Long time no blog.
Life has been nuts, in a great way, but I finally have some spare time to putz around this blog again... so enjoy!
Well here we are... my finalized mod to the NECA Godzilla 1984. I wasn't going for X-plus level of suit accuracy, but I feel like I managed to get the basic silhouette of the design. Hope you all enjoy!
After tweaking some proportions and shapes, I think that I've settled on the final sculpt of the dorsal fin modifications. Not perfect, I know, but I'm pretty happy with the silhouette it gives the figure and brings out the great parts of the base figure.
Up next will be paint application, as I plan to repaint all of the existing fins to make a uniform color scheme. It's up in the air if I want to undo the green wash NECA chose to put on him instead of going with the film accurate charcoal black.
Although not featured, you can get a great visual of the upcoming NECA Godzilla 1954 stomping around with the Godzilla 1994 on sculptor David Silva's desk.
Have a look in the video below!
Although brief, it definitely is something to look forward to.
In relation to NECA news: according to their Twitter feed, Godzilla 1954 is scheduled for release "Spring-ish". Also, although no plans are concrete yet, NECA revealed via Twitter that there is a possibility for the release of more 24'' Head-to-tail Godzilla figures.
Here's hoping the NECA Godzilla line flourishes like their Pacific Rim, Planet of the Apes, and Predator lines! Also, credit to Arcade Sushi for the awesome tour video!
To be fair to this figure, it's not as terrible as some make it seem. It's a rather pleasant surprise when you pull him out and look at him. He's a solid figure with a decent resemblance to the 1984 suit. And with a price tag of $20 bucks, I think he's the perfect figure to base a fairly simple mod off of.
To start, I want to say that I'm not going for 100% screen accuracy. I'm not attempting to rip this figure apart and reassemble it for a 1984 mini X-plus look alike. I want to utilize the decent figure that I bought, and with an additive process, make this figure look more like the 1984 Godzilla.
With the spines I just want to capture the overall look. I may be missing a curve here or there, but I want to get down the general shape and size to start then worry about that later.
I'm taking some artistic liberties, but I think for the initial sculpt, he's starting to look a bit more like the 84 already!
First of all: Anything that is contained in this article is 100% speculation and my own opinions. Feel free to discuss, debate, and verbally tear each other limb from limb in the comments! (I'm kidding, always be civil.)
Suit or CGI? I think it goes without saying that most Godzilla fans are already imagining what this next suit is going to look like. But some fans are speculating if it'll even be a suit at all. Anime News Network reports that Toho proclaimed that this film will not "bow down to the Hollywood film" and that it's all thanks to "a combination of rapidly improving film-making techniques and know-how developed over the years in Japan". That being said, it's a no-brainer that things have changed quite a lot in Japanese cinema since Godzilla's last stride into the ocean ten years ago. But, does this mean an entirely CGI Godzilla? Personally, I doubt it. From interviews and articles, I feel that Toho's roots and mastery of special effects won't be sent packing anytime soon. In comparison to Western film-making, the Tokusatsu tradition is thriving better in Japan than it is here in the States. The only time we get to see really great prosthetic/suitimation work here in the United States is when somebody dusts the old Xenomorph or Predator off. No disrespect to those characters and franchises meant, but they are really the last of the great Stan Winston (whom I consider the Western Eiji Tsuburaya) tradition.
Let's go out on a limb and say they DO an entirely CG Godzilla for 2016. What would that be like?
Well, here he is in a cameo for the film Always 2, produced by Toho back in 2009. It's not awful, but falls short to both CGI standards (especially for the 2014 film) and suitimation effects used in any of the Godzilla franchise. Unless the tools and budget are available for Toho to create something really spectacular through animation, I think we'll be getting a good old reliable suit.
In a side argument for suitimation: Something that is actually physically existing on a screen with forced perspective (for scale and speed) will always register in the human mind as real because it literally exists. You can touch the suit, feel it, smell it. Subconsciously, when a viewer sees computer animation, no matter how rendered or detailed, the mind knows it doesnt exist in reality so therefore is not real. Breaking the illusion of the theatrical roots to film. Oh, the things you learn in a film school.
At most, I predict some digital clean up of a suit or miniature set.
So, let's say we've got a suit. We've got a suit actor primed for the role and we're moving in the tiny Tokyo Tower. What exactly will this new, yet oh-so-familiar, silhouette against the cityscape look like? Although I doubt they'll make any insane left turns from the original design, I think it all depends on the. . . . .
Tone This is something I've been pondering over since I read the announcement earlier today. We all know Goji has been friend, foe, and something in between. Where is this new Toho film going to take us?
Although we might not want to admit it right away, this film will be compared to the Legendary Godzilla by critics and fans if we like it or not. A thought I've had is that Toho could go one of two ways. Either drive this new film parallel to the 2014 installment by bringing him back as a fierce force of nature, airing on the side of villain/antihero OR seeing him as a friend to mankind.
As I'm writing this I'm listening to the themes from the Showa, Heisei, and Millennium series. We all love the big booming scores of Gojira, Godzilla vs. Mothra, and The Return of Godzilla, but
with tokusatsu really flourishing in children's television and film, is
it absolutely out of the question to see a resurgence of films with a
flare of Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla (1974)? Although unlikely, I'm not sure it'd be entirely out of the question.
I have a feeling we'll be getting something along the lines of the 1984 Godzilla. A very villainous Anti-hero. As for the suit's look, I'd love to get a massive and nasty menace. Godzilla 2004 was a great flexible suit for the action-packed tone of Final Wars, but I'd love to see a large menacing behemoth of a Godzilla.
Series
Another question that I keep asking myself is: Will this be the first in a new series? I think it will be a safe bet that this film will be a direct sequel to the original film. Although Toho attacked that approach many times throughout the Millennium series, I don't see them ever going back and redoing the original film or cutting it out of the canon for this film and subsequent films to follow. It's just too important of a film.
I think it's a safe bet that most fans would want a coherent series of films like the Heisei or Showa years. My gut feeling is, this film is just the first step in a new Toho era.
Which makes you wonder...
Godzilla versus...
I think it's going to be an equal opportunity time for most fan favorites to be reborn. With the Heisei series pseudo-remaking Showa classics like Godzilla vs. Mothra and Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla, I would love to see a retelling of the basis for Godzilla Raids Again in this new hypothetical series. Let's see Godzilla and Anguirus duke it out one more time!
Or, you can go a whole new direction. Creature designers with new ideas might get the chance to play in this legendary universe. Myself, I'd love to see a series that takes risks. Biollante took risksand I think it's one of the most unique and interesting films in the franchise. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with seeing Mothra swoop in and... well, probably sacrifice herself.... but I think this is a great time to stretch the franchise and create something new and exciting. I wouldn't be surprised if Godzilla is on his own for this first adventure, just to establish the universe, but I'd love to see some new and exciting ideas into the mix.
At the end of the day, what does any of this speculation matter? We're getting a new Japanese Godzilla movie. After ten years of silence, Godzilla is back in a big way. We've got a very successful American line running that fans generally accepted and now we have Toho themselves adding to the legacy again.
It is a great time to be a Monster movie fan. Not only that, but a great time to be a collector of films, figures, and games.
So, a merry season it is, because now we've got TWO Godzillas coming our way.
As a side note, I'd like to thank the readers of Suits & Strings for making this blog more successful than I ever thought it would be when I created it a few months ago. You've been generous and kept the views fairly steady and I hope you all are liking what I've got to say.
As always, stay tuned for more news, figures, music, and FILMS as we finish up this year. Speak up in the comments and let me know what YOUR predictions and hopes are for the new film.
And as Titanosaurus would say: Whoop-Whoooooop!
Filed under "The Top 5 Headlines I never expected to see soon", AnimeNewsNetwork.com and other sources (Nikkei, Eiga.com) have reported that our beloved Tokusatsu extrodinaires, TOHO, have begun production on their first Godzilla film since 2004's Godzilla Final Wars.
I'll give you a minute to let that sink in. While we wait, here's a picture of a very smug looking Eiji Tsuburaya.
"... and then they said, 'Elephant Feet!'"
Better? Me either.
This news comes relatively close to the news of TOHO's new Godzilla Conference or Godzicon, which has been described as a team of staff members who's sole purpose is to pave the way for the future of all things Godzilla. It appears they've been hard at work. This new film is reported to not have any connection to the new series being created in conjunction with Legendary Pictures, but rather a new Godzilla film altogether solely by TOHO. Word is yet to come out if this is the beginning of a new TOHO series or just a one off film.
It seems we're going to be seeing a lot of the King in the coming years.
The new TOHO Godzilla film (God it feels so good to say that.) is set to release in 2016.
Legendary's Godzilla 2 (featuring TOHO heavyweights, Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah) is set for 2018.
If you listened closely, you could hear a quiver fluttering throughout the Godzilla fan base earlier today. Why? Because of the release of the new trailer and announcement that the Godzilla video game by Bandai Namco will be released in North America.
Without further ado, the trailer:
Now for you lucky enough to be Team Sony, enjoy. We on the Team Nintendo side will be grumbling with vicious envy.
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