Monthly Archives: March 2017
Right on the heels of the failed American-Zilla Toho answered back with…well, the most Traditional Godzilla they could imagine. No computer generated lizard here (though, there are plenty of digital effects). Just a good old man in a suit. Unlike Godzilla 84, this is much lighter fare. Godzilla 2000 follows a young photo-journalist who is forced by her editor to ride along with a father daughter team who run the GPN, or… Read More
So, the day Sony and Disney drop the new Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer (which was met with a pretty positive response) producer Amy Pascal drops the bomb. One of the things that I think is so amazing about this experience is that you don’t have studios deciding to work together to make a film very often. In fact, it may never happen again–after we do the sequel. It appears Sony is hoping to… Read More
Instead of just re-editing existing films, American studios got the rights to produce an actual American Godzilla feature. And so, being an American feature, they thought they should rebuild Godzilla from the ground up. So we get a totally new look for Godzilla. But in the end, we get something that kind of looks like Godzilla, but not really. The film tells us that Godzilla is the result of nuclear irradiated iguana… Read More
This Godzilla film was released with a few different titles. Return of Godzilla, Godzilla 1984, Godzilla and Godzilla 1985 (The American Edit). The American Godzilla 1985 brings back Raymond Burr’s Steve Martin. But if you watch the original version of the film (Godzilla 1984 or Return of Godzilla) you will not deal Burr at all. This review is of the original Japanese version of the film. The 1984 film is notable for… Read More
King Kong Escapes features King Kong fighting a robot version of himself created by an evil organization bent on taking over the world. The leaders of this plot are Madame Piranha (Japanese Version)/Madame X (the American version) and a guy named Dr. Who. While the evil organization perfects Mechakong, an American/Japanese team is hunting for the real Kong, seeking him on Mondo Island. In the Toho Studio world of Kong, he lives… Read More
A direct sequel to 1976’s remake of King King, we discover that that Kong did not die from being shot up and falling from a tall building. He merely went comatose. Linda Hamilton plays a surgeon who was part of a team seeking to save Kong, but they need a blood transfusion before performing a heart transplant and it could only come from another giant ape. Hamilton tells her boss that they… Read More
A sci-fi thriller set aboard the International Space-station, Life is a competent film. The effects are good enough to allow for suspension of disbelief. The cast is quite likeable. The story is uncomplicated. A research team discovers a life form in soil samples from Mars. Eventually, the life form grows and as often happens, it gets free and starts killing people. The scientists must find a way to keep the creature from… Read More
In 1976, we saw the first King Kong Remake. Producer Dino De Laurentiis had this made amid legal hassles over who actually owned the rights to King Kong. The setting is moved to the 1970’s and it is a new batch of characters. Fred Wilson is an oil executive trying to reach the newly discovered Skull Island. He is certain it will be a treasure trove of fossil fuels. Jack Prescott is… Read More
Filmmakers wanted to bring Godzilla to American audiences, and what they thought Godzilla needed was a white guy’s perspective. Godzilla: King of Monsters was not so much a remake as it was a revision of the original film. Adding footage of Raymond Burr, the film becomes a narrated flash black. Opening in the wake of Godzilla’s attack, Burr’s American journalist Steve Martin starts to recount the destruction. The story is basically the… Read More
In 1954 with fears of nuclear annihilation feeding filmmakers hearts, it is no surprise Japan provided the most memorable monster of all. The film begins with a series of mysterious freighter accidents. As attempts to determine the cause turn up no answers, an unseen threat is creeping towards Tokyo. This is, of course, our titular monster. Godzilla makes land and starts to terrorize the locals. A lot is made of what Godzilla… Read More
