Continuity of the Showa Series: Part II

I’m continuing on with examining the continuity of the Showa series. At the end of King Kong vs Godzilla we find Godzilla going back to the ocean, although we never do see him swim away, what we see at the end of the movie Kong and Godzilla fall into the sea as they’re fighting…and we see Kong swim away. In the Japanese version of the movie we do hear Godzilla roar.

Mothra vs Godzilla (aka Godzilla vs the Thing), released in 1964, we see a typhoon that not only washes a giant Mothra egg onto the shore but Godzilla himself is washed ashore. Well, since the last we saw of Godzilla he was in the ocean after his fight with Kong, and if he is washed ashore in the next movie that means they are connected! Right? Sure, again that is plausible, however, for me the fact that this Godzilla is so very different looking than the Godzilla that appeared in King Kong vs Godzilla, it makes it very difficult for me to see them as a sequel to one another.

1964 was a banner year for Godzilla because we received two Godzilla movies! Late in 1964 we got Ghidrah the Three Headed Monster which introduces us to King Ghidorah , Godzilla’s ultimate enemy. Although Godzilla looks practically identical in this film, thanks to a repaired head that was damaged in the previous movie, the tone isn’t as serious and we see Godzilla’s continuing shift towards being the hero instead of the villain. For the first time Godzilla defends the earth against an alien threat.

In 1965 we see a new Godzilla suit and Godzilla fights Ghidorah once again in one of my favorite Showa era films, Invasion of the Astro-Monster (aka Godzilla vs Monster Zero). Now technically you can see this as a sequel to the previous two movies, Nick Adams an Akita Takarada’s characters do recognize Ghodirah, so he familiar, but with Godzilla, along with Rodan, now fighting other monsters and defending the earth Godzilla is very far removed from the serious and dark destroying monster he was in the 1954 Gojira. While this movie is a blast of fun Japanese Science-Fiction, it really works as a standalone movie.

From the 1965 film Invasion of the Astro-Monster to the 1975 film Terror of Mechagodzilla we see Godzilla turn into a superhero type character that defends the earth while each movies gets more child friendly. Although the last two movies, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, and the aforementioned Terror of Mechagodzilla, does pull back from the kiddy friendly type of Godzilla movie, they do not come near the seriousness of the original film.

From 1965 through 1975 we do see movies that are one-off Godzilla films. For example, the 1967 film, Son of Godzilla, has Godzilla training his new born son how to fight off other monsters. Next in 1968, Godzilla would appear as part of an ensemble cast of Monsters in Destroy all Monsters where Godzilla is once again fighting off King Ghodirah and aliens. That movie is actually set in 1999 further messing up continuity. In Godzilla’s Revenge Godzilla doesn’t even exist in their world, he is simply part of the imagination of a little boys mind (although there are arguments that Godzilla does exist in that world either as a real monster or as the fictional character in the movies we have been watching).

Although I have focused on the different looks of Godzilla, the conflicting events and shifting tones of the films, now I want to briefly mention that the actors in these films also make me see these films as standalone movies. Venerable actors such as, Hiroshi Koizumi, Akira Takarada, Kenji Sahara, Akira Kubo, Yoshifumi Tajima, and the vivacious Kumi Mizuno all played very different characters from movie to movie. To me, if Toho wanted to make all these movies one continuous series, they could have had these marvelous actors play the same characters.

Well, I am not going to belabor this point. I think I have been pretty successful in stating my case to why I personally see Godzilla movies in the Showa Era as stand-alone films that are only losely connected to one another. Don’t get me wrong, I love each and every one of these movies, yes, even Godzilla’s Revenge, which is considered the worst Godzilla movie ever made.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailer reaction.

I am certain by now that the majority of Gfans have seen the new trailer for “Godzilla, King of the Monsters” that was released this Saturday at the San Diego Comic-Con. This little blog entry, before I return to the topic of the Continuity of the Showa series, is about my reaction and thoughts about the trailer…and some of the Kaiju designs.

I thought the trailer was amazing, fantastic, stellar, and any other positive adjectives you can think of! Actually, one of my first thoughts after viewing the trailer was how small in scale and scope the first movie now feels. This movie, with the Kaiju lineup of Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and King Ghodirah, has a larger than life and epic feel to it. The first movie, which I do love, just doesn’t have the same grand feel this movie looks to have.

This blog, and corresponding Facebook page, is centered on the designs of these Kaiju so I can’t go without mentioning the designs of two of these Kaiju, namely Godzilla and King Ghodirah.

Let me start with King Ghodirah first.

I have always loved King Ghodirah as an enemy of Godzilla. I haven’t always been crazy about his design though. The way the wings have been situated on him, it always looked like he lacked something, there was something missing. On typical dragons depicted in fiction their wings were appendages that were controlled by some type of arm incorporated into the wings, just like Rodan has for example, or like a bats wings. Without this feature King Ghodirah looked armless and his wings looked like they were slapped onto the back of his body, but not connected or controlled by King Ghodirah himself, if that makes any sense.

I had long hoped this new movie would correct this flaw and looking at the trailer it looks like they did just that! In the brief moment we saw King Ghodirah he looks like he is able to control the movements of his wings as if they are appendages attached to his body. For that I am thrilled!!! Now I am not saying King Ghodirah should have arms along with his wings….but personally I wouldn’t mind a design like tha…I’m simply saying that his wings should be appendages he controls and not some lifeless props on his back.

Here is the type of dragon I am talking about. Notice how the wings are attached like appendages and he himself can flap and control them.

Here is some FAN ART thay depicts the type of Wings I’d like to see King Ghodirah have, or atleast how they should be attached to his body. I repeat this is OLD FAN ART AND NOT CONCPET ART FOR THE MOVIE.

Godzilla.

I really did like the overall design of Godzilla from the 2014 film. It’s a unique American design. I didn’t even mind the feet. With any Godzilla design I’m very interested in the spines/dorsal plates. For myself, the bigger the better! So I was a bit disappointed in the fact that the dorsal plates were not that big. After seeing the promotional picture released by Entertainment Weekly and having it confirmed in the trailer, I am beyond ecstatic to see that my biggest disappointment to this design has been fixed and the dorsal plates are indeed bigger!!

Now I’m excitedly waiting to see if X-Plus will do a 30cm version of Godzilla 2019!

As for Mothra and Rodan, I really enjoyed seeing them in the trailer too and from what I could see of their designs they looked great.

As the movie gets closer, and when a new trailer gets released, I’ll discuss more of the plot and the story as it becomes known. I do have to say Millie Bobby Brown looks great in this movie!!

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is directed and co-written by Michael Dougherty. It is a sequel to Godzilla (2014) and will be the 35th film in the Godzilla franchise, the third film in Legendary’s MonsterVerse, and the third Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. The film stars Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ken Watanabe, and Zhang Ziyi.