Godzilla Minus One | Movie Review 

Scott here. I see that I was wrong about the recordings used for the original theme. They were, in fact, re-orchestrated. I maintain my personal opinion that they didn't match entirely with the tone and aesthetic of this particular film, regardless.

In defense of Tachibana, there's a difference between dying "for your country" and defending your allies against a literal monster

Something people don't realize about WWII Japanese Kamikaze pilots: a) Japan wasn't going to waste veteran pilots on suicide missions. They specifically trained new recruits for the task. b) The majority of kamikaze pilots weren't fanatical volunteers. Instead, they were largely young men from populations considered less patriotic/more educated who may otherwise oppose the war effort and were essentially given the choice to either participate in a suicidal attack or face death/ostracization.

Who'd have thought that the secret to a fantastic Godzilla movie was making the humans actually compelling characters and NOT cardboard cutouts who detract from the plot?

Minus One feels like a legitimately good movie that I could recommend to ANYONE, not just kaiju fans

The shot where mechanic hears Koichi successfully ejected and their plan worked was amazing. The emotion on his face gave me chills.

Whenever Godzilla uses his nuclear breath in this movie. Oh my God, they really sell how terrifyingly devastating it is.

Glad I wasn’t the only one who thought Tachibana rigged the ejection seat with the bomb arming plug. Better this way, it gives agency to Koichi to decide to live or not.

Making me care about the people in a Godzilla movie is damn near impossible, but minus one managed to make me tear up in the theatre with these humans

I find it funny, while Shin had the more grotesque monster, Minus One was way more terrifying. Mainly because while Shin was causing destruction, it was reactionary. Godzilla here was straight-up mallicious, he was KILLING dudes just because he could and holy shit it was brutal.

For anyone confuses about Godzilla's healing factor, it has had it for some time. It was a somewhat significant plot point in Godzilla 2000 and G Cells have been a factor since Heisei era

I would like to make a comment on the healing factor. When you see Godzilla use his atomic breath, you can see parts of him break off and his body just take massive amounts of damage. To me that explains the healing factor, because at least in the Minus One verse, he needs that healing in order to use his greatest ability. Plus, you know, Heisei Godzilla could apparently heal fast enough that in the space between two tank shells hitting him, fired at almost the same time, he was fully healed from the first shot.

Ok so I grew up with the "Godzilla vs" era of movies, and that's what he's always been to me. Big monster that fight other big monster(s). And while I can appreciate what '54, Shin and Minus One do with him effectively making him a horror movie antagonist, the shlocky B movie monster brawl style movies will always be my favorites. Minus one was great, 10/10, but I'm still looking forward to seeing Legendary's eventual take on Destroy All Monsters

I found the happy ending especially effective, handwaivey "How the fuck are you here" aside. Koichi went from the darkest place he's ever been, came out of it actively choosing to go on, and learned he had another reason to keep going that was there all along but he was only able to learn after choosing to live. I've never been in that dark a place, but I've been close enough that that element of the ending resonated hard.

I also love how they kept the original movies nuclear origins by putting in the nuke testing at Bikini Atoll, which the first movie referenced how some IRL Japanese fishermen got radiation poisoning from said tests

I can't be the only one who was just so fucking proud of the kid showing up with that tug fleet.

The movie is basically a war drama, both because it's about the trauma of a man returning from war and living with the loss and guilt that war left him with, and also because they are at war with this incomprehensible force of death and destruction.

Had to drive over an hour to see this in IMAX and i do not regret at all. What an amazing movie experience. LOVED IT!

As a long time fan of the franchise, I can say with certainty that Godzilla Minus One is in the top five, maybe top two.

Just saw the movie and dear god the atomic breath was horrifying. Watching each spike ignite and stick out made me think of the hammer on a gun cocking and being ready to fire. I also have been binging the Godzilla movies this past year and saw the first last week. The way they adapt the lore from the first film is so well done and do a master class or making me feel the dread of when Godzilla is tearing through a city as people would’ve felt in the 50s when Godzilla was first made. Best Godzilla film I’ve ever seen hands down.

The creator of the movie said during the initial press run that Jaws WAS an inspiration for this movie, which you can feel during the boat segments. He also credited Miyazaki's work, which I definitely feel in the found family portions; very Grave of the Fireflies at the start.

I'm surprised at how many people didn't notice the growths creeping up Noriko's neck at the hospital, the implication being that she survived the blast but her prolonged exposure to Godzilla gave her a mutated form of radiation posioning. 50:05

It's funny how you mention that the human characters aren't compelling a lot of the time in the Godzilla movies, because the first Godzilla movie was a human story. Hell it ended with scientists and the government having a weapon that can destroy Godzilla but they're hesitant to use it because the weapon will open up Pandora's Box with other nations hearing about the weapon and making their own. Ultimately they had no choice but to use the weapon, which killed Godzilla, but characters looking on in horror as they've unleashed another monster into the world

Thanks to word of mouth and demand, GM1 expanding to more theaters this weekend. By far, best movie of the year and(imo) one the best films ever made.

17:02 What's weird for me is it didn't feel like it was a 2 hour movie. Nothing felt dragged out or unnecessary.

I do think it’s worth noting, tachibana was likely also dealing with his own survivor’s guilt. If he let koichi die, he’d be the last survivor of odo island.

The mirror of the opening scene with Koichi's plane landing after running away from his mission and the shot-for-shot reversal of him taking off to confront Godzilla actually had me about to jump from excitement in the theater. It's a relatively simple visual communication of Koichi's journey, but also an incredibly effective one. Fantastic.

It showed Noriko with this weird mark on her neck near the end, I interpreted that as her regenerating just like Zilla. She had some strange effect being caught near the blast. That’s how I rationalized her surviving.

Y'all need to check out the Gamera heisei trilogy, legitimately the best Kaiju movies that used suits, the effects are the masters of their craft at their finest, with the modern quality cameras and computers being used to help as needed but not overly, just as perfect as can be

This movie ties with Across the Spiderverse as my favorite movie of the year. Also, Noriiko may have lived, but you see radiation poisoning on her neck, which circles around to survivors of the nuclear bomb dealing with the after effects.

Godzilla's healing factor has been established in other movies(especially in the Heisei & Millennium eras) but I will allow that this is one of the more extreme examples of it.

Honestly might’ve dethroned KotM as my favorite Godzilla movie (which, for all its faults on the human side, definitely excelled at making the fights seem like a true battle of mythical Titans) ever, of all time. My heart was just pounding out of my chest through basically the entire climax, and a good portion of the rest of the film. Outside of a handful of scenes with, like, smoke effects and one scene with the plane, I thought the CGI was outstanding - especially for the budget it was on. The human characters were actually compelling and I honestly nearly cried at several points (and I probably would’ve at that really touching end scene, but some jackass in the theater shouted out some kinda quip along the lines of “How?!” and just ruined the moment). It’s just _SO GOOD_ and I’m glad to finally see a Godzilla movie getting both the critical and popular praise that it deserves. Also, and spoiler warning here, but I really loved how horrifying Godzilla looked at the end where he was suffering from decompression - his skin all boiling and his eyes bugging out of his skull like they were, but he’s still going on just pure rage. I get it’s a minor thing, but I feel like I don’t see enough people talking about it, though there is plenty more to love about the movie besides it so it probably tends to get lost in the background compared to, say, the atomic breath (which was also horrifying and spectacular in one). Just.. honestly one of the best movies both this year and just in general, ranks right up there with Oppenheimer and Spider-verse, though they’re all vastly different kinds of films.

In regards to Godzilla's "healing factor" as Scott and Nick point out around the 34:00 mark, there's actually a ton of established precedent for this. A lot of iterations of Godzilla have had regeneration, and it's often been a major plot point in some of the movies.

I saw ten seconds of that trailer and instantly screamed, WE'RE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER BOAT!

I'm glad you guys like the film. And speaking of dinosaurs; Godzilla was actually inspired BY dinosaurs, Which were the T-rex, iguanodon and the stegosaurus. With a alligator mixed in too.

They did reorchastrate the Godzilla themes, using versions from the original King Kong vs. Godzilla, they just stayed faithful to the original, this doesn't detract from your opinion, I totally understand why you weren't a fan, it does stick out from the rest of the score. But they're amazingly done versions of his theme.

0:17 May I recommend Scott the Heisei Gamera Trilogy because that trilogy is known in the Kaiju community as one of the best trilogy and it's one of my favorite trilogy (but one of my favorite kaiju film is Shin for now I haven't seen Minus One yet)

I turned to my friend during the movie and said “Hold up, what’s a Godzilla movie doing having characters I actually want to see succeed and care wether or not they’re alive by the end”. I said this BEFORE Noriko’s big moment in the city.

i honestly really loved the healing factor, especially with how it shows the raw power of his beam where he has to heal from it afterwards

Unless I'm mistaken I don't think the guy who told the main character he was right to live was tachibana i think it was another mechanic who ended up dying meaning the one person who told him he made the right choice was now dead because of another choice he made. Though only saw the movie once need to rewatch to confirm

Never before have i seen a movie that made me cry, shiver in fear and suspense, then make me cry again. This movie was fantastic.

The budget was actually only about 15 Million with the director indicating it might have even been less than that, so even more impressive what they were able to do with that.

Probably already covered by someone else - the Shinden wasn't built by the Germans, but it was built with German tech. The two did do a few tech exchanges. I do love that the secondary characters in the climax are persistent - you start getting personality traits from some of the non-speaking roles! Also, the mirroring of the plane coming in at the beginning and the wheels opening in the undercarriage shot, with the Shinden taking off and the wheels closing was great!

The Roland Emmerich Godzilla movie has been a guilty pleasure movie for me. I'm not afraid to admit that.

Godzilla Minus One is honestly tied with Shin Gojira for my favorite Godzilla movie. One review I listened to brings up the thought of an Offensive vs Defensive Godzilla. Shin was evolving to protect themself in a new environment while Minus One was claiming new territory

3:52 my cousin was actually into all 3. He loved Space Dinosaurs riding Trucks, and Dinosaur Trucks in Space

Don't feel bad Kaiser. My first Godzilla was ALSO the Broderick one. My very into Godzilla friend who went to this in 4DX last night with me informs me that they hated that one so bad they made a movie just for REAL Godzilla to beat that one up.

Tachibana telling Koichi to live was the manly man tear moment for me. Damn, I really loved this movie. Maybe I'll go see it again this weekend...

mr nada is like, if you took Serizawa's professionalism from the first movie, and Matthew Broddrick's slightly bewildered tone of voice and just centrifuged it together into this very kind weapons developer!

unlike any other Godzilla movie, this movie made me FEEL, made me invested in the characters. one of my favorite moments in the movie was... the tugboats. if you know... The music was phenomenal, and hearing the Godzilla March just sold it for me.

The original theme was perfectly utilized for this, it was essentially communicating to the audience, "hey, this is the REAL Godzilla." The part with the ships and the renewed resolve of those involved synced to the theme picking back up gave me chills. And the film had incredible original music to go along with the classic themes. I'm a pretty big godzilla snob, I grew up with Godzilla, the first film being Godzilla 1985 I saw when I was like 6 years old haha. Ever since then I was obscessed and have seen every film up to this point, and this one is..really damn high up on my list of best Godzilla films.

I am really glad to see you guys reviewing movies. I was worried that when you got to the end of the DBZA commentary, I'd stop getting content. You guys somehow work well with my workflow, I just leave you running in the background when I am doing the dishes etc...

Loved the message of the movie. The beginning part, the movie makes its audience turn on the main character with him not taking the shot and them saying "Man, you are a coward." And then the next scene when they equate that to the woman saying "You're a coward for not kamikaze-ing", it's up to the audience to decide "Well, hang on. He may have been justified in that part". And the whole movie is about whether or not he deserves to want life Was a little worried in the middle when it looked like the movie was saying "No. He needed to go out like a warrior. That's the honorable thing to do", but Dr. Noda's speech assuaged those feelings. Outstanding movie. And it really feeds into my tinfoil hat theory that, ever since Legendary Studio's Godzilla, Japan's been in this mindset where every Godzilla project afterwards has to say "No. Godzilla is not an anti-hero that represents Mother Nature. He is a villain, tantamount to a modern day Lovecraftian Horror created by science, that needs to be beaten by human ingenuity and gumption."

Doc was my favourite character in the whole movie, I wanted to give him a giant hug every time he fucking smiled

I think the music works for me because it’s a theme for Godzilla moments, kinda like the imperial march playing when darth Vader shows up no matter what movie he’s in, it just feels like musical storytelling

A really awesome detail about the musical score during the last confrontation with Godzilla is that it takes the Godzilla theme back to it's roots You have the main intro to the Godzilla theme after he uses the atomic breath on the battle ship. When it then shifts to the faster part of the theme that is actually the music for the Japanese Defense Force during the original Gojira film. Over time however it just became associated with Godzilla himself. So having the theme shift from the main lead into of Godzilla's theme into the JDF theme as our main heroes put their plan into action takes the music back to being the song of Japans protectors as the try to fend of Godzilla. Which is symbolic as the Japanese government was powerless to defend the country and it's people from the bombs. Now the people of Japan let down by their government again will come together to face the very representation of that trauma and destruction

In nearly every other Godzilla movie there's a point where Godzilla shows up and I'm all "Yay! It's Godzilla!" or something bad happens to Godzilla and I think "Oh man, I hope Godzilla's going to be okay!" This is not one of those movies.

I love that we have both ends of the Godzilla spectrum. We got over the top silly with Legendary, and serious character drama with Toho.

Godzilla Minus One was damn near perfect. That ending had me shedding tears.

Kaiser be like "Kaiju... I just think they're neat!"

Was it a happy ending? I could swear that the last scene focuses on Noriko's neck an extra moment, and it looked like she had some kind of black mark, like cancer, on the back of her neck. If I'm right, this adds that last chef's kiss of tragedy to Shikishima's story.

When Godzilla shows off his atomic breath in full, I saw him less as a Kaiju and more as the World's Deadliest Revolver. Not to say that's bad, no it isn't, it's unique for an atomic breath. It's just that I can't unsee the Dorsal plates cocking back like a hammer and then all releasing at once. The movie was spectacular, the Human characters were very compelling and I actually liked them this time around.

In regards to the healing factor, Godzilla has actually had that ability for quite a while, notably in some of the Millennium films. Though the ability admittedly is rather sporadic for how much they decide to give it to him in the films.

I have seen people who say they either weren't a fan of this movie because it was slow/boring or there wasn't enough Godzilla in it. Personally I disagree with both of those sentiments. As someone who's been a long time Godzilla fan the amount they used him was on par with most other movies. And this was one of the most compelling human dramas in a Godzilla movie. This may be the best + favorite movie of the year for me.

I have to say, Zilla was one of the few times in my entire life I've been to a movie with a completely empty theater

A minor detail I appreciated is that the warships they do use are mostly disarmed, better explaining why they go for such a weird approach to take out Godzilla.

Godzilla having a wolverine-ish healing factor is actually a thing that happens in most of the Showa and Heisei movies iirc

I watched the original Gojira movie a couple years back, and there is a scene in the hospital after Godzilla roles through that has the most haunting cries, the dead and dying, including the wail of a small child. When the kid in this movie, heard that her mom was “not coming back for a few days” she had that same wail; and it broke me in half.

I liked how Godzilla actually seemed to be a Predator. He was actively eating and killing humans, instead of the more common ones where killing people is just a side effect of destroying places.

The reason that Shin's eyes are 'Goofy' is because the entire point of Shin is he's a tragic accident that lives in constant agony and is only going on because of its burning drive to keep living.

Loved this Godzilla. The interpretation was wonderful. The characters stories are perfect. Plus, love whenever the people come together to help save the day.

Yay! The Reviews are back! I missed the podcast, but honestly, I kinda just like hearing your take on stuff

Who would have thought, the best 2 Godzilla movie (Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One) would have been published by the original creators at Toho Studios. I love that they made use of completely silent bits, sometimes having zero audio is truly haunting.

A movie with a $15 million budget managed to embarrass Hollywood. When it comes to Godzilla, Togo knows wtf they’re talking about. No joke though this movie was perfect for me. His Atomic Breath is terrifying and I love it

the classic music made the movie 100x better for me imo i get your point scott

In regards to the healing factor, that is something Godzilla has ALWAYS had, he's always recovered quickly from things like conventional weaponry which is why the Japanese Defense Forces have had to resort to other weapons in the past movies. This, however, is the first time we've gotten to see it actually up close and in detail, especially with the damage that is done to him on his face like that, so it's NOT a new thing Godzilla healing as quick as Wolverine from things not rending damage from giant claws or other monsters/lightning guns from the JSDF.

Scott: "I'm also a big King Ghidorah fan--" Me: "sorry Nick, but Scott's my favorite now."

When I saw the news reporter on the rooftop my first thought was “Jimmy Firecracker here”

I was originally on the side of wanting Noriko to stay dead but after your explanation I change my mind as Koichi deserves that happy ending. However I think we can all agree she should've been more damage. Perhaps had her head shaved for brain surgery, amputated right ear/arm. Because she looks like she tripped at the end not survived a nuke.

From the moment they announced this movie I was hype. The concept of Godzilla bringing even more destruction to a ground zero Japan? Such a DUH concept that’s never been done. Yet I was COMPLETELY blown away. The strength of the characters, the incredible effects given the reported budget, and the main man himself. As a semi-Godzilla fan, I always found it fascinating how he can be the coolest monster in some movies but also a nightmare in others. And this movie gave you both equally. The destruction he causes is so fun to watch but because you care about the human characters, it’s horrifying to imagine them against this nigh-unstoppable who cannot be reasoned with. By far my favorite Godzilla movie. I hope the newly announced Black and White cut comes to the US and I hope we get a sequel of sorts set in the 70s or 80s. And that all future Godzilla movies takes notes on how Minus One balanced the human characters and Godzilla, who maintained a presence even when not on screen

I like how Godzilla is characterized in this. It’s a great combination of all those before. You feel bad that he got a bomb dropped on him… but this is definitely one of the most aggressive and bloodthirsty Godzilla’s we’ve gotten. He treats cities, boats, and humans like a cat, knocking things over seemingly cause it’s fun. But there’s no aggression with his destruction. It’s an animal playing. He’s only truly angry when shot at. He even gets distracted at his own atomic blast like a curious animal.

So I didn't catch it the first time I saw it, but Noriko has black shit in her veins on her neck when it gives you the side shot of her holding him when he puts his head in her lap. I think she's heavily irradiated so she didn't just escape with some bumps and bruises.

I'm going to be completely honest: This was the best movie I've seen all year. Actually, the best movie I've seen in the last few. You cannot change my opinion.

This is an amazing movie and was moved to tears several times. The human cast is just so well acted. That scene after the destruction of Ginza with the Mushroom Cloud and Godzilla is such a striking image.

Im not the biggest Godzilla Fan but i like how he can have multiple interpretations. The monsterverse version where he teams up with King Kong and Other good monsters is my favorite,but then u have the rampaging monster or an uncontrollable force of Nature that is pretty cool to see done. But man the human element in this movie was awesome with favorites being The failed Kamikaze Pilot,the Next Door Neighbor who hated him but then became a Babysitter to his Adopted Daughter and the Boat Crew the Pilot works with. I also really appreciated how they twisted the Kamikaze sacrificial methods around and actually made you want the Main characters to live. It painted a Sacrifice like that Needless and Selfish when Shikishima had so much to live for back at home when his Friends told him kept telling him he had been blessed with a new family despite the loss of his old one. That speech by the Doctor telling all the people who survived the war previously the night before Godzillas assault that rather than fight to the death and just sit at the docks all night that they should fight for the future and to go home and be with and appreciate their families was beautiful.

Even thought the film is about Post War Japan and the main character is a Kamikaze pilot this film has universal appeal. Reminds me of a Spielberg film. I was nearly brought to tears

I love Shin Godzilla for the way it aged. Was late to the party and didn't end up seeing it until 2020. Lemme tell you, having COVID hanging over you for months turns Shin Godzilla into a goddamn comedy. Watching a catastrophe happen in real time as the government argues over which department should take point and whether they need to go into the bigger conference room. People are dying and the powers that be are so slow to act that Godzilla attacks and wanders off multiple times before they fire a bullet. "Should I tell them bullets won't work? Nah, let them figure it out." "Should I tell them about the atomic breath? NAH, LET THEM FIGURE IT OUT."

Spoiler discussion I ALSO thought the “bomb safety” was actually the ejector seat, but Shikishima choosing to live is an even better way of doing it.

I absolutely love this style of video from you guys so much The commentaries The reviews The cooking stuff Seeing you all together talking about absolutely everything is just fun and i love ir The movie is amazing 10/10

This is the most beautiful Godzilla-1.0 review I've ever seen. Reminds me the beauties of the movie a lot! Thanks for share this and hope you guys keep good work!

Absolutely LOVED watching this movie in IMAX. I wanted to watch it again before it left cinemas over here but couldn’t. So glad you guys are reviewing this masterpiece!

Part of me wonders if there was an intentional mirroring of their plan to attract Godzilla with a similar call, and the way Koichi “chummed the waters” to attract get Tachibana to show up. Any which way, the movie was phenomenal and I loved every damned minute of it.

If you were to imagine a scene where Noriko miraculously survived, it would be like the blast and the debris were blown away at the same speed, and the debris was slowed down by the wind in the opposite direction due to a vacuum phenomenon. At the most perfect timing, she crashes into the debris that slows her down and survives with only injuries. This is very convenient, but it is also possible that there is a region in the blast wave similar to how noise-canceling headphones produce silence when out of phase.

34:12 Regarding the regenerating factor, that's actually a canon feature of Godzilla for sometime. The Millennium film they released right after the Emmerich Film had a whole subplot of scientists studying his cells, calling it Organizer G-1. He's basically like a jellyfish where he can regrow cells constantly.

Why do people seem to think dinosaurs are only for kids. They are giant lizards, some flying. That is still cool. What part of "tyrant lizard king" isnt cool EDIT: im not saying lani and kaiser think this way, but i think a lot of people do

I gotta say I have loved EVERY PIECE of non-commentary content from this channel!

My favorite detail was when they gave the main character a head injury so that he would have a white bandage around his head. Just so later when he was running in a crowd of other Japanese people, American audiences could tell which one was the main character cuz he still had the bandage on.

A comment on 35:07 it was established in multiple Godzilla movies most notably “Godzilla 2000” that Godzilla has a healing factor even in the movie “giant monster’s all-out attack” at the end Godzilla was just a beating heart. Also on the opening of the “Godzilla minus one” where young Godzilla is on the island that was Godzilla’s backstory from the 1991 film “Godzilla vs King Ghidorah” that he was this dinosaur that was exposed to radiation From the H bomb testings.

14:17 no, they didnt. It was the original instrumentation and sheet notes, yes, but it was a brand new recording done by Naoki Satō.

It would be really a good idea to watch the original 54 version, there are a lot of shots in minus that are at least an homage if not directly taken from the '54 version.