Shin Godzilla (on DVD)

Shin Godzilla
[DVD Shin]

This is the most recent in the Godzilla film series which dates back to 1954 with Gojira. It’s similar to others in the series in that it’s more humorous than frightening despite fact that there’s a giant monster as the main character. In this movie we watch the Japanese government handle the emergency situation brought about by Godzilla coming ashore. Staging through confusion, denial, acceptance and then to action we see the officials call meeting after meeting, change the location of the meetings, call in certain people to the meetings, have discussions, arguments and votes, all the while Japan is being destroyed by Godzilla and the citizens are in a state of panic and horror.
At first odd things happen and no one is sure why until an infantile form of Godzilla comes out of the water. Footage is shown on the news and the officials in their office buildings have to accept the odd events are not caused by an earthquake or other natural disaster, while at the same time have to figure out what it is, whether to contain or defeat it, and how to do this. The creature is smashing up the city and goes through multiple forms before morphing into who we recognize as Godzilla. The chain of command is amusing to watch as the people on the ground communicate to the people in the office buildings. During the course of events there is struggle in the office building between politicians and scientists brought in to figure out what the creature is and how to deal with it. It may sound like a lot is going on but that’s just because the perspective keeps switching between on the ground action and meetings in the office. I really liked seeing the story told as two sides of a spinning coin. The whole movie is in Japanese with English subtitles, so unless you know Japanese you will be reading the movie, which I know some viewers may not like, but I didn’t mind. If you enjoy action comedy/drama and or Kong Skull Island chances are you’ll like this too. As a side note, if you like this movie, there is another in the works called Godzilla vs. Kong set to come out in 2020 which will star both giant monsters. For more movies in the mean time check out Hoopla for Godzilla, Gamera, Rodan films.

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Shin Godzilla web page from its U.S. distributor ]

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

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Shin Godzilla (Original Soundtrack Album)

Shin Godzilla (Original Soundtrack Album)
by Shiro Sagisu

Very enjoyable soundtrack. I went to see this movie in the brief period it was shown in North America and I thought it was pretty good in comparison to other Godzilla movies I’ve seen. There are new songs and classic Godzilla tunes on this album, including some from King Kong vs. Godzilla, Terror of Mechagodzilla, and Ghidorah. It will be more enjoyable if the music is familiar to you but is still really good, non-vocal music that anyone can enjoy. If you are not familiar with Godzilla, it’s worth mentioning that his name in Japanese is Gojira, so sometimes it’s called Shin Gojira, but it’s the same as Shin Godzilla. I thought it was a great soundtrack and if you’d like to check it out, you can on Hoopla as a streaming audio file (PC) or download (mobile app).

[Also on Hoopla, you may be interested to know, are a handful of Godzilla and other Kajiu movies for streaming or download. This includes Gojira (the original Godzilla movie), Rodan, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Ghidorah, Godzilla Raids Again, and a number of Gamera movies. If you like comics too, there are a few Godzilla graphic novels too.]

[ official IMdB page for Shin Godzilla ] | [ official Shiro Sagisu web site (mixture of Japanese and English) ]

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

Have you listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Godzilla (2014) on DVD

Godzilla (2014) 

[DVD Godzilla]

There’s a general rule of thumb among Godzilla fans that movie-makers should just let the Japanese movie studios make all the Godzilla films. This was especially true after the 1998 “reimagining” of the Godzilla mythology, starring Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno, directed by Roland Emmerich, which was pretty universally hated. It was therefore with some trepidation that I decided to watch the 2014 American-made Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards and featuring a large, mostly-American cast (including Bryan Cranston, fresh off his stint on Breaking Bad).

This version of Godzilla remains true to many of the standard Godzilla tropes, and the look of the creature is certainly an improvement over the the more lizard-like creature featured in the 1998 film. The special effects are tremendous in this film, as is the set design and especially the sound editing — Godzilla’s patented roar is back! The acting is fine — you don’t really expect top-notch acting performances in a giant monster movie — particularly Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ken Watanabe. But ultimately, the enjoyment of a Godzilla film comes down to how well Godzilla itself is done, and this version of the creature was done very well. That being said, my biggest complaint about this film is the limited amount of time Godzilla itself spends on screen. For a “giant monster” movie, I was hoping more of the action would actually feature the “giant monsters”, and not the humans who are reacting to them. Still, an improvement over the 1998 film, and a fun movie to watch. After seeing this, I’m happy to know that the producers of this particular version of Godzilla plan to do a trilogy of films (the others to appear in 2018 and 2020), the third of which will recreate Godzilla vs. King Kong.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try any of the classic Japanese Toho Studios Godzilla films — most available online!]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Facebook page for this Godzilla movie ]

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Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you watched this? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?  
New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!