Expectations weren’t exactly high for the 1998 American made Kaiju film by Roland Emmerich, but no one was exactly satisfied with what we got. Hans, The Real Movie Critic, and Steven, The CineGuy, join us to speculate on a true King of the Monsters.

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Transcription

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00:00
Case
Well, and that's like, the bummer, though, with this movie because, like, the fact that Godzilla isn't fighting another kaiju means that, like, what is the thing that we're looking at here? And if it's Godzilla is a force of nature destroying stuff, that devastation actually needs to be a part of it.

00:15
Steven Angulo
Welcome to certain point of another pass podcast. Be sure to subscribe, rate and review on iTunes. Just go to certainpov.com dot.

00:26
Case
Hey, everyone, and welcome back to another pass podcast. I'm Case Aiken, and as always, I am joined by my co host, Sam Alisea.

00:33
Sam
Hello. Actually, I should have gone raw. I'm sorry for that. Go on.

00:43
Case
And hatching their way onto the show's returning guests, we've got the real movie critic, Hans Martin Junior.

00:50
Hans Martin Jr
What's up, everybody?

00:51
Sam
Right.

00:52
Case
And of course, we've got the cine guy, Steven Angula. Oh, boy.

01:01
Steven Angulo
Yep, I'm here. I'm back. Case has forgiven me for master of disguise.

01:05
Case
Thankfully, I didn't say I forgave you, but.

01:11
Hans Martin Jr
I don't know. We keep giving him bad movies for him to re pitch, but.

01:16
Case
But that is our jam on this show and that specific jam that we are discussing today, as you might have inferred from the various roar noises that have come out of Sam's mouth or just from reading the episode title. Today we are talking about the 1998 Godzilla remake.

01:31
Hans Martin Jr
Oh, wait, I thought it was 365 days. Oops, wrong movie.

01:35
Steven Angulo
I thought it was a Jurassic park porn parody. Like, what the heck?

01:39
Hans Martin Jr
My bad. Okay, no, no worries. We got the right movie. Okay, I saw it. Okay. Okay.

01:46
Case
Yeah. So before we get into talking about the movie, for those who haven't tuned in a little while, it's been. It's been a few episodes since Hans and Steven were last on. Real quick, just give a plug.

01:56
Steven Angulo
We are the real movie. Craig versus the Senate guy. The show. We got everything. Love movies and plenty of aggression. We discussed the latest movie news, check out some trailers and review newly upcoming films every Monday at certain pov.com. Be there or be squared.

02:14
Hans Martin Jr
At least we try to. Every Monday. And also, we have a lot of bad impressions. We should mention that as well.

02:20
Steven Angulo
Yeah, I'm not going to. I'm a spare case and Sam today.

02:25
Sam
Well, you've already inflicted this movie, so, I mean, how much could you spare us?

02:31
Case
Oh, you never know.

02:32
Steven Angulo
I mean, I could have been in this movie. You know, it's got everything I want. Cheesy facts and horrible, stale humor.

02:38
Hans Martin Jr
All right, listen, Pete Davidson, get out of here.

02:41
Case
All right, so speaking of bad impressions, let's talk about this bad impression of a Godzilla movie. So, Steven, I'm actually curious on your perspective.

02:52
Hans Martin Jr
I.

02:53
Case
So I was middle school when this came out. This was like the summer before I started high school.

02:58
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, same here.

03:00
Case
So I remember the marketing campaign for this movie. I remember a lot of the material at the time. Stephen, as the baby on this particular podcast, what were you, did you, was this in your consciousness when you were young? Or was it just the thing that already happened by the time you were culturally aware of Godzilla movies?

03:18
Steven Angulo
Well, when it first came out, I was only one years old. One year old.

03:22
Case
So.

03:22
Steven Angulo
So, no, it was like years after, like May. I was like four or five cuz hitting. Growing up, I was a big on creature films. I love Jaws, Jurassic park and last stuff. So Godzilla was like, no different. Pretty much. So, yeah. Which is pretty much like, you know, fun creature Sci-Fi action that, you know, throw the little kid inside of me, you know?

03:40
Case
Sure, sure. And, like, there's some of that going on in this movie. Like the. The spin off cartoon that they did from it is actually pretty good. Like, I was thinking about how there's, like, a weird secondary kind of format for Godzilla properties that is like the Godzilla cartoon, which is like, humans have Godzilla on call to fight monsters. And that's just how they did it in the sixties. It's how they did it in the aughts. It's just like, yep. We're gonna have, like, godzilla's gonna be like our megazord that, like, comes to help us kind of thing. And it's a totally different genre than what this movie is trying to be, which is like a weird disaster horror movie.

04:17
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, I haven't seen that cartoon, so I can't really see either. Yeah. The only cartoon remembers the Hanna Barbera one. Oh, yeah, we got Zookee with Godzilla. Exactly. Kazuki just.

04:31
Steven Angulo
Why, my gosh.

04:33
Hans Martin Jr
Hey, it's not a bad cartoon. All right, watch yourself.

04:37
Steven Angulo
Godzilla's a raging lizard monster. Why does he have a child who's like a Scooby doo and parody?

04:43
Hans Martin Jr
I don't know. Why don't you ask this movie where it had plenty of child?

04:47
Case
This movie has so many godzookies.

04:51
Sam
So many. But, you know, the original, like, the original producers and creators also said that for Godzilla. Right. They felt that it was like he was kind of like the God of chaos and shintoism. So he's not good, he's not bad. He shouldn't be dodged, judged by morality. So it's okay for sometimes for him to save humans and sometimes it's okay for him to destroy entire cities in rage because he's not living up to our moralities. So, you know, it's fine. Hanna Barbera can make a cartoon where he's super helpful.

05:22
Hans Martin Jr
Exactly.

05:23
Case
Yeah.

05:24
Sam
Fits in with the lore.

05:24
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah.

05:25
Case
Cause why not?

05:26
Hans Martin Jr
I don't know.

05:26
Case
Speaking of lore. So this movie, like, despite being panned and being generally hated by fans of Godzilla movies sort of has had, like, a resurgence as being, like, accepted because they introduced the Godzilla from this as Zilla in the mainstream tohu Godzilla movies who immediately gets, like, one shotted by the real Godzilla, but as just a Kaiju movie, it's fine. Like, it works just like all the other, like, standalone kaiju movies. I agree, at least from a structure standpoint, which we'll talk about shortly. Sam, what was your sort of relation with this movie back in the day versus now?

06:03
Sam
So I really like Godzilla movies. I grew up watching Godzilla movies. My mom is a huge, like, monster creature. Like any b movie with, like, the blob or anything. Like, my mom was there. Like, she was ready to make us watch that. So definitely very attached to it. I refused to see this movie when I was in high school, which is when it came out. And I was like, no, I'm not gonna go see it. One of the things that I love about the old movies is I kind of love the look of the guy in the suit, you know, like, amongst the miniatures and, like, having it CGI. Like, I don't know, like, it takes something away from me. Like, yes, it's a big monster. And, like, at the core, like, the story's not that bad.

06:49
Sam
I mean, like you said, it's a basic kaiju film. You know, actually, I think where this movie fails is more on the human side, monster side. There's so many monster feelings. But I have to say that for me, with this particular movie, I just. I. Okay, I have to admit something. Right off the bat, I weeped when Godzilla died. This is the first time, actually, I've watched it and I was weeping, my face was wet. Like, I was mad at people for cheering that he was dead.

07:27
Case
I had that reaction too, at this point. Also, you just said he and I had a different reaction, which is that they keep calling Godzilla he even after it's like, oh, well, it's actually a mother.

07:37
Sam
No, but I think that's actually amazing. I actually think that it's great because I think that this Godzilla is, like, the answer toxic masculinity he is the most.

07:50
Case
Fair enough.

07:51
Sam
Maternal Godzilla ever. Definitely a guy asexual produced on his own. Did all of this sacrifice to find a place with a tunnel system to birth his young. And that's all he wants to do. He just wants to give birth. This one purpose that he has rises from the sea to, like, find a space. Which, by the way, New York was the wrong choice, buddy. But that is a whole other subject.

08:16
Case
But what are you talking about? It's perfect water on all side buildings to hide in.

08:20
Sam
I was like. I was like. But, like, fish, bro. Like, you're not gonna feed someone from the East river. Like, this is not the place to come feed your young. Like, I'm.

08:29
Case
Well, no, Godzilla wants more radioactive children.

08:31
Sam
But, like, I'm like a native New Yorker, right? Like, I know sometimes people go fishing. It's for sport. You let that shit go. You do not fucking eat that. Like, you go to places with actual, like, fish, right? So it's like, if they were gonna stay on the east coast, it would have made more sense to, like, have him, like, off the coast of Maryland and, like, climb into DC or, like, his tunnels, right? Or go up to Massachusetts, right? Like his.

08:58
Case
Well, yeah, I was gonna say, like, can you imagine? Yeah, or like. Or, like, lobsters. Like, he's like, he's in, like, Portland attacking it. And it's like everyone has, like, thick, like, mainer accents.

09:07
Sam
Yes. Like San Francisco.

09:10
Case
This friggin guy.

09:11
Sam
Like, San Francisco. Come on. Like, honestly, as I was watching this, like, I wanted, like, I was like, next time there is a movie where they are destroying New York and I get it, okay? Like, there's so many. Like, it's because New York has been in so many movies, right? It's very easy for people around the world to kind of connect to, like, the buildings, right? So it's like, oh, I know that landmark. I know that landmark. Right? So I get it. You want to just destroy what people know. But I'm like, the golden great Bridge is right there and that's so much closer. Like, destroy San Francisco. Like, destroy a different city.

09:47
Case
Yeah, yeah, that's true. Because then Godzilla either went through the Panama Canal or went around South America.

09:53
Hans Martin Jr
How did he get there?

09:54
Case
Which could. Which actually kind of feeds into one of my conversation points when we get to pitching. But, like, you know, it's. It's weird looking at this movie because, like, it. It is ultimately an americanized remake of the first Godzilla movie.

10:07
Sam
Like, yeah.

10:07
Case
It's got that same basic kind of element of, like, okay, monster comes and rampage is around. We have to deal with it that no other Godzilla movie does. Like, even the more recent remake of Godzilla is like, alright, well, I have other monsters, guys. Like, we're not crazy as the sugar. Yeah, so, yeah, like, choosing New York because New York is so recognizable. I mean, like, yeah, Sam, I agree. Before I moved to New York, I was like, always frustrated that, like, new York was the one city where you were expected to know the neighborhoods even if you weren't from there and, like, never been there because it was just like, no, you don't. You don't understand, like, the village, you don't understand the Upper east side. Like, all, you know, you don't.

10:46
Case
Harlem, like, everything has like, a connotation that is different than, like, Adams Morgan in DC.

10:53
Sam
Yeah, yeah, I mean, like, no, you're absolutely right. Like, honestly, I'm totally guilty of it. Like, I mean, now I travel more or I, well, I guess not right this moment I traveled more. But like, when I started traveling, like, when I first started traveling, when people asked me where I was from, I'd be like, washington Heights. And they'd be like, what? And be like, oh, New York City. Like, I expected them to somehow understand what Washington Heights meant. And that's because in the city, people ask you, like, which neighborhood you grew up in. Like, people don't just say queens, they say like, corona or Jamaica. Like, they actually name their neighborhood. But you're right, it's obnoxious. And I want a new hashtag, pick another city, destroy another city. Hashtag.

11:37
Sam
So next movie that comes out that destroys New York City, that's what I'm posting. Like, hash, destroy another city.

11:44
Hans Martin Jr
I think Roland Emmerich has a thing about destroying NYC because in a lot of his movies, he destroys New York a lot. And in this movie, he destroys a lot of big landmarks.

11:54
Sam
Oh, my God, he destroys everything. The Flatiron building, Madison Square Garden, the Chrysler building, which I'm fine with the Chrysler building because of parasite Eve. Like, fuck the Chrysler building. But that's.

12:09
Case
Well, I was gonna say. So, like, this is Roland Emmerich's big thing coming off of Independence Day. This is only two years later. And it's, you know, like, in that every city he destroyed, like, I think, like, pick another city. I'm like, well, yeah, but Roland, like, already said that he's fine with destroying everything because that's just like, in this case, he's just like, I'm gonna focus on New York and, like, pick out.

12:30
Hans Martin Jr
All the but he also did the day after tomorrow as well, where he destroyed New York a lot as well. So I don't know. I think he has a thing with New York. I really do.

12:38
Case
Well, and that's the thing that Roland Emmerich is a disaster movie maker. And so this is treating Godzilla movies as a guy, as a disaster movie, which is a choice. I don't think it's a bad choice, necessarily, but it is a particular choice, and it is different than what most of the, at this point, canon tohu movies.

12:57
Sam
Well, cinematically, it works, right? Like, watching the stuff get destroyed and the tightness of the buildings and, like, the. The. The opportunities that allows you all of that works. It just doesn't make sense to me in the universe for, like, what Godzilla's goal is, which is basically to, like, bear their young. And I'm gonna use a gender neutral term, bear their young and basically make sure that they are able to feed them. I just don't think that there's a good amount of food source in New York City for what their diet is. And I feel like there were a lot of stops along the way where Godzilla would have found more ample, like, fishing grounds and things like that and food sources. So I think, like, that just bothered me the whole time, because someone was like, manhattan. It's an island. It's perfect.

13:50
Sam
I was like, long island would even better. What are you talking about, bro?

13:54
Case
Yeah, it's also an island, but it's long.

13:57
Sam
I was like, and also, like, he can, like, be in the sea. There's, like, huge swaths of land where there's nobody for him to place his eggs. He could burrow anyway, because we see that he burrows. Like, it's not like you don't really need the city. Like, you just want to destroy things.

14:16
Case
Yeah, I mean, they make a big effort to, like, show how many, like, fish markets are in New York, and, like, yeah, there's some, but it's like, is it necessarily, like, way more than, like, any other coastal city? No, not at all.

14:28
Sam
And Manhattan is, like, the worst. Like, I would rather go to, like, the fish market in queens. I'm just saying. I'm just letting you guys know. Like, Manhattan, like, Fulton fish market, fine. But it's really not the best. Go on, guys. Sorry.

14:45
Hans Martin Jr
I mean, we're from Boston. We have some good fish markets over here.

14:49
Sam
I guess I'm saying destroy Boston. Boston's got some, like, ample ways to be destroyed. There's a beaut. There's freaking all of boiling. Stint is really lovely. I mean, destroy that beautiful library. Let's do it.

15:04
Hans Martin Jr
Like, I mean, it already had with Godzilla, king of the monsters. So that already happens. I mean, later on, I guess.

15:13
Sam
Yeah, but it still makes more sense, you know?

15:17
Case
Yeah. And like, any other city, but, like Sammy brought up earlier, like, west coast city makes more sense by far because if he's starting around, like, Japan or just in the Pacific in general, like, why wouldn't he come there first? Like, can you imagine like those big sloping hills for, like, San Francisco, like, having a shot where you see the crest of the hill and then Godzilla's head just starts to rise over it?

15:41
Sam
Absolutely.

15:41
Case
And then, like, come, like, you know, you could do like one of the, like the train cars, like, kind of riding on it. And as you, like, kind of come to the crest, you all of a sudden see the whole of Godzilla. Like, that would have been a great reveal shot.

15:52
Sam
Amazing. And honestly, like, the same thing that happened with the Brooklyn Bridge, you can do with the Golden State Bridge. Like, you can do that suspension wire scene. Like, and it's. Honestly, it would have been great. It would have been fine.

16:05
Case
Yeah. Maybe more impactful because, like, while the bridges are important to New York's identity, like, the Golden Gate Bridge is like the thing for San Francisco.

16:13
Sam
Yeah, yeah.

16:14
Case
But I mean, I also kind of get the vibe that they wanted to do the most recognizable city, like Roland Emmer, American. So from an outside perspective of looking at, like, what's the american equivalent tokyo?

16:25
Sam
Yeah, I get it.

16:26
Case
Like, New York makes sense. That part is logical enough. And I know what they're trying to do with this movie. Generally they are doing a disaster movie, but they are also aping Jurassic park hardcore to make that disaster movie. To make that Godzilla movie. Yeah, I mean, Sam, you brought up the guy in the suit kind of look. Let's talk about the look of Godzilla because that is a big sticky point for a lot of people. And I remember at the time, I dug the idea of making Godzilla look more like a dinosaur. Like, I like dinosaurs. I'm not like, I'm not ashamed to admit that I like dinosaurs. Controversial stance.

17:04
Hans Martin Jr
I didn't have an issue with him looking like a dinosaur. But the problem was that, that lower jaw really just looked off for me.

17:13
Case
Yeah. Oh, they doubled down on that.

17:14
Hans Martin Jr
It just looked off, that lower jaw. But you know, when Reid, when doing some research about this film, they were talking about making Godzilla more agile, you know, that he could run around the streets and stuff and I was like, that's fine. I'm perfectly fine with that. You know, with that, you know, instead of, you know, just this big dinosaur just, you know, slowly going around. But, yeah, I think the biggest thing was that. That lower jaw. It was really distracting. That's for sure.

17:44
Sam
Yeah, yeah.

17:44
Case
I remember with the marketing campaign for this movie, for a. A good chunk of it, they wouldn't show Godzilla in full. Like, you would see his feet a lot. Like, the poster, I think, is really evocative where it's just this giant, like, saurian foot. And that's it. Like, with, like, helicopters circling around it. Like, that's so cool. And, like, all the. All the marketing up until the movie actually came out didn't show what Godzilla looked like as a whole. Like, I remember being spoiled because a toy came out that, like. And I saw the toy for it. I was like, fuck.

18:14
Hans Martin Jr
Also a music video by, I think at the time, he was puff daddy at the time. Showed his face as well.

18:21
Sam
I know. What name is he going by now?

18:24
Hans Martin Jr
I think he's going by Sean Combs. I think he's going by Sean Combs now. I'm not sure.

18:29
Case
Well, yeah, we'll talk about music in a second.

18:33
Hans Martin Jr
That. Music videos.

18:35
Sam
Yeah. I have to say that I did like the way that the tail was animated, specifically, like. Like, the shots of the tail. Like, Godzilla clearly using the tail for balance and, like, moving around the buildings and the way it was destructive. Like, I thought that was pretty good in terms of the design. I just miss, you know, man in suit kind of awkward. Godzilla, though. And honestly, like, the babies, his progeny were a little too dino for me. Like, I felt like I wanted them to look a little more like a little less dinosaur. Like a little less velociraptor and a little more, like, kimono dragon. Like, you know, kind of stretched out from, like, you know, I wanted them to look like a new species. I didn't want them to look like something that was familiar to me.

19:28
Sam
It was okay for them to, like, take inspiration from it, but they did not, for me, kind of cut it. Especially their design.

19:37
Case
Yeah. I mean, again, this movie comes in the wake of Jurassic park being such a huge hit. And, like, there was definitely a push to have the design elements look like a thing because, like, the other part of it is that, like, the nineties are when all of a sudden cg character models start becoming viable for a movie. And not just. And that's the main version of a character, not just as, like, a. We can fill in, like, the special effects between puppets. Like it. They could do a full cg for all of them most of the time. And like, you know, there's this goal here to, quote unquote, make it look more realistic in design because obviously, like, one, dinosaurs didn't look like that. And two, it's not really a dinosaur.

20:18
Hans Martin Jr
Technically. It's an iguana that got mutated. That's. I think that's what the movie said.

20:23
Sam
Yeah.

20:24
Case
That's the implication in there, you know, which. Sure.

20:29
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah. They were nuclear testing and iguana was there and boom, that's how Godzilla got made. That's how they wrote it.

20:36
Case
Yeah. I mean, they don't commit super hard to, like, the specifics, but like, it's the same as the original. Like it, you know, if you want it to be a biological explanation as a result of radiation or if you want it to be an evil God, you could kind of roll with either this one plays down the evil God kind of approach. But, you know, it's because, like this, they were still making men in suit Godzilla movies at the time. And so when this came out, it was like kind of an opportunity to do like, all right, well, this is what the american take is going to because the american style of making monster movies at this point wasn't guy in suit like that. You know, were seeing that actively on tv with Power Rangers.

21:15
Case
And like I said, godzilla movies are still being made, but those are all imports. And Roland Emmerich was going to do a CG monster. And I'm cool with a lot of the design choices. The head is probably the spot that most people get stuck on because it just doesn't look like a Godzilla head. It looks like he saw Jurassic Park a lot and like the T Rex, I think.

21:35
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, pretty much, yeah. I mean, they did have a, another design of Godzilla, which looks more like, you know, a Godzilla. I don't know if y'all go to Wikipedia, you could see it, the original design they had. And, yeah, it was a lot more greener as well. It kind of looked like reptar from the rugrats, if you really ask me. But. But, yeah, y'all could check it out. The original design, which. It kind of looked a little more cartoony if they went with that, if you ask me.

22:02
Case
So, yeah, I see it and I like it overall. I like the more leaned down, kind of more bird like posture that they went, like, with. I thought that was an interesting choice if you're trying to make a sort of realistic one that is deliberately trying to break away from the traditions of old. You know, like, you look at the more recent Godzilla run of american movies where they are very deliberately trying to have it look like a guy in a suit, even if it's a full CGI monster. And like, they've got elements that look more like a real animal than just like rubber, but it's still, they still have the posture and so forth, like, in a way that, like, doesn't look like animals that we see in nature. They.

22:43
Case
Cause there aren't that many that like, stand perfectly upright the way that humans do. I don't know. I think what's cool is that the marketing campaign did a really good job of doing a thing that the movie actually fails, which is hiding the creatures.

22:53
Hans Martin Jr
That's very true. I remember one of the first trailers where it was like New Year's Eve in New York where they did the ball drop and then Godzilla, they just showed the backside of Godzilla in his tail and his tail hits the ball and the ball comes to where the humans are and destroys everybody. I remember it was, that was one of the first teasers it had and I thought it was awesome. I thought it was great. You know, it's like, oh, shoot, Godzilla's coming to New York, you know, and then. Yeah, they had other ones too, where Godzilla kind of like destroys the Museum of natural History. And I remember the taco bell one where back when Taco Bell had the Chihuahua, where the Chihuahua tried to trap the Godzilla with a little box but realized he can't.

23:34
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, even Taco Bell had a thing. Yeah, they don't show the monster and I think that's what made it great. Even the trailers, they don't quite show it either. And I think this. Yeah, you're right, Case. Yeah. They should have kept that in the movie until like the very end to really show it. I think, you know, that's kind of part of my pitch, but they really should kept that creepiness of not showing the monster, you know, until the end. I think that would have made it better.

23:59
Case
Yeah, I mean, maybe not the very end. Like, I. I am going to draw a lot of comparisons in our discussion to Cloverfield because there are a lot of Cloverfield similarities. I think storyline, like the actual plot of this is almost identical to Cloverfield. There's an interesting part there because I don't like Cloverfield.

24:16
Sam
Agree.

24:16
Case
Like, I know, I hate it. I know, I know.

24:20
Hans Martin Jr
I liked it.

24:22
Steven Angulo
Haven't seen it.

24:23
Case
I think it has a lot of JJ problem or JJ Abrams problems with direction there. There are strong points to it, but I felt like some of it's overdone. And there was a lot of just sort of, like, love about the shaky cam that made it difficult to watch comfortably. Well, it's not. Look, it does because, like, while I think it was fine, I don't think it was. I think it was overhyped and then was ultimately just a fine kaiju movie. It also has, like I said, the exact same story structure. And this movie, I think, falters because it's not quite clear where it wants to be. Like, Emmerich, I think, typically plays best when he has a big ensemble. I like Independence Day a lot.

25:06
Case
I think that large cast actually works really well in its favor because you can have some casualties in there, and it's not like you have stopped the story from happening. You can have lots of different perspectives on things. And it worked for that, especially because it was a global movie versus this, which is all, like, focused one setting. But, like, he's not very good at getting it, like, deep into the characters. And that's sort of, like, one of the problems here, because, like, for all of its problems, like, Cloverfield, like, feels like you're with these. With these people on the street wandering around trying to, like, figure out what the hell's going on. Like, not getting, like, being people on the street, not knowing what's up. Like, that's a cool take on it.

25:44
Case
This movie is, like, kind of halfway there and then, like, sort of a more broad perspective where we actually kind of have a. A macro knowledge. And I kind of wish that, like, the movie, if it was going to play with. With Emmerich's strengths, had more people seeing from different vantage points rather than the terrible duel arc that we have with. With Matthew Broderick's character, Nick and what's her face, Audrey. Because it's the humans that make this a really bad movie. Like, there's some good scenes in this movie in general.

26:11
Hans Martin Jr
It actually was fine.

26:13
Sam
And honestly, like, the bones of the film makes sense. There are things that they definitely get right, even about the humans one. And I don't want to jinx myself in my city, but New York always picks the worst mayor. We do. Like, we just always find the most buckling politician. And, like, I felt like the most authentic thing in this film was the guy who played the mayor made the most sense to me. I would say the military just, like, kind of being like, oh, good, it's eating. Shoot everything and doing more damage than the actual monster to New York City. Yeah. Checks out. Makes sense to me. Like, I was just like, yeah, that's. That's a beat I totally get. Mm. Yeah. I think that, like, in general, I think that the french secret service.

27:03
Hans Martin Jr
Oh, God.

27:04
Sam
Although I was, like, a very interesting choice. I liked them, whatever. Like, they were cool. They were. They were, like, fine. They were. They were like, you know, doing their job, being all altruistic and shit. And I love the gum scene.

27:21
Hans Martin Jr
I thought that was hilarious. It was like, we american, we chew gum to look like Americans. I was like, what? It's just hilarious.

27:28
Sam
There were a lot of really funny things, like, with, like, coffee and hating everything. There were just, like, a lot of small relaxation.

27:35
Case
I loved the coffee bit. That was great.

27:38
Sam
All the cosmos. He's like, he's like, this is french roast. He's like, look. And he said, like, holds up the can that says french roast. And he just looks at it with disgust. Yeah, but there's just nothing more cream because there's just nothing they can do because they're in America and it's just subpar. But, like, there were, like, really, like, good. There were some good human moments. Like, there were some good, like, jokes. There were some good bits here and there. But the main characters.

28:10
Hans Martin Jr
Oh, gosh.

28:11
Sam
Are, like, kind of awful. They're kind of awful. Like, Niko's not bad. Like, Matthew Broderick's not a bad person. He's very in love with his work. He doesn't wear a hazmat suit in Chernobyl.

28:28
Hans Martin Jr
That was interesting.

28:29
Sam
What the fuck? He never wears any protective gear. They're going down into the tunnels later on to chase Godzilla to find the eggs. Everyone else is wearing army hats, like, hard hats. He has his head completely exposed, and there's ceilings, like, debris falling all over the place. I'm like, wow, you really know you're the main character. Not gonna die, huh?

28:53
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah. You know, one of my biggest gripes about this movie, too, and I think mainly with the characters, it's way too campy, you know, with their things, you know? I thought their jokes were like, okay at best. Like, the one that really made me roll my eyes is when. When that army guy said, we're gonna need a bigger gun. I was like, really? Now? Yeah, it was. Yeah. And you know, that whole, you know, stereotypical things, like the journalists trying to get that big story, but her boss is a jerks. You know, that whole stereotype. It cliche, whatever you want to call it. It's just the humans that were not relatable. Maybe Matthew Broderick comes close, but he was just a little too goofy for my liking. You know? That was my issue with that.

29:42
Sam
You know, my main issue with their entire relationship is that, like, he forgives her way.

29:49
Hans Martin Jr
And that's very true. Yes.

29:51
Sam
Like, way too quickly. Like, I actually shouted out like I was Luke Skywalker. No, when they kissed, like, I was just like, what? Like, I get it. Like, okay. Like, you just dealt with, like, you know, you almost died. I get it. I get it. But also, like, no, like, she totally fucked you over for ambition and her excuse that her boss wouldn't let her, like, rise to the top and she hasn't done what she wanted to do with her life, so she was so ashamed in front of you and that's why she had to steal things from your office and, like, sell your information. No, that doesn't cut it, sweetheart. Like, no, I'm sorry. Like, you like it. Like, it was just like he was, the character was written way too forgiving of that.

30:41
Sam
Like, I don't even know if I would have helped her up when she fell from that great. I don't feel like I'm petty, but, like, I wouldn't have let her die, but, like, you know, I'm not gonna help her up, that's all.

30:56
Case
Like, Nick, I thought overall was fine, except the script is bad. Like, his scenes are generally poorly written. But, like, Matthew Broderick, I thought was, like, fairly charming. Like, when he first sees Audrey, like, when she, like, catches him at the drugstore and he's, like, very, like, flabbergasted that she's there. And he's, like, kind of, like, surprised and, like, excited, but, like, has the hurt. And then he, like, turns back to the cast register and, like, asks how much it is. Like, I thought that, like, those are moments where I'm like, oh, I see Matthew Broderick as this, like, very charming actor that worked well enough for me. It's that she's not a good character and, like, doesn't have anything to, like, play off of. She doesn't feel very sympathetic. The. The script is terrible.

31:39
Case
And it's not just, it's not purely an actor standpoint. It's the. Just the character is not good. It's not well cast. It just awkward. Yeah, I just. It's, it's a bummer of, like, a nineties love interest.

31:51
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, it felt forced big time, that's for sure.

31:55
Steven Angulo
Oh, yeah. Just ridiculous. Like, everyone's just fighting to be the comic relief at this point. Like, I wonder if just Hank Azaric, he's the comedian, but, like, I don't want to laugh at Matthew Broderick's area.

32:07
Hans Martin Jr
There was a lot of Simpsons voice actors in this movie, too. There's at least three of them, including Nancy Cartwright, who voices Bart. She was in that, which I thought it was interesting. Yeah, yeah. It was a very minor part, but, yeah, Hank Azaria, who likes to play the controversial roles except for this one. And. Yeah. And Harry Shearer, who we known as Ned Flanders and. And principal Skinner was the jerk boss, so. Yeah. And maybe that kind of contributed to the campiness, too, is putting Simpsons voice actors in this.

32:44
Case
Well, it's funny because I liked animal Hank Azaria's character. Like, I thought his scene running out to, like, get the Godzilla footage the first time. Like, there's, like, some funny, like, body movement. It's a little campy, but it's, like, funny body movement when he's, like, trying to make sure the tapes in play. And, like, the Godzilla foot, like, just barely missing him moment, I think works fine for the level of seriousness.

33:05
Hans Martin Jr
That this movie is.

33:06
Case
You know, it's overall, like, a bummer that Godzilla doesn't feel like he has more weight. Like, with every step. Like, the fact that people can miss him when he walks right by is kind of weird. I'm saying he. But again, like, it's so weird.

33:19
Sam
Like, I think you're fine.

33:21
Case
On the one hand, it's like, well, yeah, gender is a construct, but on the other hand, it's the character is like, the whole plot point is about the character getting pregnant.

33:28
Sam
Let it go, bro. Sometimes men get pregnant. Now, like, I know. It's not really my. Accept it.

33:36
Case
The weird spot is that the scene leading up to it, they're like, they're saying he very emphatically. And I kind of remembered it being like, you know, I remember the twist where it's like. And he is pregnant. Like, he's pregnant. It's like a very weird he. And then they just keep on calling it.

33:52
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah.

33:53
Case
Like, without ever, like, kind of acknowledging that, like, the issue is that it's a mother. That just, that part just sort of struck me. I'm like, oh, we're just gonna ignore that detail now? Well, but again, look, the pronoun. Pronoun choice doesn't matter. I'm just saying it is an unknowable alien specific.

34:10
Sam
I think you're right on some level because Godzilla should have been able to choose their own pronouns and define themselves. But the original creator did say, like, in the original film, they do actually use gender neutral terms for Godzilla. They call it all the time. But the original creator did say that in retrospect, he did believe that it was a he because of the destructive power that Godzilla has. I don't know if that's, like, really fair because that itself is a gendered judgment. But I think that maybe that is why in the film they. They continue to call it a he. And then because it is, you know, done by asexual process, they just figured, like, seahorses, they could just continue to call it he because that's the sex that Godzilla has been claimed by the. By the originator.

35:13
Case
So, yeah, it's just weird because, like, they're drawing on parthenogenesis, which is, like, found in certain types of lizards, and those are species of lizards that are found to be entirely biologically female. Like, I. Again, the pronoun thing is, like, not really the point. And we didn't really have. What surprises me isn't that it has, like, modern, like, we don't care about pronouns kind of conversation. It's that in the nineties, it would have cared about pronouns and then somehow, like, aggressively doesn't. It's very true. Which it just threw me because I thought that was the big twist. And then they're like, almost don't.

35:46
Hans Martin Jr
My thing is, if Godzilla was pregnant, it didn't really showed that Godzilla wasn't showing it was pregnant before he went to Madison Square Garden.

35:54
Sam
Well, I think. I think Godzilla had already laid eggs. Like, I think, like, the minute it got into Manhattan, it basically burrowed and laid eggs because that was, like, the whole point. The point was that, like, so my question was, like, how did he still know that it was pretty pregnant from the test that he did? Because he said that the. The eggs were already hatched and that. And that, like, they needed to find the nest as quickly as possible. So I was just like, so, wait, was Godzilla still just carrying around that hormone? And, like, the hormone is the same? I was just like, I don't think I should think too much about the actual science of this.

36:38
Hans Martin Jr
There was no Sci-Fi.

36:39
Case
Nick says that either Godzilla is about to lay eggs or has recently laid eggs.

36:44
Hans Martin Jr
The Sci-Fi was not great in this. It really isn't.

36:48
Case
Yeah, well, no, look, the radiation of Chernobyl made our worms 15% bigger. Okay, but that's our explanation.

36:55
Sam
Also, no one's wearing protective gear. It was bugging me. Like, I didn't even know where they really were because I don't know if it said it, like, on the screen. I totally missed it. I guess I was looking down or something and I was just like, oh, everyone's running past him speaking Russian. And I thought he was, like, weirded out because they were speaking in Russian. And then I found out later that he was an Chernobyl. And I was like, why was he just singing? Singing in the rain? It's like a vest. Then.

37:26
Hans Martin Jr
It reminded me of a clockworld orange for some odd reason, because of the song. It just felt weird. Yeah, it was just weird hearing that song, for sure.

37:36
Case
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure part of it also is that Matthew Broderick is very well known for singing on Broadway and wanted to, like, sing a little bit, but that's like, really. Well, he's driving in the rain, so.

37:46
Hans Martin Jr
I think that's they could have been better song, but.

37:49
Sam
Catalyst reign in Chernobyl, dudes reign in Chernobyl. Like, that's even worse. Like, and then you got out of your car in just, like, normal clothing. What?

38:04
Hans Martin Jr
And mess it with worms.

38:07
Case
So I want to maintain my thesis that, like, if the. If the movie had a broader cast, rather than, like, trying to focus on, like, having main characters in the form of Nick and Audrey, that it would have been a stronger movie overall. Like, if we spent more time, I guess not more time necessarily with the french guys, but, like, if it was, like, divided around different groups and they kind of came together more at the end the way Independence Day did, it would have been better because most of these relationships are just really awkward when we try to spend too much time with any of them. Audrey sucks because we spent too much time with her. Introductory scene. Probably wouldn't have bothered me so much if that was laid out all the bullet points.

38:47
Case
And then we checked in with her a few times, but we keep coming back to her so much that it's like, oh, so were really heavy handed off the bat for no reason.

38:57
Sam
Yeah.

38:57
Case
And one of the things I wanted to talk about is, like, have you noticed that every boss in this movie is a rapist?

39:02
Hans Martin Jr
Seriously, I think that's very nineties.

39:06
Sam
I want to say that I really appreciate that since Audrey was gonna get sexually harassed, that Matthew Broderick sort of got sexually harassed, that I did enjoy.

39:17
Case
Kind of that it was girl boss.

39:19
Sam
I kind of appreciated it. Like, not that I approve of sexual harassment of anyone, but I was just like, wow. Yeah, she just basically looked him up and down and was like, hey, there's short stuff. You look smart.

39:36
Hans Martin Jr
That was nineties, you know, at his finest, which is. Yeah. A time that happens a lot in movies and tv shows.

39:45
Case
Yeah, it's very nineties when Harry Scheer's character is at one point on the phone, he's like, I don't care about a war in a country I can't even pronounce. I'm like, wow, three years later, you will.

39:56
Sam
Yeah.

39:58
Case
Yeah, yeah, man. And, I mean, there's. There's other issues with this movie. Like, from a modern perspective, the CG doesn't hold up.

40:07
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, it doesn't. But then again, at. In the nineties, you kind of have to forgive it, you know? I mean, it wasn't Jurassic park standards, but I think Jurassic park used a little more puppeteering, I think, too, which made it work well.

40:20
Case
But this movie could.

40:20
Hans Martin Jr
Well, they did have budget disputes as well, which I think contributed to that. So.

40:25
Case
Yeah, I think the bigger issue is that they introduced Godzilla in the daytime.

40:28
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, true. Very true.

40:30
Sam
Yeah.

40:30
Case
And. And too early. Like, we see too much of Godzilla clearly too soon. And then even the night shots are very well lit.

40:38
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah.

40:38
Case
But I like. I like the modern american military versus Godzilla aspect. I think that's a good choice. I think that's sort of one of the questions. Every time you re up your Kaiju lore, you're like, all right, well, how far have we progressed? Going back even before our concept of kaiju movies with War of the worlds, it's like, how well do we do against these giant walkers and then King Kong? Well, we've got biplanes. By the time you get to the first Godzilla movie, it's like, all right, yeah, nukes exist. We're not going to nuke the city. So, like, what else do we have? Can we. Can we fight a thing that big? And by this point, it's like, all right, cool. We've got, like, really cool helicopters who can fly through, like, a city and, like, fly between buildings and stuff.

41:17
Case
Like, that's cool. I think that. I think those are all good ideas, but I don't feel that we ever have a spot where it feels like it's smart enough how they ultimately deal with Godzilla. Like, the end, like, it just kind of keeps happening. We take a break to deal with the. The. The babies. Then we come back to, like, another big Godzilla fight. And sure, we get the bridge scene, which is, like, relatively clever, but it would have been nice to, like, feel like America's, like, really trying to pull out all the stops, like, or the world, even better. Like, have a united front of, like, different foreign powers. Like, sending.

41:53
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, like, seriously. Seriously. That was, that. That's another one of my gripes, is it's just America trying to deal with it, that you would think that they would have other countries other than the French secretly trying to destroy it, too. You know? Like, you know, there's a lot of things in this movie that doesn't make sense. Like, you know, when they, when they're talking to that japanese fisherman, you know, who looked like we're saying Kojira, you know, like, apparently that's been known before. So you would think that the country he's from, maybe they know something about it. They could contact them and maybe they could come in and help out, you know? But no, I guess american pride wants to still destroy that, you know, and things.

42:32
Hans Martin Jr
America glories America, you know, it's just, there's a lot of things that just doesn't make sense to me. And, and, of course, with the action, you know, how did you know submarine missiles did not kill that Godzilla? But then when he gets stuck in the Brooklyn Bridge, it does. I don't know. There's something off with me in that one as well, but, well, that's the.

42:53
Case
Other thing that we don't get a real sense of, like, how wounded Godzilla is.

42:56
Hans Martin Jr
Exactly.

42:57
Case
Like, we established that he bleeds, and that's good. But, like, the vibe of Godzilla, like, take, like, this war of attrition is missing there. And I feel like that would have helped this movie a lot.

43:08
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah.

43:09
Sam
I think also, like, they make a point at one point to say, like, heat seeking missiles are not something that can affect him. They can't get a lock on him. And then later on, he leads those, you know, the missiles back towards the submarine. And maybe it's because he's underwater, but again, there's nothing explained as to why his chemistry would be different underwater as it is on land.

43:35
Hans Martin Jr
Exactly.

43:35
Sam
And it's like, honestly, it's kind of one of those things where, like, the script kind of the universe changes the rules to kind of make it more convenient for the script. And that always annoys me. It always annoys me when, like, one rule applies for one half of the movie or, like, a couple of scenes, and then the rules change to make things convenient and to end them and make them, like, kind of come to an end. So I was just like, wait, but how is he leading the missiles back? Like, is it does, is his body temperature different in water, like. And that was.

44:15
Case
Well, I have some thoughts on that.

44:16
Sam
Oh, yeah. This is why I brought it up. I knew. I knew you would, case.

44:20
Case
Yeah, well, so the statement that they made was that he's not warmer than the buildings around him, which makes sense if it's New York. But, like, early in the process, where, like, power hasn't been shut off for very long, like, most of those buildings would have retained quite a bit of heat, sort of versus being in the water where there's nothing else around him, I think, is the logic that they're using in this movie. I hate that he's not presented as being warm blooded. Like, that, I think is insane. He is a giant radioactive monster. Regardless of if it's just that it's the radiation and so forth should have made him stand out like a sore thumb. Or the fact that dinosaurs are big, warm blooded creatures because they're just fucking birds. All of that is weirdest understanding of biology possible.

45:05
Hans Martin Jr
And that how they pre celebrate thinking they killed him, the whole army. It's instead of trying to find a body and make sure of it.

45:13
Case
Yeah. Oh, yeah.

45:15
Sam
But that. That felt very american to me. Yeah, I was fine with it.

45:19
Hans Martin Jr
True. That's very true.

45:21
Case
The mayor felt less annoying on this watch than it did on any previous watch of this movie because it felt very much like what we just dealt with, where it's just like, what do you mean? We can't go back to work already. Like, the monster might be gone. It's like, yeah, but we have zero confirmation that it's, like, before they even think they killed it. Like, when they think, oh, we just haven't seen it. It's somewhere on the island. Like, we haven't been able to lock visual target. It's like, well, can't we all come back to New York? What are you talking about, man?

45:46
Sam
Yeah. Post COVID. Or let's be honest, just during COVID a lot of things that we thought would never happen. Clearly. Yeah. We owe a lot of apologies to some script writers. There will definitely be people trying to shop during a zombie apocalypse. We know it now.

46:06
Case
Yeah, yeah.

46:07
Hans Martin Jr
With that.

46:08
Case
So let's talk for a moment about the fact that it's Mayor Ebert and his assistant is named Gene.

46:13
Hans Martin Jr
No, they did that on purpose too.

46:16
Case
No, I know. I know.

46:17
Hans Martin Jr
Roland Emmerich did that on purpose. Yes, yes.

46:21
Case
I know. That's. I'm not. I'm not commenting on, like, that's a weird oversight. I'm saying, like, no. So a not subtle dig right there. And then when Gene quits at the end. He's like, you know what I think of you? And he gives him a thumbs down and walks off.

46:34
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, that was funny. And, you know, they asked Ebert about it. He was like, yeah, whatever. Didn't care.

46:43
Case
It was just some petty bullshit that I was like, all right, that's not in any way subtle. But as we said, like, in this era, we have seen that actually is how they would operate where it's like, oh, you evacuated Manhattan because there was a giant monster, and the monster is not in our line of sight currently. Back to work, everyone.

47:05
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, they were dealing with a mini Giuliani right there, so that's for sure.

47:11
Sam
Everybody get back to the right era for that, too. Yeah, I actually kind of like. Because actually, when. When they. Okay, so clearly I'm team Godzilla because I didn't feel like I necessarily was. But when the monster died, when Godzilla dies or they believe that he dies, I was like, sad. And I was like, aw, soon. It's so early in the movie. I guess we're gonna go find the eggs, you know? But I was just like, aw. So I was actually really thrilled, clearly so thrilled when Godzilla pops up, like, after the bombing of Madison Square Garden to show, like, no, bitch, I'm really alive. And then I was so sad when it was just, like, my babies, like, just, like, carcasses on the ground.

48:03
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah.

48:05
Sam
And then, of course, like, he chased chases and, like, I've already admitted to this, but, like, I was really sad. I was really sad for Godzilla because, like, again, going from the whole, like, cannot be judged by morality. Like, this thing is not good, not bad. Like, it's just a creature. I felt really bad for it. Like, it was just like, I just wanted to, like, have my babies and, like, put them in a place that was nice and safe for them to.

48:32
Hans Martin Jr
Be raised, put in menace. The square garden where the Knicks play. Yeah. Boys idea.

48:36
Sam
Yeah, well, there was plenty of room there. You know, there's clearly some nice facilities. You know, good. Good large bathtubs.

48:45
Hans Martin Jr
Well.

48:45
Case
And also all the tunnels lead. Yeah, like, that. That part actually makes sense from a. If you look at the, like, the train and subway map for the city.

48:53
Sam
Yeah, it's good access out and in. I mean, it was actually really. Honestly, I'm gonna give Godzilla props on that. That was very good house hunting.

49:03
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, I was gonna say there's no fans there, but then I realized that was the nineties. The Knicks were good at that time.

49:11
Case
There's a scene where they are later when they're trying to get a message out, and it's like, all the lines are dead. It's like, okay, it's okay. We have an Internet here.

49:20
Sam
Oh, yeah. That was hilarious. You know, there were moments in this film because, you know, we live in the age that we live in that I was just like, oh, right. Back then, they didn't have so many of these things, you know, like, now, like, there'd be no fucking. Like, there's so many cameras everywhere, and we're. We watch so many different things. Everyone would know where Godzilla is. There'd be, like, social media posts all the time. Like, it would. Everyone would have their eyes on this giant monster. Like, like, and the fact that he just had, like, a tape going into the camera. Like, everything's done digitally now. There were a lot of things like that where I was just like, oh, right, the nineties.

50:05
Case
Yeah. And then I actually have to say, so there's a few things they do in this movie that are new for Godzilla property that I think are interesting choices and potentially, like, more menacing than they would be otherwise. So the two things I want to talk about. Godzilla swimming. Prior to this point, Godzilla has always been established as a water creature. But because it's always been a guy in a suit, it's always been, like, standing upright, walking through, like, walking on the floor of the ocean. Probably some scenes where it's like, a little bit of swimming, but never so, like, sleek and streamlined, a swimming form. And that's actually fucking terrifying. Like, I feel like we're missing out on what could have been a really cool naval battle beyond just, like, the limited interaction we get in this.

50:42
Case
Like, that could have been a good chunk of the movie. Instead, like, maybe some sort of last stand of Godzilla being separated from its eggs on Manhattan. And, like, the fleets of, let's say, america. Because there is an aspect of America's hubris being in play, like independence. They had a whole big thing about how, like, America tries to take a stand against the aliens by using nuclear weapons and so forth. And, like, ultimately, America by itself is not able to do it, and they have to unite with the rest of the world. Could have done, like, something like that. Like, our fleets aren't able to hold Godzilla back. Godzilla is too powerful a force of nature. It's bigger than one country. Could have been a cool kind of vibe, especially if we actually get to see, like, our.

51:17
Case
The full array of our destructive firepower, which, frankly, is on our aircraft carriers, not like, the helicopters that we're able to send into Manhattan. So I thought that was cool that we got to see it, and I wish we got more. And then the egg laying part is actually probably the scariest thing that any of these types of kaiju could do. Like, in a sense, while Zilla, the tohu version of this Godzilla character, got one shotted by. By the real Godzilla, if. If they were constantly propagating, you know, hundreds of these creatures, and, like, it took only a few years for them to get up to the sides. Eventually they would win because, yeah, as, like, as a species, that's way more effective.

52:01
Sam
Honestly, that's the only thing that made me stop crying is the realization that, like, we couldn't cohabitate with the species. Like, I was. Guys, I was really sad. I was really sad they killed Godzilla, and. But I was like, oh, we can't cohabitate. So, like, I guess, like, it was, like, really us or them. And I think, like, Matthew Broderick's character does give off a sense of feeling sympathy for the creature as it dies.

52:30
Hans Martin Jr
It does.

52:31
Sam
Which I think, like, is what kind of resonates with that. So I actually think, like, despite the bad script, he did a pretty decent job at doing work in this film. But, yeah, they multiply really quickly. And he did mention that even at birth, they already are technically pregnant. Like, they already are ready to create more of them. And that's terrifying because it's just like, I mean, that alone should have been knowledge that would have gotten the rest of the world involved. But then again, living in a post COVID world, politics plays a part, doesn't it? In quick action.

53:13
Case
Yeah. And I was cool with moments where the mayor was, like, really preventing the army from functioning. I thought those were good commentaries on that kind of thing. Stephen, you've been a bit quiet, actually. Are there things that stood out to you on this watching of the movie?

53:26
Steven Angulo
Well, I'll admit this, though. True. I saw this film as a kid. Of course I enjoyed. Cause I was a kid. But watching it now, you get to see, like, you know, this is cheesy as hell. Like, my gosh. And not just that. The story makes sense. Okay, we got. We got a kaiju monster, and he just laid eggs, so we gotta, you know, fight off all these different kinds of monsters. But, like, the execution was just done so poorly. And don't keep us on the horrible editing. Like, the opening scene where, like, Gaza attached a little, like, submarine. Like. Like that ship thing. And then, like, we cut to Mavi Barek singing of singing in the rain. Like, no I want to see more destruction. But then just, like, cuts immediately. It's like, oh, a second thought. We almost. We almost showed Godzilla.

54:13
Steven Angulo
Let's go to an actual main character here.

54:15
Hans Martin Jr
I agree with that. But, you know, what's the moment that I really think it jumped a shark, which is saying something for this film is at the end when they were driving a taxi, which apparently the french guy knows New York very well. When it got. When Godzilla got the taxicab in its mouth. And yet not only that, it didn't destroy the taxicab. Nobody died. It didn't get crushed. Somehow they got out of its mouth and the car was still working. I'd never understood that part. Well, yeah, exactly. They should have been dead.

54:54
Steven Angulo
It's the nineties.

54:55
Hans Martin Jr
Should have been dead.

54:56
Steven Angulo
Caps are invisible back then.

54:58
Case
Well, that's actually a big issue with this movie, which is that there is a lack of collateral. Yeah, the, like, New York seems very intact. Like, even if Godzilla did just leave at the. After his first appearance, New York is not ready for people to come back in yet. Like, like, I was there when, like, the hurricanes came through. Was it ten years ago? And, like, just the subways being out from water in the. In the tunnels was like, a huge, like, devastating issue to, like, the workflow and of the city. Like, New York generally, like, requires a lot of infrastructure to stay functioning. And a giant Kaiju would really mess that up. But also, like, no one fucking dies in this movie. I don't think there's a single actual fatality.

55:36
Hans Martin Jr
No, none of the big characters died, which is rare for a Roland Emmerich movie.

55:41
Sam
Yeah. I will also say, going back to the structural infrastructure of the city, Godzilla is not just using already made time tunnels. I mean, yes, there are already many tunnels, but Godzilla is basically, like, making their own tunnels. Like, they're going through this space and they are burrowing through tunnels that structurally would create some major collapses in some of the parts of the city. The entire city would not be structurally sound for anyone to walk through. Like, sinkholes exist and they still exist in the city. They don't. Like, we. We are very careful with our infrastructure and we do a lot of repairs in the city, but there are definitely times where we have to be careful. And it's one of the reasons why and not to get too much into New York City politics.

56:30
Sam
But there's been a second Avenue line subway line that's been in construction for a very long time. And it's taken billions of dollars and many years in order to construct this new subway line because there are already structures on top of, of it. And they have to be very careful on how they drill and where they drill and for how long they drill to make sure that those structures stay up and the tunnel, a, does not collapse and b, that they do not ruin the buildings with the people living in them above that to collapse. If Godzilla was doing this, there would be a lot more structural damage than just what the army did. There would be sinkholes. There would be, like, buildings that would fall apart. Like. Yeah. Like, honestly, like, on a whole scientific, like, factual.

57:21
Sam
You know, this is definitely, we are suspending all sorts of, like, which is why it doesn't make sense to make Godzilla look more realistic because there's nothing in this movie except for the fact that the mayor is crappy. That is realistic.

57:36
Case
Well, and that's like, the bummer, though, with this movie because, like, the fact that Godzilla isn't fighting another kaiju means that, like, well, what's the, what is the thing that we're looking at here? And if it's Godzilla is a force of nature destroying stuff, that devastation actually needs to be a part of it. Like, like, that's the thing, I think, where the Godzilla part of it because, again, the human stuff sucks. The script's terrible, but the Godzilla part of it is that we should be seeing destruction. We should be seeing devastation. We should, like, at the very least, having people's homes be destroyed would have been a big thing. Like, we see all those people displaced, like, kind of partying at animals house when we come back at that one spot.

58:13
Case
And sure, a lot of them are panicking and on phones and so forth, but, like, the sense that everyone who's been evicted from Manhattan, that their lives as they knew it are, is over, is missing. Even if we're not getting into the death toll, which should be at least in the hundreds, if not the thousands.

58:28
Sam
Yeah, they never mentioned that in any of the news reports at all, which we all know as people who've watched the news before, that they definitely would be, they would be talking about how many people are missing, how many people haven't been able to reunite with their families. Like, like 35 people are missing. And then, you know, like, and there's a meat point here also. Like, technically, like, geographically, what happened to Brooklyn? Like, you can't get into New Jersey. Like, did they just all drive to Long island? Are people just huddled, like, in the corners of, like, this space? And, like, are people panicking in Long island? Because I would be. I'd be like, so are we just stuck on this island? Like, you can't get on a ferry because this thing can swim? Like, that should have been a whole thing.

59:22
Sam
There should have been a thing where you were, like, trying to evacuate people from the outer boroughs that are away from the rest of the larger part of the continent to other spaces because Manhattan's right in the middle, guys. And taking them to other places on a ferry and have this thing attack the ferry. Yeah, like, it's on its water. Like. Like, have people from Brooklyn unable to take the subway. Unable to. Like, they can't get to Jersey, right? So, like, put them on a boat. Put them on a boat. Take them up. And then while they're doing that, Godzilla finds them. Godzilla destroys it. I don't know why. Because it can. We'd have to find a motivation for that.

01:00:06
Sam
But, I mean, that would have actually shown you a little bit of toll because, like, honestly, like, there's more to New York City than Manhattan.

01:00:17
Hans Martin Jr
Yep, that's very true.

01:00:18
Case
Well, and also the fact that they made this godzilla a pescatarian kind of also sort of defangs it. Like, well, like, maybe we actually don't even know what Godzilla actually eats.

01:00:31
Sam
Yes, we actually are collecting all the fish. So, like, this godzilla clearly, like, is fish. But, like, in. In the original series, like, godzilla actually does not eat humans. That is something that is, like, a specific thing that is said about godzilla. It is not really that interested in humans, and it's not interested in eating humans. But, like, generally, like, it eats plants and it destroys things just from its basic being around and being so huge. And it does sometimes, like, fish. But, like, generally in the past, in Godzilla lore, Godzilla does not eat people, which is why you can call on Godzilla to defend you from other kaiju. But then in this movie, and I had a problem with this, and maybe, like, other Godzilla fans did, too, the baby ate one of the french guys.

01:01:23
Sam
And I was just like, but that's not his diet. Like, it's not just like a baby. Like a baby didn't know. Cause it's a baby. So it just ate this. Cause it's starving. Like, at most, maybe he maybe bite a finger and be like, eh, that tastes terrible. And then walk away.

01:01:40
Hans Martin Jr
Or a head, you know, and just spit it out, you know?

01:01:43
Sam
Yeah.

01:01:46
Steven Angulo
Well, they just smell like the fish, so it's kind of like pop.

01:01:49
Case
They can't really tell what they're eating.

01:01:50
Hans Martin Jr
Those babies really love popcorn. They were eating a lot of popcorn.

01:01:53
Sam
Again, they are. They do like plants. So popcorn is a plant. Sort of.

01:01:58
Hans Martin Jr
All right, fair enough.

01:02:00
Case
I mean, I'm not saying necessarily it needs to eat humans, but it is. It is just interesting. There's nothing that we see Godzilla, the adult godzilla, eat godzilla in this. Collects the fish at every point and takes it back to Madison Square Garden to create piles and piles of fish for the babies to eat. But we never actually get a sense of what it eats in this environment.

01:02:19
Sam
This is why I feel like it would have made more sense for Godzilla to go somewhere where there are large fish, like whales, because, like. Well, I guess they're not fish. Well, but you know what I mean? Like, in the technic. Like, in the technical world. Right, sorry. Mammals of the sea. But. But what I'm saying is, like, I would feel like he would have to eat large prey. Like one of the things or theories of, like, oh, boy. For the reasons why large mammals die off in the ocean or have died off in the ocean, why they don't exist anymore, like the megalodon and things like that, is that, like, their actual prey died, right? Like, the larger fishes, the large fish and the large things that they could prey on and eat died.

01:03:03
Sam
So, like, godzilla's not just gonna eat some, like, tuna caught by some fishermen. Like, like, they had, like, cans of tuna out, like, on the beach, as if, like, that's why Godzilla attacked the boat, because it was, like, shipping tuna, which was like, guys. No, like, he's. No, if. If he's his pescatarian, then he's gonna go after, like, fucking dolphins or something. Like, something large. Like. Like a big. A big person or a big monster. I'm trying to use gentle, neutral terms for Godzilla. A good godzilla. A big Godzilla needs a big meal. You know, it bothered me.

01:03:44
Case
Or counterpoint on that is that Godzilla might also like, the scale difference of, like, fish to Godzilla in this is effectively like plankton to, like a blue whale or something like that. So, like, should Godzilla be like a baleen creature? Like no teeth, just like a big net of, like, flesh inside of its mouth to, like, filter out the particulates of meat and, like, into, like, a slurry that it consumes the way, like. Like a whale shark does that.

01:04:13
Sam
I mean, yes, I agree with you, but also, like. And that's the thing, right? He's got these giant freaking teeth. So, like, you're right. Maybe he should eat meat. But, you know, I think they just wanted to do it so they wanted to make cartoons, case.

01:04:29
Case
True. And that's sort of the balancer, because, like, you could make it very scary. You can make it, like. Like, alien, for example, or aliens, I should probably more so where, like, Godzilla was collecting humans and putting them in Madison Square garden for the babies to eat when they hatched. Like that. That would be, like, some real scary stuff. But I don't know where they wanted to with the property. But at the very least, we needed to see casualties. Like, and that casualty might be the, like, the infrastructure of their lives, but we needed to see devastation that made the stakes of Godzilla's existence feel so toxic to humanity. Because at the end, I also was very sad that Godzilla died.

01:05:03
Steven Angulo
We did kind of see that during, like, the first attack. Like, you know, that truck fell on some ground. A group of people, like, very Looney tune ish, though. And the guy, you know, dangling from the truck that goes ahead in his mouth.

01:05:14
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah.

01:05:14
Case
Definitely died during time.

01:05:16
Sam
I mean, I don't understand why the director decided to save those looters. Like, they're clearly stealing. Like, those are the perfect people to crush underfoot. Like, those are the perfect people to, like. Like, I feel like something bad's coming. Splat. That's still funny. Let them die.

01:05:33
Case
Yeah, that would have been hilarious, for sure.

01:05:36
Sam
Like, that's karmic power, right? Godzilla is judge dredd at that moment.

01:05:42
Hans Martin Jr
It needs more. Yeah, it needs more death, that's for sure.

01:05:46
Case
I think we should segue to pitches in a second, but I had two things I wanted to just do before we got there. So the first one is just a little bit of speculation because this couldn't be in this movie. But, like, what if they didn't succeed at stopping the godzilla babies? What if it was, like, some sort of, like, dune situation with, like, the. Like, the sandworm sort of, like, overpopulating the world? Like, would we see, like, 100 years from now? Like, some sort of, like. I don't think humanity would be wiped out. I think humanity would learn to either shepherd these creatures and, like, ride godzillas, which is so fucking metal. That would be amazing.

01:06:17
Sam
I want one.

01:06:18
Case
It would be, like, some primal rage kind of thing where we devolve into, like, a cult that worships these, like, you know, massive gods that tower over us.

01:06:26
Sam
I mean, I will be honest with you. The babies should have gotten out because they didn't have to do anything to those doors when they brought the chandeliers down. Like, there was nothing actually blocking the doors of Madison Square Garden as they ran out just before it was, like, blown up, and there was nothing. There was nothing blocking the doors there. And so, like, if you're not. Okay, so let's say this follows the actual rules of the universe, which it did not. But let's say, like, the babies, right, do not have a taste for human blood, which they don't. Wouldn't they leave to go find food? And they would leave through the tunnels, and they would also leave through those fucking doors, which they just gently pushed open as they ran out. Like, they were just standing there, like, waiting for them.

01:07:20
Sam
It's like, you know when you're watching a kung fu movie and the one guy walks into the room with, like, seven people facing him, and everyone just waits their turn to punch him? That's what was happening with the babies. Like, their primary wasn't, like, defend the fort of Madison Square garden. Their whole thing should have been like, I gotta get out of here so I can go find some fish. It was a problem.

01:07:40
Case
Also, those babies were very predatory very early. Like, they all just hatched. Like, they're still babies.

01:07:45
Sam
Yeah, it would have been so much fun to see, like, them having to round up the babies running around Manhattan. Like, I know that there wasn't, like, a lot of time, but that would have been so much more fun, like, having people corral the babies.

01:07:59
Hans Martin Jr
Get Chris Pratt to get them. To get Chris Pratt's.

01:08:03
Sam
Yeah, yeah.

01:08:06
Case
They try to sell them as being dangerous because they're, like, they're born pregnant, which, no, they're parthenogenetic. Like, they don't. They can become pregnant whenever they need to. We don't know how long it took for this creature to first grow to the size where it could actually lay eggs.

01:08:19
Sam
Yeah.

01:08:20
Case
Like, if it was early radiation testing in, like, the sixties, then it's been, I mean, it's 30 years at this point. Like, and who knows if Godzilla would have additional eggs after this. Like, what is the actual life cycle on it? If they're breeding, like, a hundred of these each every year, that's. That'll overpopulate the world real fast. But, like, if it's only, like, every 30 years, like, a few of these, like, nests, like, make it to adulthood.

01:08:44
Sam
Yeah.

01:08:46
Case
Then, like, it would be a slow enough progression that, like, I'm just, like, kind of thinking, like, oh, that could be kind of cool. What about, what if, like, they did the independence Day two scenario here with the Godzilla egg that survives and we got to see, like, 100 years from now humanity having fucking dinosaurs that they ride all across the country.

01:09:05
Sam
Yeah, give Godzilla a chance.

01:09:07
Case
The other thing I wanted to bring up is the soundtrack. Because we mentioned it before. So I was reminded of the, like, the radio edits that they would do for existing singles that were playing at the time. Like the Godzilla remix of brain stew by Green Day.

01:09:19
Hans Martin Jr
My goodness. I forgot.

01:09:21
Case
Or the cashmere remix where they inserted Godzilla roars. And then, of course, there is the puff daddy.

01:09:28
Hans Martin Jr
One song I forgot that was in the Godzilla soundtrack was the Wallflowers. We can be heroes. I forgot about that. That was in there.

01:09:36
Steven Angulo
Yeah.

01:09:36
Case
And there's some weird drops. Like, they're like. One time they're just like, in the news van and it's like green day in the background. I'm like, okay.

01:09:42
Hans Martin Jr
But, yeah, that. That Puff Daddy song was very forgettable. It really was. Which at the time, I guess, was huge because he was doing rock. I guess he was mixing rock with rap. And with that Jimmy page, which I forgot what band he was in. Refresh my mind. That zeppelin. Yeah.

01:10:01
Case
Yeah. This is the cash.

01:10:02
Hans Martin Jr
Yes. And. Yeah, it wasn't really that good of a song. And they were really hyping it up. I remember. And the music video was pretty bad, too. I don't know if y'all got a chance to watch it. I did it. It was bad.

01:10:17
Case
It was.

01:10:18
Hans Martin Jr
It was one of the worst music videos I ever seen. Yeah.

01:10:21
Case
What a weird era of movie making. This is, like, after men in black, obviously. So, like. And that had it such a huge, like, successful music video. And then the less successful follow up of wild west. Like, everyone was trying to, like, have, like, the biggest. The big set, like, sound like song of the summer that comes off of the movie of the summer kind of thing. They just wanted that brand synergy.

01:10:43
Hans Martin Jr
And the flower song was successful, though, I think. I don't know if y'all agree or not. But I do remember that song and I still remember we can be heroes. You don't remember that? We can be heroes, y'all maybe. Y'all maybe sing. Come on.

01:11:01
Sam
That was our plan all along.

01:11:05
Steven Angulo
Success. Yes.

01:11:07
Hans Martin Jr
That was in the soundtrack. I forgot about. That was in that movie, you know? And I saw the music video too. Godzilla was just makes cameos around that music video while they were singing in some dark room.

01:11:20
Sam
Just glamour shots of Godzilla.

01:11:23
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, exactly.

01:11:24
Case
Well, like, that's the other side where, like, they would recut songs to have references to movies that. Where the song pre existed. Like, this is a different movie. Drive me crazy. Because they had the original music video and then they'd recut it. So they would include Adrian Grenier to make it part of the drive me crazy movie.

01:11:42
Sam
Does this video make Godzilla a video ho of the nineties?

01:11:45
Hans Martin Jr
Maybe at the end.

01:11:47
Sam
Yeah.

01:11:48
Case
Yeah.

01:11:49
Hans Martin Jr
Godzilla was everywhere at that time because the promotion for this movie was reduced. Ridiculous.

01:11:55
Case
Well, yeah, they wanted it to be the next independence day, but it wasn't successful. And I don't know, but why don't we get into pitches? But before we do, we should probably give a shout out to one of the other shows on the network.

01:12:09
Steven Angulo
Man, that movie was excellent.

01:12:11
Hans Martin Jr
It really was. Totally blew my expectations away.

01:12:14
Steven Angulo
I know right now I really want to tell everyone about it, but I'm not sure how.

01:12:21
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, if only there was a podcast dedicated to reviewing films and discussing the latest news and trailers on upcoming films. That would be nice.

01:12:30
Steven Angulo
Yes, for sure. And we can call it the Senegai show.

01:12:37
Hans Martin Jr
What? No, it will be called real movie critic unleashed.

01:12:43
Steven Angulo
No. How about Senegai featuring real movie critic?

01:12:48
Hans Martin Jr
How about the real movie critic and his sidekick, the synagogue?

01:12:53
Steven Angulo
CG and RMC.

01:12:54
Hans Martin Jr
RMC and CG. The real movie critic versus the synagogue only@certainplev.com.

01:13:07
Steven Angulo
Or wherever you get your podcasts, you're going down, critic.

01:13:13
Hans Martin Jr
Bring it on, guy.

01:13:18
Case
And we're back. So why don't we get into some pitches here because I've got some thoughts on this movie. I'm sure you all have some thoughts on this movie. And Hans and Steven, you're our guest. Do you, either of you want to take the first step and go ahead?

01:13:33
Hans Martin Jr
I know you got some crazy ideas. Go ahead.

01:13:36
Steven Angulo
Oh, do I? All right, so first things first, we don't need the campus and the cheesiness. Like, come on. And like, also, one thing's for sure, we're gonna be editing. Like if you want to build suspense, don't immediately kind of like to one of the main characters do something stupid. Like, I don't know, singing in the rain or making tea, whatever. Cuz like if you want to like make like the next like Sci-Fi monster movie, embrace it. Alright? Build up that suspense. Don't just show Godzilla immediately, like give us some time. And like, I don't even have to see like the tail or even the claw, just like destruction, like terror, people's face, like, you know, in like shock pretty much. All right, embrace that. Like, you know, build a suspense. Kind of like in jaws, they don't show the shark immediately.

01:14:21
Steven Angulo
They just like, you can feel his presence though. Don't show Godzilla. Just make me feel his presence and not with the humor. All right, cuz I had a check to make sure this script wasn't real by Joss Whedon. That's how bad the humor was.

01:14:32
Hans Martin Jr
There goes Stephen bashing there.

01:14:34
Case
Yeah, I went there, Hans.

01:14:38
Steven Angulo
I will always bash Joss Whedon as long as I live. But, yeah, like, you know, make it suspenseful if you want to. It could have been, like, a good, like, thriller or horror film. Like, we don't have to, like, you know, laugh at the main characters, but make them, like, you know, have, like, some need for suspense. Pretty much put them in, like, actual danger, not like, oh, somebody's having, like, let's crack a joke or two. So, yeah, make it like the next alien or Jaws movie. That would have been a good idea right there.

01:15:07
Case
Yeah, I think the comparison with Jaws is a really good one there. Like, Jaws was like a groundbreaking monster movie when it came out. Like, it's, it kind of stands on its own now because it's so, it was so good. But, like, when it was written, it was just like a, it was a pulpy, like a monsters attacking a town kind of book. And look like the script wasn't that different. Like, Spielberg's, like, directorial style is actually what elevated it to being something that's much more of a classic. And that's, I think, a good direction to go when you're trying to do something like this, where it's like a recontextualizing of what is inherently kind of a silly, like, piece from an older time of filmmaking. Like, if you're trying to modernize and recontextualize Godzilla, like, yeah, like something like a.

01:15:50
Case
Jaws is a good tact to go on. Hans, you have. Do you want to take a swing?

01:15:55
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, I mean, yeah, there's a couple things that I want to do, but, yeah, just to harp on what Steven says. Yeah. You know, just build up the tension at the beginning. I think that's what they need to do, that the camp is what really ruined this movie. It was just way too campy. Instead, they should have gone with, like, the Jurassic park approach. Just make it creepy. You know, just give some signs that, oh, shoot, Godzilla's coming. Maybe not show Godzilla to maybe the middle of the movie or something like that. I think that's what will made it work. You know, maybe they're trying to get away from making too much like Jurassic park, which that could have made sense, but, man, this.

01:16:33
Case
They're not trying to get away from being too much like Jurassic park in this movie.

01:16:36
Hans Martin Jr
I mean, but then again, they had this whole baby scene, which reminds me of the raptor scenes in the kitchen. But anyway.

01:16:41
Case
Right. That's what I'm saying. They're definitely trying to do dress part.

01:16:43
Hans Martin Jr
I mean, like, seriously. But, you know, make it more creepier, like attention, suspenseful. You know, a lot of the repitches, they already. My pitches, they already kind of did with the remit, the remake of the Godzilla movie in 2014 with Gareth Edwards. I kind of like that. Give a purpose for Godzilla. Like maybe for the humans to understand Godzilla more. Maybe there is another monster in the city that guys, I was trying to find. You know, that was like, that's my minor pitch to make this movie work. It probably would have worked out better, but I got a more crazier pitch with this. So, yes, Godzilla shows up in New York, first off, the whole people thing. And this is my complaints with almost all the Godzilla movies, too much focus on the humans. Just give the humans a simple task, you know?

01:17:35
Hans Martin Jr
And their task is get rid of Godzilla. Okay. Whether to kill it or find a way to get it. Get it out of New York, whatever. Okay. Just give it a simple task. Yes. I'm fine with Matthew Broderick as a biologist being there. I'm fine with that. You know, there was a paleontologist in there, which she seems to be gone at the beginning. You know, keep her there. I think they do need some type of paleontologist in there to understand things. Okay. You know, I guess my other thing is less camp, a little more Sci-Fi but not too much. Much Sci-Fi because sometimes too much Sci-Fi could get people confused when they're watching it. All right. You know, maybe if Godzilla was an asexual, maybe explain that a little more instead of making a sex joke in there, you know, or something like that.

01:18:17
Hans Martin Jr
And. Yeah, you know, so. So, yeah, build up the tension unto that. And one of my crazier ideas is, you know, with the fact that they thought they killed Godzilla. All right, on the way water. Here's my thing. Okay? What if they actually did kill that Godzilla? All right, he's dead. They found him. Everybody thinks it's okay. But of course, Matthew brought like, no, no, we're not done yet. We have to deal with the eggs. So they go through all that. Deal with the eggs and all that, you know, and once they do that, they think it's done, too. But wait, the whole purpose of that Godzilla that they killed was the dad Godzilla. The mom Godzilla was in Madison Square Garden the whole time. And once it destroyed the eggs, she comes out, and that's the. And she's like, the bigger version too.

01:19:07
Hans Martin Jr
Like, the bigger batter version. She is pissed because her babies are destroyed and that's who they need to defeat at the final. The final battle, you know? And it was like a big battle too. And, you know, they could still continue with. With. With her being stuck in the Brooklyn bridge or whatever, but make it more. And make this battle, like, really intense, more destructive, you know, a big catastrophe, you know, killing people, killing soldiers left and right, you know, this is not easy. All right? Make that into a bigger bat. Until they finally. They killed her off in the end. I think, you know, that's a better way to maybe make it more interesting, the movie. I don't know. That's just my personal opinion. To make things a little more sense, I guess, in a way. And, yeah, that.

01:20:00
Hans Martin Jr
That's pretty much what I think that could make things work. You know, other than that, then you could just watch the remake to Godzilla in 2014. You know, that's a way better Godzilla movie in the end. But, you know, those are a couple ideas I kind of thrown out there with that.

01:20:15
Case
Yeah, I kind of like the idea of, like, a mama Godzilla versus and a dad. Like. Like, the asexual component is like, part of the threat of the creature. But, like, from what we understand, with dinosaurs, the mothers were typically the larger one with. When it came to sexually dimorphic, particularly with, like, the predators. So it would be really interesting to be like, oh, yeah, no. The one that was, like, collecting all the food. That's not the one. That's the scary one. The scary one actually had, like, built up a nest. No one had really bothered her because she's like humans wandering around Madison Square Garden would beneath her notice. And then that way you could get a real. It's almost like a smog in the hobbit kind of emerging kind of thing as your final act right there, which could be cool.

01:20:56
Case
It does, from the standpoint of a marketing perspective, make Godzilla not a singular entity that they would have to contend with. But I do think that it does. It provides the scenario of having a third act, like power upgrade for what the monster you're fighting is, which is, it turns out it's not the big one. The big one's this one. And it allows you to actually properly kill Godzilla earlier and then have it re emerge.

01:21:18
Hans Martin Jr
It just makes things more sense.

01:21:20
Case
Yeah, well, yeah, and also, like, the first Godzilla movie, that one dies, and then second Godzilla movie, it's a child of the first Godzilla. So, like, having it always be the same Godzilla is not actually part of any particular lore for Godzilla. Like, it's. It is more of a thing that keeps on continuing regardless of if you can destroy the body.

01:21:38
Hans Martin Jr
Exactly. And, yeah, and I think, bottom line is this Godzilla is just trying to lay its eggs, you know? And I think that's a natural thing for animals to do and be protective of it. And that's what the dad's trying to do, is being protective of it too, you know, from the outside while the mother's protecting the young and the inside. I think it biologically, that kind of makes sense, you know, with that, you know, if you make it a little more Sci-Fi and explain a couple things, I think that will make more sense, you know, and just build that creepiness up, build that tension. I think that's the biggest thing, is build that tension up. I think so. But, you know, Roland Emmerich has rolling Emmerich, so. And that's the thing. Maybe a better director would have been better for that.

01:22:18
Case
So, yeah, you know, it's funny, when I was watching it, I kept on thinking, like, there's shots that are, like, very beautiful. Like, Roland Emmerich is not a bad director. They are not necessarily very complicated shots. But, like, there was some, like, very attractive looking spots. I mean, the easiest one, just from, like, oh, this is a cool, like, setup was, like, the you're standing in it bit where it's like, it pans up to reveal that they're standing inside a giant footprint. Like, that's a really cool shot right there. When we introduce Jean Reno's character, like, walking through, like, the hospital right there. Like, it's an attractive shot. But, like, the way Emmerich has always, like, framed stories and framed characters, it's always from a distance. And, like, this movie has, like, not enough characters. So I don't know, it's just not. It's. It's.

01:23:03
Case
The movie they made is not a movie that plays the role in Emmerich strings. So I think you're right. Like, it maybe, like, make it either a different movie or a different director.

01:23:12
Hans Martin Jr
Exactly. Yeah. And, you know, they had a different director at the beginning to. I forgot his end name, who it was. But, yeah, they had, like, budget. Budget issues as well from the beginning. That's why the original director left and brought in Roland. Roland Emmerich. And, of course, one of the other thing I was. I forgot I was going to mention, too, is that if they're going to have budget concerns, maybe not rely too much on the CGI and make it more practical effects, too. I think that could have worked as well.

01:23:41
Case
Or at least hide the key character more, like, have things in the way more.

01:23:45
Hans Martin Jr
Exactly, exactly. I think that could have worked. And that brings up the creepiness as well on the suspense.

01:23:50
Case
Sam, do you have any thoughts? You want to take your swing?

01:23:52
Sam
Sure. I'm not totally going to let go of the camp. I think, like, Godzilla has always had a slight camp to it, although I don't know if the tone of this movie always fits that. I think that they just should minimize it. And, yes, I do agree with hiding the monster more. Finding a good point in the middle somewhere for a reveal, a very cool reveal in the dark with, like, possibly lightning in the background so you get, like, partial lighting on it, kind of like. I mean, I know that's very classic and it's very tropey, but it does work. And I think that would have been, like, really cool. Like, so, like, when your first moment, like, seeing it would be like, oh, shit. Because I think you see it too soon. I also think that, like, Niko's character.

01:24:40
Sam
I mean, yes, his part needs to be polished in terms of the script altogether, but I think you have to respect him more as a scientist and have him follow rules that scientists. I know I keep saying this and harping on it, but he should be in a hazmat suit when he's in Chernobyl. He should be doing the right things in Chernobyl because you don't need him to be revealed right away. It's fine if, in fact, you don't see right away that it's Matthew Broderick. In fact, having a guy singing in the rain in a hazmat suit while loading worms into a jar is possibly one of the weirdest, coolest things you're gonna see. Like, you know, like, just this, like, weird guy. Like, just, like, singing in the rain just, like, loading. And you're like, what the fuck? Where am I?

01:25:28
Sam
Why am I here? Why is this guy just collecting earth samples and worms and things like that? And I think that would be, like, more interesting because then you get a better sense of, like, this hermit who's willing to put themselves in a seriously dangerous area for science. Because that's the character that Niko is. And that first scene doesn't actually really tell you that, right? You get that he's, like, positive. You get that he's a little eccentric, but you don't understand that this is a guy who's willing to put himself in imminent danger because literally standing in Chernobyl, even today is imminent danger. And he's willing to do that for science because he has this passion for how radiation may affect all species on this earth, which already sets him up to actually be the right scientist to be involved with this case. Right?

01:26:24
Sam
Like, so that is actually, like, a really good thought. So put him in a hazmat suit. Make sure people understand that Chernobyl is dangerous. Make sure that they understand that this is, like, not. Like. This is, like, not a safe place, that this guy is considered insane for wanting to fucking look at earthworms. Who the fuck cares about earthworms, right? That should be something that someone says, like, who cares enough about how the radiation is affecting earthworms. We know animals and people fucking died, and they're still experiencing, like, all sorts of deformities. Like, that should be part of it. So, anyway, moving on from there. I don't mind him being brought in by the government. The paleontologist, I would make her less sexually harassing, even though I did enjoy that, because I think she's actually the love interest he should have.

01:27:14
Sam
If there is a love interest. I actually do not think that the story needs a love interest. But if someone's going to be the person that he is going to fall in love with, it's going to be the paleontologist. And I'm going to insert my favorite trope, enemy to lovers, because I fucking love that trope. And they would be on the separate side of it because for him, it is animal that is mutated, a new gene. And she's saying, no, it's something pretty prehistoric that has woken up. Right. And so there are, like, two sides of this, like, same coin of science, but they get really excited when they discover new things. They should be like, partners. Well, partners that slightly hate each other. Partners that are slightly competitive with each other to find the information about Godzilla. But, like, this is the person.

01:28:01
Sam
This is the person that if you have to have a romantic relationship with, which I don't necessarily think you need to, this is who they should be. His ex girlfriend can still be in it, but she's gonna die. She's gonna die in Madison Square garden. Okay. Yes. And this is what redeems her, because she's still gonna screw him over. I'm gonna let all of the stupidness fly. I'm gonna shorten her scene with her boss. I'm still gonna make him a dickhead. That's fine. But I'm gonna shorten that. I'm gonna make it more succinct. I'm gonna make her very frustrated. I'm gonna make her very, like, ambitious and tired, and I'm going to have her still screw over, this nice scientist guy, and he's going to be hurt, and he's going to try to save her. They're going to go into that booth.

01:28:43
Sam
They're going to do the news. She's going to vindicate him and the eggs. She's going to let the world know that it is happening, that the mayor is crazy, that the army is wrong, that he was right, and the paleontologist will have stayed on kind of arguing with, of course, the team and keeping in contact with him. I think that's the only other thing that I would change, is that somehow they would manage to get messages to each other and exchange information. So anyway, I don't know how that's going to work, guys, because this is 2019. If we're making it over again, 2020, I can have that done with text messages anyhow. So now she gets it out to the world. When they go to escape, she doesn't make it out. She's a casualty.

01:29:28
Sam
She's fully redeemed because she has basically given her life for the truth. One of the things about her speech in Madison Square Garden is that she's like, no matter what happens to us, you have to bomb this place. And they're like, okay, well, let's try to go. It probably would have been better for them all to accept their fate and somehow one of them survives or whatever, or just they all fucking die. Which would have worked if you follow case's theory of having more than one point of view character. But I didn't go with that. So, everyone makes it out, except for her. Animal has to make it out because he needs the tape. And also, I liked his character.

01:30:04
Sam
He was very committed to what he was doing, and I get why he got his name because that man was batshit crazy for a story. So, the whole car scene, I wouldn't do that. I would definitely have mama or, well, I would definitely have Godzilla be mad at them for killing the babies, because that definitely rang true emotional for me. And I would definitely have them chased. I would have the army get involved. I would have, like, lots of switch offs. I would have them try to separate and have godzilla kind of, like, get confused on who to follow, because that kind of thing and that way lead her into a trap, which would then lead to the bridge and blah, blah, so I don't mind the death scene. I don't mind that kind of thing.

01:30:50
Sam
But I think in general, because the stakes weren't high enough for a lot of the film, I would definitely kill the ex girlfriend. I would definitely have the paleontologist, maybe not even kiss him, maybe just ask him if he wants to go for coffee after it's all said and done, because he's going to need some emotional support and kind of give you a hint that maybe there's going to be something there. Because this doesn't need the hero gets a kiss moment. Like, it doesn't need to happen at all. It just needs to be a survival film. And that's what I would do in general, even though I feel like there's a lot of good to this movie and a lot that could be changed to make it better. But if I'm just going, like, on surface changes, that's how I would change it.

01:31:35
Sam
Kill the girlfriend, make sure he's a good scientist, and everything else can kind of say, as long as the monster is saved a little bit towards the middle, huge reveal, then can die. Babies not eating people, but maybe taking a bite off of that guy's head and spitting it out and kind of looking grossed out because that would have been really funny. Also the burglars, the looters getting stepped on and, yeah, just a little more depth is what I needed. And no New Yorkers arguing about directions. That has been done to death. It is not funny. I would like everyone in the movie industry to know it's not funny. All right. It's not funny. New Yorkers don't think it's funny. Yes. Do we argue about directions? Yes. Because some of us are right and some of us are wrong, but it's not comedy.

01:32:27
Sam
All right? It's not comedy. Cut it out. Cut it out, Hollywood. All right, I'm done.

01:32:34
Case
Man. That is so close to mine. I don't like. I so, yeah, like, exact same heart. Like heart, same. Doctor. Elise Chapman should be the love interest, not Audrey. And tone down the sexual harassing girl boss part. Like, I completely agree with you on that one. That's exactly what I was thinking this whole time.

01:32:55
Sam
Maybe this is a redheaded erasure. Like, one's a redhead and one's a blonde. He has to go with the blonde.

01:33:01
Case
Yeah, man. Yeah. So mine is very similar. And what the thing I would say is, like I was saying, have. Have more people. So, like, if act one is us sort of figuring out the stakes and act two is Godzilla, stepping into Manhattan, then. Then I think that act one should be a little bit longer and us spending time trying to figure out what's going on. And there should be a lot of shit happening around the world as this creature travels. I mean, I think they actually sit like. I think with the footprint is, like, when it crosses through Central America, which, how does it know what the shortest point to go across? Have it swim down and around South America? I think that's actually kind of interesting. You could have a lot of devastation. You could have whales dead in its wake.

01:33:41
Case
You could do lots of stuff like that. But start setting up lots of people in New York, because I think when Godzilla arrives, not everyone can get out. And I think that's one thing that we're missing, which is that we're. We're missing people being trapped in the city, trying to survive. And that's how you get your ensemble cast. The news crew should be trapped in the city, not, they didn't get over, and then they sold the pass to get back in. Like, you know, keep it that way. If you want to have Audrey be, like, connected to Nick, fine. Like, I agree with you, Sam. Like, that part's fine. I think there's a part of me that wants to structure this a little bit more like Independence Day because that, I know, is an effective movie that Emmerich directed.

01:34:20
Case
You know, it's not a perfect movie, but it is a perfectly good blockbuster. And if you like, I want to play to the strengths of Roland Emmerich. And I think having maybe. Maybe we end up in a scenario where we think that Audrey and Nick are going to be left behind to, like, get the footage going and maybe animal pulls him out something. I don't know, some scenario where it's kind of like, where they come together at the end and still have, like, little bits of part, like the Will Smith Jeff Goldblum group versus, like, the Bill Pullman group kind of thing. But like I said, I think we emphasize the destruction. Like, really cement that in there.

01:34:57
Case
I love the idea of them getting coffee at the end because then that ties into Jean Reno's whole coffee bit because it could be like, he could complain about the coffee and this could be the first time that she hears it and she's like, oh, I know a good place. And then she goes, like. Turns to Nick, would you like to join us? Could be kind of a nice way to bring that all together. But, yeah, I think that first act, they should be a little more confused at what they're dealing with. They know about the footprint pretty early on. I don't know why they bring in Nick so early and then still treat him like they don't know what's up. They're like, oh, there's background radiation. That's weird. When it's like, no, obviously that's the thing. That's why you brought him.

01:35:38
Case
If you didn't know that was the thing, why didn't you bring it?

01:35:40
Sam
Yeah, that made little to no sense to me when I was, like, watching.

01:35:44
Case
Yeah. So it should be a team of scientists brought in, like, here's all the information we have. We're trying to figure out what's going on. It's like, this footprint looks like this. Like, that's why you have a paleontologist to, like, bring. Bring those things up. Like, oh, you know, he can be dealing with the radiation. Maybe something to do with, like, migratory patterns of fish. Because, like, so many are dying or, like, moving around. Maybe they're all fleeing, and they, like, are, like, literally, it chases, like. Like, all of a sudden, fish are swelling into, like. Like, the northeastern seaboard for some reason. It's because they're being herded that way by Godzilla. I think that's all great.

01:36:15
Case
I would have the baby godzillas have webbed arms and maybe have them glide at a couple points when they're chasing them around so that we can get a real kozuki moment. Because.

01:36:25
Sam
How dare I agree. I'm with you on this. Hear, hear.

01:36:33
Hans Martin Jr
We need godzilla. Yes.

01:36:35
Case
But I think especially, like, trapping them in New York at a certain point. And maybe some of them are able to come and go. Like, maybe Nick gets separated on the outside and he's trying to get in. But we should have people who are stuck on the inside. I think that's where we get our reporters. They should already be inside stuck there.

01:36:51
Sam
I agree with you.

01:36:52
Case
And, like, trying to move around. And then we can get some cool shots, because, like, there's not enough cool shots of people, like, running through buildings, trying to look at where Godzilla is. Like, that would be a good way to save money on the CGI of not having full shots of him. But, like, the shot where Harry Scheer is, like, on his phone and doesn't see Godzilla walk by is played for last. We should have shots like that, which are played for drama, where people are trying to get a fix on what's going on in the running to windows. And Godzilla's moving too fast. Like, lots of those kind of things. Like, lots of the classic king Kong looks in the window kind of shots because, like, why the fuck not? Like, it's a cheap way to do a cool effect.

01:37:26
Sam
Absolutely. I think ALso, like, just to speak to, like, in support of your. They should be trapped. SO. Well, I've lived in New York all my life, and I've lived on the island of Manhattan all my life. And I will tell you that getting off the island during a disaster of any kind, whether it be 911, which I lived through, whether it be the huge blackout that took out the whole northeastern seaboard, is practically impossible. I remember, especially during the blackout, everyone was trying to drive through onto the George Washington Bridge.

01:38:01
Sam
And it would take, it took people 6 hours to get back into New Jersey from Manhattan because all the traffic lights were down and so people had to kind of, like they, everyone was inching forward and like, some people abandoned their cars, like, just double parked them and then just started walking. Like, honestly, like, what New York City. Like, what Manhattan would look like if people were leaving. Manhattan would be a bunch of people walking because it would be a parking lot. It would, it wouldn't. It wouldn't make sense. There's no way you could get out and get back in that easily to the island of Manhattan. And I do think that people would be taking, I mean, now, back then they didn't have it, but now we have ferries into Brooklyn. I think people would probably be chancing that. They'd probably get attacked.

01:38:53
Sam
I think that's something that you're, like, missing from here. They're trying to set up some ferries from New York to New Jersey too. But, like, I will tell you, it is not easy to get off the island. An evacuation would take hours. The quickest they could do of every single resident of Manhattan would be like six to 7 hours. And I guarantee you that there is some old lady who lives on 23rd street who's just not leaving her apartment. She's just not going.

01:39:26
Case
It's bridge controlled.

01:39:27
Sam
She's not leaving. She's never left before. She's seen it all. She doesn't care. She's gonna go, you know, get some food. Hopefully Zabars will deliver this far down and she's just gonna hunker down like that is. That is New Yorkers. He doesn't. Godzilla doesn't even come uptown. I actually had the thought I probably could have stayed home. Like, I probably don't have to leave. Like, I could probably sit up here in the heights and be fine. He only destroyed downtown. I'm good.

01:39:59
Hans Martin Jr
Good thing he didn't find Yankee Stadium to lay his eggs on that would.

01:40:03
Sam
Be really bad for me because that's really, like, 15 miles from me.

01:40:08
Case
And the last thing I would like to do is, like, emphasize some kind of technology or technological approach to Godzilla that as our countermeasure. I feel like we should make it more aggressive and worse by virtue of us trying to just fight Godzilla with things. Like, at a certain point, once the helicopters stop being very effective, I'm like, why aren't you doing, like, longer range bombing? Like, why aren't you doing more? And, like, maybe something that they, like, eventually steer Godzilla out and they, like, maybe barricade Godzilla out of the city while they try to repair. And that's when they realize that the, like, maybe that's, like, the third act point where they think they killed it. And then Godzilla sort of makes a stand against all the ships and it's trying to make its way back to the nest.

01:40:48
Case
So, like, maybe the third act tension isn't Godzilla just shows up at the very end after all the babies are dead, but maybe Godzilla, like, they think they killed it at the, you know, at the end of act two, act three, they start to go investigate the babies, and that's when they, that all starts to happen. But while they're investigating the babies, because we're not focusing just on any one party, we start seeing the military picking up stuff coming at them. Godzilla has returned, and they're making a final stand. We can get, like, the, we can get, like, tanks on the beaches or, like, on the, like, on all the piers and stuff, like, really trying to hold back Godzilla as it rises up out of the water. We get a classic Godzilla attacks, the, you know, the shoreline kind of scene.

01:41:29
Case
But this time it's like the nineties, you know, like american military as opposed to Japan, which didn't have an active military. Like, that was just their limited defense forces they were allowed to have. But, I mean, remember, one of the reasons of Godzilla being a thing was that it's the trauma of world War two. And one of the trauma was the disarming that Japan had to go through where it was not allowed to participate on the world stage from a military perspective. Like, emphasize that here where now the tables are turned, where we're talking about the most powerful nation in the world at this point in an era where it has complete supremacy. Because this is the nineties, the quote, unquote end of history, and have a good spot where we think that we're throwing everything at it and this creature is still coming.

01:42:12
Case
It's bleeding and it's been getting worse. We should show those kind of shots. And maybe this is the first time we get a full shot of it rising out of the water. Up until this point, it's always obstructed by a building. It's always, like, kind of. It's been dark. This is, like, the spot where it's, like, we actually see it in full. And, like, it can be horrific, the. The burns and the blood and everything coming from it. And, like, maybe it's what is toxic and, like, fish are rising up dead. Like, the. Everything that Godzilla is near is terrible. Like, it's radioactive. Like, everything should be dying.

01:42:43
Sam
Not nearly enough tanks or ships in this movie. Like, there's so many. Like, there's so many ships, like, off the east coast that are just docked that could be here in hours. Within, like, you know, within hours to take care of this. Plus so many forts around the area. There's just not enough. I get it. They had budget issues. But also, you're right. The military might was not present and really should have been.

01:43:10
Case
Yeah.

01:43:11
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah.

01:43:12
Case
Because otherwise you needed to have a fight. Like, you needed, like, I have a mechagodzilla or some other kind of thing. Like, you need to either have the. The cool aspect of the military versus Godzilla, or you needed to have, like, another kaiju. Like, that's the. That's the solutions. And this movie kind of. Exactly doesn't do enough of the military side that we're really feeling. It's missing by the time we get to the end of the movie.

01:43:35
Hans Martin Jr
Exactly.

01:43:36
Case
So that, like, I think we're kind of all in agreement here. Like, the movie just needed more collateral damage and we needed to less focus on a terrible romance. Like, those are the things that ruin this movie in a way that's way worse than, like, bad cg or a bad character design. Like, it's. That it's not interesting.

01:43:53
Sam
Yeah. The human. So, like, with Godzilla, right. Anytime that the movies have ever focused on humanity, you have to have actual high stakes for humanity. Right. And the human stakes in this film are not that high. I mean, they tell us it's high, but we don't see that. We don't see the effect of that. Like, we don't really feel it. Like, we. We hear what it could be, but it's kind of like a ghost. It's like, and then they're gonna have babies, and then they're gonna have babies and they're gonna take over the world, and we won't be able to live with them. Like, that's basically the major ghost story of this film. You don't really see anything other than destruction of property. And, like, you know, I mean, the egg scene is pretty horrific, right?

01:44:52
Sam
When you see how many eggs there are, when they. When he tells them, like, stop counting, and they look. They look across, and you're like, wow, that's. That's a lot. Right? That's one of those scenes that works in this film. But, like, overall, like, because you don't really. Because there's always near misses. Oh, also. And I know that we're at the end, but I just want to say the amount of times that they had someone stop and fear and just stare and then not run, like, just pissed me off. Like, the first scene with poor Joe. Poor Joe on the dock. I get it. Like, that's the first time the monster comes out. He's an old dude. He's clearly an optimist because he is. He is fishing in the East river. You know, there's some screws loose with Joe.

01:45:44
Case
But he's got a death wish.

01:45:45
Sam
He's got a death wish. He should have died, you know, overall. But, you know, they're all saying, oh, you're not gonna catch anything. And he's like, maybe today'll be the day, right? That's fine. And that scene when he's, like, staring into the abyss, like, wall. It moves into the water, and it's coming at you. That makes sense. But everybody else in this movie takes moments where they're just staring at the beast. And I'm like, if you're in the middle of this film, you all kind of know what this shit is. Why are you not running? Like, I don't understand. I am a New Yorker. I hear something. I run. Like, I don't run from cars. Like, you know, I walk casually and maybe do a hop step because, you know, I'm. I don't care. I've got the right of way.

01:46:29
Sam
But I do run for monsters, okay? And if I hear something that sounds like a gunshot, I'm not gonna stop and go, oh, was that a firework or a gunshot in my vicinity? I'm running. This is our, like, this is our culture. We run. We fucking run. Okay, guys. We don't ask questions.

01:46:47
Case
Yeah, your walking is basically running.

01:46:49
Sam
Yeah, that's true. We don't ask questions. We leave, and then we ask what happened later. And even if that's speed walking, you know, which is slightly faster than a regular walking, which is pretty darn fast. Like we're still getting out of there. You don't ask the question of like, oh, is it bad? Also, if I see people running towards me, I don't stop and stare at them and go, huh? Why are those people running? Unless I think that they're from like a, you know, this Crossfit place? Because I'm like, oh, Crossfitters. But, but like if I see people running, I turn around and keep running their direction. I'm like, oh shit, something's over there is bad. Like, I don't understand why aren't more people running in this Phil?

01:47:34
Sam
Matthew Broderick, I understand he is a weirdo who wants to hang out in Chernobyl and put worms in a jar. He thinks that this new species is cool. He doesn't have to run. He wants to see it because he's got a fucking death wish. He's insane. He's got a hard on for science. I get that. Everyone else should be booking it all the time.

01:47:57
Hans Martin Jr
I agree.

01:47:58
Sam
Except maybe animal whose like ambition is more so, like he just, his ambition is so high, you know, like he's like, I gotta get out of the stereotype journalist.

01:48:08
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah.

01:48:08
Sam
Everyone else should be running. Everyone. There should be massive scenes of people running all of the time. And there should be a little old lady in her apartment staring out the window, eating popcorn, being like, what's happening?

01:48:21
Hans Martin Jr
Or petting a cat or something, you know?

01:48:24
Sam
Yeah, yeah. That's where we should get our kitsch.

01:48:28
Case
Yeah, absolutely. Like the jaded New Yorkers. Yeah, running would be a good idea. And I feel like we're, we should run away from this movie because we're all frustrated that it wasn't better.

01:48:39
Sam
If only, if only I've already watched it. It's 2 hours of my life I'm not getting back.

01:48:44
Case
I watched it twice.

01:48:47
Hans Martin Jr
Twice. Wow.

01:48:50
Case
On that note, I feel like we've centerpiece about this movie. There are better Godzilla movies. There was a better Godzilla movie two years later. There was a better Godzilla movie I think five years before that. And there have been better Godzilla movies since. There's so many Godzilla movies. The fact that this is a bad one, the only reason I'm not more upset is that it's just one of many. You know, there's just so many godzilla movies that have come out. It's just the one from like my like junior high era. So it sticks out for me because, you know, we all got excited about shit when were like 13.

01:49:18
Hans Martin Jr
It's, it is the first american Godzilla, I think that's safe to say.

01:49:21
Case
Yeah. But also, Godzilla comes from King Kong. Like, that. They were deliberately trying to do something in that style. So, you know, it's. It's always a conversation about, like, our big monster stuff, but it's. This is a bad entry in that pantheon of Monster stuff. You know, there's okay stuff going on in it, but, like, it's overall just kind of boring, and it's not as. Not as exciting as it should be. And the CGI doesn't hold up very well in a way that monster suits look better over time. You know, like, while the suit stuff might not be ever realistic, it doesn't, like, stick out as being uncomfortably composited in the way that this movie does. And so it's, you know, it's. It's an okay rewatch once, and if you're twice, you're a crazy person who has a podcast. That's. That's all.

01:50:05
Sam
Yeah. Your commit, your level of commitment to this podcast is admirable, and we get you a plaque, you know, who's committed.

01:50:12
Case
To their podcast, and it's admirable. The real movie critic versus the synagogue. Yeah, you guys do great work. Every week you come up out with a new episode about new stuff. Talk a bit about that.

01:50:25
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, you know, as you know, I'm the real movie critic. Stephen over there is the cynic guy. Yeah, we're. We're pretty much the Cisco and Ebird in this certain pov network because we're pretty up to date with everything with the music, movies. We're. We're the ones that are right there on. On the dot with everything with the new movies that are coming out. So, yeah, that. That is dedication, homes. So that's for sure. So, yeah, if you want to get the latest reviews on the latest movies, check us out. I'm not sure when this episode comes out, but I'm pretty sure one. A big movie will be out. So, yeah, check us out and see if you have any doubts about whether to watch a movie to go to theater or not. If you have any doubts about that, check us out.

01:51:09
Hans Martin Jr
Maybe we might change your mind, you know? And not only that, we also talk about the latest movie news that come out, the latest trailers that come out, too. We also have a little fun as well with the verses and stuff. One of my favorite things is the fight nights where we have to have the fans vote on a matchup and then we create the story from the votes. That's one of my personal favorite things that we have done as of late. We do a lot of other things, too. And, you know, case has been on the show plenty of times. I'm trying to think, when was the last one?

01:51:40
Case
I think last one was one of the sparring screens.

01:51:44
Hans Martin Jr
Oh, yeah, that's true. Yeah, that is true. You were in the first sparring screens? Yes. For wandavision. Yes. We also do that to spawn screens where we talk about the tv series that are canon to the movies that we watch. And I think case was also, were part of that big one for the Snyder cut as well. Or I like to say the Snyder cut hate fest. Except for Steven. Yes, that one, you know, but yeah, no, as we said, we have a lot of fun just talking about, we're just two guys. I really love films and things of that nature, the good and the bad. Yeah. You know, we're critics. We are. But the reason I call myself the real movie critic is I think we tend to see it as the way normal people see it. You know, I think that's.

01:52:30
Case
Keep it real.

01:52:31
Hans Martin Jr
Exactly. Here's my pitch. Hopefully we could get Sam one of these days.

01:52:35
Sam
Yeah, I'll come on and critique something and be like, this is terrible, really, just because I just want to be the critic from the show.

01:52:46
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, I mean, there's been some films.

01:52:49
Case
That buy my book.

01:52:50
Sam
Buy my book.

01:52:54
Hans Martin Jr
I'm sorry, but no, we do have a lot of fun. Yes, we do have, create a lot of scenarios. We do have a lot of bad impressions with that. We do have a lot of fun with everything. And, yeah, that's the biggest thing. It's fun. It's fun in our show.

01:53:11
Sam
So check it out, everybody.

01:53:12
Case
Yeah, check it out. Where can they find you?

01:53:14
Hans Martin Jr
You can find us@certainpov.com. We're in the bottom part of that website. But I'm just joking, Case. But.

01:53:26
Case
But for the record, it's alphabetically listed.

01:53:28
Hans Martin Jr
Yes, I know. I'm joking, Case.

01:53:30
Sam
I'm joking.

01:53:31
Hans Martin Jr
Another pass is on the top.

01:53:33
Sam
You can find it towards the bottom.

01:53:36
Hans Martin Jr
That hell, actually, another pass is on the top.

01:53:39
Case
I felt super awkward when it was like, well, that does put my show first. But yes, it's easier for people to read the site if it was awkward.

01:53:48
Hans Martin Jr
I'm joking, Case. I'm joking. But you could also find us on our Discord channel. We love to talk. We're very active in our discord. For sure. You can find me the real movie critic. You can find me on Facebook at realmoviecritic. You could also find me on Twitter and Instagram at real critic 34. You could also catch my blog at real moviecritic.com. Stephen, give your plugs.

01:54:11
Steven Angulo
All right, you guys can check out my YouTube at director Man Prague where I put some really sonic eye reviews. Also, follow my Twitter and Instagram page in a Guysteven farm. Reviews that is in a guysteven. I'll see you there.

01:54:22
Case
Awesome. Sam, if people wanted to find you, where could they find you?

01:54:25
Sam
You can find me here with case when he posts this and nowhere else because I am just a figment of case's imagination. But if you have any complaints, you can find case at.

01:54:38
Case
You can find me on Twitter ace aiken. You can find the podcast at another pass. Again, we are also parts of the certain point of view podcast network, so most of our stuff is@certainpov.com dot. We've got tons of great episodes in the backlog. Go check those out. Also, tons of great shows. Plenty to check out. In addition to the real movie critic versus the synagogue, we just added books that burn, which is another literary themed podcast, this one dealing with the trauma that authors put their characters through. Robin and Nicole have been doing this show for years now, and it's really cool that we just have added them onto our network. So that's a good one to check out. Also, check out the discord server. Hans and Steven are a huge part of it.

01:55:13
Case
But we're having tons of great comics conversations, tons of great movie conversations. It's a lot of fun. We'd love to have you there. You can find a link on our website or in the description of any of our YouTube videos. The link's all over. Come join our discord. It's a lot of fun. We'll be glad to have you and come talk media with us. Be nerdy with us. It's a good time. But Sam, what's happening next time?

01:55:35
Sam
Well, next time on another pass, we're going to be talking about Highlander two, the quickening. But if you enjoyed this, pass it on.

01:55:50
Steven Angulo
Thanks for listening to certain point of View's another pass podcast. Don't miss an episode. Just subscribe and review the show on iTunes. Just go to certainpov.

01:56:18
Case
Sam, you're flashing like you're talking, but I can't hear you.

01:56:21
Sam
I'm not talking. I think it's my fan that's setting it off. It's not me. I think it's my fan that's just kind of blowing in this direction. But because I turned off my air conditioner, because it's like really loud. So. So it's hot in my room right now. So I put my fan directly on me, but it's hitting the mic.

01:56:39
Hans Martin Jr
Yeah, we had an awkward silence.

01:56:42
Sam
Yeah, sorry, I don't.

01:56:44
Case
No, it's okay.

01:56:45
Sam
I don't mean to be fooling you. I mean, like, I would turn on my camera, except, like, I decided not to clear off my desk. So I'm sitting in a tiny little corner and I look so sad. So I just don't want you guys to see how pathetic I look. You can know about it clearly, because I'm gonna tell you out loud, but.

01:57:02
Hans Martin Jr
I don't wanna close it. I'm in a closet right now. Stephen's in that attic. Like a creepy attic right now.

01:57:10
Case
And he's in somehow.

01:57:14
Steven Angulo
It's a room, okay? It's just a little inclined.

01:57:17
Sam
Is it? Cuz you kind of look. Look like you're a prisoner right now, Stephen. Like you kind of blink twice if you need to be freed. It's Godzilla behind you. Is Matthew Broderick behind you?

01:57:31
Steven Angulo
Oh, my gosh.

01:57:33
Sam
Oh, no. Even worse.

01:57:34
Case
Mayor Eber behind you.

01:57:35
Sam
Back to work.

01:57:37
Case
Give him candy. He might. He might back off if you give him candy.

01:57:41
Hans Martin Jr
Pass it on. What? We're passing on root beer.

01:57:45
Sam
We are passing on the word of passing things on.

01:57:49
Hans Martin Jr
Yes. 99 bottles of beer on the wall. Let's go. Pass it on.

01:58:00
Sam
Are you tired of watching your beloved characters being tortured by careless authors? Are you sick of feeling like they could have swapped out all of the painful action and the plot would remain untouched? Subscribe to books that the fortnightly book review podcast focusing on fictional depictions of trauma. We assume that the characters reactions are reasonable and focus on how badly or well they were served by their authors. Join us for our minor character spotlights, main character discussions, and favorite non traumatic things in the dark. Books we love. Find us on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:58:34
Case
CpoV, certainpov.com.

AI meeting summary:

●      The meeting started with **Case Aiken**, **Sam Alisea**, **Hans Martin Junior**, and **Steven Angula** discussing the 1998 Godzilla remake, focusing on its departure from traditional kaiju themes toward a disaster movie style. They critiqued the early reveal of Godzilla and ineffective CGI, as well as highlighting inconsistencies in character dynamics, particularly with Audrey and Nick's forced romance. Campy humor and narrative inconsistencies were also noted, along with scientific inaccuracies like Godzilla's thermal properties.

●      Suggestions to improve the film revolved around toning down humor for more suspense, akin to Jaws, and strategically revealing Godzilla for greater impact. The importance of enhancing character development, particularly for Niko as a scientist in hazardous environments, was emphasized. The idea of introducing a larger female Godzilla after defeating the male counterpart to escalate the conflict was proposed, along with utilizing practical effects over CGI for authenticity.

●      Participants recommended refining character dynamics, maximizing suspense, and balancing campiness with emotional depth in a hypothetical Godzilla film adaptation. They targeted improving storytelling and audience engagement by presenting more compelling relationships, strategic reveals of creatures, and maintaining continuity with classic monster movie themes. The meeting concluded with a holistic view of enhancing the overall cinematic experience of a Godzilla film through thoughtful character development, suspenseful storytelling, and authenticity in visual effects.

Outline:

●      Chapter 1: Podcast Overview and Schedule (00:15 - 02:15)

●      00:15: Introduction to "Another Pass" podcast and a call to action for audience engagement.

●      02:03: Discussion on the podcast's content and release schedule.

●      Chapter 2: Movie Review and Critique Analysis (03:03 - 05:54)

●      03:03: Reflection on reviewing movie material and structuring discussions.

●      05:22: Agreement on the movie's structure and analysis process.

●      Chapter 3: Creative Storytelling Suggestions (09:07 - 13:35)

●      09:07: Brainstorming ideas related to storytelling and pitching concepts.

●      13:04: Introduction of a new segment idea, "Senegai featuring Real Movie Critic."

●      Chapter 4: Enhancing Suspense and Tension in Storytelling (16:20 - 20:44)

●      16:20: Discussion on building suspense and tension in storytelling.

●      20:01: Emphasis on creating intense and destructive scenes for impact.

●      Chapter 5: Feedback and Improvement Strategies (23:44 - 32:37)

●      23:44: Evaluation of strong and weak points in the story and suggestions for improvement.

●      32:30: Continued discussion on enhancing character development and plot progression.

●      Chapter 6: Podcast Development and Promotion (48:03 - 52:57)

●      48:03: Mention of promoting the podcast through engaging strategies.

●      52:18: Information about upcoming episodes and additional podcast content.

●      Chapter 7: Conclusion and Future Plans (1:55:35 - 1:58:34)

●      1:55:35: Announcement of the next podcast episode topic and closing remarks.

●      1:58:11: Introduction to a new book review podcast and invitation for audience participation.

Action items:

●      **Case Aiken**

●      Develop a clearer understanding of Godzilla's biology and physiology (44:43)

●      Introduce more diverse perspectives on the situation, involving different foreign powers (41:53)

●      **Sam Alisea**

●      Consider maintaining the creepiness by not revealing Godzilla early in the movie (23:40)

●      Improve character development by avoiding too much focus on specific characters like Audrey (38:20)

●      **Matthew Broderick**

●      Ensure proper safety measures in hazardous areas like Chernobyl (01:23:52)

●      Maintain focus on scientific tasks and research, minimize humor (01:23:53)

●      Showcase passionate dedication to science and understanding of radiation effects (01:26:07)

●      **Paleontologist Character**

●      Establish as a key partner in scientific discoveries with romantic tension (01:27.02)

●      Emphasize competitive partnership for information about Godzilla (01:28.08)

Notes:

●      📌 **Discussion on the American Equivalent to Tokyo**

●      **Key point:** Identifying the American equivalent to Tokyo

●      Bringing up the concept of an American counterpart to Tokyo

●      🎬 **Movie Feedback and Suggestions**

●      **Key point:** Feedback on a movie and suggestions for improvement

●      Mentioning budget issues and character development

●      Suggesting changes for better lighting and character reveal

●      📽️ **Movie Pitch Ideas**

●      **Key point:** Pitching various scenarios for a movie

●      Stressing the importance of creating different scenarios

●      Encouraging audience engagement and exploration of new topics