Monday, February 29, 2016

THE SAGA OF THE KING OF THE MONSTERS ~ PART 13: GODZILLA VS MEGALON (1973)


Of all the Godzilla films in the franchise none of them incite controversy among fans quite like Godzilla's Revenge and GODZILLA VS MEGALON, that controversy being which film is the worst in the series. By the 13th film in any series you'd expect certain aspects to suffer like budgetary limitations or core concept fatigue. Godzilla Vs Megalon suffers from a variety problems and some film scholars credit the low quality of this film with painting many western impressions of the Godzilla franchise in general.

Godzilla Vs Megalon somehow ended up in public domain for many years. Because of this countless VHS editions were released and Megalon was one of the most widely shown Godzilla films on television. Due to such a widespread distribution many viewers' only encounter with the Godzilla franchise is Godzilla Vs Megalon. It's like being introduced to the world of candy with black licorice or your first bite of meat being liver and unions. There are people out there who like black licorice and liver and unions but they are few and far between.

Imagine if your only exposure to the Star Wars series was The Phantom Menace? What if the only Indiana Jones film you'd seen was The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Superman IV? Moonraker? Friday the 13th Part V? Batman & Robin? While these aren't necessarily bad films and they have their share of fans, they don't exactly embody the aspects of what made these franchises the legends they are today. This is the kind of disservice to the Godzilla series many experienced through Godzilla Vs Megalon.

THE PLOT

An underwater nuclear bomb test ravages much of the hidden subterranean kingdom of Seatopia, an ancient and advanced civilization existing beneath the ocean depths. The devastation is so vast that Seatopia is forced to go to war with the surface world lest another such bomb test wipe them out completely. The Seatopians unleash their cyborg insectoid deity Megalon on mainland Japan. It's up to Japanese robotics engineer Goro and his creation, robot super hero Jet Jaguar, to get word to Godzilla and bring him to Japan to save the day!

THE GOOD

Megalon's design. Despite this film's bad reputation there is still a lot of good to be found in it. The monster design for Megalon is interesting and unique not just to Toho's stable but even to all the other Japanese studios too (and that's saying something for a kaiju created so late in the game). His design is indicative of the wild 70's aesthetics brought to many of the new kaiju from that decade. He seems to have a robotic mechanism too in his drill-like hands, another power tool similarity like the kaiju Gigan's buzz saw chest. It's only appropriate that Gigan join Megalon in this film.

The Seatopians. As opposed to the tired concept of outer space alien invaders that were populating the Gamera series, the kaiju tv shows, and even many Godzilla entries, the source of the threat to Earth this time around comes from deep below the earth's crust. The ancient civilization of Seatopia, a country that existed at the same time as Mu and Lemuria, rises up to attack the surface world. This is similar to the plot of the Toho tokusatsu film ATRAGON but was the first time such a concept was introduced to the Godzilla series.

Mu and Lemuria are mentioned at the beginning of the film and it is revealed in the film that the ancient Moai of Easter Island were the remnants of Seatopian culture. And there is even a connection between Seatopia and Space Hunter Nebula M. All of these ideas and concepts are great food for thought and very interesting. There is also great potential left untapped if Toho should ever decide to return to these ideas. Similar concepts were even used for Gamera's origins during the Heisei series.

THE BAD

Stock Footage Galore. This film and Godzilla's Revenge are the two most notorious films in the series utilizing stock footage. The movie opens with a few seconds of a shot of a map and then launches into stock footage from Destroy All Monsters. There's a few seconds of new footage featuring Godzilla and Anguirus which is great albeit fleeting, but the stock footage comes back in full force later as Megalon begins wreaking havoc. Much of Ghidorah's old exploits are reused. Then in the final fight, many of the scenes with Gigan are borrowed from the previous film, Godzilla Vs Gigan. It's a shame but sadly a result of the low budgets these films had at the time.

Jet Jaguar's film. Not Godzilla's. Godzilla doesn't appear in the same shot as Megalon until an hour and five minutes into the film, only fifteen minutes remaining in the movie. Before that we get a brief shot of him on monster island and then a lot of shots of his head moving through the water. That's it. Jet Jaguar has more screen time than the king of the monsters and he even gets his own theme song at the end of the film. I like Ultra-Man and similar Japanese characters. What I don't like are other characters stealing Godzilla's thunder. Jet Jaguar comes across as a shameless attempt to mimic the Ultra-Man television craze and hopefully generate a spin-off. Jet Jaguar is cool in his own right but not when he hogs Godzilla's spotlight. Might as well be an episode of Zone Fighter with Godzilla as the guest star.

THE VERDICT

Maybe it isn't the worst film in the series or maybe it is, but it does represent an unfortunate result of the decline in the Japanese movie industry of the 1970's. It's not all bad though. Megalon is a cool design and it's great to see Gigan make another appearance. The terrifying monster approach from the earlier films in the series is replaced with a super-hero wrestling tag-team style much like what was being seen on television at the time. Even with the interesting concepts of Seatopia and the remnants of Easter Island, stock footage ultimately brings this film down. As a child I loved this movie but sadly as I grew older this film lost much of its appeal. This is a Godzilla movie that doesn't function very well unless you're a kid of five or six years old.

Overall Ranking: 4 out of 10
Category: Adolescents


Missed a chapter in the saga? Get caught up as we continue the countdown to number one!

 Part 14: Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla (1974)
Posted by at No comments:

KAIJUOLOGY: GANIMES


Subject: Ganimes a.k.a. Ganime

Documentation: Space Amoeba a.k.a. Yog ~ The Monster From Space (1970)

History: Ganimes is a breed of Gigas-Daldorfia Horrida from the Parthenopidae-Colossa family. The creature was discovered in 1970 by Japanese biologist Dr. Kyoichi Miya while on an expedition of the Selgio Atoll. Ganime was the second kaiju discovered upon the island along with the giant cuttlefish Gezora and the gargantuan chelonian Kamoebas being the other kaiju.

Selgio Island is located in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the Marianas Islands. Selgio was long inhabited by a small population of natives, roughly 80 individuals, and was occupied by the 105th Army Corps of the Japanese military in World War II where the islanders were taught to speak Japanese. After the war the occupation of Selgio ended and the island remained relatively undisturbed until 1969 when associates of the Japanese company Asia Development arrived to survey the island for a proposed hotel resort construction.

During the occupation of Selgio strange reports on the island were filed regarding certain wildlife existing on the atoll as well the islanders beliefs in ancient wild gods, Gezora being the greatest of these primal deities. These reports were originally sealed away by the Japanese government, but after the "Rise of the Kaiju" beginning in 1954, many similar reports began to resurface in the 1960's. In 1967 biologist Kyoichi Miya discovered the reports on Selgio Island.

Through further research he gathered from other documents, Dr. Miya hypothesized that Selgio could sustain higher predators such as the beasts described in the War reports. Without sufficient backing to mount an expedition from any of the Japanese scientific institutes Dr. Miya was hired by the Asia Development Company to travel to the island and assess any potential environmental risks to the construction of an island resort.

First Dr. Miya encountered the great Gezora. Next Ganime came ashore and began traveling inland. Ganime, according to the doctor's reports was as large as Gezora, towering nearly 50 meters tall. The beast scuttled along the ground by use of its eight legs, not unlike the common crab of which Ganime is related. Attracted by the horrified screams of the natives, the kaiju continued inland displaying incredible destructive power and tremendous strength of its pincers.

One of the Japanese men accompanying Dr. Miya, a photographer named Kudo, bravely shot out the eyes of the monster and then lured Ganime over the edge of a cliff where dozens of gasoline cans and explosives awaited below. Ganime was blown apart by the resulting explosion.
Art by Yasushi Torisawa

A second Ganimes appeared days later, again advancing inland towards the surviving natives. While moving closer to Selgio's active volcano in the center of the island, this other Ganimes encountered yet a different monster, a colossal chelonian known as Kamoebas. Sonic frequencies emitted by the cries of bats native to the caves on Selgio drove the two kaiju into a frenzy in which Ganimes and Kamoebas battled up the side of the volcano. Their struggle took the two creatures up to the rim and both beasts seemingly perished over the side into the volcanic depths.

Dr. Miya's report mentions several bizarre occurrences which resulted in the existence of these mammoth creatures. The most outlandish claim is that the kaiju of Selgio, including Ganimes, were ballooned to their monstrous sizes by an extraterrestrial amoeba he referred to as "Yog," an apparent astro-quasar. This Yog creature was susceptible to sonic frequencies, such as those emitted by bats, and thus the alien amoeba was defeated. This claim, which Dr. Miya and those who accompanied him insist is true, appears to be invalidated by the resurfacing of yet more Kamoebas and Ganimes on the island.

See articles on Kamoebas and Gezora for further information on the kaiju and events that occurred on Selgio Island.
The Rubble Crab

Review: Ganimes is one of the three kaiju introduced in the classic Toho science fiction film SPACE AMOEBA. Ganime or Ganimes was based on the Rubble Crab, common in the ocean area between the Izu Island chain to Hawaii, the Indian Ocean, South Pacific, and the African coastline. The Rubble Crab lives in rocks and coral reefs where it blends in with its surroundings, a master of camouflage. Looking at the Rubble Crab and being in a kaiju mindset it is an obvious choice for transforming into a giant monster. Besides, giant crabs are cool. Ray Harryhausen thought so.

Ebirah from Godzilla Final Wars on the left compared to Ganimes on the right.
Ganimes is interesting in that it is very similar to another kaiju, the enormous EBIRAH, the titanic lobster from Ebirah ~ Horror of the Deep also known as Godzilla Vs the Sea Monster. Between the two of them I feel Ebirah was more successfully realized and far more convincing. Even so, Ganimes is a pretty cool and interesting design. Interestingly the redesign for Ebirah in Godzilla: Final Wars reminds me more of Ganimes in certain ways than Ebirah.
The evil earth kaiju with Ganimes in the far back left between Gabara and Gezora. Art by Yasushi Torisawa

The fact that the kaiju has only ever appeared in one film adds to the novelty of watching Space Amoeba. Of the three kaiju in Space Amoeba I prefer Gezora and Kamoebas over Ganimes, but Ganimes is still a wonderful kaiju.  It's also curious that certain art depictions place Ganimes as an evil earth kaiju along with Gezora and Megalon but yet Kamoebas is placed on the side of earth's monster defenders. These good and evil distinctions must be due to how turtles are viewed in Japanese mythology.

Anyway, for a rarely seen and underused kaiju, Ganimes is far from the worst of Toho's stable and one that, if revisited, could have great potential.

Threat Level: 5 out of 10
Localized Destruction
For more studies in Kaijuology check out the pages below

Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, February 27, 2016

SILVER TONGUED SILVER SCREEN: THE FOREST (2016)


The horror film output for the last two years has seemed a little lack luster in my opinion. Or at the very least lacking in potency compared to 2013. I mean we had MAMA, EVIL DEAD, THE CONJURING, INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 2, THE PURGE, WORLD WAR Z, HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS, and the list seriously goes on.

Sure not all of these were great but I damn near liked them all and the ones that were good... were really good. The following two years have seemed kind of empty as far as quality horror films are concerned. There have been a few good ones here and there but nothing like the quality nor the output of 2013. I guess 13 really is a lucky number.

Most new years in cinema begin with an outpouring of at least one or two horror films in January and February. One of the fresh films for 2016 was the horror film THE FOREST starring Natalie Dormer of GAME OF THRONES and TUDORS fame. When I saw previews for this film last year I was immediately on-board due to the setting in which the movie takes place: Aokigahara Forest.

THE PLOT

Sara and Jess are twins living at opposite ends of the world. Sara is living in the United States and is about to be married. Jess is an English teacher in Japan. No matter the distance though, they can always sense the other and feel when the other is in need of help. That's exactly what Sara feels when she hopes a plane to Japan seemingly out of nowhere. All Sara knows is that Jess is in trouble and needs her sister. Once in Japan Sara discovers that her sister has gone missing in Aokigahara Forest, the dense woods surrounding the base of Mount Fuji.

What she learns about the forest scares her: People often enter to commit suicide and some say the forest itself helps people on their way to the afterlife. Stay on the path and you'll be fine, mostly. Stray from the path and you're as good as dead. To find Jess, Sara has to leave the path behind and follow her senses. But how is she to know what she's feeling is from Jess or something else in the forest, something telling her it's hopeless, something telling her she's better off dead?

THE GOOD

The Setting

Aokigahara Forest is probably one of the most morbidly fascinating locales in all the world and this film takes full advantage of it. What makes it so intriguing? It's real. I'm not kidding. The real life nick name for Aokigahara is "The Suicide Forest." There are signs along the paths and off the path reading "Turn Back" and "Your Life is Precious" or similar statements encouraging people to reconsider their suicidal plans. That's freaky in and of itself. Every year hundreds of bodies are recovered and countless others are never found. I'm not making this up, I swear. Add into it all the strong Japanese beliefs in spirits and supernatural forces and the horror films write themselves.

The strongest aspect of this film is the wonderful setting that is Aokigahara Forest. They writers don't even have to invent anything to make this place frightening. As we follow the characters through the film we learn about the forest and I couldn't shut my imagination off. I want to learn more about this place. The fact that I was watching a horror film set here made it extremely easy for me to get into the movie. The tone the filmmakers struck was a mix between a traditional Japanese ghost story and a typical stock American horror film.

THE BAD

Cliched

The movie is a little predictable but so are most horror films. It's like watching the latest Nicholas Sparks film, they're the same thing over and over again. They're comfort food and that's exactly what this one is. The "Twin Connection," which is kind of overused, is a good enough plot device to center a movie around but it's nothing epic by any means. This is a small horror film and it doesn't strive to be anything more. The setting however is what gives this film its flavor and intrigue.

THE VERDICT

So if you watched the trailer and your first thoughts were "this is going to be a bad movie" you're not far off. With that, when you see this movie you should know what you're getting into. It's better than a lot of the horror films I've seen these last two years and all the information about Aokigahara is completely worth it. I enjoyed this movie a lot but then I like these kinds of movies. It's like eating chicken wings. You don't make a full meal out of chicken wings (well you shouldn't)  but they are a very tasty appetizer to keep you satisfied until the main course is served.

Overall Ranking: 5 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 0 out of 10 
(It's PG-13 sadly)

Posted by at 1 comment:

Friday, February 26, 2016

COMICS IN REVIEW: DOCTOR STRANGE #1 (2015 SERIES)

Hey, everyone!

Here's an article I wrote for the website COMICONVERSE about the latest volume (Volume 5 maybe? I'm not sure if A FLIGHT OF BONES or THE OATH are considered ongoing volumes or mini series).

Anyway, here it is.



BY JASON AARON
 
 As always please click on the link and comment below. Your support, my fellow readers, is greatly appreciated and I can't thank you all enough. 

The 92' variant cover for Doctor Strange #3 featuring THE MIDNIGHT SONS!
In December Marvel Comics rolled out a series of variant covers with the theme of the early 1990's Marvel Comics. This cover for Doctor Strange #3 is by one of my favorite artists, MARK TEXEIRA, who long illustrated the GHOST RIDER comic from the 1990's. The characters shown are Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) Morbius, Blade, Johnny Blaze, and Strange (Paradox). Together along with a few others these characters were known as the MIDNIGHT SONS and are one of my favorite ensembles in all of comics.

Needless to say, when I saw this image online I knew I had to track it down and add it to my collection! Interestingly, writer Jason Aaron has previously written both Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch. Now he's adding Doctor Strange to his list. Is there a Midnight Sons resurrection on the horizon? I really really hope so!
Posted by at No comments:

5 EVENTS THAT ACTUALLY CHANGED THE MARVEL UNIVERSE

Hey, everyone!

Here's an article I wrote for the website COMICONVERSE in which I examined 5 Marvel Comics story events that effected real LASTING change within the universe!



You're probably thinking of events like CIVIL WAR, SECRET INVASION, and AGE OF ULTRON and those events did change things... but only for a while. Eventually everything returned to normal as if they'd never happened.

In this analysis I take a look at 5 events that changed the Marvel Universe that the effects of these changes have remained until this day. Sometimes these changes are small and sometimes they're huge, happening sometimes in the most unlikely events.

Please click on the link comment. As always I appreciate all your support and look forward to reading what you have to say.
Posted by at No comments:

COMICS IN REVIEW: GUARDIANS OF INFINITY #1

Hey, everyone!

Here's another article I've written for the website ComiConverse!




By DAN ABNETT. 
Perhaps my favorite Marvel scribe of the modern era.


This is a continuation from last year's book GUARDIANS 3000 also by Abnett. The artist for this book, Carlo Barberi is far better than the main artist on Guardians 3000 but in typical Marvel fashion, the company still finds a way to screw over this book. This is my most anticipated comic book from Marvel's new line-up and I doubt it will last the year.

Marvel has cut Abnett's story in half and charged us readers a dollar more while giving the second half of the book to pointless, non-connected "back-up" stories. Sometimes, Marvel, I hate you with a furious passion. I hate you, Marvel, right now for my perceived slights against this book. Anyway, there's the gist of my review. 

Please click on the link and support me by commenting. While I hate Marvel right now I still love you guys, my readers!

Variant 92' Cover by my all-time favorite cosmic comic artist RON LIM! The INFINITY WATCH
This is one of the variant covers Marvel released for issue #1 that I just had to track down for myself! I am a HUGE fan of the Marvel cosmic heroes and of the 1990's era comics. Before they were the Guardians of the Galaxy, Adam Warlock, Drax, Gamora, Moondragon, Thanos, and Pip the Troll were the INFINITY WATCH, each one of them charged with protecting one of the six INFINITY GEMS.
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, February 12, 2016

SILVER TONGUED SILVER SCREEN: CREED (2015)


I'm not sure when I was introduced to the ROCKY franchise but I do know I was quite young. It was ROCKY IV and the film was making its television debut and my parents recorded the broadcast on VHS for me (wow, that dates me a little bit, doesn't it?). From the opening recap of Rocky III with "Eye of the Tiger" playing over it, multiple training montages set to energizing 80's music, and one helluva final fight sequence to the end I was hooked. For a kid of four or five years old Rocky IV was the perfect film in the franchise to be introduced to.

It has taken me quite a while but I have finally seen the new film CREED, the seventh entry in the Rocky franchise and the most critically acclaimed Rocky film since the original. The film has garnered Academy Award recognition too and landing Sylvester Stallone a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Financially the film is performing remarkably at the box office for a film of its kind. Needless to say everyone is heaping all sorts of praise and adulation upon the film. Is all the hoopla well founded? Yes. Yes it is. I loved this movie.

THE PLOT (spoiler alert)

Apollo Creed had an affair before he died in the ring fighting Russian boxer Ivan Drago. An illegitimate child was conceived and born after his death. The bastard child, named Adonis after his father, was shuffled around from group home to group home growing up. The child was prone to fighting and as a result had a troubled childhood until Apollo's widow found him and took him in. Upon seeing him fight with the other boys, there was no doubt in Mary Anne Creed's mind that this was a child of Apollo's.

Now Adonis is a full grown man in his twenties trying to find his place in the world. His heart is telling him he's a fighter, just like the father he never knew. Living in California though, he finds no support and no one willing to train him. He flies to Philadelphia to meet the one man who perhaps knew his father best as a fighter: Rocky Balboa. With a fair amount of persistence Adonis convinces Rocky to agree to train him. Word of Rocky Balboa training the son of Apollo Creed spreads fast and soon Adonis is given a once in a lifetime shot at the title.

THE GOOD

The Legacy. Despite being the seventh film in the franchise this movie acknowledges all the films in the series. Many franchises nowadays have been rebooted or restarted by the seventh film. Here not only do we see this film following directly after the events of the sixth film but also referencing and remarking on all the others. By embracing the films before it rather than ignoring them one feels gratified by having kept up with the series. It's a great feeling as an audience member when a character says one line and a flood of memories follow after it. Sometimes though a story-line in a franchise can become convoluted and hard to follow. After seven films this is unavoidable. Director Ryan Coogler handles it tactfully and respectfully.

The Acting. If there was ever any doubt about Sylvester Stallone's skills as an actor they are put to rest here. Stallone brings an incredible amount of emotion and authenticity to his performance. He had intended Rocky Balboa (the sixth film) to be Rocky's last stand, giving it his all. In Creed he shows new depths to the character and part of the character's life us fans never thought we'd see: his death. Rocky isn't a spring chicken anymore. Adrien died of cancer between films V & VI. Now Rocky has cancer. Relax, he survives. But, as a close friend and I were discussing, if the series continues to an eighth film we may well see a beloved hero and film icon die on screen. Honestly, I don't know if I could handle that.

THE BAD

Obvious Parallels. The film ultimately gives us another "once in a lifetime title shot" for our hero. Apparently it's a "three in a lifetime title shot" being as how this is what the first and sixth films have done. And, for a third time, our hero takes the champ to the distance and loses by split decision. This is the climax of the film. Other than that, the movie is its own. Rocky's character moves down a completely original path and the relationship forged between Rocky and Adonis is unique to what we've seen in the past Rocky films. Despite ending similarly the film feels like it's paying homage rather than being uninspired and feeling like bad writing. Ending the same way doesn't feel disappointing at all. So I guess this wasn't that bad at all.

THE VERDICT

After six films the seventh movie manages to feel fresh and revitalizing. Everyone making this film must've tried hard, giving it their best, and it shows on screen. You feel glad you watched the previous films and even want to go back and watch the others (even Rocky V which I feel is unjustly vilified). This film continues to build upon the story and respects the films that came before it. If the sixth film was made to give Rocky a positive final send off for audiences, Creed is that film for Apollo. If anyone felt that what happened to Apollo in Rocky IV left some unresolved issues and wasn't the appropriate send off for the character, this film strives to resolve those problems and succeeds.

Interesting to note, in 2015 both the Rocky franchise and the Star Wars franchise received their seventh installments. Also there has been at least one Rocky film and one Star Wars film released in every decade since the 1970's. Star Wars is definitely the box office champion of the two franchises, every film having grossed over $300 million domestically save Empire Strikes Back (which if it were adjusted for inflation would be well over $300 million). But which franchise has maintained it's integrity and faithfulness to both the fans and the story? I'll leave you to ponder that question.

Overall Ranking: 8 out of 10
Great! Everyone needs to experience this! The new standard.


Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)