Godzilla Thread

[tyrantqueen]

I hate having invasive English house sparrows around because they displace and kill native bluebirds, swallows and other cavity nesting birds. The native species just have no defense against this aggressive alien species

We have the same problem here in the UK, with American crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) killing our native ones with a disease, as well as grey squirrels (also from the US) and minks (escapees from fur farms) also harming our native species.

I'm sure many countries have the same problem. It's not the animals' fault, it's the people who brought them over in the first place who are to blame.

[Gwangi]

I hate having invasive English house sparrows around because they displace and kill native bluebirds, swallows and other cavity nesting birds. The native species just have no defense against this aggressive alien species

We have the same problem here in the UK, with American crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) killing our native ones with a disease, as well as grey squirrels (also from the US) and minks (escapees from fur farms) also harming our native species.

I'm sure many countries have the same problem. It's not the animals' fault, it's the people who brought them over in the first place who are to blame.

Exactly. And yes, many countries do and island ecosystems have it the worst. Just look at Australia with their invasive cats, rabbits, cane toads...the list goes on. Or New Zealand, a country with no native terrestrial mammals and LOTS of ground dwelling or flightless birds. Toss some rats, cats, pigs and dogs on there and you get the picture of what happens. The list of invasive for any country is very long. In the U.S. it is Florida that probably suffers the worst given its tropical climate but every state has their own list and each damages the ecosystem in it's own way. English house sparrows are fine birds, just not for North American ecosystems.
Anyway, I don't want to get too off topic here. That is just how I viewed these MUTO in "Godzilla". Animals trying to survive but cannot be allowed to. It is frequently the theme of any monster movie..."King Kong", "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, "20 Million Miles to Earth", "The Valley of Gwangi". An alien/prehistoric species makes it into the modern world and has to pay the price for doing what comes naturally. It is no different here except that Godzilla himself is the one to restore the natural order, not us.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I hate having invasive English house sparrows around because they displace and kill native bluebirds, swallows and other cavity nesting birds. The native species just have no defense against this aggressive alien species

We have the same problem here in the UK, with American crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) killing our native ones with a disease, as well as grey squirrels (also from the US) and minks (escapees from fur farms) also harming our native species.

I'm sure many countries have the same problem. It's not the animals' fault, it's the people who brought them over in the first place who are to blame.

Exactly. And yes, many countries do and island ecosystems have it the worst. Just look at Australia with their invasive cats, rabbits, cane toads...the list goes on. Or New Zealand, a country with no native terrestrial mammals and LOTS of ground dwelling or flightless birds. Toss some rats, cats, pigs and dogs on there and you get the picture of what happens. The list of invasive for any country is very long. In the U.S. it is Florida that probably suffers the worst given its tropical climate but every state has their own list and each damages the ecosystem in it's own way. English house sparrows are fine birds, just not for North American ecosystems.
Anyway, I don't want to get too off topic here.

That is just how I viewed these MUTO in "Godzilla". Animals trying to survive but cannot be allowed to. It is frequently the theme of any monster movie..."King Kong", "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, "20 Million Miles to Earth", "The Valley of Gwangi". An alien/prehistoric species makes it into the modern world and has to pay the price for doing what comes naturally.

It is no different here except that Godzilla himself is the one to restore the natural order, not us.

Gwangi...if I may, would you feel it appropriate to place ..err Jurassic Park within this same parameter?

[brandem]

Not meaning to derail the train of thought about this movies and invasive species but,
SPOILER
One line from the movie bothered me,
"MUTO: Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism. It is however no longer terrestrial; it is airborne."
No, you knew before naming it that the thing could fly you just really wanted to use the acronym MUTO

[Paleogene Pals]

OK, I think I get it now. Godzilla, himself, wants to kill the MUTOS for reasons we do not understand. The humans are threatened by the MUTOS and Godzilla, although Godzilla seems indifferent to people, fascinating dynamic. In a way, it is like the problem I am having with moles in my front lawn; they are tearing it up. Obviously, it is not the moles fault, but we simply cannot coexist. However, for now, I plan on driving them away without killing them. On the other hand, I kill brown recluse spiders on sight. One of them bit me once and made me sick so I cannot have them in my space. Therefore, I am Godzilla, and the brown recluses are the MUTOS.

[Simon]

Here is a fascinating tidbit - ever wonder how they made the original Godzilla's roar?  Here's the answer (from Wiki):

"Godzilla has a distinctive roar, which was created by composer Akira Ifukube, who produced the sound by rubbing a resin coated glove along the string of a contrabass and then slowing down the playback."

[Simon]

Here is a tongue-in-cheek review of the new Godzilla movie in light of some of the current debates about "climate change":

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/17/review-godzilla-anti-global-warming-alarmism-block/


His real review calls the film: "Big lizard, big budget, big fun."

I am leaning towards seeing it.  CGI really looks cool!

[amargasaurus cazaui]

OK, I think I get it now. Godzilla, himself, wants to kill the MUTOS for reasons we do not understand. The humans are threatened by the MUTOS and Godzilla, although Godzilla seems indifferent to people, fascinating dynamic. In a way, it is like the problem I am having with moles in my front lawn; they are tearing it up. Obviously, it is not the moles fault, but we simply cannot coexist. However, for now, I plan on driving them away without killing them.

On the other hand, I kill brown recluse spiders on sight. One of them bit me once and made me sick so I cannot have them in my space. Therefore, I am Godzilla, and the brown recluses are the MUTOS.

no....because the spiders existed long before you evolved and have a pre-existing claim to the space, meaning you are the human again in this case, wiping something out that had a prior claim and right to be there, simply because you cannot co-exist. 

[Trisdino]

Why does godzilla want to kill the MUTO's for seemingly no reason? Simple, bad writing.

As for the MUTO's: Yes, they have to die, but that is not the problem. The problem is that they are just mercilessly butchered, to the point of SPOILERS SPOILERS the mothers eggs being blown up in front of her SPOILER END SPOILER END, yet nobody cares.  The movie falls prey to this http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhatMeasureisANonCutem, and yes, godzilla has been made to look more nice then before.

[sauroid]

maybe Godzilla and the MUTOs relationship is like that of lions and hyenas, they would kill each other if given the chance, just because they despise each other (or compete for space and prey)

[Trisdino]

That makes little sense. Hyenas and Lions do not kill each other just for the sake of it, they are competitors. It is quite obvious that godzilla and the MUTO's are not competing.

[sauroid]

........

[tyrantqueen]

Here is a fascinating tidbit - ever wonder how they made the original Godzilla's roar?  Here's the answer (from Wiki):

"Godzilla has a distinctive roar, which was created by composer Akira Ifukube, who produced the sound by rubbing a resin coated glove along the string of a contrabass and then slowing down the playback."

Already knew that

[postsaurischian]

The discussion made me curious. I'm gonna watch the movie tonight .

[Paleogene Pals]

After reading Armaga's post, I realize that I am just as guilty as everyone else as to deciding what is worthy of living and what isn't. Being from Oklahoma, I am conditioned to believe that brown recluse spiders are evil creatures that must be destroyed on sight. But, they are no different than any other spiders, which I don't kill, and only bite out of self defense. But, I do coexist with most other spiders, despite my arachnophobia, because they do catch the gnats and flies that get in my house.

Amazing how much deep discussion one man in a suit can generate. And, they say Godzilla is just dumb and silly. 

[Paleogene Pals]

While lions and hyenas do fight each other, it is because they are competing over limited resources. Godzilla and the MUTOS would need a resource that they both need that is in limited supply. Screen time?

[Trisdino]

That actually makes a lot of sense, godzilla is mad because he has so little screentime, so he is going after the MUTO's, who have a lot more scenes, in the vain hope that he will get more screenspace.

[tyrantqueen]

I understand Godzilla is a fantasy, but the modern remake has got me thinking- would it be possible that a theropod could have evolved with a dragging tail and upright posture, much like the Godzillasaurus that Godzilla himself was a mutant of?



I guess what I find really weird about the new movie is that it features a monster that is based upon a concept that is so dated. It's set in the twentieth century and all, and we know tail dragging theropods (to our knowledge) did not exist, and yet no-one questions it. It just clashes with the realistic, gritty style of the film itself. It's like if Jurassic Park had been made with Ray Harryhausen models.

I have not seen the 2014 version yet, so maybe his backstory is different and maybe he isn't a mutated Godzillasaurus. I'm not bashing the Godzilla franchise btw, it's just something that interested me.

And yes, I do know I'm thinking way too deep into this...but that is my way

[brandem]

I understand Godzilla is a fantasy, but the modern remake has got me thinking- would it be possible that a theropod could have evolved with a dragging tail and upright posture, much like the Godzillasaurus that Godzilla himself was a mutant of?


I guess what I find really weird about the new movie is that it features a monster that is based upon a concept that is so dated. It's set in the twentieth century and all, and we know tail dragging theropods (to our knowledge) did not exist, and yet no-one questions it. It just clashes with the realistic, gritty style of the film itself. It's like if Jurassic Park had been made with Ray Harryhausen models.

I have not seen the 2014 version yet, so maybe his backstory is different and maybe he isn't a mutated Godzillasaurus. I'm not bashing the Godzilla franchise btw, it's just something that interested me.

And yes, I do know I'm thinking way too deep into this...but that is my way

Well godzilla has had a couple origin stories, the mutated godzillasaurus being one from the hensai era but if the most recent movie is an unofficial follow-up to godzilla 1954 that the 1954 event happened and american tried to cover it up by blasting the Pacific ocean to hell, then the origin for this godzilla is a bit murky but the scientist in the 1954 film postulated godzilla was an amphibious precursor to the dinosaurs not a dinosaur himself he was not mutated by the h bomb just made aware of humans being a threat and godzilla has a heavy, muscular, very flexible tail used for swimming that tend to drag the ground when he is on land like crocodile tails, as for his upright posture it is based on outdated concepts of theropods but in its own way has become iconic, and since the 1954 godzilla wasn't truly a dinosaur or any type of animal that we have a fossil record of who is to say that the godzillas could not have evolved an upright posture.

[Gwangi]

I hate having invasive English house sparrows around because they displace and kill native bluebirds, swallows and other cavity nesting birds. The native species just have no defense against this aggressive alien species

We have the same problem here in the UK, with American crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) killing our native ones with a disease, as well as grey squirrels (also from the US) and minks (escapees from fur farms) also harming our native species.

I'm sure many countries have the same problem. It's not the animals' fault, it's the people who brought them over in the first place who are to blame.

Exactly. And yes, many countries do and island ecosystems have it the worst. Just look at Australia with their invasive cats, rabbits, cane toads...the list goes on. Or New Zealand, a country with no native terrestrial mammals and LOTS of ground dwelling or flightless birds. Toss some rats, cats, pigs and dogs on there and you get the picture of what happens. The list of invasive for any country is very long. In the U.S. it is Florida that probably suffers the worst given its tropical climate but every state has their own list and each damages the ecosystem in it's own way. English house sparrows are fine birds, just not for North American ecosystems.
Anyway, I don't want to get too off topic here.

That is just how I viewed these MUTO in "Godzilla". Animals trying to survive but cannot be allowed to. It is frequently the theme of any monster movie..."King Kong", "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, "20 Million Miles to Earth", "The Valley of Gwangi". An alien/prehistoric species makes it into the modern world and has to pay the price for doing what comes naturally.

It is no different here except that Godzilla himself is the one to restore the natural order, not us.

Gwangi...if I may, would you feel it appropriate to place ..err Jurassic Park within this same parameter?

"Jurassic Park" seems to address other issues more urgently, like manipulation of nature by man and genetic engineering. Other monster movies address these too but since the dinosaurs are restricted to an island (aside from TLW Tyrannosaurus) I don't think JP really delves into the invasive species issue. If they made a movie where dinosaurs escaped the island and began populating the main land than I think that would be more in-line with those other movies I mentioned.

TQ, to address the upright theropod issue. It's already happened, just not with the tail dragging.


That of course is a penguin so I'm being a bit of a smart a** here. I'm not sure if the anatomy of a dinosaur tail makes it an option for a dinosaur to evolve a tail-dragging life style and I can't think of any reason why it would benefit the animal either. I guess it wouldn't be impossible but I don't think it is very likely. I don't think the physics and anatomical adjustments needed would work out well. Certainly wouldn't help with speed or balance.