(A personal note: the version I saw was from the Sci-Fi Channel, with English dubbing and widescreen format. The movie could have been edited.)
When you talk about Godzilla, you probably think about campy movies with guys in rubber suits. That's very understandable. And this film has a lot of that, but it's also the closest thing to "experimental" as a Godzilla film will ever get. It's also one of the few post-1960s Godzilla films to have social message in the form of the living sludge monster, Hedorah.
That is if you can get past all the weird psychedelic bits that is. Director Yoshimitsu Banno seemed to want a little bit of everything when making this film: poetry, pop songs, and animated interludes, and that's just scratching the surface. All of this can put off a traditional kaiju fan, but I found it strangely refreshing.
The positive points of the film are that Godzilla, suddenly becoming a environmentalist, is in the film a lot more than some of the other films made so far, and his battles with Hedorah are pretty good considering when it was made. Most of the people are decent except for the kid. The movie is also one of the few to show casualities of the monster's rampage, adding to the overall darkness of the film.
The bad: It's the one where Godzilla flies.
Another interesting point of the film is that it shares many similarities to the original Godzilla film. Many fans like to ponder if this was on purpose or not, and if there's other symbolism in the film. (Many people lose an eye in this film including the big G.)
Beyond bizarre, this movie still manages to entertain. If you're looking for a different kind of movie, a really different kind of movie, then this is the one. While it's not without its flaws, it's probably be the most unique entry in the series, and one of the best to come out of the 70s. B-
No comments:
Post a Comment