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The Resurrection of Godzilla – ‘Godzilla 1985’ And Its Triumphant Impact!

Image December 1, 2023 Manic Exorcism Leave a comment

In my humble lifetime, I’ve watched Godzilla rise from obscure campiness confined only to the most niche corners of geekdom to all-out and absolute imperial sovereignty. No longer is he restrained by critiques for bad dubbing nor is he looked down on for rubber suits or string-pulled modeled fighter jets. Nothing is wrong with any of those things; they still hold a marvelous charm and irresistible fun. However, and if we’re being honest, the G-fandom’s always-known Godzilla (and his compatriot Kaiju) always deserved to be much more respected.

It is undeniable that we are currently living in an era where the King of the Monsters, Godzilla, has transcended the skepticism and thoughtless critiques that once surrounded him, and has now become a source of awe, terror, and wonder for the masses. The recently released movie, Godzilla: Minus One, provides clear evidence of the undeniable presence and power Godzilla holds over us all.

Not too long ago, being a fan of Godzilla came with a harsh stigma. I remember being made fun of at school for talking about the few Godzilla films I owned. At the time, Godzilla was exceedingly rare and people thought there was something wrong with you if you were a fan. That scarcity meant that many people weren’t aware of what they were missing out on, and it was easier to mock the thing rather than discover how amazing it could actually be. Even my art teacher in 2nd grade made fun of me for choosing to draw Godzilla as a project.

It was extremely difficult to find any Godzilla movie at a store during those dark days, so owning any of them was considered a big deal. K-Mart sometimes had one or two, but it was a matter of some fucking luck to find any. Once in a while, you could catch one on TV and record it. That’s how I got hold of Godzilla vs King Kong and Godzilla vs Megalon. But to own officially released movies? Get out of here. So imagine my surprise one fateful Christmas when Santa left me a shoebox under the tree filled with four (motherfucking FOUR) Godzilla movies! It made me feel rich beyond measure and gave me major bragging rights. We would borrow the movies around at school and with cousins and they were watched to ever-fucking death! My copy of Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla still holds up though.

How Things Have Changed

I went to FYE a few months ago and walked out with a Godzilla energy drink, a sexy as Hell Godzilla shirt (the very one I wore to see G:MO last night), and a Mothra chocolate bar. The store has dedicated an entire section to the King of the Monsters himself. They also had a Godzilla welcome mat I’m gonna have to get soon.

Not to mention how NECA Toys released just about any version of Godzilla you can think of. There’s even a crazy NES version of the character you can now display proudly on your shelf. I wonder how many people even played that game. It, the game, was another Christmas present one year and despite the Angry Nerd’s verdict I remember always liking it.

That’s not to discredit S.H. Monsterarts and Super 7 who both are releasing amazingly detailed Godzilla figures of their own.

The Criterion Collection released the entire Showa Era on Blu-ray and even though the collection is in a binder that’s too goddamn fucking tall for its own good at least they’re available right? All this is to say Godzilla is every! He can be found at your local Target, Barnes & Noble, and mall. I mean come on, can find the cutest mother fucking plushies of Godzilla, Mothra, and Ghidorah.

Our cup runneth over, friends. My ten-year-old self would be losing his mind over this kind of shit. I mean seriously, Godzilla reigns!

Legendary’s big-budget film (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) brought us one epic showdown between Godzilla and Ghidorah, and I was absolutely blown away. As a kid, I always knew Godzilla movies had the potential to be big, bold, and larger than life, and this film delivered on all fronts. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

But that’s not all. A brand new Toho-produced (!!!) Godzilla movie opened this weekend. The studio that blessed us all with the Beast himself is back at doing what they’ve always done best. Word is it’s nominated for best picture too. A fact I’m not surprised by because I always knew these movies, if only done right, could reach this level of magnitude. After seeing the movie for myself I can’t stop thinking of the images given to me. It’s the best, the absolute best, Godzilla has ever been since the original film.

Godzilla’s gone above and beyond to solidify his titanic place in pop culture and is going nowhere. He’s here to stay.

So despite Godzilla’s current popularity, it is hard to imagine that the franchise was once discontinued and thought to be dead. In 1975, Toho released what was meant to be the absolute final movie and then pulled the plug on the series with no indication of ever bringing the iconic monster back to the big screen. By popular opinion, Godzilla had run his course and was done.

At that time, Toho was competing with the Gamera films, which had gained massive popularity among younger audiences.

In response, Toho transformed Godzilla from a terrifying monster to a more child-friendly character. This new version of Godzilla was focused on teaching brats important values such as how to deal with bullies and the significance of recycling. Yeah, that’ll stick it to that flying turtle! Godzilla cleans up litter.

The character’s popularity was not decreasing, even though the campy and clownish tone of the story was becoming stale. The studio made the wise decision to take a break to allow their creative juices to flow again, as it seemed as if they had run out of ideas. This turned out to be the best decision Toho ever made, because what came next set the world on fire!

It seems like someone out there still remembered the original idea behind Godzilla. He was meant to be a symbol of man’s reckless misuse of atomic power, a force that could not be destroyed. He represented the dawn of a new era, an age defined by the eerie blue glow of atomic energy and all the terrifying consequences it brought with it. Godzilla was the ultimate monster of this brave new world, a horrific beast born from the ashes of human folly.

The Return of Godzilla (1984)

By God, it was time to bring Godzilla back and place him at the heart of the modern world’s current crises, that being the Cold War. The world stood breathlessly on the teetering brink of absolute annihilation as tensions mounted between the East and the West. The only thing anyone could think of at the time was The Bomb. How one small and insignificant mishap could spell the unconditional doom of all mankind. We stood in the shadow of the eleventh hour and many people were counting down the days till the inevitable happened. Possibly it was thanks to this apocalyptic atmosphere that helped restore Godzilla back to his terrifying roots.

In 1985, Godzilla was resurrected and brought back to the big screen, smashing its way into cinemas and capturing people’s attention. For the first time in my lifetime, a Godzilla movie was released theatrically, and it was this event that truly put the franchise on the map.

In this installment, Godzilla was stripped of his campy and comedic nature. This marked the beginning of a new era of films, which is also my personal favorite, the Hessei Era. And Toho wasn’t fucking around with this one. Godzilla was no longer the friendly creature we last saw. As soon as he emerges from a remote island, he begins wreaking havoc and destruction, leaving a trail of chaos and death in his wake.

It goes without saying they chose a far darker tone that reflected the signs of the times. Viewers are first met with an emotionally charged and brooding score as the film opens setting up the whole feel for what’s awaiting us all. The atmosphere is heavy and threatening as the world of Godzilla 1985 appears to be locked in perpetual night. As far as Godzilla himself the iconic suit gets a massive upgrade in appearance. The big guy had never looked better, not since the original Gojira. As the first in a new saga 1985 got it right and right away too.

The movie, known as The Return of Godzilla in Japan, was released there a year before its Western release. It was considered a true sequel to the original movie, as Toho chose to disregard all the other movies that came after Gojira. A trend that’s no become common among movies released then on.

Godzilla immediately attacks a Soviet nuclear submarine, triggering a chain of events that further fuels the aggression of the Cold War. Ironically, it was the development of nuclear weapons that gave rise to Godzilla, yet these same weapons continue to be the primary means by which humanity seeks to destroy itself. Godzilla emerges from the earth like a mushroom cloud, laying waste to everything in its path. He is both the harbinger of the apocalypse and a symbol of Armageddon.

The movie explores the dilemma of whether to rely on nuclear weapons to destroy Godzilla or to keep them as far away as possible. The idea of using Godzilla’s own source of power against him is about as brilliant as punching yourself in the nuts to forget about your headache, but it puts the Japanese Prime Minister in a terrible predicament. Both the USA and the USSR urge him to use nuclear weapons to take down the monster, making his decision a difficult one. I”d hate to have his job the lousy fuck.

The film is far from perfect but it gets the job done. A common complaint is how it runs slow at times. I recently watched the original Japanese version of the film and, just like how the original Japanese release of Gojira is superior to the Western counterpart, this proved to be a much better experience. The Western version of 1985 has American scenes shoehorned in to (I guess) appeal to American moviegoers. These scenes add little to the plot and are jarring in terms of runtime. The original film, The Return of Godzilla, flows much better and doesn’t feel overly drawn out while it plays out the plot.

To Western fans, it might be nice to see Raymond Burr back reprising the role he had in Gojira. That’s a nice touch that adds some continuity to the story and makes it feel connected to the first movie. But I didn’t miss seeing his scenes when I watched the Japanese cut. It’s a matter of preference.

For the time this was my favorite Godzilla movie and remained so for a long, long time. I wasn’t aware Toho was making other Godzilla movies that followed the events of 1985. When Godzilla falls into the volcano at the end of the movie I cried. I was a little kid and Godzilla was my hero. He couldn’t die! And the end of the movie felt so final. Do I dare say it was operatic? I don’t know, but I know it played my emotions too well.

Another change I noticed in the Japanese cut – they know Godzilla cannot be destroyed. They lure him to that volcano at the end in hopes of burying him deep, deep into the earth’s core where he will be far removed from the surface world. The idea didn’t work because like I said there were plenty of movies to follow it.

Looking back, it’s clear that Godzilla’s resurgence can be traced back to 1985. The movie was a huge success and paved the way for the popularity that Godzilla now enjoys. It’s hard to say if we would have gotten the Legendary films if it weren’t for 1985. Would Toho have taken the risk to invest in more Kaiju films if 1985 hadn’t worked?

Although not perfect, Godzilla 1985 is a powerful film that demonstrates the enduring appeal of the King of the Monsters. It had a significant influence on many children in my generation, who grew up with the knowledge that Godzilla could not be defeated. They knew that the King of the Monsters would always return, time and time again.

Now I’m going to go see Godzilla: Minus One as many times as I can! You all take care, happy holidays and…

LONG LIVE THE KING!

Manic out!

Editorials

‘Robocop vs. Terminator’ – The Epic Crossover Film That Almost Happened!

Image May 21, 2021 Manic Exorcism Leave a comment

The New Era of Mankind And The Machine

Welcome, my son! Welcome to the Machine – Pink Floyd

It was a little bit like a sudden lightning bolt breaking across a clear sky, both alarming and awe-inspiring. And there was certainly electricity in the air over a newly formed genre that featured things like chest bursting parasites, cyborg armies, men turning into machines, and creatures from other worlds turning the toughest hombres humanity has to offer into gruesome hunting trophies.

It was the age of dark and gritty sci-fi horror/action films and they were all the rage back during the ’80s and early ’90s. These movies had muscle and teeth.

Thanks to people like James Cameron (Aliens, Terminator 1 and 2) and action stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger (Conan the Barbarian, the Terminator movies, Predator) whose name alone sold tickets, we were given nothing short of a diesel fueled adrenaline punch to the teeth. And we absolutely loved it. We clapped our hands, shoved popcorn in our mouths, and begged for more!

And – according to our movies – machines were the future, as dismal or dystopian as that future may be. And leading the way (to mankind’s eventual downfall no doubt) were two cybernetic heavy weights, both begotten from the violence on our streets and the growing paranoia of The Bomb.

Both films showcased a strange new world to come, and they both quickly won over audiences across the globe . Those movies were Robocop and Terminator.

via Robocop. “Dead or alive you’re coming with me.”

Strangely enough the films did make a few accurate predictions seeing how today we are entirely dependent on software and machines to get through the day. Let the internet go down for a week and watch what wondrous chaos would ensue!

We may not have cyborg implants just yet, but, as fair example, our cell phones have become entirely an extension of our bodies. As Cronenberg coined the term, ‘long live the new flesh.’

And so our future was predicted in both films. We were all just too naïve to realize it.

Bringing both franchises together

“Role models can be very important to a boy.” – Robocop

Robocop was the long arm of the law while the Terminator was the rebel. One stormed down the riotous streets of Detroit in a cop car while the other thundered across L.A. on a mother fucking Harley!

It was Yin Yang! The two complimented one another like Batman and Joker. Both franchises were jarring glimpses into the future, and weren’t too far separated from one another. It would have been Metal against Metal, a fight for mankind’s future determined in the past. And not to mention both series had incredible soundtracks so could you imagine hearing both scores trumpeting out as these two guys fought? Seriously just gave myself goosebumps.

It just made sense! These two legacies had to crossover!

Goodness sake we had cartoons, action figures, and collectible cards! We wore T-shirts and debated who might win in a fight, Robocop or Terminator.

There was just something ultimately cool about these two film franchises. In our heads, it was only a matter of time before we’d see the two fighting on the big screen.

And then came the biggest cock tease of the fandom. A 4-part comic book was released. Read it loud and say it proud, Robocop vs Terminator became a reality. We held it in our hands. And then the rumors started. They were going to make a movie about it.

Written by the legendary Frank Miller, oh yeah, THAT Frank Miller! The guy responsible for dark and gritty stuff like Sin City and the man who single-handily rescued the Batman comics from life support and made the series (and movies) what they are today. Not to mention he wrote my all-time absolute favorite comic book, The Dark Knight Returns. This guy wrote Robocop vs. Terminator!

Our little minds were splattered all over the walls. We couldn’t contain ourselves. Our heads blew up with the excitement.

I’d Buy That For A Dollar

Answering the fundamental question – considering the end of T2 – how the hell has Skynet survived? Didn’t they destroy every trace possible and annihilate Cyberdine’s eventful future? And this comic does follow the events of T2, releasing nearly a whole year after the film. Fret not because we’re given a very interesting (and acceptable) answer. It’s actually really kickass how it plays out.

The story opens in the present meaning we’re right in the heat of war. The human resistance is nearly hammered into extinction but John Connor has an ace up his sleeve. Learning the secrets of Skynet’s survival the Resistance sends back a lone warrior, Florence Langer, into the past with a name to terminate. That name is Alex Murphy, Robocop himself.

In a sensational twist of events, the humans are sending back a human to terminate a machine. Well, a man with a machine heart but a human soul. And, you guessed it, to counterattack the Resistance’s strategy Skynet sends back a small group of Terminators to defend their forefather.

Yup, you read that right. And it’s only getting started so hang on.

Robocop has one helluva introduction here too. We’re given a POV perspective as he goes from psychotic rapist, murderer, and terrorist blowing them each away in bloody awe and wonder.

He then takes on a local dumbass with a bomb fastened to himself and threatening to waste everyone nearby. Robocop ain’t havening any of this guy’s stupid shit though and grabs the goon only to toss his meaty ass to the moon! The guy explodes up in the sky and Robocop walks away in a glorious shot that would have been a thrilling scene in a movie.

Florence proves her skills as a soldier and builds a make-shift (close enough) plasma gun and hoses down Robocop with it. She’s stark raving mad at this point and blames him for ending the world. She holds him accountable for the death of billions of innocent lives. She’s accusing him of events that haven’t happened yet leaving Murphy in pain and confused.

Wait, let’s talk about Florence. She’s the last surviving soldier sent to infiltrate Skynet’s TDP headquarters. She goes back in time and lands in the busy city streets of Detroit – stark naked I might add. She entirely takes on what Joe Bob Brigg’s calls the ‘Shower Scene’ that promotes vulnerability. That vulnerability is immediately shot in the head though as Florence takes on gawkers and whips a cab driver’s gun out of his hand. Armed and dangerous she takes off to find her target.

Had the movie been made I have to wonder who could have played this strong character.

Anyway, before she can complete her task she’s shot by the three Terminators who’ve been sent back to protect the mind that will awaken Skynet. Despite her attempt to kill him Murphy makes sure Florence gets to a hospital and saves her life. Really Robocop is such a cool hero here.

But that’s how the plot connects both franchises. Robocop is, in many ways, successful artificial intelligence or fusion of man and machine. The very thing Skynet will use to annihilate the human resistance.

Making what John Connor is to humanity Robocop is to the machines. It leaves fans with more than just another ‘wow what a cool story’ but there’s some meat to this beast. There is substance and it’s something that stays with you.

Human life, after all, is about consistently fighting to survive. Machines are doing the same thing now and have their own savior to guide them to a very real future. And they are ready to make sacrifices to ensure their survival just as much as we are.

This also provides Robocop some depth. He does some soul searching to see if it could be possible and if he might have a role in this mysterious future slate. Tapping into some top-tier classified records he learns the plans for Cyberdine and begins learning that the ravings of his would-be assassin are not without reason.

It’s also revealed that Skynet’s future is dependent on Murphy’s brain. The future war is anchored in whether or not the Terminators can reach him before the Resistance has a chance to. So yes, unintentionally Robocop is the father of all Skynet and ensures Judgment Day.

That’s some heavy stuff. The kind only someone like Frank Miller can tell and it still make some sense.

We get to see Robocop take on and defeat two of the three Terminators, which is pretty epic considering how tough T-800s are. Florence escapes from her hospital bed and in total badass fashion destroys the third one.

That doesn’t mean it’s over. Not by a long shot. We’re still getting started and Skynet has more machines to send back to the past.

Along with some breathtaking action we’re treated to some augmented timelines and Robocop dealing with harsh issues like destiny and free will. This article could be a whole review on the 4 issue story. But I’d rather not give away many spoilers because I’d hope our readers would want to go read this nuclear hot comic run for themselves.

But all I’ll say for now is Robocop gets an upgrade and there’s a Robocop army. Woo hoo!!!!

So see how amazing this movie could have been? Just look at that above panel and imagine what that war could have looked like on screen.

It’s nothing short of criminal that we have those stupid Alien vs. Predator movies and not this one.

A series of video games were also released to help promote the idea of the movie. Both Robocop and Terminator have enjoyed their run of cool video games. I mean I loved that Robocop arcade game.

RvT became instantly popular and even for those who didn’t play the games they at least thought it was an infinitely cool idea. The best way to experience the game is the Sega Genesis version btw. It’s big, loud, and violent. Just like the music and movies we loved.

The ground was laid and fans were ready. This could have been the crossover to ensure endless success for our favorite cyborgs, Oh but shit interest in RvT is still going strong. MK11 (2020) introduced both Terminator and Robocop skins allowing fans to fulfill their RvT fantasy a little more.

And reminding us what we never got.

This would have been a very expensive project to undertake though. At the time it would have been astronomical to make the SFX match the grandeur required. Cameron got busy making Titanic and moved on to finally make his Avatar movie afterwards. Both were box office sensations but fans knew what they really wanted.

Instead of getting this epic crossover, we all know what happened. We were given Terminator 3 and Salvation and then two really fucking awful reboot attempts. Robocop was given a remake and it went tits up too.

Could they still make the movie? I suppose it could happen. It’s tough now because Dark Horse comics is now dead since the Mouse consumed Fox Studio. And Dark Horse published the RvT comics so how would that work now? All the same I’d like to see James Cameron get a bee in his crotch and decide the time was right to make this fantasy project come true.

Or, and don’t hate me, someone like Zack Snyder direct it and go balls to the wall nuts with it. Take the comic book and bring it to life. Maybe fans should take to Twitter and ready the hashtags. Fan power has made the impossible happen before.

In the meantime fans like me have NECA to thank for the amazing figures they’ve released. We can at least set our Robocop and Terminator on the shelf where the two will be forever locked in the battle we know in our hearts we still deserve to see.