Kaiju Hot Takes

[DinoFan2010]

I want you guys to give me your hot takes on Godzilla, Gamera, King Kong, Ultraman, Pacific Rim, etc!
I'll go first, I think the Showa Minilla is adorable.

[Over9K]

Varan deserved better from Toho, and is a very under rated Kaiju.

[BlueKrono]

Varan deserved better from Toho, and is a very under rated Kaiju.

Agreed. One of my favorites. Anguirus also deserves his time to shine.

[GojiraGuy1954]

The Bagan shown in Super Godzilla / Godziban is a profoundly uninteresting monster and just a generic evil guy from space. The older designs where he transformed or looked like an Elephant were far better

Zilla has never looked good and his movie has never been good

Godzilla 2014's head doesn't look Godzilla enough imo

Despite a couple Reiwa era stinkers, the Godzilla franchise in the modern day is by far in the best place it has ever been in its 70 years of history

MechaGodzilla is Godzilla's actual arch-rival, not Ghidorah

[Pliosaurking]

For me, I grew up with Zilla as my Godzilla as well as the Monsterverse. I will say I do like Zilla but more as it own Kaiju than a proper Godzilla, more like the series. I do quite like the Monsterverse Godzilla and most of the Kaijus in that verse, that is my personal favourite design.
I'm also a fan of the older Godzilla designs although I have yet to see most of those films except the original.
In my eyes Godzilla Minus one is the best Godzilla film overall, and probably my favourite Godzilla film.

[DinoFan2010]

MechaGodzilla is Godzilla's actual arch-rival, not Ghidorah

I would still say Ghidorah is his arch-rival, at least for the Showa incarnation of Godzilla, since Ghidorah appears in 4 Showa Films (Not counting stock footage or Zone Fighter), while MG only appears in two.

[Dynomikegojira]

As a huge Godzilla fan I was disappointed with KOTM.

I think the 1962 KingGoji design is overrated and I'm not a fan of either Toho Kong

Godzilla vs Megagurius is underrated I prefer it over Tokyo SOS

[Over9K]

Here's a hot take....

Legendary's Top Three Kaiju Films Are: KONG:Skull Island, Pacific Rim and KOTM'19, in that order.

Everything else is just kind of.... flaccid.

[Mellow Stego]

Shin Godzilla is a decent monster movie but not a great Godzilla movie

[GojiraGuy1954]

MechaGodzilla is Godzilla's actual arch-rival, not Ghidorah

I would still say Ghidorah is his arch-rival, at least for the Showa incarnation of Godzilla, since Ghidorah appears in 4 Showa Films (Not counting stock footage or Zone Fighter), while MG only appears in two.

Appears in four, wins in none. Only MechaGodzilla, Mothra, and Humanity have ever actually won in a fight against Godzilla

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Having rewatched it just yesterday, there is a LOT of bureaucracy which was also a main point of the film, but I would rather have seen more demonstrations of his destruction. His final form is truly terrifying and horrific, I think we could have done without the forms leading up to it.

[Over9K]

Shin Godzilla is a decent monster movie but not a great Godzilla movie

Having rewatched it just yesterday, there is a LOT of bureaucracy which was also a main point of the film, but I would rather have seen more demonstrations of his destruction. His final form is truly terrifying and horrific, I think we could have done without the forms leading up to it.

I think it's worth mentioning that, unlike every other recent Kaiju-eiga, Shin Godzilla was meant for the Japanese alone. It eschews any attempt to provide a gateway for Western audiences into the story. It is simply a Japanese film for the Japanese. I argue that anime fandom in the West allowed Shin to play as well as it did, having made audiences more accustomed to Japanese mannerisms and behavior.

The metaphor at work, the commentary on Japanese society, the tone, the arid humor and the cadence of dialog is all engaged in telling a painful, real-life story of loss, confusion and anger. I find it to be a courageous film that gave all of us an unblinking voyeuristic view into Japan after the '04 Quake and subsequent nuclear disaster.

That Godzilla was able, after 65 years of being a villain and a superhero at different times, to return to the pure allegory, to stand for that which terrified an entire nation, speaks not only to his iconic status, but to the importance of Shin Godzilla as a film. It captivated the Japanese audience like nothing before it, and they awarded it accordingly.

[GojiraGuy1954]

Having rewatched it just yesterday, there is a LOT of bureaucracy which was also a main point of the film, but I would rather have seen more demonstrations of his destruction. His final form is truly terrifying and horrific, I think we could have done without the forms leading up to it.

If there were no prior forms then the idea that they could have killed Godzilla early on and prevented a ton of death and destruction if they weren't so bureaucratic would be lessened, how the hell are you gonna take down Form 4 aside from using the blood coagulant

[stargatedalek]

The Legendary movies are cowards for calling them titans instead of kaiju.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Having rewatched it just yesterday, there is a LOT of bureaucracy which was also a main point of the film, but I would rather have seen more demonstrations of his destruction. His final form is truly terrifying and horrific, I think we could have done without the forms leading up to it.

If there were no prior forms then the idea that they could have killed Godzilla early on and prevented a ton of death and destruction if they weren't so bureaucratic would be lessened, how the hell are you gonna take down Form 4 aside from using the blood coagulant

It's never really stated that they could killed him in the prior forms, but it surely seems possible. It would have required them to be even more creative to be sure, or invent something entirely new like the Oxygen Destroyer in the 50's.  I did notice they also slipped in the concept that there could easily be more of these if they didn't act when they did. Sorta like Godzilla 98', though what would stop another organism from mutating the same way was never broached.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

The Legendary movies are cowards for calling them titans instead of kaiju.

There is an explanation here : https://www.cbr.com/why-godzilla-king-monsters-kaiju-called-titans/

To be fair you can call them kaiju and it still works too, there isn't much difference.

[Over9K]

Hot Take: Minilla, arguably the world's most hated Kaiju, does not actually exist.

Here's why;

The '54 film is one continuity.

The Return Of Godzilla ('84) is a second continuity with the '54 film.

Shin Godzilla is a third stand-alone continuity.

Godzilla Minus One is the fourth and final canon continuity thus far.

Everything else is in-universe fiction, films from within canon, that are not themselves canon. The Showa films come from within the '54 continuity, the Heisei and Millennium films from the '84 continuity and the Reiwa films from the Shin Godzilla continuity.

Thusly Minilla does not exist, thank god, except for within the imagination of people whose minds have been twisted by the reality of Kaiju attacking their nation. If you watch the Showa films post-54, at first Godzilla is the villain in all the films, but as humanity gets used t0 the idea of his existence, they humanize him, in an attempt to cope with him. As the years go by, and he does not reappear in the canon, the people begin to mock him. The later films make him a figure of mirth and humor. This is the people of that continuity accepting the existence of Kaiju into their collective consciousness.

In the '84 continuity, you get all that, all those films, and THEN Godzilla reappears in Tokyo in canon, in that continuity. This is why they took 9 years off before '84, they were done with him. He reappears, and 5 years after his second raid, they begin making films again, darker films than before. They thought he was gone. The Heisei is that continuity dealing with this new reality, until they simply kill him on screen. By the end of the Millennium series, the end of that continuity, they are tired of all of it, they throw everything at the screen trying to exorcise the demon, a Final War.

Shin Godzilla's stand alone continuity has perhaps been truncated by the emergence of the Minus One continuity, which perhaps coexist in parallel, but do not cross-over at any rate. I put Legendary in the "Shin Godzilla Continuity" of films. The Shin Godzilla raid devastates Japan, and the Americans are captivated by it, making a series of films for thrills, but taking it out of Japan, and drastically changing the design of the monster to avoid offending the Japanese. Japan gets in on the game with the animes, using Godzilla in a less threatening form, on the road to recovery. IMO, without Minus One, the Reiwa films would have gotten more Showa-esque, as these eras all seem to start out serious, but get less-so as time goes on

In my head canon, the next series of films should be the Minus One continuity's population admitting, accepting and examining their role in the creation of the monster, exploring what that means through film. Reacting to the monster is one thing, a exploration of humanity's responsibility for that monster's existence is quite another. It's time for humanity to take that head-on again... it's time for a "Godzilla Is A Victim, The True Monster Is Man" film that does more than pay lip service to that concept.

[Trenchcoated Rebbachisaur]

My hot take is that Megalon is better than Gigan.

[Over9K]

My hot take is that Megalon is better than Gigan.

Hot take? That the gospel effin' TRUTH my friend! Gigan is a stone cold be-hotch.

[DinoFan2010]

I got another hot take for you: Jet Jaguar is better than Moguera.