31 Days of Halloween (2022)

Fero McPigletron

Feel the fear!
Citizen
Waiting for the Minus One review. Riot if he hates it. Kidding.
 

Caldwin

Eorzean Idiot
Citizen
15 million dollars, Hollywood! Japanese people made this for FIFTEEN HUGGING MILLION. Hollywood averages 100-150 million and all they give us is max CGI, minimum plot. These people had 15 million and Godzilla looked hugging fantastic. The plot drew me in. I loved the characters. I was on the edge of my freaking seat! I hugging cared if these people hugging lived or died. I was speechless when I thought some of these characters died. I let go of a breath I didn't realize I was holding when I found out they were still alive. I hugging leapt out of my hugging seat and yelled when I saw that hugging parachute open.

This movie made me hugging feel something for 15 million dollars, Hollywood. Why can't you do anything close to it with 100-150 million?

I'm also glad I watched the original Gojira before I watched this, because when that music kicked in...holy jive! What a feeling! I have not had a movie make me feel like this in YEARS! Holy hell!

And did I mention they did this for 15 million dollars? Hollywood, take note! Tone down the CGI. Get some hugging plot in your movies. Spend time on making characters we give a damn about.

Holy jive I hugging loved this movie! I have so much hugging adrenaline in my system right now, I could go on forever, but I don't know what else to say. This hugging movie is the best hugging movie I've seen in a long hugging time!
 

Thefakelink

Active member
Citizen
I am not a Godzilla fan by any stretch. I’ve never seen any of them except for the 1998 American production (not proud, I know it doesn’t really count). Reading Caldwins review made me go watch Minus one. I can safely say that Caldwin did NOT oversell it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m going to watch it in B/W next, but honestly I feel like I could watch it repeatedly and not get sick of it. Not that I need another franchise to get into, but which one(s) should I watch next?
 

Caldwin

Eorzean Idiot
Citizen
Is there somewhere to actually get the black and white version? I'll have to check that out.

I really enjoyed the original Japanese version of the 1954 film. But like I said on the last page, be prepared for 1954 special effects. But it's definitely worth the watch as well.
 

Caldwin

Eorzean Idiot
Citizen
I found the Minus One Minus Color version on Amazon. The problem is that I could only find it digitally. That means I'd have to play it on my PS5, which isn't hooked up to my sound system. The whole reason I bought the regular version on Bluray instead of 4K was so I could play it on my PS3, which is hooked up to the sound system.

And as Fnu said, this is one movie that you definitely want going through a good sound system.
 

ZakuConvoy

Well-known member
Citizen
Not that I need another franchise to get into, but which one(s) should I watch next?
I agree with the Original/1954 Gojira. That makes sense to go next.

Shin Godzilla would be my next recommendation. It's very different than the other two. But, I think I can say that this is the last of the "deep" Godzilla movies. The ones that actually are going for a big metaphor during their run time. The Original, Minus One, and Shin are probably the 3 "deepest" Godzilla movies you can find.

After that, there's the fun ones. These are basically just going to be excuses to see cool monsters fight each other. Which has it's own charms.

Godzilla Final Wars is just pure spectacle. Godzilla fighting almost every single kaiju in his entire history. It might mean more once you get a few more movies under your belt. But, I do think this is probably the pinnacle of Godzilla as a popcorn flick.

Godzilla vs Destoroyah has a memorable enough enemy kaiju and ending that I think it's worth checking out. Even if you'd be skipping to the end of the Heisei Era's overarching story. (Which...isn't that much of a "story", really, don't worry about spoilers.)

Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002) and Godzilla Tokyo SOS (2003)-This is the "Kiryu" MechaGodzilla duology.

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991) is just a lot of fun.

Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) is another big fight fest. You could start with the first Legendary Godzilla movie from 2014 if you want. But, I think KOTM is more fun. This would allow you to dip your toes into the "American" branch of recent movies. If you end up liking it, follow it up with the two Godzilla x Kong movies.

And I'm debating on which of the other Showa era movies would be the best to watch. I think I'm going to recommend Godzilla vs Hedorah. The enemy kaiju is memorable, and it's a little different than some of the other movies in that era.

That should give you a little sample of all the major eras of Godzilla. I think those are most of the best ones. Not all of them, but it might give you a idea of which era you want to see more from.
 

Haywire

Collecter of Gobots and Godzilla
Citizen
For Minus One Minus Color, there was a "Japan Editon" region free Blu Ray set that included both, but I think is now sold out. At least one 4K version is supposed to have both.

Godzilla vs Hedorah is a great late-Showa era flick, very experimental. If you can find the AIP dub (Godzilla vs The Smog Monster), a lot of the dialog is slightly different from the international version, and the main theme song is dubbed into an English version that kinda fits.

1964's Godzilla vs The Thing (aka Godzilla vs Mothra) is actually a pretty decent "typical" Showa entry. It leans hard on themes of exploitation, and while Godzilla is still one of the antagonists here, there's a much more noticeable shift from 'menace' to 'creature out of place/too big for its own good' than in the previous films. The English dub also includes a missile attack scene not filmed for the original Japanese version. It doesn't add much more than runtime padding, but the pyrotechnics are pretty neat to see.
 

CoffeeHorse

Exhausted, but still standing.
Staff member
Council of Elders
Citizen
I really don't recommend skipping around too much. The Heisei films may not be deep but they are convoluted. Starting somewhere in the middle or skipping straight to the grand finale is a recipe for confusion.

If you're not going to methodically watch a series from start to finish, 1964's Mothra vs Godzilla (note: searching for Godzilla vs Mothra may get you the Heisei one; again a recipe for confusion) is a great standalone taste and a good enough starting point if you do want to follow the plot from there. It's early enough in Godzilla's arc that you really don't miss much if you start there. It does kinda presume that you've seen 1961's Mothra (aren't shared universes great?) but you won't be lost if you haven't. Just don't be surprised when characters aren't surprised that Mothra exists. The real important thing here is that the movie is actually good. The monster wrestling genre was still taking shape, and this is an early one that still believed it needed to be good and not just cool. But despite its ambition to be good and have plot and all, the humans do an unusually spectaculary good job of stepping aside when you're going to want them to. All Godzilla writers should be required to watch this one before being allowed to write their scripts. It is okay to watch the dub for this one. It's respectful.
 

Videomaster21XX

This is how a unicorn comments
Citizen
Sorry to break up the Godzilla talk.

Halloween stream is over. It's time for the results:

Everyone had to suffer through the Scooby Doo musical. It's a fine movie, just they put the typical low effort into the songs and it shows.
Dear Dracula: It's perfectly inoffensive. If you have a little kid who loves vampires, they'll probably like this.

Transylvania 6-5000 was one of my childhood faves. It also has Geena Davis! Looking forward to hearing your impressions :)
It's a perfectly okay movie with honestly, some funny or at the very least amusing bits. The issue is that it just runs a bit too long it feels. All of us watching it felt it could do with some edits to make it a lot shorter and quicker paced.

Still I don't hate I saw it. I don't drink so I can't say for sure, but this really felt like one of those movies you'd love to get a group of friends around to drink and watch this for a fun time.

Dracula 2000. It's got that early 2000's vibe strong, but in a fun way. Odd bonus, the DVD I got had a bonus disc that has the two sequels on it. I haven't heard the best things about those, but it's still kinda neat to find out I got two more movies for free.

Fright Night. I mostly enjoyed this movie. It's a rather enjoyable 80's vampire horror flick. My only gripe is the scenes with the Evil Vampire and Amy. I didn't need those, and they went on WAAAAAAAAAY too long.

From Dusk Till Dawn. Still a great movie, though everyone watching with me were like: "This movie DOES have vampires right?" XD If you know you know.
 

Badgertron

Active member
Citizen
Sorry to break up the Godzilla talk.

Halloween stream is over. It's time for the results:

Everyone had to suffer through the Scooby Doo musical. It's a fine movie, just they put the typical low effort into the songs and it shows.
Dear Dracula: It's perfectly inoffensive. If you have a little kid who loves vampires, they'll probably like this.


It's a perfectly okay movie with honestly, some funny or at the very least amusing bits. The issue is that it just runs a bit too long it feels. All of us watching it felt it could do with some edits to make it a lot shorter and quicker paced.

Still I don't hate I saw it. I don't drink so I can't say for sure, but this really felt like one of those movies you'd love to get a group of friends around to drink and watch this for a fun time.

Dracula 2000. It's got that early 2000's vibe strong, but in a fun way. Odd bonus, the DVD I got had a bonus disc that has the two sequels on it. I haven't heard the best things about those, but it's still kinda neat to find out I got two more movies for free.

Fright Night. I mostly enjoyed this movie. It's a rather enjoyable 80's vampire horror flick. My only gripe is the scenes with the Evil Vampire and Amy. I didn't need those, and they went on WAAAAAAAAAY too long.

From Dusk Till Dawn. Still a great movie, though everyone watching with me were like: "This movie DOES have vampires right?" XD If you know you know.
I always got the feeling that it needed tightening up too, and it would have benefitted from having Mel Brooks involved. He would have been perfect as the mad scientist (who already felt like he was channeling Mel Brooks anyway).
 


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