GODZILLA MINUS ONE!!! (DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED!!!)

Studios: Toho/Robot Communications

Tagline: Post-war Japan. From zero to minus.

Plot: Japan is already devastated by the war when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster.

Cast

Minami Hamabe - Noriko Oishi

Sakura Ando - Sumiko Ota

Ryunosuka Kamiki - Koichi Shikishima

Kuranosuka Sasaki - Seiji Akitsu

Yuki Yamada - Shiro Mizushima

Hidetaka Yoshioka - Kenji Noda

Munetaka Aoki - Sosaku Tachibana

Kisuke Iida - Akio Itagaki

Miou Tanaka - Tatsuo Hotta, Captain of Yukikaze

Writer/director: Takashi Yamazaki

Rated PG-13 for creature violence and action (124 minutes)

The Godzilla franchise is one of the largest running film franchises in film history. Ever since Godzilla made his large debut in 1954 (70 years ago), he has been making numerous appearances in film and other media.

Godzilla Minus One is the first Japanese Godzilla film that I have ever watched. I have seen the recent MonsterVerse movies (which are decent) and that 1998 remake (let's not go there). And, wow, this Godzilla film is simply incredible!

Godzilla Minus One is a really engrossing film that delivers incredible action featuring the one and only Godzilla. Having the film set post-WWII adds to the devastation and the emotion that the film delivers. The human stories that are featured in this film are very emotional and intriguing - something that a couple of the recent movies in the American franchise can lack.

Before going back to the Godzilla action, I just have to mention that Godzilla Minus One is really character-driven. There is one character in the film that suffers from survivor's guilt after surviving the war. You also see how the war affected some of the civilians as well.

This film also has some awesome visual effects, especially when we see Godzilla's atomic breath powering up. I also really loved the updated look of the iconic monster. It still looks almost like the original monster but some slight upgrades! All of the destruction sequences are visually astounding and exhilarating.

Godzilla Minus One will surely become a modern classic and will be really well-liked for anyone who loves the Godzilla movies. In fact, down the road, I may check out a few more Godzilla films (if they're streaming) when/or if Godzilla x Kong comes to the Dietrich!! GODZILLA MINUS ONE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Here are some fun tidbits for Godzilla Minus One!!

• Instead of creating a new roar, the crew simply played the original Godzilla roar over loud speakers and recorded the audio.

• Gareth Edwards, director of the 2014 Godzilla, attended a screening of this film. He described a feeling of jealousy while watching the film, stating, "This is what a Godzilla movie should be like."

• The Minus One refers to the fact that Japan had already been devastated by WWII (brought down to zero), but with the emergence of Godzilla, it puts Japan into the negative. This is reflected in the film's original Japanese tagline, which translates to, "Post war Japan. From Zero to Minus."

• For the Godzilla suite heard during Godzilla's landfall, composer Naoki Sato used the version of the Godzilla theme as arranged in Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964). In the second version of the suite for the finale, Sato incorporates the march from the original film with the theme from King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), which is the same thing that composer Akira Ifukube did for his Symphonic Fantasia, which would be reused for the end credits of Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995).

• This is the first Godzilla movie to be a period piece, set during the American occupation of Japan and almost a decade before the 1954 original Godzilla. According to a theatrical pamphlet with the film,, Shin Godzilla (2016) had been so successful, both critically and financially, that Toho was struggling to make a follow up. Countless proposals were made but none felt that they would live up to the impact Shin Godzilla had with how resonant and acclaimed it had been with Japanese audiences. It wasn't until Yamazaki proposed making a period piece that Toho could finally move forward.

• This Godzilla film became the fastest release entry in the US, one month after its premiere in Japan. The previous record holder was Shin Godzilla, which took under three months to release in the US after its initial Japanese premiere. It's also only the third Godzilla film, after Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) and Shin Godzilla, to be theatrically released in the US the same year as its Japanese release.

• Director Takashi Yamazaki cited Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack (2001), directed by Shusuke Kaneko, as his personal favorite Godzilla movie.

• Yamazaki said that the worldwide anxiety and government unreliability during the COVID pandemic was one of his major inspirations for the story and that he hopes these events are reflected clearly in the finished film. He steered clear of setting the film in modern Japan and having to draw inspiration from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster as he believed it would become too similar to Shin Godzilla.

• Godzilla Minus One had its red carpet and worldwide premiere at Toho Cinemas' theater inside the Shinjuku Toho Building on October 18, 2023. It was the closing film at the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival on November 1, where it was shown with English subtitles.

• Toho's American subsidiary Toho International released the film in over 1,000 theaters throughout North America on December 1, with English subtitles. Since Dec. 15, the film had been extended to more than 2600 American theaters. Both the color and black and white versions of the film will finish release in the US on February 1.

• Several American media analysts and journalists have noted how the film's critical and commercial success in the US has outdone recent Hollywood tentpoles, particularly superhero films and how they delivered quality visual effects on a budget below $15 million.

• Godzilla Minus One has been nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards, becoming the first Godzilla film to be nominated for an Oscar and the first Japanese film to receive a nomination in that category. The film was also selected as the 6th best film of 2023 and won the award for Best International Film at the 2023 Austin Film Critics Association Awards.

https://youtu.be/VvSrHIX5a-0?si=CTt9n_OJCDpUun5q