Random Abode Monsters and Spookage #3

Almost Gojira. Almost the Creature. Just a little too wound up, that's all. Old pals that I have had for just about forever.

Happy Halloween, Pals And Gals!

And a special Happy Halloween to our buddy Steve, from Chipper and Raw Meat! (And Gojira, of course…)

Godzilla Raids Again... Free At Last!

Having gone to the new Pirates flick twice in four days over Memorial Day weekend (and this is not intended as any sort of criticism of the film itself), I came to a realization. Jen's passion for pirate flicks (which existed far before the Depp trilogy) is all-encompassing, and rather than skip what seems to be a rote attempt at seafaring action, she will watch it like the swashbuckling-mad buccaneer zombie that she is. It's Automatic Watching instead of Writing. Despite a couple days at work where her equally Disney-faithful co-workers complained about what was wrong with the new Pirates, she maintained a passion to see it again on Monday, and the night after Friday's inaugural viewing, she was sitting on our couch, rocking her feet against the coffee table, bouncing up and down to the music playing only in her head, and anything I said was drowned out by the movie's sword-clanging finale that she maintained was still crashing behind her eyes.

One could think, "Your girl is crazy!", and sure, we all are to a certain degree. The girl is pirate-mad. I like pirate flicks, too (I am huge Flynn fan and The Crimson Pirate with Burt Lancaster is one of my personal favorites from childhood), but I don't have this reflexive mode where I immediately have to click on or go to every film featuring a scraggly sea-robber in a dirty bandanna. When I first knew her, and for several years after, I actually felt Jen acted this way about mysteries (if it's Marple or Poirot, we apparently have to watch it) or BBC comedies, but there are limits even to these. I would offer that her pirate love has a limit; she often says that it is the romantic, fictionalized pirate that she adores, and not the real-life criminal type that exists to a certain degree even today. But since these are rarely featured in films or televised fiction, I will grant her the rights to this genre addiction, if only to proffer up mine in comparison.

There are those who would believe, and would use this site for proof, that horror and science fiction would be my equal to Jen's pirate fixation. This is wrong, for both horror and science fiction (like my assumption of Jen's view of the mystery genre) cast far too wide a net to be realistic as points of absolute fixation. There is much in both genres that I have no interest in seeing, even if, by the curse of my own movie rules, I will see any movie once. However, it is in sub-genres where we find my own personal downfall. It is in a strange mix of both horror and science fiction (and some would say "comedy", as well, though this is usually unintentional), and it is the Giant Monster Movie. Not just daikaiju eiga flicks (Japanese giant monster movies), but even Them! or The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (I should say, "Especially, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms"). It is no surprise that all of this stems from my extant Kong love, and also, due to my ancient history with that giant ape, movie dinosaurs of all sizes have been sucked into the mix. If you want to see a guy, in a roughly comparable scenario to Jen's need to attend every Disney Pirate release instantly, that has no defense against the eventual Jurassic Park 4, then look my way.

Lately, a lot of kaiju flicks have been showing up at my doorstep, and I am sure Jen believes I am tossing my money away like so many used tissues after a Jenna Haze marathon. I might be, but I cannot help it. Classic Media, over the course of the last six months, has been releasing a series of rather comprehensive DVDs featuring several Shōwa era Godzilla films to which they have obtained the rights. Sadly, the entire run of Godzilla films won't be released in Classic Media's format and casing (the rights for the remaining films are too far flung to other uncaring companies to allow this to happen), but I will take what I can. The initial release, Gojira, popped up last year; two more were made available by the end of the year (though not on Amazon, in an odd situation, until months later), and two more are on the horizon next week. (There will also be a couple other daikaiju eiga DVDs released later on, including the original Rodan and the awesomely weird War of the Gargantuas). The films are released under the banner "The Toho Collection", and this doubles the shame that the entire series can't be put together for this package. Purist fanboys complained about some artifacting and the other usual stuff that the homeward bound have time to complain about, but what I loved about the first disc was the fact I could finally see the Japanese version of a film that I already loved in its bastardized American form. It was a profound revelation, and I doubt I will ever watch the American version again. Godzilla had finally come home to me, and when it did, it was in his truest form.

Another disc; another Godzilla; another slapped-together American release that I grew up watching, never knowing what I was missing. Godzilla Raids Again, the second DVD from the Classic Media collection, followed the original film by a year or two in Japan, but by several years in the States. Through some very odd reasoning, the U.S. producers felt it important to disguise the identity of their giant creature, and the film was released as Gigantis the Fire Monster, confusing millions of youngsters for years in the process. They also cut out about half of the Japanese version, and poured rather haphazardly on its remains what seems to be several reels of random stock footage and bad animation (in the film shown to the scientists). The film made little sense to me as a youth, but then, monster movies, especially giant monster movies, aren't generally known for their depth of plot or characterizations. It's usually all about the monster action, whether stomping a city, devouring fishermen, or battling a similarly large monster. Who cares what the human are up to, unless they are a hot Japanese chick, or if the humans are being squashed or eaten? This film features Godz -- er -- Gigantis battling an ankylosaur-like creature called Anguirus. (Unfortunately, Anguirus is a quadraped, and this requires the stuntman in the suit to muck about in a rather silly fashion, displaying the limits of a biped masquerading as a quad.)

I will not go into the differences between the two versions of the film -- that is what watching the superb DVD is for -- but I will remark that, although once again the Japanese version definitely trumps the American one, in this case, as it is with many sequels, we are struck with the Law of Diminished Returns. Godzilla Raids Again is only half as good as its remarkable predecessor, but it is still fun nonetheless, and the fact we are discussing pure fun implies that it is without the emotional and political impact of the first film. If this seems like faint praise, it is -- Gojira is a film to be discussed; Godzilla Raids Again is merely there to be enjoyed as a simple monster movie, which in fact, is the way of most daikaiju eiga, even the ones that attempt to be something more, from this point on.

And yet, I had the urge to see it over again, and also, to own a personal copy. So much of my video collection has consisted of cheapjack video knockoffs, such as the Goodtimes VHS I owned of this movie (and, even then, only of the American version), that it made the DVD purchase a literal no-brainer. To be able to see such a film in its uncut form and in its language of origin, and without all of that b.s. that short-minded Hollywood producers brought to its U.S. release, is probably the purest pleasure one can derive from such a venture. I look forward to the future run of Classic Media Godzillas for exactly the same thrill -- seeing old favorites with new eyes, even if those eyes are seeing something it should have been given a chance to see properly in the first place.

Gojira no gyakushû [Godzilla Raids Again]
Dir.: Motoyoshi Oda // Toho, Japanese, 1955 [DVD]
Cinema 4 Rating: 5

Gigantis, the Fire Monster (American version of Gojira no gyakushû)
Cinema 4 Rating: 3

RECENTLY RATED MOVIES #28: GOJIRA

True to form, I am spending every spare moment (which would be those where I am either not with Jen or engaging in writing projects) making my way through a monstrous stack of DVDs and an equally impressive lineup of flicks on my DVR. Many of these saved films came from a surprising source: The Sundance Channel, where a late night program of Japanese, Korean and Hong Kong horror movies, titled in typical "hip" marketing style as Asia Extreme, has provided me with a most interesting though slightly disturbing look into another world. My discovery of the show is mere timely fortuitousness; I can get any of these movies easily enough through Netflix, but since I am only registered to rent four titles at once, this means it takes a bit to get near certain titles on my list. The Korean titles are definitely the ones with which I am having the most trouble philosophically, particularly where the rights of prostitutes and the abandonment of teenage daughters who stumble into prostitution are concerned. These film make the Koreans seem about as obsessed with women of easy virtue as the Japanese seem to be with wig-bedecked girl ghosts and kaiju-suited union actors. I know its most likely not the case, but it is very easy to type a culture from the films that make it across their borders. I know that there has been a flood of Korean films lately that aren't of the horror or prostitute-torture-and-rape genre, and some that have been praised to a high degree, and I look forward to seeing what else the country has to offer in the way of cinema. I am certain much of it is very rich and expansive in tone and deserving of a deeper peek. Eventually, I may reach these films in my queue.

But not until well after October. This month, as always, consists of a concentration of matters macabre, and this effort will be aided by the arrival of a couple of prime DVD releases, of which I shall post more information in the next couple days once I actually view the damned things. Of prime importance to me, though, has been the release to DVD about a fortnight ago of the original Japanese version of the first official kaiju flick, which was redubbed and recut with additional Raymond Burr footage into an haphazard amalgamation known as Godzilla, King of the Monsters. While I have seen the Americanized version about three dozen times throughout my life, the Japanese version titled Gojira, which features a half-hour of previously unseen footage (at least, unseen in this deprived country) has eluded me to this point.

Watching the real film for the first time was an incredible revelation. Unlike the multitude of ever-cheesier (though fun) followups, the original film was filmed in black and white, and features a philosophical viewpoint nearly as dark as the film's atmosphere. Deftly filmed and remarkably subtle shots of the monster's footprints left in its aftermath help serve up a ever-growing sense of doom until the monster finally appears, and with each subsequent appearance of the creature, the ferocity of its attacks grow ever more intense, until Tokyo is left looking like Hiroshima after the A-bomb. This is precisely the point. That Gojira is revived by hydrogen bomb testing (and by the Americans no less, though the filmmakers seem to hold a complacent Japanese populace largely to blame as well) is a dramatic stab at guerrilla politics that allows this superior effort to rise at least the size of three Gojiras above the rest of the kaiju pack.

And while, surprisingly, I am not really a fan of DVD commentaries, except in very rare instances, the spate of information provided by the pair of Godzilla fanboys on the extra track is actually unbelievably rich in detail and depth. Additionally, while you don't want to do the whole cover-judging cliche, this DVD comes wrapped in what I consider to be one of the most attractive package designs that I have seen thus far for a DVD. Since it displays merely the grimacing image of a monstrous black-and-white Godzilla, this is no small feat. An additional bonus is that two more Godzilla films, the rushed sequel Godzilla Raids Again and the quite enjoyable monster mash Mothra Vs. Godzilla are being released in the same pristine format in about three weeks. Part of the Toho Master Collection, the DVDs, like Gojira, will feature both the Japanese and American release versions of the films and will have commentaries, likely from the same two overly informed geeks. Outside of seeing the original films in their theatrical heyday, has there ever been a better time to be a Godzilla freak?

Oh, and, if you haven't, go see The Illusionist. A film this delightful needs an audience.

The List: The Illusionist (2006) - 8; Crank (2006) - 5; Huo Yuan Jia [Jet Li's Fearless] (2006) - 7; Murders In the Rue Morgue (1932, TCM) - 6; Honogurai mizu no sok [Dark Water (2002, Sundance) - 7; Nabbeun namja [Bad Guy] (2001, Sundance) - 6; Samaria (Samaritan Girl) (2004, Sundance) - 6; Gojira (1954, DVD) - 7; Ju-On (2000, DVD) - 7; Dr. Cyclops (1940, TCM) - 6; Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro [Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell] (1968, TCM) - 7; Paycheck (2003, DVD) - 5; Un Flic (1971, DVD) - 8; Finding Neverland (2004, DVD) - 7; Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha (1999, DVD) - 6; Shogun Assassin (1980, DVD) - 7.