Should Godzilla's 50th Anniversary Be Recognized At Next Year's Academy Awards? (1 Viewer)

[Lew Crippen]

But the difference is, Kong hasn't 27 movies to his credit with the same studio spanning 50 years, has he?

And that studio would be Toho, which is connected with Hollywood and the Academy how? And these 27 films made exactly how much money for the industry in the States?

You seem to be forgetting the core purpose of the Academy and the awards, Armand—which is to promote their own product and people.

Nothing against the original film (which I think is a landmark in many ways), but the fact that 27 films have sprung forth from the loins of the beast does not make the offspring any good—it means about as much as additional Freddy and Jason films. Or additional Hope/Crosby films.

 

[ChuckSolo]

Darn Lew, I wish I was as articulate as you. I find myself looking forward to your posts on HTF. No one could have said it any better.

 

[ArmandV]

Nothing against the original film (which I think is a landmark in many ways), but the fact that 27 films have sprung forth from the loins of the beast does not make the offspring any good—it means about as much as additional Freddy and Jason films. Or additional Hope/Crosby films.

You're comparing apples and oranges. Are Freddy and Jason international cultural icons on a par with Superman or Mickey Mouse? I would submit that they are not. Do Freddy and Jason have conventions especially devoted to them?

 

[Lew Crippen]

Armand you are correct that Hollywood studios and companies distribute the Bond films of today, just as they do for many foreign films and studios.

But your plea that Toho is somehow connected to the Academy would be a bit stronger, if one of these studios’ distribution companies had actually distributed the original film, without alteration. Based on their record for this particular film, I’m not convinced.

You're comparing apples and oranges. Are Freddy and Jason international cultural icons on a par with Superman or Mickey Mouse? I would submit that they are not. Do Freddy and Jason have conventions especially devoted to them?

My point was that the subsequent films are not very good. Am I correct in assuming that you believe they are because they have conventions devoted to them?

If that is your criterion for what constitutes a good film, we have different views of what makes a film good.

 

[Jim_K]

You know this is a rather silly topic (though I do have a fondness growing up with the older films) but I just have to butt in on this one more time to address a pet peeve of mine. Aside from some threadcraps it's mostly been all in good fun up till now.



These are rather broad statements so I assume you've seen the entire series of films for you to form your opinion.

I'd hate to think people are throwing around un-informed opinions - though that wouldn't surprise me.

Personally I wouldn't presume to judge the entire series as
A. I haven't seen any of the newer films in the series
B. most of the older films I haven't seen since I was in over 20 years & those were butchered, dubbed, edited, pan & scan atrocities.

I have been fortunate enough to have seen a handful of the earlier Toho Kaiju films recently (widescreen, Un-cut, Original language, etc.) & while a few weren't very good, quite a few more turned out to be excellent genre pictures on par with others from that era.

Yes these are cult films & as such they are not for everyone. I'm also not going to defend this series as the pinnacle of filmmaking as that would be absurd. They are what they are.

What really irks me is the snobbish/condescending tone directed at people who enjoy certain cult films. It drives a lot of good people (interesting & adventurous film buffs) off this site which is an injustice to HTF.

 

[Pascal A]

I just wanted to mention that I think Godzilla is profoundly important (and certainly influential) in the evolution of Japanese cinema, and certainly expressed the conflict and fear inherent in the hibakusha (testament of atomic bomb survivors) cinema of postwar Japan in a way that made it accessible to non-Japanese, particularly Westerners. In that sense, I find it as subversive in its condemnation of nuclear war as more accepted 'highbrow' films like Dr. Strangelove. This should not be easily dismissed as a cheesy sci-fi phenomenon; it is a traumatic (if not, traumatized) articulation of a nation coming to grips with large-scale destruction (and coping with the unknown, long term effects of radiation) and profound postwar cultural shift.

Does it deserve some Academy nod? I hope not, it's too important for that. An AFI or Sight and Sound spot would be more appropriate.

 

[Brian W.]

I don't think the Academy has ever honored any film on its anniversary before, so I don't know why they would do so with Godzilla.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Pascal, that was brought up earier in this thread, but IMO, if that was what they intended with these, something certainly got lost in the translation, as they say.

No, that's really way off. Everything got lost in the translation. As soon as I knew that there was a guy in a rubber suit it just made the whole thing a joke. Seeing these on Saturday afternoons in theaters full of kids was a lot of fun! Even outside of the monster, we got to see Japan get ripped up again and again. Of course, I knew these were mostly models, but they were so bad it was funny. They still are.

At the time the first one came out, so were the goods from them. It is very wrong now, but the goods that we imported were so cheap, and broke so quickly that they were part of our everyday life, and none of the remarks were good. If a pencil broke in class, it was blamed on... Well, you get the idea.

If you want to hear more, just PM me. I won't/can't get into that here.

Glenn

 

[Seth Paxton]

Does it deserve some Academy nod? I hope not, it's too important for that. An AFI or Sight and Sound spot would be more appropriate.

I'm sorry Pascal, I realize you know your films and are quite serious about the film arts, but this is still foolish snobbery. If an awards group/show is defined by the films they honor, then how could the Oscars gain ground in your eyes if you disallow them to include films which would in turn legitmize them?

It sounds very much like you WANT to keep the Oscars in some lesser context (in your opinion).

And while I respect both the AFI and S&S/BFI, I also happen to respect the Academy as well. Every group, including S&S magazine, carries their own social/political/philosophical agenda. Just reading some Eisenstien shows how intertwined serious artistic debate and political ideals can become, how propaganda and personal agenda can affect which films you recognize as the finest. Eisenstien was a genius despite any agenda he brought with him, but its important to understand exactly the context that a film is being promoted as great. If you are pro-Surrealist movement you might bend every review and ranking so that they favor Bunuel's films, simply because that is what "best" is to you.

That's fine as long as we don't throw out the baby with the bathwater when denouncing other rankings/awards.

I think Lew already expressed quite well how Godzilla relates to the Academy and why it would seem to make less sense for them to honor it, and it wouldn't be because Godzilla is too good for it. In fact, maybe I missed it, but I believe Godzilla just went totally unmentioned in the most recent Sight and Sound top films poll...so does that make S&S more or less legit for not including it??

 

[Pascal A]

Seth, I understand where you're coming from, but my point was (and I realize that I didn't elaborate very much on it) that Academy Awards tend to be forgotten quickly (sometimes even before the show ends) while 'Best of" lists, the kind that S&S or AFI represent, tend to get scrutinized, debated, and generally talked about years later, long after the presentation of awards. In that sense, in order for the films to have any kind of posterity - and apparently Godzilla does (same comment goes for King Kong, Draculta, etc since we're talking about them years later) - it's better suited for inclusion in those kind of lists. Interest in and study of the works of people like Satyajit Ray, Alfred Hitchcock, and Andrei Wajda were not created by after-the-fact Oscars, they were cultivated from the studies generated by these kinds of lists.

 

[ArmandV]

My point was that the subsequent films are not very good.

What are you basing this on? The butchered versions we've been subjected to for years or original, uncut and subtitled versions?

Yes, there have been bad ones, but there have also been some good ones as well.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Exactly. Most of the point of the original Godzilla was distilled out of it in the dubbing/butchering room.

 

[Steve Christou]

It was the success of Beast from 20,000 Fathoms in 1953 that gave the Japanese the idea of making a similar movie.
Gojira is practically a remake of that WB film. And you can say the Rhedosaurus, a huge dinosaur frozen in ice resurrected by nuclear testing, is the prototype 'Godzilla'.
Ray Harryhausen did the excellent effects for the film.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Yes, there have been bad ones, but there have also been some good ones as well.

But not enough that were good enough to qualify to honor the whole series.

In the end, we just have to agree to disagree. I still have a hard time understanding why the Academy should do anything much for the film and films.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Would you like to see Godzilla walk out onstage?

If it was the real Godzilla, and he was stomping it the way he stomps Tokyo...

 

[JonZ]

Well some would say the Bond series should probally get some sort of mention at the Awards for the 40th or 50th anniversary(and there have been some real stinkers in that franchise),while others would say absolutely not.Its just not important enough to mention.

I think the fact that the Godzilla Icon (though it may not be one here) has continued for 50 years deserves to be mentioned.

I agree it would put some fun into the often stuffy and pompous Academy Awards.

Maybe the MTV awards will do something.

BTW, I think Frankenstein,Dracula(which I think is terrible)and King Kong SHOULD have been mentioned as well. Theyre landmark films and some sort of mention would be nice.

They could easily do it like the way the honor those in the movie industry who passed away that year.A montage of the anniversaries of important films.It would take up ,what 4 minutes time????It would be better than sitting through another horrible musical number.

 

[ArmandV]

I agree it would put some fun into the often stuffy and pompous Academy Awards.

It would be a lot more fun than hearing Michael Moore and others go into a political rant and liven things up. With all of the passings this past year, they will probably make the show very downcast. The viewers could use some fun!

Plans have been posted on the tour of Japan (G-TOUR) set for next summer to celebrate Godzilla's 50th. Go to G-FAN for more information.