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Someone's probably already mentioned this, but isn't there a LOT more similarities between "Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" and "Cloverfield" than between it and "Godzilla?" I dunno, the similaries between the rhedosaurus' blood parasites and "Clover's" ticks kinda cinched it for me.
And yes, while Kong was first and possibly greatest, there is only ONE King of the Monsters.
Hail to the King, baby. Skreeonk.
I realized that I mis-spoke a wee bit.
I don't remember the term used, it was not "yokai," but that's the closest I could think of.
Daimaijin (and some of the characters) are personifications of things that were so loved by people they gained sentience and bodies.Daimajin was a temple bell (and he's redesigend to show that), once character was a samurai's helmut, so on and so forth.
For those folks that are fans of Daimajin, there is a fairly recent mini-series, Daimajin Kannon, that's not too bad. Daimajin is a sort of big honcho yokai, that put himself into sleep and refuses to speak to people anymore because he busted his ass fighting threats to the villagers, but he didn't do it fast enough or well enough for them, so they kept treating him like crap.
The only drawbacks are... the DVDs that are available now have the first few episodes with amazingly translated subtitles, then they apparently changed translation companies and a lot of meaning and info is lost.
And it's a kinda schmaltzy girlie drama.
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I'd just like to point out that Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan all had solo movies that culminated in an epic crossover film where the protagonist monsters of each previous movie met, fought, overcame their differences, and then teamed up to stop an invasion from space. Face it, Marvel's Avengers movie is a remake of Ghidorah: Three Headed Monster.
No mention of the American Godzilla cartoon from the 80's? When I was a kid, that thing was THE SHIT.
I'd hate to watch it now and have all of my fond childhood memories destroyed, though. Even as a kid, I remember thinking "How is it that Godzilla rises up out of the ocean when called, but then suddenly the water is ankle-deep on him?"
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About King Kong's 1976 remake, that wasn't just a man in a disappointing gorilla suit. That was Rick effing Baker in a disappointing gorilla suit. Yep, the very same. Not one of his favorite experiences, from what I hear.
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Didn't they also build a huge robotic Kong that was used for less than a minute of screen time?
Later it was found in post apocalyptic world, restored and used against Thundarr...the BARBARIAN! (With his faaabulous sun sword...).
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@TorH In fact, that's why the impotent gorilla Mr. Baker made/played in Kentucky Fried movie was named Dino, because of how pissed he was at Mr. DeLaurentis.
The Cyclops & Dragon from "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad,"The Ymir from "Twenty Million Miles to Earth,"the squid from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Cloverfield: No. I take issue with monster movies that don't give you a single good look at the monster. And the conceit of the "found footage" garbage that was officially old the first time a Hollywood movie producer watched The Blair Witch Project and said, "Shit, WE can do that!" Abrams expected us to believe it NEVER occurred to the douche operating the camera to actually POINT IT AT THE MONSTER.
Daimaijin. I've seen these movies. NO WAY is that thing 50 feet tall. Thirty feet, tops.
Dune: "though how can you hate any movie that dares to give us Sting in silver underwear?" Jesus! Do I really need to explain this to you?
@Bearr No. He sets fire to naked sunbathing women. IMHO, that is instant disqualification.
Mothra aka Mosura is not just a moth. She is a mystical godling and defender of earth. She also does have a weapon besides high winds from her wings , in the form of a radioactive sleep dust she can shake from said wings.Her larvae version can also shoot webs. Honestly I'd have rather seen the original King Ghidorah aka Monster Zero aka The Space Monster in her place. Really Clover beat out The Amazing Colossal man, The giant Claw, Gorgo, Konga, and Green & Brown (Gaira and Sanda) Gargantuas from Furankenshutain no Kaijū: Sanda tai Gaira aka War of the Gargantuas as being in the top 10 nerdy monsters... for shame.
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@arivalscientist Hell to the yes. I'd gladly sacrifice some of the slots here for VP.
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Some really great stuff on this list but in agreement with Kumanoken about some of the glaring omissions. I would have to drop the Kraken, the Sand Worms and probably even the Cloverfield monster from the list and replace them with King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla and maybe add in the giant stone statue from Jason and the Argonauts for good measure. I realize by two of those additions this leans more to the Godzilla franchise so can understand why they might have been left out. Anyways, a solid read. Thank you for posting this.
@piercingmetal The bronze statue (whose name I sadly forget) was definitely much better than the Kraken.
While personally I would have included MechaG and Ghidora, I do understand the need to keep the Toho Kaiju down to a manageable level; and they aren't as influential as some of the others on the list. Definitely would have replaced the worm and Slusho/Clover with them, though.
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I always prefered Rodan but I have no arguments with the top 3 being as they are, and I actually like a few of the 60s Gamera films, Gamera vs. Gayos is good, and Guiron is just so dang weird
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Never any love for Anguirus.
My three favorite kaiju: Anguirus, Jet Jaguar, and The Fifty-Foot Woman.
The last one only because she's the only kaiju with breasts the size of a VW Beetle.
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@nix.nightbird I was gonna say Daimajin was my favorite but a 50' Allison Hayes is a compelling argument. Hubba hubba!
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And don't say 50' isn't enough to be a kaiju. If King Kong counts at 50', then so does the woman.
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@nix.nightbird I love the Fifty Foot Women but wonder if she would count as kaiju since she is a human woman.
I grant you, "breasts the size of a VW Beetle. " would be sould reasoning to win most arguments with me.
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first thought when i saw the topic is how would be the top two between king kong and Godzilla and Godzilla once again by being number one proved he is the tops of sci fi monsters. monthra found interesting even as a giant moth and also one could not really leave off mr. stay puff for he is iconic as godzilla
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No Infinite Vulcan? FAIL! No, I'm just kidding, this was a fine list.
I liked the critter from Destro's basement that the Double C sicced on Serpentor. That was a pretty damned awesome move on Cobra Commander's part. Too bad it didn't work in the end.
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Lifelong giant monster addict here, so I had to weigh in on this one. Very debatable choices, also some glaring omissions, coupled with extremely poor choices for example footage in most cases. No 1933 King Kong footage (arguably the best giant monster film ever made), a trailer for one of those shitty '90's Mothra films when the obvious go-to was the 1961 original (also an outstanding genre entry), no trace of King Ghidorah (the most glaring omission), and no trace of footage of Godzilla from his first film, in which he was truly horrifying. The sandworms, while visually impressive, are basically just big worms, and that's about it. (It's uniqueness and levels of interest that truly make a great giant monster, not just scale.) And the Kraken? Really?!!? Considering how many other Harryhausen giant monsters leave that one in the dust — the Ymir on the loose in Rome being a perfect example — it's a very questionable choice. (While she was not a giant, the best thing about the 1981 Clash of the Titans was Medusa, who was hands down the scariest thing Harryhausen ever came up with.) And as for Clover, the most notable thing about that one was the movie it appeared in, which featured an excellent POV depiction — incredibly annoying hipster assholes not withstanding — of NYC getting trashed by a gigantic, unexplained whatchamawhosits. The monster itself looked ridiculous and offered nothing interesting or unique with which to distinguish itself. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
That said, Mr. Stay Puft and Daimajin (especially as he was depicted in the first film) are inspired choices. And you're absolutely right about the reveal on Mr. Stay Puft, especially as seen when the movie first came out. I worked at one of my hometown's movie theaters back then and our manager, on the night before the movie was set to open, told the staff he'd Ghostbusters looked to be a huge hit, so he was going to run it for the staff that night after work since it was likely to be packed for weeks once it opened. When we finally saw the form that Gozer took upon arrival in Manhattan, especially while sitting through the film with absolutely no prior clue as to its contents, we nearly shat ourselves laughing. And the look on its face when it first finds itself on the receiving end of a proton pack blast was brilliant.
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As a teenager, my father and I went to a Star Trek convention in which Sir Patrick Stewart was going to be at. During his panel, I happened to be lucky enough to get chosen by him to ask a question. Being the smart ass that I am, I asked him what his experience filming Dune was like. He started laughing immediately, shook his head, and said in his best Gurney voice: "Gods what a monster!"
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I am a huge fan of the 90's Gamera Movies. The monsters look great, the effects are fairly solid. And for giant monster movies, the acting by the cast is actually pretty good. I actually just rewatched Guardian, and Legion over the weekend.
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the kraken from CotT 2010 was awesome! short-lived appearance but still awesome! much respect for Harryhausen but the clay-mation did not age well.
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@abnerayag This may be a matter of what people have been accustomed to while growing up but CGI < Claymation
CGI always looks jarringly unrealistic, as if it was cut/pasted from somebodies laptop without respect to the environment it is supposed to be in, where at least you can light Claymation properly, with real lights as opposed to simply rendering parts of it in darker or lighter shades, to make it look part of the scene. It may look like clay but it looks like clay that is somewhere in relation to the setting and actors.
Heck, I'll go ahead and say man-in-rubber-monster-suit > CGI.
I disagree with physical >CGI for one main reason: scaling. My subconscious can forgive a lot of mistakes, but I always snap out of the movie-watching experience when scaling issues are apparent. Models just look like models to me. A guy in a suit always looks like just that. And when water gets involved it gets even worse. You just can't recreate water without CGI, period.
And that old Kraken just doesn't look scary to me at all, even when I was a kid. I think it's the face, which is a bit too ape-ish. And the skinny limbs. And the fact that it's no more than 30 feet tall and a good boulder upside the head could take it out.
Yeah, 2010 Kraken all the way.
@bjshipley1 @Gallen_Dugall @abnerayag I don't have a problem with the effects of the new kraken, it's just the look is very uninspired, like a bodybuilder crossed with a spider and a squid. Looks like something Todd McFarlane would come up with. But, yes, stop motion's time has come and gone, the problem with it is it's harder to articulate than CG and will just never be as convincing. Having this framey-looking object sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of everything.
While I think stop motion has had it's day, I do prefer some effects to be practical though, like car crashes and bloody gun shot wounds. I haven't seen any CG bullet damage to people that didn't look floaty or out of place yet.
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@Gallen_Dugall @abnerayag I will respectfully disagree, and I'm probably around the same age as you.
I appreciate the work that goes into claymation, stop motion, and all of the mechanical kinds of special effects. Always have. And I have always loved the effects.
That said, it too is jarringly unrealistic, but in different ways. I was always conscious that I was watching an effect. It may be lit properly, but you can still tell it doesn't quite belong there, whether it's the motion, the scale, or the frames per second.
There is a tremendous amount of shitty CGI and there's also a lot of lazy and awkward filmmaking in order to support it. I won't try to defend any of that. It speaks for itself. But there's also a lot of good CGI in that it's there and you don't even know it. These tend to be the things that don't draw attention to themselves and are not the type of "Look how much money we blew on this effect" kind of scene.
My gold standard is "If I can't tell how its done without being told, it's good, whatever it is." I don't care if its miniatures or a Mac.
@gagagalvatron @Gallen_Dugall @abnerayag
I think I've spent too much time around computers in general. I almost always pick out the cgi in situations where everyone I'm watching it with thinks it's real. often to the point of having to google it to find out the the truth. Because of that I think claymation/models/etc look a bit more real to me.
but I don't mind cgi if done well.
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The words that best describe my thoughts on Godzilla are: Fuck, and Yes.
Oh, and please support big "G" in his run for president: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Godzilla-For-President-2012/217508648271354
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@p.hale Nope, I'm maintaining my support of Cthulhu for president - the stars are right!
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Not sure I've ever heard he Cloverfield monster referred to as simply "Clover". Is that a thing? As with Frankenstein, I've only heard it called the "Cloverfield Monster" or simply "Cloverfield."
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Godzilla's greatest foe King Ghidorah should have made the list and not at the number 10 spot either. The three headed golden space kaiju was probably one of the most difficult to bring to life on screen.
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@thedayyoualmostcaugh What about those Giant Buddha statues that keep attacking those Muslims? They're as much as 55 meters tall!
@Gallen_Dugall @thedayyoualmostcaugh Well, giant Buddha statues are crazy huge and scary. This one at 682 ft tall could eat the Statue of Liberty... whole.
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Am I the only one completely annoyed by the 2005 King Kong? Kong repeatedly dropping the girl, then snatching her out of the air would almost certainly snap her neck. I can suspend disbelief for the giant ape and the tyrannosaurs, but I just can't wrap my brain around the girl being thrown around like a rag doll and not being lifeless at the end of the battle.
@James.k.Polk I firmly believe that in an island with living gawddamned dinosaurs, the one thing they bring back is the giant ape that murdered half their crew.
That and Jack Black totally didn't ruin every scene was in...I swear.
@SoreChasm @James.k.Polk A Giant Ape should have been more than enough. They didn't need all the rest of the crap they stuffed into the movie.
That, and the Tyrannosaurs were a little TOO persistent. Predators don't spend all day (and risk their lives in battle with Kong) for one tiny morsel of meat. There's easier prey out there. There has to be, because if they went every day like that they would have died long before reaching adulthood. No animal survives long being that stupid when hunting.
@James.k.Polk "Am I the only one completely annoyed by the 2005 King Kong?"
No. You are not alone. Hollywood has ALWAYS played fast and loose with science, and I can suspend disbelief as well as the next guy, but that movie was Peter Jackson taking a 2 hour and 40 minute dump on the laws of physics and everything we know about animal behavior.
Hey, Hollywood, when predators corner their prey, they DO NOT - I repeat: DO NOT - just stand there and roar at them (or hiss, or sniff, or breathe death-breath in their faces). The alien from ALIEN does NOT represent a typical predator.
@James.k.Polk The 2006 King Kong was an overlong abortion that turned Kong into what amounts to a large domesticated pet for Anne. In other words, a pussy. And if the author of this article wanted footage to illustrate Kong's complete and utter awesomeness, he should have used just about any scene from the 1933 version, especially Kong's fight with that T-Rex or Allosaurus or whatever it was.
@James.k.Polk If I can't believe that then I have to disbelieve the existence of Bobby Brown... which I'm perfectly willing to do mind you
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