It wasn't just bad, it was late 90's -- when we were in love with VFX and story didn't mean shit -- bad.
Showing posts with label Roland Emmerich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roland Emmerich. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
The Godzilla Zeitgeist -- or -- What's It Really About
Godzilla, to the Japanese, is an allegorical device that represents the force of nature reasserting its control over mankind. In its path, our armies are useless, our technology does us no good, and all that's left is our anger, our deflated arrogance, in the face of true power as we watch our world disintegrate. Yeah, it was a guy in a rubber suit stomping on little model cities shot in semi-slow-motion, and the kids loved it, but that's what it represented.
To be honest, I don't remember what Roland Emmerich's 1998 take was about. I think it boiled down to 'giant lizard tap dancing on NYC' but I'm drawing a blank. Saw the movie, don't remember. However, it's clear what this new 'Godzilla' is about. "Being sent back to the stone age," and "The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control and not the other way around," and "You have no idea what's coming."
We're just beginning to see the results of over populating the Earth and polluting our environment. The super storms, droughts, fires, polar vortices, dying oceans, melting ice, and now riots that pop up in a new city seemingly every week. These are the things we fear and, as it always was in the Japanese movies, this is what Edwards' movie is about. That lizard represents nothing more than the destruction which lies waiting around the next corner.
Bryan Cranston is the audience surrogate. When his character's voice cracks it's with the same emotion we feel when we read the latest horror story on the front page. His outbursts are ours, his rage belongs to us. This is a new 'Godzilla' for a generation facing extinction, or -- if that seems too dramatic, if that sounds like a stretch -- the end of civilization as we know it.
Very much looking forward to 'Godzilla'. VFX look tremendous, and it's worth noting that the trailer is engaging well before the first 'money' shot. We're hooked on this story, breathlessly waiting to see what might happen next, long before we see the first glimpse of the guy in the rubber suit.
To be honest, I don't remember what Roland Emmerich's 1998 take was about. I think it boiled down to 'giant lizard tap dancing on NYC' but I'm drawing a blank. Saw the movie, don't remember. However, it's clear what this new 'Godzilla' is about. "Being sent back to the stone age," and "The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control and not the other way around," and "You have no idea what's coming."
We're just beginning to see the results of over populating the Earth and polluting our environment. The super storms, droughts, fires, polar vortices, dying oceans, melting ice, and now riots that pop up in a new city seemingly every week. These are the things we fear and, as it always was in the Japanese movies, this is what Edwards' movie is about. That lizard represents nothing more than the destruction which lies waiting around the next corner.
Bryan Cranston is the audience surrogate. When his character's voice cracks it's with the same emotion we feel when we read the latest horror story on the front page. His outbursts are ours, his rage belongs to us. This is a new 'Godzilla' for a generation facing extinction, or -- if that seems too dramatic, if that sounds like a stretch -- the end of civilization as we know it.
Very much looking forward to 'Godzilla'. VFX look tremendous, and it's worth noting that the trailer is engaging well before the first 'money' shot. We're hooked on this story, breathlessly waiting to see what might happen next, long before we see the first glimpse of the guy in the rubber suit.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Godzilla Dejected
New poster for 'Godzilla' has arrived and it's put together. I like how Zilla looks dejected. His back is turned, which is how the guy is portrayed in Japanese movies -- a reluctant anti-hero who must show mankind the folly of our ways, but feels we're not worthy of eye contact. He's not here to frighten us, bare his teeth at us, or even to look at us. His only concern is to get on with his work.
There's a timeless quality to this graphic.
By contrast, this all-American I-stomp-on-you approach for Roland Emmerich's 1998 version is uninspiring to say the least.
There's a timeless quality to this graphic.
By contrast, this all-American I-stomp-on-you approach for Roland Emmerich's 1998 version is uninspiring to say the least.
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