Realism in 2014 Godzilla Discussion

Great thread, some really good points mentioned here. I'm curious to see what others will add to this discussion.

Personally I'm not a fan of this realism, and here's why. David Goyer who wrote for most of this movie and has written for a few other movies so based off his past work the realism idea is suspended enough that the main character can be seen, but anything outside those bounds if off limits. This means space monsters, magic, and mechs will be out of the question leaving only the mutants as other potential monsters without back story changes. The realism will also have to encompass his beam making in probably a lot weaker than it has been for the last few installments which I'm okay will as I've said before I'd like to see a fight reminiscent of Godzilla raids again that actually looks like monsters fighting, but I know a lot of the fan will probably not be as happy. The military will have to have a lot more effect. Even if the monster has extremely hard skin the level our military power is at at the current time is also ridiculous and while it's a basic staple of Godzilla movies for the monster to shrug off military attacks from a realistic perspective it wouldn't be that easy, and they would have to have some effect, whether that be wounding or just driving away the monsters. The main characters will also be quite difficult to fit into this realistically, and have them at least matter. For the most part it follows a marine, with his wife and a scientist, but realistically none of these characters would be able to even come close to godzilla, as the radiation he would put out would borderline fatal making me wonder what makes them so special that I should care besides maybe Bryan Cranston's character as the scientist. The realism that is put in this movie has to be very small, only encompassing certain aspects if they really want to have this be a good movie. It's godzilla so the fact they're doing at all just because it seems to be a trend right now is something I'm not a fan of. Hopefully the realism ends with how the characters and society copes with the monster attacks rather than going for the full out this is realistically what would happen if a giant radiation breaking monster appeared.

This is an awesome discussion, you definitely know your stuff. I actually do hope Godzilla still has his regenerative powers. It's understandable that it would'nt be realistic, but the movie's gonna be about a 400 ft tall dinosaur who breathes atomic breathe, I think it's safe to say we can believe this Godzilla can have regenerative powers. In addition there are creatures in real life with regenerative powers, like lizards/sea stars that can regrow limbs and body parts, even deer can regrow broken antlers; you could apply this to Godzilla's armor. If the guy can still breath atomic rays, I think it's safe to say he can heal wounds quickly. After all I wouldn't imagine a Godzilla without regeneration surviving very long with just a thick hide, we'd just launch armor piercing missiles at him and he'd be done. No fun.

As I read these, in some ways I can deal with it. For example the gills, I honestly won't mind that, it makes sense for Godzilla to live in Water for most of his life. However what I don't want to see is the gills being noticed constantly, even if they do an underwater scene. The Atomic Breath, in a way I like how it's put out, Godzilla has shown in previous films he is capable of using it underwater, but I fear it won't look anything iconic. With focusing on realism, they got to do it right, this is Toho's second chance of letting an American Film company handle their monster. So far, even with the trailer and the leaked image (shown at the top) I still think they're doing the right thing in handling him. Even if there happens to be minor mistakes, at this point it's already better than the '98 film just because by now it looks like Godzilla. But will it be more entertaining? That question can only be answered in time.

I don't really care how realistic it is as long as it's a good movie. [i]The Dark Knight[/i] is probably one of the most realistic movies in the superhero genre, but it's fantastic. Likewise, [i]The Avengers[/i] isn't "realistic" at all, but it's a wonderful movie as well. It comes down to what works best, which I know is obvious, but a good movie is a good movie. And that's really what I care about the most.

You people are misunderstanding about the realism of Godzilla, some of it out of fear (which is understandable) that no one wants 1998 all over again. The realism of Godzilla is that: 1. He's [b][i]SYMBOLICALLY AND METAPHORICALLY[/i][/b] realistic, in terms of what he represents, which is #2. 2. Godzilla represents nuclear weapons, the original stood for that, and so will this one. He represents how much devastation a nuclear weapons can cause. 3. Godzilla also represents the destructive and unstoppable powers of nature, like a tornado, an earthquake, a volcanic eruption and a tsunami, and how he attacks is like how a natural disaster would. The power of nature is something that you cannot stop, and Godzilla represents that very well. 4. Last, but not least, like "Gojira", it asks the question "What [b][i]IF[/i][/b] Godzilla was real?", "How [b][i]DO[/i][/b] we deal with such a thing in real life?" All those things are what makes Godzilla realistic.

@True American Godzilla "Realistically, Godzilla would need gills to survive in the water." No he doesn't, Godzilla never needed any gills before, so why now? Let's not forget that Godzilla is a dinosaur, and if you look back to his ancestors, there are a lot of types of dinosaurs that can breath underwater [b][i]WITHOUT THE USE OF GILLS!!![/i][/b] The underwater breathing mechanism is probably inside of Godzilla's nose, that's why he was able to stay down there for so long without any problems. Giving Godzilla gills is pretty much useless. BTW, those things you call "gills" on his neck aren't really gills, those are scales that HAPPENS to look like gills.

To the comment above me, Dinosaurs nor any reptile for that matter cannot breathe underwater. They have to resurface at one point to replenish O2. Even sperm whales who dive to incredible depths need to resurface. If an animal is to live all it's life underwater in the abyssal zone, they require gills. I'm a biology student. I hated the 98' as much as every Godzilla fan. And don't worry, if they are going to realistically put gills on, it should be unnoticeable because gills are supposedly placed behind the jaw, hopefully, and not on the neck or behind the ears like Kevin Costner's in Waterworld.

Oh... look at the picture, the gills are already on the neck..

crocodiles don't have gills yet they spent much more of their life in or under water than on land. i'm all for a story that digs into the nature of atomic mutation and maybe we could see the alleged monster island sequel being a kind of laboratory of genetic science. maybe Rodan could be a mixed from some strange Aztec bird combined with current DNA strains. creating several intersting variations. 3 headed space monsters could simply be 3 head monsters that nobody knows their origin of, they just turned up and wreaked havoc.

I agree, Godzilla didn't have Gills before plus what good are they. He IS a dinosaur and like @gman115 said Godzilla's ancestors lived underwater without them. It doesn't make sense having them now.

I appreciate that all of you have commented on my discussion, I enjoy a good debate. The latest comments bring up another good question, what original creature was the 2014 Godzilla before being mutated? As stated above, the Japanese Gojira was a surviving dinosaur that got mutated. Maybe for this Godzilla it's an unknown species of deep sea reptile/creature that got mutated or something, I just don't know yet. To Gman115, You bring up some good thoughts. I to wanted those symbolism accurately represented as well as realistic physiology/traits. Hence why I hope Godzilla's Atomic Breath is as powerful as the strongest Nuclear Bomb in history (to have the realistic effects of using Nukes). As for being a force of nature, after what I've seen of the LP Godzilla thus far, I'm confident this will be represented as well.

Well,a good article about how a creature like Godzilla can exist (here http://www.angelfire.com/ego/g_saga/kaijubiologyarticle.html) goes into good detail on how almost any Kaiju of any sort can exist. Basically,they're living nuclear reactors (just like Godzilla),and they don't follow the rules of NATURE in terms of ability. Just check it out,and see what you think!

in Some aspects the New Godzilla would Dominate alot of our military weapons, but we have to remember how more advance our weapons have come since the last American Godzilla Movie. Also we must note there are possibly two other monsters in this movie, so we can only grip a small portion of what destruction can come from this. We all know what Godzilla Alone can do to a city................

@GMAN115 I understand where your coming from, but this is as realistic as it gets. At least he still has some signature traits such as body figure(except for the feet) and his Atomic Breath! I like the creativity Gareth is using. He put his realistic imagination in a popular Kaiju Franchise. Just because some things are added to him does'nt mean it will affect the movie itself. Just give it a chance.

@ShazoTheHedgehog This movie is following the same realism the original 1954 "Gojira" portrayed the character, i.e. - following the original source material, something TriStar [b][i]SHOULD'VE[/i][/b] done.

I have a theory about Godzilla's radioactive breath in this film. I don't think it's going to be a ray, as is the case in most Godzilla films, but it's going to take on the form of something similar to the 54 film. I don't think it's gonna be smoke, but it's more than likely not going to be some sort of ray or beam. To show the atomic breath in action, I think they'll show the air around his jaws look like a heat wave, and right as he's about to "blast" out his breath, there's a quick flash of a very bright light, like an atomic bomb being dropped, emitting from his mouth for a brief period of time and then whatever he's around/attacking gets a major knock back effect as well as a very dangerous amount of radiation, enough to kill a man, but maybe not enough to kill the "Mutos" creature(s) with just a single blast. Maybe that's why Godzilla is shrouded in "debris/fallout" in the "teaser". And as Gareth stated, "it's not going to be as fantastic" or some shit like that. That being said, I think it's safe to assume it's only going to be used once or twice, and that's in the most inconvenient for everyone else, except Godzilla, moments, and as something like that would require a lot of energy, I feel it'd make sense if it was not only a last resort thing, but also something that made Godzilla tired. That's how I sort of thing they'll portray the breath "realistically", as far as realism can be achieved in a kaiju film. Maybe that's what you were trying to say, but without the extra bits I threw in, like the energy useage makes Godzilla tired. I like the idea of bringing the "bouncing cars" thing back into the films that the 98 film used. It adds that bit of realism that makes the film even more believable. However, even in the 98 film there were some scenes that forgot to use that effect. The gills are a must for Godzilla. I agree. To portray Godzilla realistically, he'd need gills. I like that detail, as it can also be exploited as a possible vulnerability, adding more realism. As much as I like to think of Godzilla as an indestructible force of nature, it's just not realistic. Gills would be a nice place to target, and the fact that it's blending into the scales, makes it less noticeable so it's not the first thing that any military thinks to aim for. As much as only night attacks seems like a good idea, it didn't work so well for Pacific Rim, and people complain about it still to this day. It was one of my favorite aspects of the 54 movie, because it made it seem "scarier". "Will I wake up tomorrow morning" sort of thing, ya know? But I don't think it'd be something they'd do, and if the 2012 trailer is anything to go by, then it shows Godzilla in broad daylight, debris falling from the sky, as he bellows out a roar. I agree with your reasoning of Godzilla's feet, but I don't remember any official material showing Godzilla's feet. Then again, we haven't seen much official anything when it comes to the 2014 movie. I'll be honest, I didn't notice the eyes until you mentioned them. It didn't even cross my mind to do that, I just assumed "how human", when now that I look at the eyes closely, "Now that's creepily realistic". I agree with pretty much everything you said. I'm really excited to see how much of our speculation actually makes its way into the movie, I'll be happy even if none of my speculation is proven true. Godzilla is Godziila, and I don't give a shit what anyone else says. lmao

I hope that the gills are a more cosmetic feature,because the article I recommended shows why he WOULDN'T need them,as well as why the atomic breath is so powerful and can be used frequently without tire. If anything,a Godzilla that doesn't need things like organic nourishment,air,and has a radioactively built structure that laughs in the face of the Square Cube law like what was highlighted in the article I mentioned would be MORE realistic.

BCrockett94, wow I am glad you really loved my thoughts! I appreciate the review. Your theory on a realistic 'Atomic Breath' is very intriguing. The way you describe your theory, the more it makes sense. Like you, I also hope our theories are in the movie, especially your Atomic Blast theory! I first noticed the pupil when I made the image bigger for my computer background. "Creepily realistic" is a great term for it, and for the feeling one would have if they saw it staring at them in real life. Again, thank you very much for the feed back and ideas!

lets see how realistic did they do thor or spider man, let me see how many other comic book characters they have made realistic, STOP WITH THIS DAMN REALISM AS FAR AS GODZILLA GOES, he is a fantasy character a fiction, portray him as such and stop trying to make him a dinosaur, hell even as that he was in mutation already and his full potential or powers or mutation were not documented, the radiation did to him what gamma radiation did to David banner (hulk) but without the ability to revert back to a weaker state, GODZILLA is mans death and should be focused on and realized as just that. he is what he is. I AM THE DESTROYER, I AM THE DEATH OF MY CREATOR.

@GMAN115 You're right, TriStar should have followed "Gojira's" characteristics, but they wanted money. I have a lot of confidence in this movie because I watched Gareth Edward's "Monsters", and I thought it was beautiful for a low-budget film. Now with all of the materials at his disposal, he will be able to make a greater film. He likes realism because he was thinking,(and this is a quote directly from him) "What if someone from ToHo actually saw this creature and ran back to the studio to try to make an exact representation." According to this movie, if Godzilla was an actual creature of mass destruction (we would all be screwed if he was), how would we act or what would our actions be or possibly, how would are military respond to the threat? He also wanted to make Godzilla specifically as realistic as possible.

All us G-fans really want in our Godzilla for this film is for his powerful status to remain like that,perhaps even exceed that of his predecessors. Key things include being impervious to any significant damage from military armaments (that means all those fancy missile strikes too!),an atomic breath that can level entire city blocks without effort (in fact,I think total vaporization would be better in this film),and a knack for never showing any signs of slowing down from anything short of an oxygen destroyer or nuclear meltdown.

@GMAN115 - I don't like being negative and I hate calling people this but... you're kind of stupid. Your argument reads as follows: "@True American Godzilla "Realistically, Godzilla would need gills to survive in the water. No he doesn't, Godzilla never needed any gills before, so why now? Let's not forget that Godzilla is a dinosaur, and if you look back to his ancestors, there are a lot of types of dinosaurs that can breath underwater WITHOUT THE USE OF GILLS!!! The underwater breathing mechanism is probably inside of Godzilla's nose, that's why he was able to stay down there for so long without any problems. Giving Godzilla gills is pretty much useless. BTW, those things you call "gills" on his neck aren't really gills, those are scales that HAPPENS to look like gills." So let's break this down shall we? First off! "No he doesn't, Godzilla never needed any gills before, so why now?" Actually, yes he did. Toho chose not to go into the matter of how Godzilla could breath under the water. Why? We may never know for sure, but the most likely reason is to expand on the mystery that surrounds him. All animals that have lungs will need a set of gills to live in the sea. The only animals today which fit that category are amphibians (amphibian actually means "living two lives", referencing their life on land with their lungs and in the sea with their gills), so if you want to classify Godzilla realistically, he is in fact an amphibian. He's reptilian in nature, but if he breathes underwater via the use of gills or any other oxygen or water filtration system he's no longer classifiable (scientifically speaking) as a reptile. He is an amphibian. If he breathes underwater, he needs gills because it's obvious he has a pair of lungs to breath air. If he doesn't have gills, it's impossible to breath underwater, period. Next! "Let's not forget that Godzilla is a dinosaur, and if you look back to his ancestors, there are a lot of types of dinosaurs that can breath underwater WITHOUT THE USE OF GILLS!!!" This is where your stupidity really shows kid. First off, Godzilla was classified as an irradiated dinosaur in the movies, but let's not forget the fact that this is a theory and not a solid fact. All dinosaurs had lungs and breathed air. They were reptiles. All sea creatures during the time of the dinosaurs that could survive in water indefinitely without lungs or the need to breath air were classified as fish or some other manner of sea creature such as a crustacean, mollusk, amphibian, etc,. There is not a single dinosaur species in the fossil record that did not have lungs or breath air, nor a single species that could breath underwater. Again, I hate being negative and calling people this but you are in fact kind of stupid. Next! "The underwater breathing mechanism is probably inside of Godzilla's nose, that's why he was able to stay down there for so long without any problems. Giving Godzilla gills is pretty much useless." More stupidity. First, you acknowledged the fact that Godzilla needs some kind of breathing mechanism to breath underwater. News flash, there is only one breathing mechanism in the world that allows for this to take place: gills. And quick question: Where is the evidence to support this theory of yours about a "breathing mechanism" being inside Godzilla's nose? I'd like to know very much where you came up with this because it was obviously not based on any kind of study or knowledge of animals or biology. Again, without the use of gills, be they internal or external, breathing underwater is impossible. Toho never said whether he had gills or not, but the fact remains that there had to have been some kind of gill system in place within his being to allow him to breath underwater without drowning him. And finally, my favorite bit! "BTW, those things you call "gills" on his neck aren't really gills, those are scales that HAPPENS to look like gills." You have obviously never studies animals or animal biology. If you had, those gills would stand out for what they are (gills) like a crimson red devil horned hat in a christian church on Sunday. Go do some research on gills one of these days. See what they look like across various types of animals which use them and you'll begin to see why they are in fact gills and not scales. If you want to debate someone, do so armed with facts and knowledge instead of fan-boy opinions. You obviously had no idea what you were talking about when you made that argument, and when you come unarmed to debates like this you set yourself up for destruction. That's exactly what happened here too. Your arguments have been completely and utterly destroyed. A mind is a terrible thing to waste GMAN115, so try not to waste yours any further.

Kyero, you are amazing.

@Kyero Watch it, boy, I'm not stupid. You clearly are the one who is stupid, Godzilla was able to breathe fine underwater without gills, I see no reason to give him any. Everything I said was careful analyzing, not fan beliefs, I've been watching Godzilla films for a long time, and I see no purpose for gills. Godzilla is a dinosaur, and if you look back to his ancestors, some dinos didn't need gills, look it up, moron. "Why Toho never gave Godzilla gills?" Maybe because they never [b][i]HAD[/i][/b] any intentions to add them. You are as dumb as a bag of shit, so careful not to mess with me, 'cause I can get pretty nasty when it comes to harshful arguments, and you don't want me to get nasty here. So don't waste [b][i][u]YOUR[/u][/i][/b] brain (if you HAVE any), and let others do their own analyzing.

Guys, calm down. There is NO need for name calling here I don't care what the problem is it's not the way to argue a point. Please have respect for one another. Thank you. :)

True American Godzilla, yeah, no problem. xD Your ideas and reasoning were eye opening to say the least. Also, Gman, Kyero makes some excellent points, although I didn't agree with the name calling. Kyero, gman made some good points as well. Kiss and make up, or get the hell out of here.

To be honest, I hope they don't stick with the whole dinosaur thing. It's been over used and it is very cheesy. Since 1954 there has been a tremendous amount of discoveries and I'm hoping we'll see something new and interesting in this film. As for what animal Godzilla could be, I thinking a Synapsid or theropsid. Godzilla has more mammal-like reptiles features then a dinosaur. But whatever idea they come up with should be good. Godzilla is from the ocean, which is the most unknown and surprising places we know of.

@STEVEN1985 To be realistic, I to hope they don't use the surviving dino bit. The ocean is mostly unexplored, so who knows what monsters lurk there already (let alone mutated ones). What would be funny, if they had a James Cameron type dive to the Mariana Trench in the movie and is the first to be attacked by Godzilla (instead of finding nothing).

The teaser and possible trailer (the second vid that WB removed) are here: Teaser: https://mega.co.nz/#!sB11ibqb!DHdW0iNrh46UMKqRhzxVDzQevlE_EbtRtzdD2Yhc-Hk Teaser (HD): https://mega.co.nz/#!YQNTzLyL!BcGbUVZl8497ACgxSpNfbBSVoF1TwiRAZxWBG26sWp4 (Possible) Trailer: https://mega.co.nz/#!BIkRQYZA!etJKKi-ktLD7A7QQDMThhX13lml4r87DgrGZbGSdbqs You are welcome guys :)