Movie Tournament Rounds 1-5 Archive

The king of the monsters,

Be careful. Durp004 won't accept your opinion because he brings up facts, flaws, and even the scales of the movies. He'll battle it to death with you just like he did gman123 who has recently left because of these fu####g stupid debates. 

Durp004, I don't mean anything I said in disrespect. Just saying in general that when some solid "facts"  are brought up, some people wish to ignore them. 

Anyway, I'm still sticking with gigan. Although with stock footage, it makes the movie seem more fun and enjoyable for the whole family. Which is why I'll never choose the 98 film over any of the original japanese classics. That includes stock footage.

I'll give Durp the posing, but that's about it. Everything he listed I generally enjoyed about the film. If anyone is really "grasping for straws," it's him.

I just don't understand the attitude a lot of the members are approaching this debate tournament. Instead of which movie they like best, people are making it sound like which movie they hate the least. Maybe I just look at all of the films through rose-colored glasses, but I would never consider any of them "horrible films" (except the 1998 one, which shouldn't even count), yet so far on every round at least one user has called either or both films being discussed "horrible."

I personally like all of the films in some way, yet a lot of the other users are making it sound like they only like a select few films, and the rest are all trash. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I really just don't like the negative tone of these debates. Rather than discussing the positive things that make the movies good, it seems that all that's being discussed are the flaws of each film, and whichever film has fewer flaws than the other.

I don't think any member here is "grasping straws," nor do I think anyone should accuse each other of that. In this particular case, I just think people are looking at Godzilla vs. Hedorah differently. I can see both sides, which is why the movie is so divisive. It's not shocking that people like/dislike it for largely the same reasons. It's always been like that. Which is largely why I'm confused why Big Bad Ben said Durp was presenting facts. If that's really the case he presented no more facts than anyone else.

King of the Monsters,
I agree for the most part. I can find something redeeming about all of these movies whether they're good or not. On some level I really enjoy them all which is how I know I'm a giant monster fanboy. But I also understand that not everyone in the fandom feels the same way. Some people just enjoy some of these movies far less than I do and can't unless it caters closer to what they want out of their interpretation of the franchise. Some people take it a little far, I agree, but it's not particularly unexpected.

I'm not saying that liking a film I don't makes you grasping for straws I'm saying the reasoning you're giving are things that weren't really there in my eyes. Sure the movie had a message, sure it was a good message, but as I said the message is hammered home so hard it becomes redundant. Sure the images look great when you see them in the opening, but when the movies basically stop every 10 minutes or so to show more pollution just kind of because the characters want to talk about it again it becomes old pretty fast. That and the constant Save the Sun song that plays in the opening and throughout the movie to once again, hint at saving the Earth. I personally wouldn't say this did better than Godzilla vs Mothra 92, but I surely wouldn't say it's among the list of movies that gets its message by well, unless you like things being brought up as much as possible then maybe. It's like if the original had a sing along about nuclear weapons being bad, or if Godzilla vs Biollante stopped randomly at points to show you pictures of genetic research gone bad; maybe if Tokyo SOS had mothra carrying a banner that talked about letting the dead rest. All those movies also have messages and in my eyes deal with getting that message accross much better than Godzilla vs Hedorah without being so in your face and repetitive with it.

As for the characters I really don't see it. I don't see how they are any more serious since 2 are just there to party pretty much, the wife is just there to be around the husband and listen to him talk, and the son kind of just likes Godzilla and knows when he's coming and what he's doing through no explanation really. It's not given off as childlike hopefulnesss either it's literally the kid will say "Godzilla is coming" and within a few scenes Godzilla will be there. Then finally the only character that does something Doctor Yano. I mean does he create the device to stop Hedorah? Sure but it's in a very tongue and cheek manner. As I said after spending the majority of the movie in bed he creates something based of information that we all already figured out much earlier in the movie, and then next scene here's the device since apparently it was that easy and then the army brings a larger scale one. That's like if in Gigan one of the cockroaches gets blown up and then 40 minutes later the smartest character after thinking how to stop them the whole movie comes to the conclusion that they can just blow them all up and the next scene it happens.

Maybe the Hedorah characters aren't that bad, and I'm just looking at it in a pessimistic sense, but I can't see how, objectively you could say as a whole they are better than the ones in Gigan on the grounds that one made a device to stop Hedorah.

As for the negative outlook King of the Monsters believes some people are looking at this in me probably being one of those. I like all these movies, hell I literally watched my least favorite one yesterday to see if maybe I missed things that might possibly make it great. That being said when you have a debate and tournament under the perfect bracket logic the bottom teams or movies in this game go out in the first round with the bracket supposedly becoming more competitive with higher levels of competition as it goes on. That being said with every movie that goes on, as with sports I look at it not only comparitively with the movie it's against but who it will move on to. With that being said so far of the movies that have been brought up and moved on you'd be hard pressed to say any are going far in had they gotten a harder draw. Since this is a bracket I look at the movies in comparison to others so while I may have fun with Final Wars and enjoy turning my brain off in comparison to all the other movies I don't find it a strong entry, the same being said for some of the others revealed so far, on their own enjoyable and fun movies, in comparison to the series as a whole toward the bottom in terms of quality.

If you don't see positive things in the film that I or others do, that's perfectly fine. But just because you don't see them doesn't mean that other members who do are "grasping for straws" or "seeing things that aren't there." They just see the film differently than you do, which is the entire point of this debate.

I liked the trippy visuals in Godzilla vs Hedorah but I can't remember anything about the characters for the life of me. I think I'll go with Godzilla vs Gigan in this match.

MOVIE TOURNAMENT ROUND 4 HAS BEGUN.

Twitter and the forum votes show that Godzilla vs. Hedorah is the clear favorite over Godzilla vs. Gigan, 9 to 4. (The irony here is that Godzilla vs. Gigan has a higher rating on the Scified reviews.)

Next round:

Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster VS. Destroy All Monsters

Well to be honest from my perspective saying the characters are better on the grounds of one making a weapon in roughly 5 minutes to stop the monster than the characters in Gigan who were searching for a lost brother, look up information on the aliens finding out that they're using dead peoples' identity, getting captured and escaping only to come back and destroy the Godzilla tower that ultimately helps Godzilla win as much as drying out Hedorah did is grasping for straws. Either that or you skewed way of looking at characters from the way I do.

Seriously, it's time to shut up about it and move on. This could go on forever. Gigan lost.

Anyway, Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster for me. Destroy All Monsters may have more monsters, but it also spends more time on the alien takeover. Aside from the silly monster conversation, Ghidorah is just the more thrilling of the two in my opinion.

I've watched both films today and I think I've come to a conclusion on which one I will vote for.

Ghidorah the three headed monster is barely the victor. 

Both films are pure escapist films, both are directed by Ishiro Honda, both features exciting special effects, both are fun for the entire family, one is special effects directed by Eiji Tsuburaya while the other Eiji Tsuburaya supervised. Destroy all monsters was not directed by Eiji Tsuburaya on the special effects.

Ghidorah has a more solid story and better characters. It even mentions Mothra fighting Godzilla in the previous film. Godzilla fighting Rodan is extremely exciting. Godzilla is not the super hero exactly in ghidorah until the end of the movie when teaming up with Mothra and Rodan. Since Godzilla was under alien control in destroy all monsters, I'm not counting that. 

Destroy all monsters has the many monsters, the brutal beat down on Ghidorah is memorable but so is Ghidorah. The master music mind Akira Ifukube scored both of these wonderful films. All in all, my vote is for Ghidorah The 3 headed monster.

My vote on this matchup between:

Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster VS. Destroy All Monsters

Has to be Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster. It is the introduction of Ghidorah. Godzilla working with Rodan and Mothra. The human story is even interesting. It is preatty awesome.

Destroy all Monsters may have more monsters, but most of them don't do anything. Also, it sems to spend too much times on the humans. Also, with Ghidorah already losing to the teamup of Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra, having him go up against 7 monsters just doesn't seem anywhere near as fair. It is in the top half of my favorites, but still not as good as when he first showed up. 

I'll have to go with Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster. While I love both of these films, I've always found Destroy All Monsters to be a bit overrated in the fanbase (though I do understand why it is the favorite of so many fans). Ghidorah has some solid acting from some of the series' best actors, a unique and interesting human plot, plus it features Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan, and introduces King Ghidorah. It was the first film to portray Godzilla as the protagonist as well. It's a landmark entry in the series, and has stood the test of time.

DAM is still an enjoyable film, but the human element is a bit lacking, and nothing really exciting happens until the final battle, which really elevates the entire film. Both films have excellent scores from Akira Ifukube (although I contend that neither are among his best scores).

So, I vote for Ghidorah. Overall, I feel it's the better film, and a slightly more significant entry in the series.

Ghidorah the three-headed monster is probably one of the best examples in the series and movies in general of a movie taking multiple established characters and putting them together without changing the characters and leaving some to supporting roles. All the monsters with the exception of Ghidorah had been in their own movies prior to this with Mothra already meeting Godzilla in the last enstallment. Every monster has a role and all get a good amount of the film. It's paced very well in this sense watching Godzilla and Rodan go at it while the film builds up Ghidorah and Mothra being there to unite them all. The characters and story are very well done too. Interesting concept of an alien coming to warn us of impending doom. Great story great characters, and a great film in the series.

Destroy All Monsters I'm more split on. Sure the movie boasts a huge roster but most don't do much barely making it into a shot or two. The film has some iconic scenes like the final battle and for some reason Manda wrapping around the track always gets shown or brought up. It was a very cool scene though. This seems like the opposite of Final Wars in a way. Final Wars had a huge roster and just went balls to the wall with action every scene, this movie tried to play up the story more with a few shots of monsters destroying things, but overall feels like they went a little too much on the story. For the time spent on it I don't feel like it was used that effectively, and would have rather seen the gimmick of all the monsters that the film boasted. I also can't help but feel the final fight was somewhat disappointing to me for personal reasons. With all the earth monsters there the 3 that actually take on Ghidorah are Godzilla Anguirus, and Gorosaurus with the rest watching. I understand not using Rodan and Mothra on the grounds they've fought Ghidorah before, but from my perspective Rodan shared the rivalry with Ghidorah that Godzilla did being there to confront him with Godzilla both times they've met prior. I guess it's just me by the Rodan Ghidorah rivalry seems a little underplayed in the series after Monster Zero.

Anyway I have to go with Ghidorah the Three Headed monster it had less monsters but seemed to use them so much more effectively.

Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster!

As a boy, probably my favorite Godzilla movie. I always loved GKOTM, and that was the first one I saw, but having Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra team up against a three headed dragon from space was enough to make a boy's head explode. Although my feelings have tempered a bit for this and Monster Zero in my adult years, they are still among my favorites.

I have to say my sentiments for DAM pretty much echo what others have said as well, and I too felt Ghidorah was overwhelmingly the underdog against that onslaught of monsters, especailly after getting his butt handed to him by the duo of Godzilla and Rodan in Monster Zero. DAM is still a fun movie and a benchmark for the amount of monsters in it.

However, for me, Ghidorah by a long shot. I may actually be on the winning team this time!

Enjoy both films but I'll give a slight edge to Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. I enjoyed the build-up leading to the eventual appearance of Ghidorah and the mystery involving the alien/Princess Salno. 

I'm surprised this round has been such a shut out. I expected Destroy All Monsters to actually take it.

^Agreed. Although I did expect Ghidorah to take, I thought it would be a lot closer amongst some fans.

I didn't think Destroy All Monsters had a chance. It's a good movie but besides having more monsters it didn't really do anything Ghidorah didn't. Ghidorah was the first to bring in aliens the first to have a big roster bringing in multiple monsters, overall the movie just is did too much, besides the final fight and a few scenes of multiple monsters attacking cities at once, which I think there is only one of I believe, I don't really remember much about DAM.

MOVIE TOURNAMENT ROUND 5 HAS BEGUN.

Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster blew out Destroy All Monsters 9 to 2 on forum and twitter votes. Next up:

Godzilla vs. Biollante VS. Godzilla Raids Again

I actually really enjoy Godzilla Raids Again. It has a great monster battle, great characters, and a somewhat tragic end. It also established Anguirus as my second favorite kaiju.

But I've got to go with Godzilla vs. Biollante. It's depth of story with science vs. nature and a melding of the two, the intertwining terrorist plots with Saudi Arabia (I believe) wanting to use G-Cells for weapons, and also being the very first film to go into any sort of depth with the G-Cells. Biollante is also a magnificent creation, possibly the most impressive suit/anamatronich in the entire Godzilla franchise.

So +1 for Godzilla vs. Biollante.

I like both of these films but I vote for Godzilla vs. Biollante as the better of the two. Biollante had more action and better pacing, a good plot, and a great score. Biollante also had some interesting and memorable human characters including Gondo and the introduction of Miki Saegusa. I also enjoyed a scene in that film when Miki attempted to engage Godzilla psychically. I found it interesting that Godzilla chose to move away and continue on his way rather than smash the tower. 

Well I'll start by saying I think Godzilla Raids Again is a pretty underrated movie in the series with probably my favorite monster fight, however I'm of the opinion Godzilla vs Biollante is the best film in the series, so...

Godzilla vs Biollante gets my vote.

Wow when I was deleting something I accidentally erased "fight" with it, alas the lack of editting posts screws me over again. Maybe one day before the sequel comes out we'll get that option back.

^Fixed.

"I'm of the opinion Godzilla vs Biollante is the best film in the series, so..."

I'm not too far off. I hold GvB in very high esteem. Though it ranks in at no.3 for me. Below Gojira... which I still continue to watch at least once every other month. And just below Mothra vs. Godzilla. Just barely though. The score is so heart wrenching at points, the corrupt business storyline is still relevant to this day (even one man betraying and bashing in another man's face), and the adult Mothra puppet is executed brilliantly.

It's a shame the Heisei series quickly dumbed itself down after Biollante instead of continuing the trend.

I like, but don't love both of these films.

What I like about GRA is the b&w starkness. It gives the movie an ominous feel. I also like Angilas and the fights are pretty savage and intense; no WWE wrestling moves here. Just two savage ceatures that hate each other.

Not a fan of the Godzilla costume in this one. The face, when viewed 3/4 or straight on looks downright goofy.

As for GVsB, I loved the re-design of the costume, especially the head and face. Such a vast improvement over G'84. Also, final stage Biollante is one of the most fearsome and frightening creatures ever to grace a Japanese monster movie, or any for that matter. I loved the design and I am a fan of introducing new monsters to the mix, although I know they are not always well received.

I loved Godzilla engaging the military; especially his battle with the navy. Great sequence.

Having said all that, one of the drawbacks to the Biollante design was the obvious lack of mobility of the creature. The final battle is one of the quickest and dullest I've seen in a G-film; a real disappointment for me. Here is a perfect example where CGI would have added so much to this fight/sequence; it really begs for a Biollante that is more dynamic and can move better.

So neither film is a fave of mine; they probably rank somewhere near the middle to upper 3/4 of all the movies. It's close, really, but I'd have to give a slight edge to Biollante.

This round is about to be up, so if anyone else wants to chime in, now is the time to do it.

I'll have to say Godzilla vs Biollante I really enjoy that movie, I think Biollante is one of the most interesting monster in the series. 

Godzilla vs. Biollante won by a massive 17 to 2 based on the few forum votes and twitter votes. For the next round click here.

Thread will remain open for any futher dabate some members may want to continue.