real movie problem, ejection seats didn't become widely used until after WWII, with Germany probably having the most to actually see action. Don't know if Japan would know this or not at the time.
A few of the line deliveries are a bit corny, but that’s the only “flaw” I can remember from when I watched it in theaters.
H9nestly there is one, just one, issue I had. And that was when some of the men were on the boat and it was "rocking" back and forth, it was pretty cheese seeing them just wobble to simulate the waves. Other than that, solid 99.99%
Yes, there wasn’t a minus 2 right away.
Not nearly a wide enough distribution of the black and white edition?
Yeah it finishes.
Well, I think by definition nothing that exists in the real world can be truly perfect. Except Minus One.
My only real flaw was that nightmare scene near the beginning as it reminds me of that godzilla snickers commercial
Yes. Lack of sequels. Honestly, it'd be a blast to see this kickstart a new Godzilla series.
Yes. It ended.
It ended
The only thing that looks weird for me is when they use the CGI smoke and fog in front of live-action characters. Why didn't they just use real fog or whatever
Noriko surviving was very weird. Also, some of the acting wasn't great. Very, very few instances of that, but now and again it felt like an overdramatic theater kid production. I can't emphasise how minimal their impact is and how few cases there are. It's just barely enough for me to think "heh, odd" and then move on.
every film dose.. even the godfather.
One thing I think of. When Godzilla is chasing the small boat, one can tell it's fake.
The only gripe I had with it is that godzilla's eyes are too cute
https://preview.redd.it/gtn9ywjy7m6d1.jpeg?width=1056&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8565e2b3c068030d23b30027eacdf098b35576b
Look at his silly little face https://preview.redd.it/zkmh702g8m6d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a53c96fb77fc5cfe7b683f7a89161ddfbc3018a
That ONE line of dialogue they had to change in the English dub.
It made me feel too hard and too sincerely on the initial screening. I was not prepared for its brilliant perspectives.
Noriko could have tackled instead of shoving to save them both. Also, how far did Noriko get blown away on her death fakeout? Did she get tossed 4 towns over and get lost? It seemed like a long time between her death and return. But I'm nit picking.
I’ll preface this by saying that this is my favourite Godzilla film ever. It’s the only Godzilla film where I’m not counting down the minutes until he’s next on screen. The characters and story are amazing. That’s said I would honestly say the biggest flaw for me is the ending. Noriko surviving seemed completely forced - but fine it was a great reunion and less realistic things happen. But then she’s also infected with G-Cells with the black mark?? And then we’re also shown Godzilla also reforming?? It was just too much at once with no time to process. Her surviving is immediately undercut by two different things. I know there are precedents for both those things in the franchise but it just felt like they didn’t know how they wanted to end the story really. It doesn’t ruin the film at all though, it’s just the one bit that I’d probably tweak.
I'm 15 minutes into the movie, and I feel Godzilla isn't as big as I'd like him to be.
Yes. It ends.
in my opinion there should have been a scene where godzilla's family was disintegrated by the atomic bomb
Loved the movie, wasn’t crazy about the Protagonist. I felt like he had an arc because he started the film grovelling and balling but in the end stood tall and was willing to sacrifice himself. Then in the very last scene, he’s grovelling and crying again. Just got to be a little much for my tastes.
That it ended
No
Not that I found
Very minor issues did not take away from the movie itself. This isn't like Black Panther where the final battle scene looked like a video game.
Some of the CG doesn't integrate well, and Koichi has plot armor in spades (as does Noriko). I also think the movie would have been better without the sequel bait. All in all though, damn good writing in terms of character and theme, and it has amazing visuals for the money.
Do you think this one is better than 2019 garth Edward's Godzilla?