I liked Minus One. Very traditional Godzilla movie. Had the Godzilla theme in just the right places. Personal drama is a backdrop to the action. Great use of CGI, doesn’t go over the top showing off CGI technology. Didn’t go very far away from the original story. Shin Godzilla was very good also. A little more creative in the story and the presentation. I’m confident I will prefer both to GXK.
I was wondering this as well. I googled it, and apparently it means:
The title “Minus One” symbolizes Japan’s lowest point after World War II and the emergence of Godzilla worsens the country’s already dire state, taking it below zero.
I must be insane about Shin Godzilla. It was about 90% figuring out what to do. I found it super dull.
Godzilla Minus One was amazing.
Absolutely the best non-Godzilla storyline in a Godzilla movie, and none of the other movies deserve to be called second place. Note that I haven’t seen Shin Godzilla or the new one. This could have been a really good movie without Godzilla at all.
The Godzilla parts were very good as well, even without another giant monster to fight. The update to his fire breath was impressive.
Almost, but it’d have been hella depressing without him. Without the monster, there’s nothing to defeat in the end, and so no way to get a happy ending. Koichi just continues to go through his life in a depressed, angst-ridden stupor, never able to accept his new family, and never able to move on, and so drags them into never being able to move on, either. Which, granted, was probably the truth for a lot of veterans, but I don’t think it’s something anyone wants to see a movie about.
Streamed it last night. It was … fine?
Noriko seemed to fall into submissive tradition roles pretty quickly from her initial plucky survivor personality. And her surviving that blast? Seemed cheap to give a happy ending.
While I agree it felt unneeded and unrealistic considering the total damage (for that matter, I don’t think the corner would have saved our pilot either), there is “confirmed” information about it from the director
Spoilers, of course:
Summary
Godzilla Minus One Director Confirms Key Piece of Lore Involving Space Godzilla and Biollante - IGN
Noriko mysteriously survived with minimal damage, save for an obfuscated black mark on her neck. During Godzilla Fest in Osaka, director Takashi Yamazaki confirmed that the black marks on Noriko’s neck were Godzilla cells or G-cells.
So, short version (read article if not a Godzilla fan to get significance), this ties to prior movies where such cells spawned other superhumans and kaiju.
Which to me, was actually a weaker fix than what I felt when I first saw it, I assumed it was a sign of cinematically fast cancer or other cellular failure, showing that while the family was getting it’s “happy ending” that it would be brief, followed by more inevitable tragedy. Kind of like the whole move to date, with it’s slow recovery from war and some sense of improvement only to be further reduced by Godzilla.
Meh.
One thing I liked, which took me a bit of time to figure out, is that nobody seemed to question the existence of the monster. After a few pieces of media I’ve seen recently that are allegories about climate change or COVID, where lots of people don’t believe the impending disaster is coming, this was a nice change. (I know, people not believing in the supernatural danger, space monsters, etc. is an old trope, but lately it has been too accurately reflecting reality.)
It was refreshing to have everyone accept that Godzilla was a problem that had to be dealt with, instead of the problem being convincing people to deal with it.
If you liked that, you really should watch Shin Godzilla. The atomic breath scene in that movie is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.
I like how young Godzilla moved more like modern movie versions, but as soon as he got big he became like old school slow plodding arms at the sides Godzilla.
As I said in the movies you’ve seen thread
Just watched Godzilla minus one and I figured out why people say the English dub feels off
They wrote the dialogue like a anime…and even used several well-known anime voices even if you don’t know the names …great movie tho and I’m glad pilot and the woman survived …
Toho has announced that a sequel called Godzilla Minus Zero will be releasing late next year and is currently in production in New Zealand and Norway.
I haven’t seen a Godzilla in forever, but I remember the streets packed with screaming, justifiably panicked people. But Godzilla never seemed too interested in attacking people. He was more into destroying infrastructure. What was his main problem- pissed at getting awakened by an atom bomb? I guess that would do it.
I mean, he probably doesn’t even notice people.
I read somewhere once that Toho has three hard-and-fast rules for all Godzilla films; Godzilla cannot talk, Godzilla can never truly die, and Godzilla does not eat people.
Isn’t that exactly what he does in his first scene in Godzilla Minus One?
Not to my recollection - he attacks and kills the soldiers on Odo Island but doesn’t eat them.
Here is a clip, I think.
Yeah, in that clip he’s biting down on the soldiers and tossing them, but not consuming them.
Here’s a source for the three rules;
In the interview posted on Natalie, Tetsuya Yoshikawa states that Godzilla must not be seen preying. This is the rule that has caused the most consternation among commenters. Specifically, many people are speculating, wrongly, about the use of the word “prey.” Some people interpret “prey” in a very broad sense of any kind of pursuit and destruction, but Yoshikawa is using a strict definition of prey, which is to capture and eat.
The Natalie interviewer clarifies this by asking a followup question, specifically asking if, when Yoshikawa says “prey,” he means that Godzilla cannot be shown eating people. Yoshikawa replies that yes, this is what he means, and more generally that Godzilla should not be shown eating at all.
This does not mean that Godzilla cannot cause destruction, and it does not mean that he can’t be shown chasing, attacking, or killing people. We know this to be the case, because Godzilla Minus One was made with this rule in full effect. Just starting with the opening scene, Godzilla attacks people, kills them, and even bites down on multiple victims. The important part is that he is never seen eating anyone. He chomps, then tosses them away. So, biting is fine, consuming is not.
I would dearly love to see the Big Guy waling on Hobbiton, although you might need to freeze-frame a single stomp or tail-swipe or risk missing it.
Every town in NZ has a Lord of the Rings connection and tour offering, even if its just a single rock matted into the back of a battle scene. If Godzilla is shown roaring around the New Zealand countryside and chewing Kiwis (but not ingesting them), rather than just being composited in Weta Studios, that would not only be truly epic but also invigorate their economy no end. And it would be fitting in a way - I’ve always thought of the Peter Jackson films as the spiritual heir to Toho’s suitmation urban destruction epics.