Anybody else notice this coincidence between Shusuke Kaneko and Peter Jackson? How they both had a dream of making a certain movie, but ended up making enormously successful trilogies before being able to do such. For Kaneko, he had to make the Gamera trilogy before making GMK and Jackson had to make The Lord of the Rings trilogy before remaking King Kong.
shareYeah, I've actually been saying exactly that to my friends for ages; it's a very interesting coincidence.
Movies I have voted a 10:
Schindler's List
Pulp Fiction
The Return of the King
A lot of Directors start off this way, wanting to do a particular movie but not having the notoriety and fame to back their wants. So they make a similar movie or a movie in the same genre and are seen for what they can do and are given more options in the movies they are offered. With out LOTR, King Kong might have gone to Spielberg or (GASP!) Michael Bay, Shusuke was given Gamera and made a great trilogy out of a Kaiju who originated as Daiei's answer to Godzilla and then got to move up to Godzilla. My only question is why did they only give Shusuke one Godzilla movie when his was the most financially successful out of the Millennium series? I wanted a Kaneko Godzilla trilogy!
Mike Nelson: Oh, they gave him the Captain Dork costume by mistake...
My only question is why did they only give Shusuke one Godzilla movie when his was the most financially successful out of the Millennium series? I wanted a Kaneko Godzilla trilogy!
It's almost criminal that he didn't get another chance to make a Godzilla film. I have to admit, Kaneko's affection for mystical elements does conflict with my inner geek/purist, but it never got in the way of the story or the origins of Godzilla. I also wish they had kept Kaneko's original script and elements intact, like Varan (who happens to be one of my favorite Kaiju) and Angurius. Varan being worshiped as a god in his own debut movie puts him as a better candidate for a guardian monster than Space-faring Ghidorah. Overall, Kaneko's been able to make four almost flawless Kaiju movies:
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe - Great start, interesting new take on Gamera, had some flimsy special effects but for the most part they were spot on. Great movie.
Gamera II Attack of Legion - My favorite of all of Kaneko's work. Legion was a mystery, a force to be reckoned with, and an incredibly designed creature. Everything from the flower, Legion bugs, giant Legion, to the biology of the creatures was original and new. The one flaw I have with this movie is the human element and characterization to a back seat in this one in comparison to the notable characters from his other movies.
Gamera III Irys - Still has the best special effect in any Kaiju movie I've ever seen. Acting was great, nice to see most of the originals back, and the revenge angle of Ayana was great, but the story wasn't as good as the last two IMO. I've never liked the baby Irys/antithesis of Gamera connection with Ayana. Irys' design was killer, but it's motives and constant attempt to bond with Ayana never resonated with me.
GMK - Second to Legion for me, has great special effects, great acting and the most poignant story of any Kaiju movie since Gojira. My only problems with it are really because of Toho. Ghidorah doesn't belong in this movie and as a result of Ghidorah's involvement, the CGI Ghidorah is the only special effects flaw of the movie. Also the last portion of the movie loses its edge, which I don't know if Toho is the blame for that or not. It's just once King Ghidorah is upgraded, I lose some of my interest. I can't help but think of what Kaneko had planned, maybe even a battle royale between Varan, Angurius, and Baragon instead of just King G getting his @$$ handed to him. But I guess we'll never know.
Mostly minor complaints, I wouldn't give any of Kaneko's kaiju movies less than a 9 out of 10. Overall, Kaneko has made his mark on Kaiju movies and should be allowed to do a SERIES like millennium and 90's Godzilla. Given he puts passion, thought and more effort than most of the other G directors, I've seen. Much like Peter Jackson, I hope his movies have gotten enough notoriety for Toho to consider at least giving him another Godzilla movie for the next series they have planned in the next decade.
Mike Nelson: Oh, they gave him the Captain Dork costume by mistake...
I actaully thought G3's story is better than both its prequels and GMK.
It's far more complex, intelligent, and creative; it has a wealth of deeper subtext and subtle nuances, addressing themes such as perception, sacrifice, and redemption, and exploring them in the context of the events of its prequels and the conflict between the characters.
The thing about Irys is that it's not just an antithesis to Gamera, but a symbol of Ayana's hatred and revenge. Its killing of innocent people as a result of her attempt to use it as a weapon represents the hideous costs of revenge, and the relationship between the two, peaking in Ayana being physically absorbed by Irys, is similarly symbolic of her revenge consuming her.
Nobody is entitled to an opinion. Everyone is entitled to an informed opinion.
I agree it on all of your points on G3's story, it's just that through the presentation of it all, it felt very... anime. I really really hate to say that, but through all the anime movies I've seen I felt I had been through that plot before. It felt somewhat like Neon Genesis meets Akira in some respects, I can't put my finger on it. It's the mysticism that made Kaneko's work so much different from other Kaiju movies but it's ironically what draws me out of this one. I'm not saying this one is bad, just that I enjoyed G2 much more for it's intimidating villain Legion. Irys was very sinister, but it's only purpose IMO was as a vessel for Ayana's hatred and as the anti-Gamera. Legion just had this mystery and alien feel about it that made the final revelation about its biology that much better. But these are all just opinions and I'm just saying I saw the same things in G3 as you did. I love G3, it's just that Legion made G2 and for its originality and creativity, I like it 2% more than G3 lol. I've seen revenge/redemption angles done several times before, but I had never seen anything like quiet like Legion. I guess you're just more critically artistic while I'm more concerned about the science behind giant monsters smashing stuff lol.
Mike Nelson: Oh, they gave him the Captain Dork costume by mistake...
Toho had only planned to produce three Godzilla films in the new millennium, but after the second film, GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRUS, there were already thoughts of ending the series prematurely.
Kaneko was able to get GMK greenlighted, the film was a hit (both critically and commercially), and so Toho decided to continue producing new films despite their initial plan to produce three. Kaneko did not return for the next film is because he had already committed to direct KOI NI UTAEBA ("A Toast To Love"), so Toho looked back to MEGAGUIRUS director Masaaki Tezuka for the next installment (X MECHAGODZILLA) in 2002. After KOI NI UTAEBA, Kaneko took a break from direction, returning with AZUMI 2 in 2005.
Whilst looking towards the 50th anniversary production in 2004, Toho initially had no plans to produce a new film in 2003. But producer Tomiyama recalled in an interview how they had been impressed with Tezuka's proposal for a MECHAGODZILLA sequel, so Tezuka's third film TOKYO SOS entered production in 2003.
For the 50th anniversary, Toho wanted to produce a completey different kind of movie for a completely different audience, which is why Ryuhei Kitamura was chosen to helm the film. This back-fired and became one of the biggest box office failures in the franchise.
Toho is a business. GMK made money. He has continued to direct films for the studio after GMK.
I remember reading a big article on all of Kaneko's initial ambitions for GMK...and had Toho just fronted the extra money, given him more creative freedom, and maybe allowed for a longer production period to reach a higher calibre of visual effects...we might have gotten a Godzilla movie even BETTER than GMK.
The plan was to have Veran, Anguirus, and Baragon be the gaurian monsters...the military in the film were to be armed with more nostalgic super-tech, like the Gotengo and Maser tanks.
And apparently there was going to be a large battle with all of the guardians taking on Godzilla at the end.
Ghidorah and Mothra allowed for a lot of spectacular visual moments in the film...but Kaneko's original concept would have been a hell of a film as well.
'What I hear about a film affects my anticipation to see it, not my expectations of what I'll see'
That all sounds good except for the part about the military being armed with the more nostalgic super-tech, I've always hated that and was happy to see that the only super-tech in GMK was the realistic D-03 drill/missile/torpedo.
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