For the audience the mechanic from the island is the obvious choice for dramatic reasons, but Shikishima needed Tachibana specifically because he would be the only one willing to work around the main plan and load the plane with bombs without telling anyone.
Great reaction - this was my first Godzilla movie. My best friend had already seen it and asked me to go watch it with him and I was stunned at how human the movie was and how moving it was : at once a monster movie, but more than; a parable for the recovery the Japanese went through after WWII, confronting one’s survival guilt, and forgiving yourself to allow you to move on. Absolutely incredible. Subscribed 😊
Thanks for the kind words and sub! Wow, you sure picked a great Godzilla movie to start with! Great review, I couldn't put it better myself 🙂 If you liked this one, then I would recommend you check out the original 1954 movie as well. Similar commentary about the war (but closer to the times, obviously) and also very moving.
I have seen every Godzilla movie, and this one is my absolute favourite as well. Not since the 1954 original have the human characters been just as engaging as the monster scenes. I would love to see your reactions to the older Showa and Heisei era films. I know there are a lot of films, but there's a lot to love, if you dont mind a few cheesier entries. It is criminal that you have so few subscribers! Here's one more for you, at least! Keep it up, man! I found your reaction engaging and insightful. Your personality comes across as very genuine. Very well done!
That's awesome to hear how highly you think of this one! Totally agree, this one certainly captures the same feeling as the 1954 one. I definitely don't mind cheesy haha, so I might have to check out those films. Wow, that is so nice of you to say! That truly means a lot to me, thank you! I'm hoping the channel continues to grow and I'm happy to have you along for the ride 🙂
So glad this film is getting a broader audience. Saw it twice in Tokyo and once again in the US. Seeing it at Toho Cinemas in Shinjuku was like a childhood dream come true.
Woah, no way!! That is such a cool experience getting to watch it at Toho Cinemas! I remember there being a lot of buzz about this movie when it came out but I just never got around to seeing it in theaters. I'm hoping that a special screening pops up soon so I can experience this on the big screen 🙂
@@MattMurrellReacts They extended the release here in the US and added theaters but it was still relatively limited. I actually hounded my local theater to get it.
Thank you! I didn't notice that at all, great catch! I just looked it up and the director said it's Godzilla Cells that left a lasting mark. Very cool! Should make for an interesting sequel 🙂
This isn't a "great Godzilla movie". This is a great movie that happens to have Godzilla in it. Take these characters and their story and replace Godzilla with a natural disaster and it would still have been a great movie!
I love the human element of the film as the trauma and tragedies of the people involved revolve around war. A World War, a personal war, and war against a force of nature. They did an amazing job of bringing the focus to the human side in a compelling way that pulls the heartstrings and not hyping it up just by showing Godzilla lay waste to the landscape.
17:55 where the newsmen are reporting on Godzilla's rampage thru the city is a call back to the 1954 movie where newsmen are filming and reporting on "G"--so much so that the camera flashes attract him to the tower which gets destroyed. The last thing the reporter says as Godzilla starts to bite the tower's metal: this looks like the end for us-Goodbye! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7o3c2mslO-o.html
Um no anybody who survives such a tragedy are not the lucky ones. Those are the ones who died. The survivors are now trapped in a reality of suffering. Who the hell wants that?
I see your point. Just to clarify, I was saying that within the context of the movie where the characters are able to redeem themselves, find hope, and fight for a better future. I understand that's not always the case in real life and I would never want to generalize anybody's experience
Amazing that Godzilla Minus One (2023) was made for under $12 million - just 1/13 of the budget of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024). Godzilla Minus One won 8 Japanese Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and 1 US Academy Award (for Best Visual Effects). The American Monsterverse Godzilla is like a juicy hamburger while the recent Japanese Toho Godzilla is like a gourmet steak - both are “delicious” depending on your mood.
Such a small channel with such quality videos. I can see how much effort you put into this and I can smell thousands of subscribers coming to your channel soon...
Thank you so much for the kind words! I really appreciate that the effort hasn't gone unnoticed! I've admittedly been pretty inconsistent with uploading, but I have a new routine where 1-2 videos per week should be very doable so hopefully the channel growth will come soon 🙂
I'm a citizen of Hiroshima Prefecture. I will explain about the atomic bombing. The temperature at 8:15 a.m. on August 15, 1945 was not 30 degrees Celsius, but it instantly reached 3000 degrees due to the dropping of the atomic bomb. The situation at that time has been revealed in a follow-up survey that can be said to be the obsession of Hiroshima City. People within a radius of 1 km from the hypocenter boiled blood in the body instantly due to high temperature, blood vessels ruptured and died instantly. People within 1 kilometer outside it were caught in a building that collapsed by the blast and were stuck and burned to death while living due to the fire. In addition, in the outer 1-kilometer circle, people suffered for three days and three nights because they were exposed to the radioactive rain that fell immediately after the atomic bomb. About 90,000 citizens died at this moment. In addition, American prisoners of war who were imprisoned in Hiroshima City also followed the same fate.
Having Oppenheimer winning the Oscar for best picture kinda ticks me off. I understand that Oppenheimer was trying to save a lot of people, however, the fact that they made something so awful has always angered me
The fish that come up when godzilla is near swim from deep water. They swim up too fast and they get the bends just like humans. Their swim bladder inflates and pushes their stomachs out of their mouths. That's why they look like that. This Godzilla film only rivals the first and the 1984 film (japanese versions), for suspense and evil Godzilla.
The 20mm gun likely would have killed pre-atomic Godzilla, particularly a head shot. As such it's another layer of guilt Koichi carries and helps push him to sacrifice himself as redemption. There are so many nods to Gojira, Godzilla Raids Again, King Kong vs Godzilla, and GMK in particular. And of course Jaws. There is a surprising amount of historical accuracy also. Examples include Tokyo being destroyed by the March 1945 air raids (which killed more people than the atomic bombs the US dropped), and the ships used at the end, which were real decomissioned ships at that time. The Shinden fighter was a real prototype but never saw combat as the war ended right after its first test flight. As mentioned, even the Shinden didn't have an ejection seat, but it would have been possible for Tachibana to install one that had been obtained from German surplus and transported back to Japan. The one shown even has the German labeling on it, Incredible detail for any more, let alone a Godzilla movie. The budget equates to about $10 million US. Hollywood films spend more than that on craft services. The writer/director was also the visual effects supervisor, and the team comprised only 35 people. It only one an Oscar for visual effects, but won many other awards including the Japanese Academy Award for Best Picture, plus it received many other nominations.
Hey B.L., thanks for the awesome info! I didn't realize that he actually could have killed Godzilla in that opening scene - that adds to his arc, for sure. Love the historical accuracies and I didn't even notice the German labeling. Crazy good attention to detail! Wait, they made this for $10 MILLION?! Absolutely insane! I thought it might've been low budget going into it but while watching the movie I thought it had to be at least $100 million. I want that team to work on most American franchises!
@@MikeS-ur2ql Ya, that makes the assumption that its healing factor power came from the atomic bomb. I think it seems more likely the healing factor was a power Godzilla already had and that's the reason it survived the atomic blast.
@@MikeS-ur2ql We're not talking about science but rather science fiction. The nuclear blast probably killed Godzilla, but the mutated cells regenerated, essentially creating a new Godzilla. That also serves as a clue to Noriko's survival. She certainly didn't have a pre-existing healing factor. It's also possible he had a milder form of the healing factor, but only enough to stop the aging process and accelerate basic healing, hence is continued existence into modern times. Like other immortal characters, that wouldn't prevent him from being killed due to severe trauma, and a 20mm cannon would definitely cause severe trauma.
Godzilla hated humanity so much he was willing to risk melting down to keep fighting To quote a ww2 vet when asked why he was friends with the Japanese man who tortured him during the war "sometime the hating...has to stop" Godzilla didn't. And he killed himself bassicly over it. It was soft confirmed Godzilla would have melted himself had he gotten the shot off but he was too angry to care.
I have a “soft spot” for campy reruns of Godzilla movies made in the 1960s and 1970s. As of May 2024, there were 38 Godzilla movies made. Once the US lifted the “gag order” on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan made Godzilla (1954). Godzilla Minus One (2023) dealt with post-WWII “survivor guilt” with a compelling human story. Shin Godzilla (2016) highlighted the bureaucratic failures in dealing with the triple disasters (earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor meltdown) in 2011.
I get what you're saying but personally I don't mind either! Finding the woman is definitely not realistic but it works narratively so I'm okay with that. And even though you know about the ejection seat, you still don't know if he's going to use it so there's some tension there
I wasn't expecting Noriko to have survived. If the impact of hitting the ground after that shockwave from the Atomic Breath didn't kill her, the radiation surely would have. It was a very pleasant surprise that she was still alive, don't get me wrong.
@@MattMurrellReacts I've seen people speculate that this will lead Noriko to rather unwillingly become Biollante, a female plant/human/GCell hybrid Kaiju....I don't know how much traction that theory has....
Haven't seen them but I think the theme being about climate change is probably the American ones, Shin godzilla was fairly obvious it was about the 3.11 earthquake, and before that was 2004.
Your reaction and review were fantastic, but I was a bit disappointed that you didn't shed a single tear. Because I found myself tearing up a few times.
Depends on what you're in the mood for. Shin Godzilla is basically the West Wing meets Godzilla without the quips(in layman's terms). Politically conscientious and commentary on the slow reaction of bureaucracy. GMinus1 is a family drama that is just more... human. It's a simple story everyone can relate to in some way, regardless of the difference in decades, nationality, race, etc. Struggling to feed a child, unsure spousal dynamic, insecurities and personal shame... That said, Shin beats out Minus One for a few points of personal preference. I enjoy political drama. Both great films.
Shin Godzilla is a movie that criticized the government of Japan that governed how the government of Japan responded to the existence of Godzilla. It seems that it was not popular from the country other than Japan. I’mJapanese