Current Events > Watching Godzilla, I'm starting to understand comic book apologists.

(+) Yeah! (+)

There's a series from my childhood that I love. Many of its moments would make me wince if I were to watch them with company, but I love the series in spite of its flaws. If I could update the series for a new audience, I'd want to share with them not only the love I bear for the series but also the respect which I bear it.

I've long felt that if I had an opportunity to write and direct a Godzilla movie, I'd aim for a realistic and somber tone -- like as if the movie were directed by John Carpenter, Ridley Scott, or James Cameron. I'd want it to be about the human characters, and how they react to the walking natural disaster(s), with a central protagonist on the same wavelength as Alien's Ripley or The Thing's MacCready.

And if my artistic version could be brought to life, there'd be that one guy in the audience saying, "Remember when Godzilla did a dropkick? That was fun. He should do that again."

It's the same thing which fans of serious interpretations of characters like Batman and Superman go through. They not only want their characters to entertain, they want them to be respected. And as fans themselves, they want validation that what they enjoy has artistic merit beyond being simple popcorn entertainment.

I mean, isn't the 2014 Godzilla kind of this?
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Skye Reynolds posted...

I've long felt that if I had an opportunity to write and direct a Godzilla movie, I'd aim for a realistic and somber tone -- like as if the movie were directed by John Carpenter, Ridley Scott, or James Cameron. I'd want it to be about the human characters, and how they react to the walking natural disaster(s), with a central protagonist on the same wavelength as Alien's Ripley or The Thing's MacCready.

So the original Godzilla from 1954 then?

archedsoul posted...

I mean, isn't the 2014 Godzilla kind of this?

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archedsoul posted...

I mean, isn't the 2014 Godzilla kind of this?

It tried to be.

The movie wanted to be Jaws, but that mostly amounted to naming the protagonist Brody and keeping the monster off-screen as much as possible. I enjoyed the movie, but it could've been a lot better.

p-m posted...

So the original Godzilla from 1954 then?

I don't know if the spirit of that film can ever truly be recaptured. It was produced in the country that experienced the h-bomb firsthand and nine years after the bombings had transpired. I don't know if you could put modern audiences in that time and place. But if so, that would be the way to do it.