WEBVTT

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I had to laugh at how willingly everyone was

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like, sure, that's a good idea. Get inside this

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thing and we're going to take you by a helicopter

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across the damn country. And then, oh, Rodan

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attacks. Like, who thought this would be a good

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idea? They let her in that thing. Right. I think

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you even see one character like start to protest

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a little bit. And then another guy like Azusa's

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boss is like, no, let her do it. Why? Why would

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you let her do that? Hello and welcome to Camp

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Kaiju Monster Movie Podcast. We're your hosts,

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Vincent Hannum. And Matt Levine. And we're talking

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about all our favorite monster movies. The good,

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the bad, and the downright campy. And asking

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if they stand the test of time. Traditional Kaiju,

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creature features, space invaders, the supernatural,

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and everything in between. All strange beasts

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welcome here. Camp Kaiju is brought to you by

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Zack Linder and the Zack Pack. Powered by Coldwell

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Banker Realty. Whether you're looking for your

00:01:18.269 --> 00:01:21.129
dream home, a savvy investment property, or expert

00:01:21.129 --> 00:01:23.829
guidance in home rehab and flipping, the Zach

00:01:23.829 --> 00:01:26.329
Pack has you covered. Check the link in the show

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notes for more information. I'll protect you.

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Godzilla is coming. The biggest battle in the

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history of Godzilla is about to begin. This is

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the one who called us, right? Matt, we're back.

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Season 6. Here we go. Season 6, 2026. Happy New

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Year. I guess this will air probably mid -January,

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but Happy New Year to you. Happy New Year to

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you. Happy New Year to you, listeners. We're

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so excited to get this year underway here on

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Camp Kaiju. We are starting with a Godzilla movie

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tonight. But we have so many other movies lined

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up that I am so jazzed for. Same. Now I can't

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remember any of them. But I know the one that

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I'm bringing next episode, I think, is... The

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Abominable Snowman is the short name of it. I

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think it has a longer name, but I'll just call

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it The Abominable Snowman for now. Again, a Hammer

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Horror Movie. I'm excited about that one. I know

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later on, some of the titles that I'm bringing

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are Children of the Corn, the Stephen King movie,

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Alucarda, a Mexican horror movie, At Midnight

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I Will Take Your Soul, a very good Brazilian

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horror movie. So I kind of wanted to do a little

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global flavor this season, you know? And I've

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got you right there with you. I've got Troll

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Hunter lined up, a Norwegian film. The Black

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Scorpion is an American film, but it's set in

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Mexico about a giant scorpion. Blackula, some

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Roger Corman -esque blaxploitation coming up

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very soon. So I'm very, I think it's just like

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a smorgasbord, an eclectic little platter. of

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of finger foods here we got coming up yeah for

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sure i love that analogy i feel like we always

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try to keep it pretty eclectic but like this

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might be our most diverse lineup yet i would

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say yeah and i can't even say like i've stopped

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myself from saying oh we're featuring a lot of

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foreign films because most of our movies are

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japanese like they're all foreign films yeah

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but we're we're covering more of the globe this

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season Exactly. I love that. Yeah. Yeah, I do

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want to get real for just a quick second, because

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we are recording this on January 8. And two days

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ago, the big news, tragic news is that a woman

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was shot to death by ICE agents. And I just speaking

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for myself here, as a producer, as a producer

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on this show, I always have very big feelings

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around national matters of national importance

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and local and state matters. But I don't think

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this falls into a matter of simple politics.

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I think this is, like I said, a tragedy and not

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just a bellwether, but a clear statement of our

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administration in Washington and what they're

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willing to do and who they're willing to do it

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to. And living here in Minneapolis, Matt, I just

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hope you're okay. our listeners who are in the

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Twin Cities and in Minnesota, I hope you are

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okay. And anyone else out there affected by bad

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people, just with no care for human life, rights,

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and decency. Yeah, thank you for saying that.

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It's a scary, infuriating, sad time, certainly

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in Minneapolis and throughout the country. And

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I don't know, I, you know, Just want to say that

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I've always loved Minneapolis and St. Paul for

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how diverse and eclectic it is. It's an amazing

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community. I've loved living here for 15 years

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now. And, you know, I just think it's important

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to say, you know, this might be like a silly

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monster podcast or whatever, but it's still important

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to say, like. You know, we support our neighbors.

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We support other people who live in Minneapolis.

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We feel for you. Like you said, Vincent, we hope

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you're doing okay. If you don't mind, Vincent,

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I would like to just say a couple websites that

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are good resources for immigrant rights in Minneapolis

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and in the Minnesota community. Please. For anybody

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out there who's wondering what they can do. I

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know I've been wondering that the last couple

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days. Just some good resources in the Twin Cities

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include the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.

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That website is ilcm .org. Going through my list

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here a little bit. MIRAC, which is the Minnesota

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Immigrant Rights Action Committee. That's MIRAC,

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M -I -R -A -C -M -N dot com. International Institute

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of Minnesota, I -I -M -N dot org. The Advocates

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for Human Rights, which helps immigrants all

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throughout the Upper Midwest. That website is

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the Advocates for Human Rights dot org. And then

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the Immigration Advocates Network, that's a national

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service. Immigration National, sorry, immigrationadvocates

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.org is the name of that website. One last one,

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Unidos Minnesota, that's unidos -mn .org. You

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know, those are all really great websites. If

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you go to any of those websites, maybe we can

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provide some links in the show notes or something.

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But, you know, a lot of really helpful information

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about how you can support your neighbors. Make

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sure that they're safe because, yeah, it's not

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a safe time to be, you know, to be an immigrant

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or even to be an ally right now, as was proven

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in Minneapolis yesterday. So, yeah, I hope you're

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all doing okay. We support our neighbors again.

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And it's a tough time, tough time in Minnesota

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and in the country right now. I want to say to,

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I don't know if any of my students listen to

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this podcast. If you do, fantastic. I just want

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to let you know that. I have your back at any

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point in time. Listeners, I teach in Minneapolis

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public schools. And at one of these schools I

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taught at, I won't tell you which one, but an

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overwhelming majority of my students were of

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Somali, East African descent, or English language

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learners from Latin America. And these kids are

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the smartest, brightest, most hardworking students

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of the bunch. Ask them what they want to be.

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entrepreneurs, businessmen, doctors, lawyers.

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I'm like, get it. Like that's amazing. And just

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knowing like where you came from, like you moved,

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like your family moved to another country. That's

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so hard to do. And they've been through so much.

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They are tougher than I will ever be. And they

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don't deserve this. And they do deserve all of

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our support. So shout out to the students and

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kids in Minneapolis. Yeah. Bringing it back to

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monster movies. You know, Matt and fans of cinema

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and and horror movies and monster movies. We

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know that that the creators behind some of the

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most impactful of those genre stories came from

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oppression. They speak out about injustice. I'm

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thinking about Ishiro Honda, whose entire run

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of Godzilla films and kaiju films in the 60s

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all espoused messages of not just peace, but

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world unity. The United Nations isn't just a

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dysfunctional body in his movies. They are what

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we can aspire to. I'm thinking about Star Trek,

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too. Guillermo del Toro, Watch Pan's Labyrinth

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has a really great critique on fascism. I mean,

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right? Like, name anybody and they're making

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these movies using our favorite genre to tell

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these stories. Absolutely. And I really love

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it on our podcast when we're able to kind of

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like dig into some of those political themes,

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because I think monster movies are such a good

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and powerful vehicle for that. You know, they

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seem kind of like fun sci -fi or horror movies

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on the surface, but you can talk about really

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complicated social things about, you know, xenophobia,

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oppression, like you said, Vincent, like so many

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complex and kind of dark themes can sort of...

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subtly or not so subtly work their way into these

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monster movies. I also think about some of the

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mid -century American movies like The Day the

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Earth Stood Still or Them, where it's like, you

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know, metaphors for McCarthyism and how oppressive

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American society was at that time, too. And,

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you know, I think we're in another period of

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American society where those themes of oppression,

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paranoia, you know, tyranny, dictatorship. As

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relevant as ever, if not more so. So this is

00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:02.279
an important time to have a podcast like this,

00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.080
just because talking about monster movies is

00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:06.820
talking about the world, you know? Talking about

00:11:06.820 --> 00:11:10.940
monster movies is talking about the world. I

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mean, you're right. And I don't, you know, people

00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:16.759
ask me, oh, like, what are your hobbies? I'm

00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:20.899
like, I have a monster movie podcast. But I do

00:11:20.899 --> 00:11:24.279
take it very seriously because, well, that's

00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:28.169
who we are. We take our art seriously. So thank

00:11:28.169 --> 00:11:30.549
you, listeners, for being a part of it, for laughing

00:11:30.549 --> 00:11:34.750
with us, for thinking with us, for just caring

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and sharing your hearts with us. Yes, absolutely.

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Yeah, all right. Let's talk about Godzilla. Yeah.

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Yeah, in particular, Godzilla versus Mechagodzilla

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2. Not the first one. Not terror. And not even

00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.759
a sequel to the first one, despite the name,

00:11:58.820 --> 00:12:01.879
which is very confusing. Man. All right. Well,

00:12:01.899 --> 00:12:03.799
before we get to that, some quick nuts and bolts.

00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:08.539
Please rate and review this show wherever you

00:12:08.539 --> 00:12:10.779
are listening to us, dear followers. Support

00:12:10.779 --> 00:12:13.759
us on Patreon .com slash Camp Kaiju for additional

00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:17.259
videos, reviews, merchandise, and more. Other

00:12:17.259 --> 00:12:19.470
ways you can get in touch. campkaiju at gmail

00:12:19.470 --> 00:12:23.509
.com, campkaijupodcast .com, Instagram, our voicemail

00:12:23.509 --> 00:12:27.950
number, 612 -470 -2612. Join the ranks of our

00:12:27.950 --> 00:12:33.769
patrons, Jason, Chris, Sean, Peggy, Dawn, and

00:12:33.769 --> 00:12:39.549
our new patron, Steffi. Thank you so much. And,

00:12:39.549 --> 00:12:43.210
of course, our anonymous patron. who i'd love

00:12:43.210 --> 00:12:46.769
to hear from about the dubbing aspects of this

00:12:46.769 --> 00:12:50.070
particular film but we'll let well we're gonna

00:12:50.070 --> 00:12:51.889
have a good conversation we got some things coming

00:12:51.889 --> 00:12:55.149
up matt some events but first i just wanted to

00:12:55.149 --> 00:12:57.730
ask you had some recent writings publications

00:12:57.730 --> 00:13:02.899
oh magazine is that right Oh, thank you for mentioning

00:13:02.899 --> 00:13:05.340
that. Yeah, the newest issue of Found Footage

00:13:05.340 --> 00:13:07.240
magazine came out probably about a month ago

00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:09.799
at this point. And it's a digital only, it's

00:13:09.799 --> 00:13:11.580
an online only version for this publication,

00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:14.960
but so much great writing. a publication that

00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:16.879
I'm really honored to write and edit for. I have

00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:19.860
a review of a movie called Another Other, which

00:13:19.860 --> 00:13:22.259
was one of my favorite films of 2025, a really

00:13:22.259 --> 00:13:25.059
incredible short experimental film. But there's

00:13:25.059 --> 00:13:27.279
so much other good stuff in the latest issue

00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:30.080
of Found Footage Magazine. So yeah, that website

00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:33.100
is foundfootagemagazine .com. Check it out. Yeah,

00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:35.700
that's going to be in the show notes. Thank you.

00:13:36.580 --> 00:13:40.740
Absolutely. I also want to let you know, the

00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:45.940
world, that... On February 11th at the Blackheart

00:13:45.940 --> 00:13:48.440
Bar in St. Paul, right on University Avenue,

00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:52.740
there's going to be a Nerd Night event. Now,

00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:55.559
if you don't know what Nerd Night is, it's a

00:13:55.559 --> 00:13:59.480
loose organization around the country. But what

00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:03.059
it is, is you get the chance to present like

00:14:03.059 --> 00:14:07.620
a slideshow of whatever topic you want. You get

00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:10.539
15, 20 minutes. The floor is yours. And you present

00:14:10.539 --> 00:14:15.470
to the room. to the crowd. And right now, what

00:14:15.470 --> 00:14:17.929
I'm slated to do, they chose me. I was like,

00:14:17.970 --> 00:14:23.409
fantastic. On behalf of Camp Kaiju is a presentation

00:14:23.409 --> 00:14:30.169
about who would win in a fight, the thing or

00:14:30.169 --> 00:14:35.669
the blob. I love this idea, man. I can't wait

00:14:35.669 --> 00:14:37.389
to see your presentation. I will be there and

00:14:37.389 --> 00:14:39.389
I'll be taking notes. Let me tell you. I hope

00:14:39.389 --> 00:14:42.370
so. And yeah, you all can get a beer. You can

00:14:42.370 --> 00:14:45.049
get some food. I've never done this before. I've

00:14:45.049 --> 00:14:46.389
never been to one, but I think it's going to

00:14:46.389 --> 00:14:48.769
be fun. So I got to do my research. I'm going

00:14:48.769 --> 00:14:51.909
to be focusing on the 80s films of those respective

00:14:51.909 --> 00:14:56.990
monsters. But I think I will throw in the 50s

00:14:56.990 --> 00:15:00.070
versions, too, just for a wrinkle. So I don't

00:15:00.070 --> 00:15:02.830
know. Jury's out. Who's going to win? Listeners,

00:15:02.830 --> 00:15:05.590
let us know. I love it. You're the expert on

00:15:05.590 --> 00:15:07.710
that. I feel like you are the ideal person to

00:15:07.710 --> 00:15:10.570
talk about that subject, you know? I'm going

00:15:10.570 --> 00:15:14.909
to go deep. Give me audio commentaries. If Found

00:15:14.909 --> 00:15:17.809
Footage magazine has an article on either movie,

00:15:18.070 --> 00:15:22.029
I just need all the materials. I'll dive into

00:15:22.029 --> 00:15:24.429
the archives. I don't know if they do, but yeah,

00:15:24.509 --> 00:15:29.409
you'll have tons of resources, I'm sure. So that's

00:15:29.409 --> 00:15:33.490
February 11th in St. Paul, Minnesota. All right.

00:15:33.649 --> 00:15:36.450
This month in monster movie history, it's January.

00:15:37.269 --> 00:15:39.350
I'm always surprised by how many movies come

00:15:39.350 --> 00:15:42.490
out. Cause like January, I'm like movies don't

00:15:42.490 --> 00:15:45.990
come out in January, but over the course of a

00:15:45.990 --> 00:15:48.269
century, some movies do come out in January.

00:15:49.179 --> 00:15:51.159
And I feel like some distribution companies put

00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:52.980
out horror movies in January because they're

00:15:52.980 --> 00:15:54.500
they don't think they're going to win any awards

00:15:54.500 --> 00:15:56.720
or like get very good reviews. And like some

00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:58.379
of them are amazing, you know, but they're not

00:15:58.379 --> 00:16:01.399
like prestige movies or whatever. So sometimes

00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:03.779
early in early in the year stuff can be the best

00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:08.480
stuff. I see our favorite. The Relic was released

00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:12.820
in January of 1997. That's a fun one. I love

00:16:12.820 --> 00:16:17.120
talking about one tremors in 1990. Now that was

00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:22.320
not expected to be. as popular as it was. Right.

00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:24.080
And that does kind of seem like a summer movie,

00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.759
you know? Maybe it's like the southern setting

00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:29.240
or whatever, southwest setting, but yeah, yeah.

00:16:29.620 --> 00:16:33.840
That's a little surprising. I really like the

00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:36.559
movie Pumpkinhead a lot. Lance Henriksen is in

00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:38.360
that movie. He's one of my favorite sort of like

00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:40.740
character actors who's often in sci -fi and horror

00:16:40.740 --> 00:16:43.960
stuff. He's in Aliens. He was on the show Millennium.

00:16:44.500 --> 00:16:46.279
Pumpkinhead is good. It's a little bit darker

00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:47.840
and more depressing than I thought it would be,

00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:51.080
but still, weird kind of fun in a way fun and

00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:52.740
depressing at the same time if that makes sense

00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:57.340
yeah i don't love the movie leprechaun but i

00:16:57.340 --> 00:17:00.279
know that movie has a lot of fans out there one

00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:03.059
day we'll i'll bring it to the pod to torture

00:17:03.059 --> 00:17:06.099
you yeah maybe you'll convert me to the other

00:17:06.099 --> 00:17:08.880
side on that one but probably not I mean, so

00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:10.960
probably the best movie on here, I think we've

00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:13.380
talked about it before, but Island of Lost Souls

00:17:13.380 --> 00:17:15.819
with Charles Lawton. Like, I think one of the

00:17:15.819 --> 00:17:18.839
first film adaptations of Island of Dr. Moreau.

00:17:18.980 --> 00:17:21.839
Really, really great movie. Yeah. Pre -code classic.

00:17:22.140 --> 00:17:25.839
Pre -code horror. And later on this season, we

00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:29.160
have an H .G. Wells movie coming up. Yeah. War

00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:31.720
of the Worlds. Yep, the original War of the Worlds.

00:17:31.779 --> 00:17:33.539
I can't wait. Hopefully we'll talk about the

00:17:33.539 --> 00:17:35.500
Orson Welles radio show a little bit, too. I'm

00:17:35.500 --> 00:17:38.309
so excited. Now, listeners. That reminds me.

00:17:38.490 --> 00:17:42.410
On Patreon, on patreon .com slash campkaiju,

00:17:42.509 --> 00:17:47.150
I do share occasionally old -time radio shows

00:17:47.150 --> 00:17:50.970
that feature either monsters or science fiction

00:17:50.970 --> 00:17:55.109
or talent that is in the movies we talk about.

00:17:55.210 --> 00:17:59.410
For instance, I love any time Peter Lorre is

00:17:59.410 --> 00:18:04.190
on the radio. And he's got so many... horror

00:18:04.190 --> 00:18:06.490
credits to his name so i'm gonna be including

00:18:06.490 --> 00:18:10.150
those as well on our patreon exclusive just for

00:18:10.150 --> 00:18:12.890
our supporters there so if that's any incentive

00:18:12.890 --> 00:18:18.390
to you all we will share the hg the orson welles

00:18:18.390 --> 00:18:23.809
infamous war of the worlds on our patreon cool

00:18:23.809 --> 00:18:25.309
i gotta check out some of those other radio shows

00:18:25.309 --> 00:18:28.690
that sounds fun they're a lot of fun yeah i went

00:18:28.690 --> 00:18:31.220
through a phase When I was living alone like

00:18:31.220 --> 00:18:34.200
10 years ago, just listening to old time radio

00:18:34.200 --> 00:18:37.160
stories. Oh, man. I'm like a cold, rainy night

00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:39.220
like tonight. That sounds perfect. Yeah. Yeah.

00:18:41.140 --> 00:18:44.920
All right. Did anyone see Anaconda last month

00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:49.519
with Jack Black and Paul Rudd? Cricket. Some

00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:52.680
people probably did. Not me, though. I did not.

00:18:53.019 --> 00:18:57.289
I feel like it came and went. Yeah. Yeah, I mean,

00:18:57.309 --> 00:18:59.670
it got kind of bad reviews. That seems like a

00:18:59.670 --> 00:19:02.150
movie I wouldn't mind streaming at home at some

00:19:02.150 --> 00:19:04.670
point and not expecting too much out of it, you

00:19:04.670 --> 00:19:06.250
know? Yeah. Probably the best way to see that

00:19:06.250 --> 00:19:10.250
movie. Yeah. Well, what about 28 Years Later,

00:19:10.349 --> 00:19:12.549
The Bone Temple? I didn't even know this was

00:19:12.549 --> 00:19:15.990
coming out until today. Yeah, I saw 28 Years

00:19:15.990 --> 00:19:18.049
Later last summer when that came out, and I thought

00:19:18.049 --> 00:19:19.930
it was pretty good. It's my least favorite of

00:19:19.930 --> 00:19:24.210
the 28 Days and Months Later series so far, but

00:19:24.210 --> 00:19:26.900
Ralph Fiennes is great. I'm excited for the new

00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:29.019
one. It looks pretty crazy. So I'll be there

00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:31.940
to see it for sure. Sweet. Yeah. You let us know.

00:19:32.299 --> 00:19:34.980
I will. Absolutely. One movie that I did see

00:19:34.980 --> 00:19:37.339
recently was Frankenstein, the Guillermo del

00:19:37.339 --> 00:19:39.779
Toro Netflix release that came out relatively

00:19:39.779 --> 00:19:42.500
recently. I thought it was okay. I don't want

00:19:42.500 --> 00:19:46.759
to sound overly harsh. And I, you know, I've

00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:48.579
been a little critical of Guillermo del Toro

00:19:48.579 --> 00:19:51.480
in the past, Pacific Rim, for example. So I don't,

00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:52.819
you know, I don't want to sound too harsh. I

00:19:52.819 --> 00:19:55.769
feel like... I don't know exactly what that adaptation

00:19:55.769 --> 00:19:59.089
adds to the novel Frankenstein or even like the

00:19:59.089 --> 00:20:01.609
James Whale movies, you know, the original Frankenstein

00:20:01.609 --> 00:20:04.529
and Bride of Frankenstein. So yeah, I didn't

00:20:04.529 --> 00:20:06.869
love it, but I would love to hear other people's

00:20:06.869 --> 00:20:09.410
reactions and responses to that movie. Yeah,

00:20:09.470 --> 00:20:14.589
me too. We just got Netflix again after so many

00:20:14.589 --> 00:20:17.630
years without it. So I will be seeing Frankenstein

00:20:17.630 --> 00:20:21.369
ASAP. And that's pretty much your favorite story

00:20:21.369 --> 00:20:25.160
of all time, right? Yeah, do you see? My aunt

00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:28.599
and uncle are so funny. They found at HomeGoods

00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:33.660
a giant bust of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's

00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:36.720
monster. I love that. That is beautiful, man.

00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:41.019
It's just like I opened it and I just laughed

00:20:41.019 --> 00:20:43.079
so hard with so much love because I was like,

00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:47.019
what? Amazing. That is truly the perfect gift

00:20:47.019 --> 00:20:52.230
for you. All right. Coming up on Camp Kaiju,

00:20:52.269 --> 00:20:55.230
like we alluded to, we have the abominable snowman,

00:20:55.430 --> 00:20:59.029
Hammer Horror with Peter Cushing. I've been doing

00:20:59.029 --> 00:21:03.150
some research into this film. I am very hyped

00:21:03.150 --> 00:21:08.390
about it. It looks so low -key, black and white,

00:21:08.509 --> 00:21:12.109
just like a chiller. Yeah, I've read that it's

00:21:12.109 --> 00:21:14.289
one of the more underrated Hammer Horror movies.

00:21:14.589 --> 00:21:17.170
And those are a little hit or miss for me, but

00:21:17.170 --> 00:21:19.490
the ones that I love, I really love. So I'm excited

00:21:19.490 --> 00:21:22.940
to watch it, for sure. And listeners, just so

00:21:22.940 --> 00:21:25.200
you know, I don't know if this movie is streaming

00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:28.380
anywhere. Matt, maybe you know or not, but I

00:21:28.380 --> 00:21:31.440
did find it on YouTube. And I'll be sharing that

00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:34.480
on Patreon as well. The Abominable Snowman, I

00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:36.079
think it's streaming somewhere, although I have

00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:38.119
to admit I haven't looked extremely recently.

00:21:38.339 --> 00:21:41.019
So I'll find out. Yeah, just something to keep

00:21:41.019 --> 00:21:43.400
in mind, folks. But again, if you check out our

00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:45.759
Patreon, this one is free to the masses. Just

00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:48.799
go over to our Patreon and you'll find the...

00:21:49.319 --> 00:21:53.400
The film uploaded courtesy of me. So you can

00:21:53.400 --> 00:21:58.319
enjoy that. Awesome. All right. Okay. After that,

00:21:58.359 --> 00:22:01.200
Blackula with Sean Pryor. That's going to be

00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.119
a blast. I have yet to see that movie myself,

00:22:03.259 --> 00:22:06.180
but I've always heard good things actually about

00:22:06.180 --> 00:22:09.420
Blackula. So very excited for that one. Absolutely.

00:22:09.460 --> 00:22:11.539
I've wanted to see that for like over a decade

00:22:11.539 --> 00:22:13.140
now, and I just haven't gotten around to it.

00:22:13.220 --> 00:22:15.920
So thanks to Sean for like suggesting that we

00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:17.859
bring that to the podcast. I cannot wait to watch

00:22:17.859 --> 00:22:22.769
it. Yeah. Okay, here we go. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

00:22:22.769 --> 00:22:26.170
2. What is your personal history with this film?

00:22:26.730 --> 00:22:29.230
Really nothing at all. I've really enjoyed the

00:22:29.230 --> 00:22:31.789
Heisei movies that we've watched so far for the

00:22:31.789 --> 00:22:34.930
podcast, which include Godzilla vs. Biolante,

00:22:35.009 --> 00:22:38.619
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. Return of Godzilla

00:22:38.619 --> 00:22:40.799
from 1984. I think that's the first one of the

00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.640
Heisei era. And I think I'm missing one too that

00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:46.480
we've talked about. Yeah, last year we watched

00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:50.619
Godzilla vs. Mothra. Right, yeah. And I really

00:22:50.619 --> 00:22:53.099
like all those. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah especially

00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:56.579
is amazing. Like, definitely in my top five Godzilla

00:22:56.579 --> 00:22:59.140
movies that I've ever seen. So I had, you know,

00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:01.480
high hopes for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2,

00:23:01.579 --> 00:23:05.160
but didn't really know anything about it. I came

00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:07.460
to this one late, later in the game, just a few

00:23:07.460 --> 00:23:11.480
years ago. I acquired it on DVD. It's actually

00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:15.319
available for free on YouTube with ads. A lot

00:23:15.319 --> 00:23:19.119
of these 90s movies got TriStar, Columbia TriStar

00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:22.460
acquired the rights to for like US distribution.

00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:27.240
So you can find those one like this. Sorry, Mechagodzilla

00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:33.380
2 and Godzilla 2000. I don't know, but. They're

00:23:33.380 --> 00:23:36.980
on YouTube for free with ads. So as a teacher,

00:23:37.180 --> 00:23:40.519
I'd have some downtime. I might throw this one

00:23:40.519 --> 00:23:44.339
up on the screen for the students. But with that

00:23:44.339 --> 00:23:46.059
said, I've never really like sat down and just

00:23:46.059 --> 00:23:48.339
watched it. So it was a real treat to do that

00:23:48.339 --> 00:23:52.220
for this recording. The Bionic Monster, a menacing

00:23:52.220 --> 00:23:55.039
giant, an awesome machine unleashed with a deadly

00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:58.420
task. Godzilla, the only hope for Earth's survival.

00:23:59.099 --> 00:24:02.680
Godzilla versus the Bionic Monster. Godzilla

00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:04.900
strives to win supremacy in a fight to the end.

00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:07.359
Will Godzilla triumph? The Earth survive? Godzilla

00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:10.000
vs. the Bionic Monster, an Earth -shaking movie.

00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:15.140
Rated G. The Bionic Monster, now unleashed with

00:24:15.140 --> 00:24:17.519
a deadly task. Never before have Godzilla's mighty

00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:20.359
powers been so challenged. Godzilla vs. the Bionic

00:24:20.359 --> 00:24:28.900
Monster. Rated G. King Kong. Mammoth. Behemoth.

00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:43.319
Goliath. King Kong escapes and meets his greatest

00:24:43.319 --> 00:24:50.640
foe, the Kong of Steel. A gargantuan duel unmatched

00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:57.579
by any battle in history. Thundering 60 -foot

00:24:57.579 --> 00:25:00.660
robot Kong of steel. Creation of the evil Doctor

00:25:00.660 --> 00:25:04.380
Who. Criminal genius who stops at nothing. Kong,

00:25:04.539 --> 00:25:18.480
once again, dig. King Kong shakes the earth.

00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:23.339
King Kong fights for life against the copter

00:25:23.339 --> 00:25:29.480
swarm. Frills as King Kong battles the serpent

00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:39.539
of Mondo Island. No, it is Kong! Pits himself

00:25:39.539 --> 00:25:44.839
against a nation's armament. And plunges a beautiful

00:25:44.839 --> 00:25:52.279
girl into a world of terror. King Kong in a duel

00:25:52.279 --> 00:26:24.470
to the death. Godzilla, champion and defender

00:26:24.470 --> 00:26:27.690
of Earth in The Terror of Godzilla. Titanosaurus,

00:26:28.069 --> 00:26:30.930
Mechagodzilla, destroy them. He holds the front

00:26:30.930 --> 00:26:33.309
line of battle while in their spaceships, aliens

00:26:33.309 --> 00:26:37.170
command a deadly duel. Will the powerful serpent

00:26:37.170 --> 00:26:40.130
Titanosaurus' cyclone tail and the robot monster

00:26:40.130 --> 00:26:43.190
Mechagodzilla's lethal rays destroy Earth? See

00:26:43.190 --> 00:26:46.250
this ultimate test of power, The Terror of Godzilla,

00:26:46.529 --> 00:26:50.049
rated G. The director of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

00:26:50.049 --> 00:26:54.349
2 is Takao Okawara. He started his career at

00:26:54.349 --> 00:26:57.990
Toho in the 1970s, worked with Akira Kurosawa

00:26:57.990 --> 00:27:01.630
and Ishiro Honda as assistant director on Kagemusha,

00:27:01.710 --> 00:27:05.049
the Akira Kurosawa movie. He was the chief assistant

00:27:05.049 --> 00:27:08.529
director on Return of Godzilla from 84 and directed

00:27:08.529 --> 00:27:11.569
Godzilla vs. Mothra. He would go on to direct

00:27:11.569 --> 00:27:15.450
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. So Okawara also directed

00:27:15.450 --> 00:27:21.349
that and Godzilla 2000 from 1999. The screenplay

00:27:21.349 --> 00:27:24.549
for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2 is by Wataru

00:27:24.549 --> 00:27:27.549
Mimura, a screenwriter best known for his work

00:27:27.549 --> 00:27:31.369
on the Godzilla franchise in the 90s and 2000s.

00:27:31.390 --> 00:27:35.170
So he wrote Godzilla 2000, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus,

00:27:35.410 --> 00:27:39.450
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla in 2002, and Godzilla

00:27:39.450 --> 00:27:43.319
Final Wars in 2004. The film was produced by

00:27:43.319 --> 00:27:45.960
Shogo Tomiyama. Sorry, let me try that again.

00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:49.380
The film was produced by Shogo Tomiyama. He produced

00:27:49.380 --> 00:27:52.019
most of the Heisei and Millennium Godzilla movies.

00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:54.579
Maybe I'll just mention the last couple people

00:27:54.579 --> 00:27:56.839
here on the list as well. The executive producer

00:27:56.839 --> 00:28:00.259
was Tomoyuki Tanaka, who I think was the executive

00:28:00.259 --> 00:28:03.099
producer going back to the original, right? Like

00:28:03.099 --> 00:28:07.259
for decades. Yeah. So definitely the OG Tanaka,

00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:10.480
and then another OG doing the music for Godzilla

00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:14.619
vs. Mechagodzilla 2, Akira Ifukube. I believe

00:28:14.619 --> 00:28:16.859
this was the last film that he scored in his

00:28:16.859 --> 00:28:22.319
career. That's possible. And Ishiro Honda had

00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:27.799
died in February of 93, right before production

00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:31.259
started on this film. So like we said, Godzilla

00:28:31.259 --> 00:28:34.799
vs. Mothra. was the last one released in his

00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:38.960
lifetime. But this movie was coming out, you

00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:41.740
know, we're losing the OGs, but we still have

00:28:41.740 --> 00:28:45.140
Fukube and Tanaka in charge doing what they do

00:28:45.140 --> 00:28:48.900
best. Yeah, absolutely. And the music is really

00:28:48.900 --> 00:28:50.839
incredible in this movie. I think that's responsible

00:28:50.839 --> 00:28:53.619
for a lot of its power. I do want to mention

00:28:53.619 --> 00:28:56.440
one more crew member who I think is also one

00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:58.619
of the highlights of the film, which is the visual

00:28:58.619 --> 00:29:01.799
effects director, Koichi Kawakita. I believe

00:29:01.799 --> 00:29:03.599
he was the visual effects director, right? I

00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:06.019
just want to make sure and check my stats, my

00:29:06.019 --> 00:29:10.779
facts here. Yes, Koichi Kawakita. His effects

00:29:10.779 --> 00:29:13.299
work on this movie is really incredible. He,

00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:15.099
you know, he did a lot of the effects for, like,

00:29:15.099 --> 00:29:17.559
movies in the Heisei era, so also Godzilla vs.

00:29:17.779 --> 00:29:20.400
Biollante, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Godzilla

00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:22.180
vs. Mothra, a lot of the movies that we just

00:29:22.180 --> 00:29:23.980
talked about. And his work here is really phenomenal,

00:29:24.119 --> 00:29:29.559
I would say. I agree. I... Yeah, I'll get to

00:29:29.559 --> 00:29:32.200
that with the good, but yeah, phenomenal work.

00:29:32.819 --> 00:29:36.299
The select cast that we're going to mention are

00:29:36.299 --> 00:29:41.400
kind of our three lead roles. We have Masahiro

00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:45.779
Takashima. He plays Kazuma. Kazuma is an eager,

00:29:45.900 --> 00:29:49.279
friendly pilot and self -described Pteranodon

00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:52.700
enthusiast. He's kind of a nerd, but he's recruited

00:29:52.700 --> 00:29:55.740
into G -Force, which is the force tasked with

00:29:55.740 --> 00:30:00.710
eliminating Godzilla. And he's called into service

00:30:00.710 --> 00:30:04.369
with G -Force after his Garuda weapon is scrapped.

00:30:04.430 --> 00:30:09.049
And that weapon is like a giant flying laser

00:30:09.049 --> 00:30:13.289
cannon that ultimately affixes itself to the

00:30:13.289 --> 00:30:16.730
back of Mechagodzilla to give Mechagodzilla some

00:30:16.730 --> 00:30:20.490
extra ammo because it needed that. To create

00:30:20.490 --> 00:30:24.190
Super Mechagodzilla. Yes. Which is what it's

00:30:24.190 --> 00:30:26.190
called in the movie. It's so cool. It's so fun.

00:30:26.329 --> 00:30:29.529
The Garuda thing that Kazuma flies, it's kind

00:30:29.529 --> 00:30:31.470
of like a TIE fighter in Star Wars, right? It

00:30:31.470 --> 00:30:33.730
reminded me of that. Yep. And there's a scene

00:30:33.730 --> 00:30:36.910
where he's piloting the craft and he gets knocked

00:30:36.910 --> 00:30:41.349
by one of Rodan's beams and he's spinning around

00:30:41.349 --> 00:30:45.329
inside the cockpit, which is very reminiscent

00:30:45.329 --> 00:30:48.150
of TIE fighters in Star Wars. Yeah, yeah, for

00:30:48.150 --> 00:30:55.230
sure. I love that. It really is so fun. The movie

00:30:55.230 --> 00:30:59.349
also stars Ryoko Sano as Azusa. She's a scientist

00:30:59.349 --> 00:31:01.970
who watches over the Godzilla -saurus egg when

00:31:01.970 --> 00:31:05.029
it hatches. So that Godzilla -saurus egg, you

00:31:05.029 --> 00:31:07.329
know, some scientists discover on an island and

00:31:07.329 --> 00:31:09.869
bring it back to Kyoto. And she's the scientist

00:31:09.869 --> 00:31:13.549
that cares for the baby Godzilla that hatches

00:31:13.549 --> 00:31:17.369
from that egg. That's right. Is it Minya? Or

00:31:17.369 --> 00:31:20.299
is it baby Godzilla? Better than Minya, in my

00:31:20.299 --> 00:31:23.920
opinion. I prefer Baby. I'm Baby all the way.

00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:28.779
Yeah, yeah. I don't think you're alone in that.

00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:32.579
Yeah. The director thought so anyways. He wasn't

00:31:32.579 --> 00:31:35.480
a fan of those older Son of Godzilla movies.

00:31:36.299 --> 00:31:39.759
Yeah, he and I agree on that for sure. And, you

00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:42.039
know, yeah, the treatment of Baby Godzilla in

00:31:42.039 --> 00:31:44.640
this movie is pretty good. It's one of many things

00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:48.190
I think... is an improvement on like the kind

00:31:48.190 --> 00:31:51.309
of like goofy, you know, what's the word? Family

00:31:51.309 --> 00:31:53.170
friendly tone of some of those son of Godzilla

00:31:53.170 --> 00:31:55.430
era movies, you know? Right, right. So they're

00:31:55.430 --> 00:31:58.410
taking a concept from the 60s that they treated

00:31:58.410 --> 00:32:01.450
relatively comically, but now they're treating

00:32:01.450 --> 00:32:05.250
it seriously. What would this be like if we did

00:32:05.250 --> 00:32:10.630
that? So I agree. I appreciate that take on ostensibly

00:32:10.630 --> 00:32:13.869
silly characters. Yeah, totally. It's a good

00:32:13.869 --> 00:32:19.049
way to put it. Megumi Odaka returns. She plays

00:32:19.049 --> 00:32:21.950
Miki, a psychic with a connection to Godzilla.

00:32:22.390 --> 00:32:26.670
Miki first featured in Godzilla vs. Violante

00:32:26.670 --> 00:32:30.950
and in each subsequent Heisei film. This actually

00:32:30.950 --> 00:32:33.430
is a record for the most recurring human character

00:32:33.430 --> 00:32:37.750
in the Godzilla franchise. So she's a welcomed

00:32:37.750 --> 00:32:41.289
presence. She's doing her psychic thing, which

00:32:41.289 --> 00:32:45.640
is a little, dare I say, campy at times. Maybe

00:32:45.640 --> 00:32:52.299
a little plot shortcut at times. Yeah. I do enjoy

00:32:52.299 --> 00:32:55.039
that element, though. I really liked it in Bialante

00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:56.839
as well, and I think it works pretty well here.

00:32:57.339 --> 00:32:59.420
I like the character, and I like some of the

00:32:59.420 --> 00:33:01.900
sort of more emotional moments that her presence

00:33:01.900 --> 00:33:04.440
provides in the movie. Also, I don't want to

00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:06.240
sound shallow, but she's really adorable, and

00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:08.880
she has these ears that stick out a lot, and

00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:10.799
they're just so cute. I love her presence in

00:33:10.799 --> 00:33:13.109
this movie so much. Yeah, I didn't want to say

00:33:13.109 --> 00:33:14.609
it, but I was like, she's the one with the big

00:33:14.609 --> 00:33:18.109
ears. Which, I mean, that's a good look. Yeah.

00:33:19.450 --> 00:33:21.390
Nothing against big -eared people out there.

00:33:21.769 --> 00:33:28.569
Yeah. Mine are drooping with my age. I feel like

00:33:28.569 --> 00:33:30.490
I've, I don't know, my ears are kind of big,

00:33:30.529 --> 00:33:32.329
but I've grown into them over the years or something.

00:33:32.430 --> 00:33:35.690
I don't know. We got the production backstory

00:33:35.690 --> 00:33:38.819
of this film. It was intended to be the last

00:33:38.819 --> 00:33:40.900
of the Heisei films, but I feel like I've read

00:33:40.900 --> 00:33:43.519
that about every single one of these up until

00:33:43.519 --> 00:33:48.720
this point. But that being the case, Toho didn't

00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:53.059
want to compete with TriStar, who had put into

00:33:53.059 --> 00:33:57.099
production their own Hollywood -produced Godzilla

00:33:57.099 --> 00:33:59.500
film, which would eventually become Godzilla

00:33:59.500 --> 00:34:04.140
from 1998. So Toho was like, all right, we'll

00:34:04.140 --> 00:34:07.539
cool our jets after this film. They also wanted

00:34:07.539 --> 00:34:09.739
to honor the passing of Ashura Honda earlier

00:34:09.739 --> 00:34:14.159
that year with this final film. This next note

00:34:14.159 --> 00:34:16.400
is crazy. You want to read this? Yeah, sure.

00:34:16.820 --> 00:34:19.699
Tanaka's first idea was to redo King Kong vs.

00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:23.179
Godzilla or have Godzilla fight Mechani -Kong

00:34:23.179 --> 00:34:26.539
from King Kong Escapes. But maybe not surprisingly,

00:34:26.599 --> 00:34:30.300
the licensing for any Kong appearance in this

00:34:30.300 --> 00:34:32.820
movie from Universal Pictures was extremely expensive.

00:34:33.719 --> 00:34:37.119
Prohibitively so. Another idea had Mechani -Kong

00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:40.159
injecting Godzilla with G -Force soldiers who

00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:42.480
would bring Godzilla down from inside his own

00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:45.860
body. Which, yeah, your note here is what could

00:34:45.860 --> 00:34:47.360
have been. That would have been really crazy.

00:34:47.579 --> 00:34:49.619
It's sort of like inner space meets Godzilla

00:34:49.619 --> 00:34:53.199
a little bit. Yeah. Fantastic Voyage is a movie

00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:57.239
that has a similar idea. Oh my god, can you imagine?

00:34:57.500 --> 00:35:04.269
Like, we're inside Godzilla! Weird. I like this

00:35:04.269 --> 00:35:06.369
movie a lot, but I kind of wish they had used

00:35:06.369 --> 00:35:08.969
that concept maybe for a future movie because

00:35:08.969 --> 00:35:11.030
I'm sure they never actually used that concept,

00:35:11.150 --> 00:35:14.670
right? Agreed, yeah. I haven't seen it yet. Well,

00:35:14.690 --> 00:35:16.610
there's still time. I hope they do someday. That's

00:35:16.610 --> 00:35:21.969
just so out there. That is so, so sci -fi. I

00:35:21.969 --> 00:35:25.590
would watch the hell out of it over and over

00:35:25.590 --> 00:35:28.210
and over again. Yeah, it would be so surreal.

00:35:28.329 --> 00:35:30.769
I can picture just how crazy it would look right

00:35:30.769 --> 00:35:32.469
now in my head, you know? And then they come

00:35:32.469 --> 00:35:35.829
across Godzilla's brain that's in his butt. Yeah.

00:35:37.909 --> 00:35:40.530
Which the military, the G force or whatever,

00:35:40.610 --> 00:35:42.650
they come up with something called the G charger

00:35:42.650 --> 00:35:46.610
to like hit that second brain in his butt. And

00:35:46.610 --> 00:35:48.969
it's like, you know, if you have an immature

00:35:48.969 --> 00:35:50.989
sense of humor, just like the ideas that come

00:35:50.989 --> 00:35:56.809
to mind through that are pretty ridiculous. Like

00:35:56.809 --> 00:35:58.670
when they called it, they called it operation

00:35:58.670 --> 00:36:01.809
G charger, I think. And like, You can cut this

00:36:01.809 --> 00:36:03.730
part out of the episode if you want, but before

00:36:03.730 --> 00:36:05.789
they said that in my head, I was like, is it

00:36:05.789 --> 00:36:08.210
called Operation Anal Probe? Because that seems

00:36:08.210 --> 00:36:09.530
like that's what it's going to be, you know?

00:36:11.670 --> 00:36:14.230
Look, Mechagodzilla has one thing on its mind.

00:36:14.590 --> 00:36:18.269
It's just got to get to the brain. The butt brain.

00:36:18.630 --> 00:36:22.110
Yeah, the butt brain. I love it. That's a pretty

00:36:22.110 --> 00:36:24.789
ridiculous sci -fi concept in itself. That is

00:36:24.789 --> 00:36:31.250
true, yeah. So... Why? Why Mechagodzilla? Well,

00:36:31.409 --> 00:36:34.789
based on the success of reintroducing King Ghidorah

00:36:34.789 --> 00:36:37.969
and Mothra in previous films, Tanaka and Tomiyama

00:36:37.969 --> 00:36:41.989
decided to bring back another classic foe from

00:36:41.989 --> 00:36:45.710
the Showa era. Now, Matt, we talked about Terror

00:36:45.710 --> 00:36:48.550
of Mechagodzilla once on this show. I really

00:36:48.550 --> 00:36:52.010
like that movie. I think you do, too. Yeah. But

00:36:52.010 --> 00:36:55.349
I think we differ on the original Godzilla versus

00:36:55.349 --> 00:36:58.679
Mechagodzilla. Yeah, I think that's the one I

00:36:58.679 --> 00:37:01.019
didn't like all that much. Terror of Mechagodzilla

00:37:01.019 --> 00:37:03.199
is the one with the aliens with the really cool

00:37:03.199 --> 00:37:05.239
outfits, right? I forget what they're called.

00:37:05.780 --> 00:37:08.900
Yeah, the ones who are like the leader. There's

00:37:08.900 --> 00:37:13.679
one bizarre scene speaking about risque innuendo.

00:37:14.119 --> 00:37:18.320
The leader's whipping his minions with a cat

00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:22.539
of nine tails or something. Yeah. I remember

00:37:22.539 --> 00:37:25.300
that. Yeah, I like that moment. What are we talking

00:37:25.300 --> 00:37:29.119
about on this show? This is a PG -13 episode.

00:37:30.579 --> 00:37:32.980
But I think that was from Terror of Mechagodzilla,

00:37:33.039 --> 00:37:36.139
not Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Which, to be

00:37:36.139 --> 00:37:37.940
honest, I barely remember, but I don't think

00:37:37.940 --> 00:37:41.659
I liked it very much. Okay. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

00:37:41.659 --> 00:37:45.199
has the aliens that are apes, and when they get

00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:49.820
killed, they revert to their ape form. Right.

00:37:50.199 --> 00:37:52.119
I do remember that. That's like the really far

00:37:52.119 --> 00:37:55.539
out sci -fi in that movie. I like that ape stuff,

00:37:55.699 --> 00:37:57.480
but I think the rest of it, like even the Godzilla

00:37:57.480 --> 00:37:59.159
stuff, I didn't like too much in that movie.

00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:03.699
But, you know, I guess maybe one downfall of

00:38:03.699 --> 00:38:05.719
this podcast is just like we've watched so many

00:38:05.719 --> 00:38:08.079
Godzilla movies. Some of them do kind of blur

00:38:08.079 --> 00:38:10.199
together a little bit after a while. Oh, for

00:38:10.199 --> 00:38:14.159
sure. Well, we haven't featured that first Mechagodzilla

00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:18.579
film yet on the show. So one day we will, and

00:38:18.579 --> 00:38:20.800
we'll be able to pay. More attention to it, I

00:38:20.800 --> 00:38:24.579
guess. Yeah, for sure. Nice. But yeah, I am happy

00:38:24.579 --> 00:38:27.400
that Mechagodzilla was back for this one, which

00:38:27.400 --> 00:38:28.860
I'm sure something I'm sure we'll talk about

00:38:28.860 --> 00:38:31.360
pretty soon here is just like the special effects

00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:33.579
and like the appearance of this thing is very,

00:38:33.719 --> 00:38:35.679
very cool. I mean, like for anybody that loves

00:38:35.679 --> 00:38:38.739
Transformers or like, you know, we've talked

00:38:38.739 --> 00:38:41.320
about some of these podcasts recently, like Robot

00:38:41.320 --> 00:38:43.960
Jocks, for example. There's a lot of just like

00:38:43.960 --> 00:38:47.780
little boy fun to be had with the design of Mechagodzilla.

00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:52.699
Yeah, it's pure Mecca. And, you know, if we had

00:38:52.699 --> 00:38:55.380
I wish I had Sean Childers on the show here.

00:38:55.460 --> 00:38:58.960
Yeah, have his take on it. But yeah, it's it's

00:38:58.960 --> 00:39:02.019
it's a really great blend of traditional kaiju

00:39:02.019 --> 00:39:07.559
with that Japanese love of giant robots. Yeah,

00:39:07.679 --> 00:39:11.360
absolutely. That's probably a good segue to the

00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:13.400
next point here, which I can talk about a little

00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:16.840
bit. There was more CGI on Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

00:39:16.840 --> 00:39:20.599
2 than on the previous Godzilla films. The Godzilla

00:39:20.599 --> 00:39:24.079
suit was new. Mechagodzilla was less angular

00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:26.579
than the previous incarnation. And there was

00:39:26.579 --> 00:39:29.619
no suitmation for Rodan. It was mostly puppets

00:39:29.619 --> 00:39:32.000
and marionettes. And all of it looks pretty great,

00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:37.760
in my opinion. Agreed. I love Rodan. how that

00:39:37.760 --> 00:39:40.280
creature is brought to life in this film. Because

00:39:40.280 --> 00:39:45.500
the Shoah Rodan, the first film from 1956, I

00:39:45.500 --> 00:39:49.840
think the special effects still hold up. But

00:39:49.840 --> 00:39:53.320
in the later films, you could see wear and tear

00:39:53.320 --> 00:39:56.699
on the suit. It's starting to look a little ragged.

00:39:57.099 --> 00:39:59.539
And it is just suitmation. It's a man in the

00:39:59.539 --> 00:40:03.539
suit in the 60s. So to see the monster brought

00:40:03.539 --> 00:40:06.570
to life with... updated effects and techniques

00:40:06.570 --> 00:40:12.389
i think is very interesting very cool yeah for

00:40:12.389 --> 00:40:14.969
sure and the first appearance of rodan in this

00:40:14.969 --> 00:40:17.829
movie i'm kind of working in some of my good

00:40:17.829 --> 00:40:19.650
stuff a little bit early in the episode, but

00:40:19.650 --> 00:40:21.929
it's a really incredible moment. Like they find

00:40:21.929 --> 00:40:24.369
the egg on this Island and they're like, they

00:40:24.369 --> 00:40:25.829
don't really know exactly what it is, but they

00:40:25.829 --> 00:40:27.769
think maybe it's a Rodan egg at that point. Although

00:40:27.769 --> 00:40:29.909
that turns out not to be the case. But then shortly

00:40:29.909 --> 00:40:32.429
after that, we see Rodan's first appearance and

00:40:32.429 --> 00:40:35.309
it's this like wide shot and the clouds are like,

00:40:35.309 --> 00:40:37.610
it's very cloudy and dark and kind of ominous.

00:40:37.630 --> 00:40:40.190
And we just see Rodan like soaring through the

00:40:40.190 --> 00:40:43.050
sky in the distance. And like Akira Ifukube's

00:40:43.050 --> 00:40:45.889
score is just like very, also very ominous. and

00:40:45.889 --> 00:40:48.110
like atmospheric and evocative. It's an incredible

00:40:48.110 --> 00:40:50.289
moment. I love that shot in the movie. I agree.

00:40:50.369 --> 00:40:53.710
And I love the shots of Rodin flying over Japan

00:40:53.710 --> 00:40:57.409
in the daytime. And you see the, you have the

00:40:57.409 --> 00:41:01.369
Rodin's enormous shadow soaring over buildings

00:41:01.369 --> 00:41:04.829
and people. And then just like the effects of,

00:41:04.869 --> 00:41:10.050
you know, matte or composite photography and

00:41:10.050 --> 00:41:12.570
all these techniques working really seamlessly

00:41:12.570 --> 00:41:16.440
with a puppet. Can I see a string or two? Maybe

00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:19.039
if I look hard enough, but it doesn't matter.

00:41:19.139 --> 00:41:24.440
Like the magic of the movie just transcends any

00:41:24.440 --> 00:41:27.860
of those little bits of, you know, quibbles you

00:41:27.860 --> 00:41:30.840
might have. Totally agree. Yeah, the couple wires

00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:32.980
that you see are infinitely better than like

00:41:32.980 --> 00:41:35.760
the, you know, CGI overload that you would see

00:41:35.760 --> 00:41:37.480
probably like 10 years after this, you know?

00:41:37.480 --> 00:41:41.880
Yeah, not long. CGI was used a lot in this movie.

00:41:42.039 --> 00:41:44.980
Yeah. I did notice it, but it never distracted

00:41:44.980 --> 00:41:48.420
me. Yeah, it always seems like an add -on to

00:41:48.420 --> 00:41:51.519
the practical effects work, you know? Yeah. Really

00:41:51.519 --> 00:41:53.739
great blend, which I think is the best way to

00:41:53.739 --> 00:41:57.000
use these things. For sure. Oh, so going back

00:41:57.000 --> 00:42:00.719
to Minya or Baby Godzilla, this character was

00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:04.219
updated and included to appeal to female audiences

00:42:04.219 --> 00:42:07.510
who were... a big reason why Godzilla versus

00:42:07.510 --> 00:42:12.590
Mothra was so successful in 1992. However, director

00:42:12.590 --> 00:42:15.670
Okawara felt about the original baby or son of

00:42:15.670 --> 00:42:19.710
Godzilla movies. That was, that's the producer's

00:42:19.710 --> 00:42:24.050
job to say, look, we need butts in seats. Women

00:42:24.050 --> 00:42:28.530
see movies too. Let's include cute dinosaurs.

00:42:28.789 --> 00:42:32.230
I don't know if that's like any of that's politically

00:42:32.230 --> 00:42:37.289
correct, but that be that as it may. Yeah, you're

00:42:37.289 --> 00:42:38.769
right. You're right about that for sure. But

00:42:38.769 --> 00:42:41.889
yeah, I like the appearance of like I was saying

00:42:41.889 --> 00:42:43.510
before, I like the appearance of baby Godzilla

00:42:43.510 --> 00:42:45.530
in this movie a lot more than Minya back in the

00:42:45.530 --> 00:42:48.670
day. I read that like the design of baby Godzilla

00:42:48.670 --> 00:42:50.750
was meant to be like a lot more dinosaur like

00:42:50.750 --> 00:42:54.130
than Minya was in Son of Godzilla. And I think

00:42:54.130 --> 00:42:56.150
you can tell that it's like it is cute and like

00:42:56.150 --> 00:42:58.630
kind of goofy, but like it also makes some kind

00:42:58.630 --> 00:43:01.260
of logical sense that it would be like. a Godzilla

00:43:01.260 --> 00:43:03.500
source. That's like not Godzilla, but like part

00:43:03.500 --> 00:43:06.099
of the same family tree or whatever, you know,

00:43:06.099 --> 00:43:08.860
it all kind of makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm

00:43:08.860 --> 00:43:10.719
glad it looks like it could be a real animal.

00:43:11.039 --> 00:43:13.719
Yeah. As opposed to mania, which is just like,

00:43:13.719 --> 00:43:16.880
what are we doing? This is, this doesn't look

00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:20.780
like Godzilla. Right. Exactly. And then it just

00:43:20.780 --> 00:43:23.360
gets, I mean, I'm okay with silliness, but it's

00:43:23.360 --> 00:43:26.320
like preposterous in that movie. Yeah. It goes

00:43:26.320 --> 00:43:31.219
off the deep end. Yeah. In terms of the dubbing,

00:43:31.219 --> 00:43:33.780
I'm not going to get too in the weeds, but Toho

00:43:33.780 --> 00:43:37.519
had an Hong Kong company issue an English dub

00:43:37.519 --> 00:43:40.820
for the international release. TriStar, like

00:43:40.820 --> 00:43:44.079
I said earlier, released the film on home video

00:43:44.079 --> 00:43:47.639
in the United States in 1999 with a new English

00:43:47.639 --> 00:43:51.239
dub. I believe this is the version I watched

00:43:51.239 --> 00:43:56.139
anyways. My box set of these movies is released

00:43:56.139 --> 00:44:01.380
through TriStar. I would love to see this movie

00:44:01.380 --> 00:44:04.119
in the original Japanese. That option was not

00:44:04.119 --> 00:44:07.800
available to me on my DVD. I just get this 99

00:44:07.800 --> 00:44:12.079
dub, which I don't think was a great dubbing.

00:44:12.420 --> 00:44:16.500
For instance, everyone pronounced Rodan as Radon,

00:44:16.599 --> 00:44:19.559
which is how it's spelled in the original Japanese.

00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:23.840
But we all know, at least in English, that's

00:44:23.840 --> 00:44:27.519
not how you say the creature's name. I'm not

00:44:27.519 --> 00:44:30.980
mad about it. I just want the original language.

00:44:31.980 --> 00:44:35.039
Right. I did watch it in the original Japanese.

00:44:35.280 --> 00:44:39.539
I streamed it on Prime, which I don't always

00:44:39.539 --> 00:44:41.500
love using Prime, but their availability is really

00:44:41.500 --> 00:44:43.559
great on there. And I think it was the TriStar

00:44:43.559 --> 00:44:46.099
release, but it was the original Japanese version

00:44:46.099 --> 00:44:49.599
of it. And I'd like to see the dubbed one at

00:44:49.599 --> 00:44:51.780
some point too, but the original sounded great.

00:44:51.880 --> 00:44:54.780
And I'm glad they had that on there. Awesome.

00:44:54.880 --> 00:44:57.389
Yeah. Yeah, I'll have to check that out. For

00:44:57.389 --> 00:45:00.909
sure. Release and legacy of this movie. It was

00:45:00.909 --> 00:45:04.210
released in December of 93. The Japanese title

00:45:04.210 --> 00:45:07.670
is simply Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Which I

00:45:07.670 --> 00:45:11.269
find fascinating. That it's the Americans who

00:45:11.269 --> 00:45:16.570
added a 2 to this movie. Yeah, you wouldn't think

00:45:16.570 --> 00:45:18.409
that most American audiences really remembered

00:45:18.409 --> 00:45:23.369
the first one very well. Strange. Because it's

00:45:23.369 --> 00:45:26.670
not a sequel to that movie. Right. Yeah, they

00:45:26.670 --> 00:45:28.389
could have just come up with a totally new name.

00:45:28.469 --> 00:45:30.170
I don't know what it would have been, but if

00:45:30.170 --> 00:45:33.889
there were issues of confusion or whatever, they

00:45:33.889 --> 00:45:35.949
could have just named it something else. And

00:45:35.949 --> 00:45:38.989
poor Terror of Mechagodzilla, which is number

00:45:38.989 --> 00:45:43.150
two. Right, that is a sequel to it, yeah. Man,

00:45:43.250 --> 00:45:46.309
it's confusing. It's hard work being a kaiju

00:45:46.309 --> 00:45:49.369
superfan. You're like a detective. You've got

00:45:49.369 --> 00:45:55.269
to sift through languages and media. Is it this

00:45:55.269 --> 00:45:58.130
dub or that sub? Is it the Japanese? Is it the

00:45:58.130 --> 00:46:01.369
Hong Kong? What? We got to figure it out. Yeah,

00:46:01.409 --> 00:46:05.230
what's going on here, man? So the film got mostly

00:46:05.230 --> 00:46:07.570
positive reviews when it came out, especially

00:46:07.570 --> 00:46:09.789
for its special effects and action sequences.

00:46:10.090 --> 00:46:13.050
It was followed by Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla.

00:46:14.090 --> 00:46:16.710
By the way, Space Godzilla is heavily rumored

00:46:16.710 --> 00:46:19.250
to be the antagonist of the upcoming Godzilla

00:46:19.250 --> 00:46:23.219
x Kong Supernova. I actually don't know Space

00:46:23.219 --> 00:46:25.139
Godzilla very well. I don't think I've ever seen

00:46:25.139 --> 00:46:28.280
him before. He was only in one movie, Godzilla

00:46:28.280 --> 00:46:33.300
vs. Space Godzilla from 1994. And we'll get to

00:46:33.300 --> 00:46:37.780
it probably next year, I think. Yeah. Let's keep

00:46:37.780 --> 00:46:39.539
going with the Heisei era. I love everything

00:46:39.539 --> 00:46:41.860
we've seen so far. Yeah. And like I said, we've

00:46:41.860 --> 00:46:44.320
gone in order, which I think is great because

00:46:44.320 --> 00:46:47.179
these movies do have an order. Yeah. You're going

00:46:47.179 --> 00:46:51.760
to see just a slight spoiler. you're going to

00:46:51.760 --> 00:46:54.840
see baby Godzilla grow up a little bit. Ooh,

00:46:55.039 --> 00:46:58.820
okay. Yeah. I'm excited about that. Yeah. I read

00:46:58.820 --> 00:47:00.280
that was one of the original endings of this

00:47:00.280 --> 00:47:03.039
movie, that Godzilla was originally maybe going

00:47:03.039 --> 00:47:05.599
to die, but then baby Godzilla would, like, suddenly

00:47:05.599 --> 00:47:08.360
grow from Godzilla's energy into, like, the new

00:47:08.360 --> 00:47:10.679
Godzilla. It's probably good they didn't have

00:47:10.679 --> 00:47:12.159
that ending in this movie, but that would have

00:47:12.159 --> 00:47:15.539
been kind of crazy to see. Well, maybe they use

00:47:15.539 --> 00:47:18.260
it for a future movie. Who knows? I'm excited.

00:47:20.309 --> 00:47:25.030
You're tantalizing me right now. Well, on that

00:47:25.030 --> 00:47:28.389
tantalizing note, Camp Kaiju is brought to you

00:47:28.389 --> 00:47:30.610
by Zach Linder and the Zach Pack, powered by

00:47:30.610 --> 00:47:32.989
Coldwell Banker Realty. Whether you're looking

00:47:32.989 --> 00:47:35.289
for your dream home, a savvy investment property,

00:47:35.429 --> 00:47:37.829
or expert guidance in home rehab and flipping,

00:47:38.090 --> 00:47:40.889
the Zach Pack has you covered. Check the link

00:47:40.889 --> 00:47:43.750
in the show notes for more information. Matt.

00:47:44.289 --> 00:47:46.789
What's in Minya's mailbox? Brought to you by

00:47:46.789 --> 00:47:50.750
Patreon .com slash Camp Kaiju. Oh, just had to

00:47:50.750 --> 00:47:52.690
get a glass of water. My apologies. What is in

00:47:52.690 --> 00:47:57.409
Minya's mailbox? Let's find out. Is it a Godzilla

00:47:57.409 --> 00:47:59.809
-saurus? Oh, it is not. That would be so adorable,

00:47:59.929 --> 00:48:03.409
though. I wish it was. We could play around in

00:48:03.409 --> 00:48:04.710
this, like, little pen, you know, and, like,

00:48:04.730 --> 00:48:06.150
sing it songs and everything. That'd be great.

00:48:07.130 --> 00:48:10.110
But it is not that. It is a comment from Don.

00:48:10.530 --> 00:48:14.510
Superfan Don via Patreon. Don has a comment about

00:48:14.510 --> 00:48:18.110
the giant spider invasion. He says, this was

00:48:18.110 --> 00:48:20.309
quite an interesting film, but I knew I was going

00:48:20.309 --> 00:48:22.710
to have fun. A few seconds after the opening

00:48:22.710 --> 00:48:25.429
credits, there he is, Alan Hale himself, and

00:48:25.429 --> 00:48:27.449
the first words out of his mouth are, hi, little

00:48:27.449 --> 00:48:30.309
buddy, how can you not love that? When they mentioned

00:48:30.309 --> 00:48:32.869
the neutron initiator, all I could think of was

00:48:32.869 --> 00:48:35.369
reverse the polarity in the neutron flow from

00:48:35.369 --> 00:48:37.650
Doctor Who, but a lot of people wouldn't get

00:48:37.650 --> 00:48:42.269
that reference. I don't get that reference, I'm

00:48:42.269 --> 00:48:45.130
sorry to say. Don goes on to say, definitely

00:48:45.130 --> 00:48:47.929
an enjoyable movie. I'm curious what the updated

00:48:47.929 --> 00:48:50.230
anniversary version will be like. I hope one

00:48:50.230 --> 00:48:52.150
or both of you guys were able to see it and tell

00:48:52.150 --> 00:48:54.869
us about it. Thank you, Don. Yeah, I definitely

00:48:54.869 --> 00:48:57.090
still am kind of like keeping an ear out about

00:48:57.090 --> 00:48:59.070
the new footage for the giant spider invasion.

00:48:59.530 --> 00:49:01.710
I don't know if there are any screenings coming

00:49:01.710 --> 00:49:03.710
around here, not that I've heard of so far, but

00:49:03.710 --> 00:49:07.130
I'm intrigued. Me too. Bill Robain, if you're

00:49:07.130 --> 00:49:10.760
listening. I hope you enjoyed my Christmas card.

00:49:11.199 --> 00:49:15.679
Keep us updated, please. We hope to hang out

00:49:15.679 --> 00:49:19.679
properly and see your movie in person. That'd

00:49:19.679 --> 00:49:22.840
be amazing. Yeah. Yeah. We just have one more

00:49:22.840 --> 00:49:26.079
little comment. This is from Big Texas Butters

00:49:26.079 --> 00:49:30.019
on Instagram, which just props to that name.

00:49:30.780 --> 00:49:35.340
It's the best. Big Texas Butters comments about

00:49:35.340 --> 00:49:39.300
Gappa the Trifibian Monster. They say, just finished

00:49:39.300 --> 00:49:42.000
listening yesterday. Great episode. Love that

00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:45.159
movie when I stumbled upon it years ago. And

00:49:45.159 --> 00:49:47.420
that was kind of my experience. Saw it on Tubi.

00:49:48.019 --> 00:49:50.940
Stumbled upon it. I threw it on. I ended up really

00:49:50.940 --> 00:49:55.639
liking it. Not so much on follow up watches.

00:49:57.840 --> 00:50:00.260
If I had seen it back in the day, I probably

00:50:00.260 --> 00:50:02.460
would have some like nostalgia value for it.

00:50:02.539 --> 00:50:04.619
I'm sorry to say that I do not have that for

00:50:04.619 --> 00:50:07.960
that movie. It was. We have a lot of comments

00:50:07.960 --> 00:50:10.960
about Gappa. I will just say we have so many

00:50:10.960 --> 00:50:14.380
more to come. Real hot and cold. Some people

00:50:14.380 --> 00:50:18.960
really love it. Some people can leave it. I don't

00:50:18.960 --> 00:50:22.440
know. I don't hate the movie, but I'm not Gaga

00:50:22.440 --> 00:50:26.800
for Gappa either. I hope that's the name of the

00:50:26.800 --> 00:50:30.920
official fan club, Gaga for Gappa. It's great.

00:50:33.250 --> 00:50:35.989
Thank you, Big Texas Butters. Thank you, Don.

00:50:36.110 --> 00:50:39.050
Thank you, all of our Patreon supporters. Thank

00:50:39.050 --> 00:50:41.869
you, all of our listeners here, near, and everywhere.

00:50:42.469 --> 00:50:45.289
Keep them coming. You really add a lot to the

00:50:45.289 --> 00:50:49.789
show with what you comment and want to talk about.

00:50:50.730 --> 00:50:54.170
We did have some questions about Peter Lorre.

00:50:54.230 --> 00:50:56.230
Is he coming back? Where is he? His honeymoon?

00:50:56.690 --> 00:50:58.929
Well, let me tell you, he's coming back. He came

00:50:58.929 --> 00:51:02.849
back last week. He dropped by my place, picked

00:51:02.849 --> 00:51:05.769
up his things. He's out the door, Matt. Oh, man.

00:51:05.989 --> 00:51:10.429
He's moving in with Lenore, who was a raven who

00:51:10.429 --> 00:51:14.090
transformed into a beautiful woman, I'm told.

00:51:14.650 --> 00:51:18.150
And they went off. They got married. Don't know

00:51:18.150 --> 00:51:22.010
what's next for those two lovebirds, but Peter

00:51:22.010 --> 00:51:25.409
and Lenore are living on their own now. Good

00:51:25.409 --> 00:51:28.659
for them. That's amazing. Yeah. Still honeymooning.

00:51:28.659 --> 00:51:31.719
Maybe they're traveling the world. But I told

00:51:31.719 --> 00:51:34.360
him he can work remote. So yes, he could be anywhere

00:51:34.360 --> 00:51:39.400
in the world. Wow. As a free man. Yeah. His next

00:51:39.400 --> 00:51:42.219
recording could be from, you know, who knows

00:51:42.219 --> 00:51:44.719
where? The jungles of Borneo. Let's go with that.

00:51:45.460 --> 00:51:48.579
He's going to be reviewing that Shemp Howard

00:51:48.579 --> 00:51:53.449
picture called Crazy Nights from 1944. About

00:51:53.449 --> 00:51:56.110
three cracked -brained clowns trapped in a haunted

00:51:56.110 --> 00:52:00.570
house with runaway gorillas, ghosts, and more.

00:52:01.550 --> 00:52:04.989
Wow. Three goofballs run up against ghosts and

00:52:04.989 --> 00:52:07.070
a giant gorilla in a haunted house is the official

00:52:07.070 --> 00:52:10.869
synopsis here. I love that. Goofballs. Yeah,

00:52:10.889 --> 00:52:14.690
not stooges. There's just one stooge. Two goofballs.

00:52:14.809 --> 00:52:18.050
Man. I can't wait to hear Peter talk about that.

00:52:18.110 --> 00:52:22.159
Sounds amazing. Same. From live from the jungles

00:52:22.159 --> 00:52:27.760
of Borneo. Yeah. Man, I don't know where that

00:52:27.760 --> 00:52:29.019
came from. You know I'm going to use that now.

00:52:30.340 --> 00:52:44.989
You know, I would be honored if you do. Welcome

00:52:44.989 --> 00:52:48.090
to the Poverty Row Studios on the other side

00:52:48.090 --> 00:52:51.510
of Hollywood. Oh, here the stars were dimmer

00:52:51.510 --> 00:52:55.369
and the red carpets dripped with blood. Together

00:52:55.369 --> 00:52:59.010
we, you and me, yes, yes, we will watch the best

00:52:59.010 --> 00:53:02.090
of the worst. Movies known for their limited

00:53:02.090 --> 00:53:05.630
budgets. outlandish concepts and questionable

00:53:05.630 --> 00:53:09.050
performances, but with enough haunted houses,

00:53:09.150 --> 00:53:13.030
zombies, ape men, and devil bats to keep you

00:53:13.030 --> 00:53:17.769
up at night. This is the Poverty World Picture

00:53:17.769 --> 00:53:22.190
Show, and I dare you to sleep through these nightmares.

00:53:26.190 --> 00:53:31.170
Live from the jungles of Borneo, it is I, your

00:53:31.170 --> 00:53:35.199
host, Peter Lorre. I present to you a little

00:53:35.199 --> 00:53:39.280
1944 picture that is so memorable it even has

00:53:39.280 --> 00:53:43.880
two names. Ghost Crazy, or as we will call it

00:53:43.880 --> 00:53:47.599
tonight, Crazy Nights. Either way, you would

00:53:47.599 --> 00:53:50.619
have to be as crazy as I to watch and review

00:53:50.619 --> 00:53:54.280
these haunted houses. This haunted house movie

00:53:54.280 --> 00:53:57.900
that has more booze than the booing crowd in

00:53:57.900 --> 00:54:00.320
Young Frankenstein. Yes, you remember the picture

00:54:00.320 --> 00:54:03.280
well. Well, either way, forgive... The Forest

00:54:03.280 --> 00:54:06.340
Pond, I am working remotely here in my tropical

00:54:06.340 --> 00:54:09.800
mountain cottage. And, oh, the bats are flying

00:54:09.800 --> 00:54:12.579
by here in the twilight. Oh, yes, I am quite

00:54:12.579 --> 00:54:15.699
enjoying the afterlife these days. Taking it

00:54:15.699 --> 00:54:20.059
a little easier. Watching my movies. Poverty

00:54:20.059 --> 00:54:24.340
Row movies. Eating my fish heads. Oh, yes, it

00:54:24.340 --> 00:54:27.719
is all at my leisure. And Lenore, she's up to

00:54:27.719 --> 00:54:30.500
something in the back. You know, she kind of

00:54:30.500 --> 00:54:32.760
does her own thing these days, but that's all

00:54:32.760 --> 00:54:34.880
right with me. We have a healthy balance. Anyways,

00:54:35.159 --> 00:54:38.460
Crazy Nights is a 63 -minute monogrammed film

00:54:38.460 --> 00:54:40.980
that will challenge your funny bones in all the

00:54:40.980 --> 00:54:46.559
wrong ways. Shemp Howard leads this film as a

00:54:46.559 --> 00:54:51.539
circus performer whose act is to imitate a gorilla

00:54:51.539 --> 00:54:58.179
for unwitting customers. His partner is in the

00:54:58.179 --> 00:55:02.059
ring. include Billy Gilbert and Maxie Rosenblum.

00:55:02.099 --> 00:55:05.460
The three complete a trio of unholy slapstick

00:55:05.460 --> 00:55:08.699
that reeks as a Three Stooges knockoff, despite,

00:55:08.860 --> 00:55:12.159
of course, Shemps standing as a stooge himself.

00:55:13.639 --> 00:55:16.980
Now, Billy Gilbert is interesting. He was well

00:55:16.980 --> 00:55:19.699
-known for his long career as a Hollywood funnyman.

00:55:19.900 --> 00:55:22.019
And while he comes off in this picture as an

00:55:22.019 --> 00:55:25.860
unfunny Lou Costello, you can see that maybe...

00:55:26.190 --> 00:55:28.050
Maybe there was something there, and this maybe

00:55:28.050 --> 00:55:31.510
just wasn't a vehicle for him. Yes, well, you've

00:55:31.510 --> 00:55:33.949
seen it all before, folks. Crazy Nights is an

00:55:33.949 --> 00:55:37.090
episode of Scooby -Doo with mistaken identities,

00:55:37.730 --> 00:55:41.070
jilted lovers, and a pesky poltergeist that turns

00:55:41.070 --> 00:55:45.989
out to be the disgruntled handyman. Spoilers

00:55:45.989 --> 00:55:48.590
if you care about that kind of thing. So now,

00:55:48.590 --> 00:55:51.500
what does this picture have going for it? Perhaps

00:55:51.500 --> 00:55:54.039
the junior high antics may be stupid enough at

00:55:54.039 --> 00:55:56.780
times to elicit a chuckle here or there. The

00:55:56.780 --> 00:55:59.599
last ten minutes, for instance, is a revolving

00:55:59.599 --> 00:56:02.719
door farce involving Shemp and his gorilla costume

00:56:02.719 --> 00:56:05.980
and a genuine gorilla, which of course is played

00:56:05.980 --> 00:56:10.619
by ape actor Art Miles. But, you know, overall,

00:56:10.699 --> 00:56:13.599
skip this one, folks. It is a comedy with gags

00:56:13.599 --> 00:56:16.440
deader than old Peter Lorre himself. But next

00:56:16.440 --> 00:56:18.980
week, oh, next week, next week, have I got the

00:56:18.980 --> 00:56:23.559
treat for you. A 1945 little picture called Fog

00:56:23.559 --> 00:56:27.059
Island, yes, with venerable horror stars Lionel

00:56:27.059 --> 00:56:31.659
Atwill and George Zuko, yes. Yes, let us relish

00:56:31.659 --> 00:56:39.039
in the thick mist of the poverty row. Hello,

00:56:42.780 --> 00:56:45.179
kaiju campers. Just wanted to give you a little

00:56:45.179 --> 00:56:47.880
post -script. I would be amiss not to mention

00:56:47.880 --> 00:56:50.900
the passing of Bob Burns. who passed away on

00:56:50.900 --> 00:56:55.380
December 12th, 2025. Bob Burns was a noted legendary

00:56:55.380 --> 00:57:00.300
archivist, collector, monster movie enthusiast.

00:57:00.320 --> 00:57:03.099
He was an actor in his time, a producer, a director.

00:57:03.599 --> 00:57:08.179
He made connections with Hollywood celebrities,

00:57:08.340 --> 00:57:12.280
with regular old monster kids like you and me.

00:57:12.880 --> 00:57:16.199
He made the festival rounds. He provided scores

00:57:16.199 --> 00:57:18.980
of audio commentaries. If you have any classic

00:57:18.980 --> 00:57:21.639
monster movies on DVD, go check them out. You

00:57:21.639 --> 00:57:25.219
might have a Bob Burns commentary on there. When

00:57:25.219 --> 00:57:27.099
you have a moment, just look up Bob Burns and

00:57:27.099 --> 00:57:31.159
keep him in mind. All right. Until then, you

00:57:31.159 --> 00:57:34.559
stay campy, and Mr. Burns, you rip in peace.

00:57:55.139 --> 00:58:19.539
To devastate mankind. Supersonic jets cannot

00:58:19.539 --> 00:58:34.760
catch him. Buckets cannot stop him. Armored tanks

00:58:34.760 --> 00:58:45.500
are helpless before him. Even guided missiles

00:58:45.500 --> 00:58:53.309
are powerless. See Rodan destroy a modern city,

00:58:53.489 --> 00:58:55.750
leveling it to the earth with a killing airstream

00:58:55.750 --> 00:59:17.349
of his mighty wings. Nothing can stop him. Nothing

00:59:17.349 --> 00:59:48.750
escapes this monstrous beast of evil. The mightiest

00:59:48.750 --> 00:59:51.170
monster the world has ever known. The mightiest

00:59:51.170 --> 00:59:56.050
egg the world has ever known. Introducing me,

00:59:56.170 --> 01:00:07.349
son of Godzilla. The fantastic red water. One

01:00:07.349 --> 01:00:09.710
of the many weird natural phenomena on mysterious

01:00:09.710 --> 01:00:19.320
Solgale Island. great scientific experiment begins.

01:00:20.219 --> 01:00:23.619
Try another frequency. What is it? It seems as

01:00:23.619 --> 01:00:25.659
though something's jamming the wavelengths. Son

01:00:25.659 --> 01:00:29.280
of Godzilla, a rollicking monster spectacular.

01:00:39.519 --> 01:00:43.780
See how a baby monster becomes a monstrous monster.

01:00:46.039 --> 01:00:50.730
All right. I honestly couldn't think of a ton

01:00:50.730 --> 01:00:55.190
of deep themes in this movie. One thing that

01:00:55.190 --> 01:00:59.010
did stand out to me, though, was the character

01:00:59.010 --> 01:01:05.510
of Kazuma. Is that right? Azusa. And she is having

01:01:05.510 --> 01:01:07.570
like an impassioned speech to some government

01:01:07.570 --> 01:01:10.610
political figure. And she makes the point that.

01:01:10.909 --> 01:01:13.230
that baby Godzilla is not to be used as a commodity

01:01:13.230 --> 01:01:15.409
because they want to use baby Godzilla as bait

01:01:15.409 --> 01:01:18.630
to lure Godzilla away from Japan. And she says

01:01:18.630 --> 01:01:23.670
it is a living being worthy of life not to be

01:01:23.670 --> 01:01:27.469
used again as a pawn. So that's all I got out

01:01:27.469 --> 01:01:31.510
of this movie. Yeah, I think you're right about

01:01:31.510 --> 01:01:33.670
that. I think there are some kind of like tangential

01:01:33.670 --> 01:01:35.349
themes that go along with that a little bit.

01:01:35.869 --> 01:01:38.409
You know, like Azusa definitely does. That's

01:01:38.409 --> 01:01:40.099
her name, right? Sorry, I know you just said

01:01:40.099 --> 01:01:43.000
it. She has, you know, you were kind of alluding

01:01:43.000 --> 01:01:46.000
to the questionable gender stereotypes that the

01:01:46.000 --> 01:01:48.880
producers brought to it. Like, you know, women

01:01:48.880 --> 01:01:50.980
love cute little dinosaurs, so we gotta put the

01:01:50.980 --> 01:01:53.099
cute little dinosaur in the movie. But, like,

01:01:53.099 --> 01:01:55.559
I think the... sort of motherly relationship

01:01:55.559 --> 01:01:58.659
that Azusa has with baby Godzilla is pretty touching.

01:01:58.800 --> 01:02:01.380
And, you know, it's almost like surrogate family

01:02:01.380 --> 01:02:03.960
that's created between those two characters.

01:02:03.980 --> 01:02:07.360
And then also Kazuma, who has this kind of like

01:02:07.360 --> 01:02:11.119
romance with Azusa, you know, and they basically

01:02:11.119 --> 01:02:12.860
end up together at the end of the movie. It's

01:02:12.860 --> 01:02:15.199
strongly implied. And I don't want to give away

01:02:15.199 --> 01:02:17.360
what happens with baby Godzilla, but it's, you

01:02:17.360 --> 01:02:20.489
know, also, I think we have. a parallel kind

01:02:20.489 --> 01:02:23.849
of surrogate family with Godzilla, Rodan, and

01:02:23.849 --> 01:02:26.489
baby Godzilla. They're not like literally parents

01:02:26.489 --> 01:02:29.710
and children, but like, you know, Godzilla definitely

01:02:29.710 --> 01:02:32.610
brings some like fatherly affection towards baby

01:02:32.610 --> 01:02:35.130
Godzilla. And then Rodan is kind of a protector

01:02:35.130 --> 01:02:38.289
of both of them. Like Rodan makes this very touching

01:02:38.289 --> 01:02:40.530
sacrifice to bring Godzilla back to life when

01:02:40.530 --> 01:02:43.789
we think he's defeated in battle. So, you know,

01:02:43.809 --> 01:02:46.130
I think there are some themes of family. It's

01:02:46.130 --> 01:02:48.010
like a very broad theme and kind of sentimental,

01:02:48.010 --> 01:02:50.440
but... Pretty touching, I would say, in this

01:02:50.440 --> 01:02:53.260
movie. But the second theme that I would mention

01:02:53.260 --> 01:02:55.860
I thought was even more interesting. Like, you

01:02:55.860 --> 01:02:58.539
mentioned how Azusa says that baby Godzilla is

01:02:58.539 --> 01:03:01.480
not a commodity and should not be treated as

01:03:01.480 --> 01:03:04.280
such by the government or, you know, G -Force

01:03:04.280 --> 01:03:06.800
or whatever. And then at the very end of the

01:03:06.800 --> 01:03:09.400
movie, there's another speech about how, you

01:03:09.400 --> 01:03:12.579
know, Mechagodzilla is vanquished by Godzilla

01:03:12.579 --> 01:03:16.559
and Rodan. And there's another line about how,

01:03:16.659 --> 01:03:20.449
like, you know, life will conquer over artificial

01:03:20.449 --> 01:03:24.130
things, whether it's like reptiles or humans,

01:03:24.289 --> 01:03:27.269
like they will take down hunks of metal basically,

01:03:27.369 --> 01:03:29.409
you know? And I love that. Like Mechagodzilla

01:03:29.409 --> 01:03:32.010
isn't the title of the movie, but like, you know,

01:03:32.010 --> 01:03:33.730
it's kind of a happy ending that Mechagodzilla

01:03:33.730 --> 01:03:36.349
does not win in the end. And I couldn't help

01:03:36.349 --> 01:03:38.170
but think about artificial intelligence a little

01:03:38.170 --> 01:03:42.429
bit, you know? Like true creativity, true life,

01:03:42.429 --> 01:03:45.070
and true human presence will always conquer artificial

01:03:45.070 --> 01:03:47.460
intelligence, you know? In my opinion, that's

01:03:47.460 --> 01:03:49.739
my sort of old fashioned way of looking at it.

01:03:50.300 --> 01:03:52.880
No, that's wonderful. More people need to think

01:03:52.880 --> 01:03:56.619
like you. And and that's that. See, that's great,

01:03:56.739 --> 01:03:59.280
because you're making me think more critically

01:03:59.280 --> 01:04:02.139
about these themes, the familial relationships,

01:04:02.639 --> 01:04:06.000
particularly between the monsters. I love and

01:04:06.000 --> 01:04:10.099
I didn't know that connection they share as kaiju.

01:04:10.179 --> 01:04:11.820
It's kind of like, look, we have to look out

01:04:11.820 --> 01:04:16.340
for each other as these irradiated. Things in

01:04:16.340 --> 01:04:18.719
nature that shouldn't exist, but here we are.

01:04:20.460 --> 01:04:24.960
Second, to your point about that line, nature

01:04:24.960 --> 01:04:28.139
will or life will always conquer the machines,

01:04:28.420 --> 01:04:33.480
paraphrasing. But yes, I think that that's the

01:04:33.480 --> 01:04:36.719
difference between this movie and Godzilla versus

01:04:36.719 --> 01:04:40.840
Mechagodzilla, the first one. Whereas Mechagodzilla

01:04:40.840 --> 01:04:45.219
in that movie is a tool of an alien. invading

01:04:45.219 --> 01:04:49.019
force so it's a little more pulpy in that regard

01:04:49.019 --> 01:04:55.219
maybe a little less deep but but making the mecca

01:04:55.219 --> 01:04:59.360
a tool of humanity now we're making it a little

01:04:59.360 --> 01:05:02.239
more personal thematically now it's like okay

01:05:02.239 --> 01:05:06.019
what does this say about our our human struggle

01:05:06.019 --> 01:05:10.599
against nature you know liken it to stopping

01:05:10.599 --> 01:05:12.780
a hurricane which, you know, Godzilla and these

01:05:12.780 --> 01:05:15.739
kaiju are forces of nature. Can you really stop

01:05:15.739 --> 01:05:19.280
an earthquake? Can you stop a volcano? You could

01:05:19.280 --> 01:05:22.320
try, but ultimately you can't, you can't do it.

01:05:22.360 --> 01:05:24.739
And I think that that's like, that's the analogy

01:05:24.739 --> 01:05:27.960
in this movie that makes it a little more deeper

01:05:27.960 --> 01:05:32.920
than previous Mechagodzilla movies. Yeah, I would

01:05:32.920 --> 01:05:34.960
totally agree with that. And I think like there

01:05:34.960 --> 01:05:38.139
are sequences in this movie where you feel bad

01:05:38.139 --> 01:05:40.320
for Godzilla. He's being totally pummeled by

01:05:40.320 --> 01:05:43.119
Mechagodzilla. He's getting like missiles shot

01:05:43.119 --> 01:05:45.280
into his body and then ripped out and he's getting

01:05:45.280 --> 01:05:47.980
like electrical pulses like sent into. And it's

01:05:47.980 --> 01:05:51.039
like, man, I know he destroys cities and presumably

01:05:51.039 --> 01:05:53.219
kills hundreds of thousands of people. But still,

01:05:53.280 --> 01:05:55.760
it's like you feel bad for Godzilla. He's just

01:05:55.760 --> 01:05:57.360
doing what he does, like you were saying. And

01:05:57.360 --> 01:06:01.050
that's like his kind of natural. behavior you

01:06:01.050 --> 01:06:04.409
know so like i yeah i mean i feel like it's i

01:06:04.409 --> 01:06:07.809
did not expect that like godzilla triumphing

01:06:07.809 --> 01:06:10.250
and mecha godzilla being taken down would be

01:06:10.250 --> 01:06:11.909
the happy ending of this movie but it kind of

01:06:11.909 --> 01:06:14.190
is and i thought of pacific rim a little bit

01:06:14.190 --> 01:06:16.989
too which you know a very similar storyline like

01:06:16.989 --> 01:06:19.309
governments create mechas to take down these

01:06:19.309 --> 01:06:22.579
kaiju And in that movie, I think we are supposed

01:06:22.579 --> 01:06:25.380
to be like really happy when like, you know,

01:06:25.380 --> 01:06:27.760
these huge robots pummel these monsters and all

01:06:27.760 --> 01:06:30.139
that. And it's like, I would rather kind of have

01:06:30.139 --> 01:06:32.139
it this way around where like the actual living

01:06:32.139 --> 01:06:34.760
thing still reigns supreme at the end, you know?

01:06:35.380 --> 01:06:38.300
Yeah. Yeah, that's an interesting take. Like

01:06:38.300 --> 01:06:43.440
if Godzilla versus Mechagodzilla 2, it's just

01:06:43.440 --> 01:06:45.880
a matter of perspective. This movie takes the

01:06:45.880 --> 01:06:49.699
side of the monster. Yeah. But you could easily

01:06:49.699 --> 01:06:52.119
flip it. And in the movie, in the world of the

01:06:52.119 --> 01:06:55.639
movie, the whole world is rooting for Mechagodzilla.

01:06:55.940 --> 01:07:00.320
Right. Yeah. Yeah, it's cool. You know, I think

01:07:00.320 --> 01:07:02.159
that's one of many reasons these movies have

01:07:02.159 --> 01:07:06.239
such staying power and like lasting value because

01:07:06.239 --> 01:07:08.059
we love these monsters and we kind of do want

01:07:08.059 --> 01:07:11.130
to see them win, you know? Absolutely. Well,

01:07:11.150 --> 01:07:13.409
yeah, this movie is extremely entertaining. I

01:07:13.409 --> 01:07:15.610
think it kind of just jumps into the action right

01:07:15.610 --> 01:07:19.210
away with Mechagodzilla and this government lair,

01:07:19.210 --> 01:07:21.150
and the effects, again, are really, really great.

01:07:21.349 --> 01:07:23.630
And then it just never really lets up. I think

01:07:23.630 --> 01:07:27.110
the climactic battle between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla

01:07:27.110 --> 01:07:29.329
maybe goes on a little bit too long, but I do

01:07:29.329 --> 01:07:32.010
think all the kaiju battles are really beautiful

01:07:32.010 --> 01:07:34.969
and a lot of fun. And speaking of beautiful,

01:07:35.070 --> 01:07:37.349
like this is just like an extremely well shot,

01:07:37.429 --> 01:07:39.869
good looking movie. Like there were some shots

01:07:39.869 --> 01:07:42.969
where I like, I like gasped out loud. There's

01:07:42.969 --> 01:07:45.230
a shot, like you mentioned Rodan flying over

01:07:45.230 --> 01:07:47.130
the cities, but also there's a shot where like

01:07:47.130 --> 01:07:50.309
Godzilla is like standing next to some skyscrapers,

01:07:50.309 --> 01:07:52.670
like at dusk, the sky is like a deep purple behind

01:07:52.670 --> 01:07:55.610
him. It's gorgeous. I love that shot. And then

01:07:55.610 --> 01:07:58.329
like later on when Godzilla is resurrected by

01:07:58.329 --> 01:08:01.679
Rodan. there's just like lights and like explosions

01:08:01.679 --> 01:08:04.559
all over the screen. And it's like totally eye

01:08:04.559 --> 01:08:08.219
popping. It's such a beautiful movie. Can I add

01:08:08.219 --> 01:08:11.619
onto that? There's a scene where Rodan is on

01:08:11.619 --> 01:08:15.599
the ground, like he's been pummeled and Godzilla

01:08:15.599 --> 01:08:18.220
is walking up to him. And it's just the frame

01:08:18.220 --> 01:08:21.279
is Rodan's face. And in the background approaching

01:08:21.279 --> 01:08:24.520
is just the legs of destruction of Godzilla.

01:08:24.840 --> 01:08:26.760
Yeah. You know, it's just framing like that.

01:08:26.819 --> 01:08:30.539
That's so intriguing. It just makes you lean

01:08:30.539 --> 01:08:34.100
in closer to the screen. Absolutely, yeah. There

01:08:34.100 --> 01:08:36.539
are definitely some examples of that in the older

01:08:36.539 --> 01:08:40.399
Showa -era movies, but I really like these Heisei

01:08:40.399 --> 01:08:43.119
movies a lot because I just feel like the visual

01:08:43.119 --> 01:08:45.840
creativity kind of takes a step forward, and

01:08:45.840 --> 01:08:47.420
the special effects and the things they can do

01:08:47.420 --> 01:08:49.739
with that obviously allow that to happen a little

01:08:49.739 --> 01:08:53.979
bit, but it's very impressive for sure. I remembered

01:08:53.979 --> 01:08:56.319
what I was going to say before. Whatever the

01:08:56.319 --> 01:09:00.439
reasons for... female inclusion in this movie

01:09:00.439 --> 01:09:05.979
the fact is that two of our three leads are women

01:09:05.979 --> 01:09:09.659
and i'm i'm real i realize that now in the midst

01:09:09.659 --> 01:09:11.760
of our conversation so i just want to shout that

01:09:11.760 --> 01:09:16.979
out like we have we have i think strong female

01:09:16.979 --> 01:09:20.039
representation they're scientists they're they're

01:09:20.039 --> 01:09:23.399
women with you know even if the men are pushing

01:09:23.399 --> 01:09:25.340
back against them they are still strong -willed

01:09:25.340 --> 01:09:32.100
women and the man in the trio he he's a nerd

01:09:32.100 --> 01:09:34.939
like i'm saying like he's not a threatening masculine

01:09:34.939 --> 01:09:38.659
meathead he's he's like a nice guy who's there

01:09:38.659 --> 01:09:41.260
to support them as well so i think there's like

01:09:41.260 --> 01:09:44.279
to use the term there's like a really feminine

01:09:44.279 --> 01:09:50.560
energy with this trio Yeah, I totally agree with

01:09:50.560 --> 01:09:54.079
that. I love that. And yeah, the two female leads

01:09:54.079 --> 01:09:55.680
that you were just talking about are extremely

01:09:55.680 --> 01:10:00.180
capable scientists who have so much agency. Azusa,

01:10:00.180 --> 01:10:02.079
at the end, gets into a shipping container with

01:10:02.079 --> 01:10:05.979
baby Godzilla, and she's risking her life to

01:10:05.979 --> 01:10:08.300
comfort this creature who she's developed this

01:10:08.300 --> 01:10:12.180
bond with. And that's a heroic thing to do. And

01:10:12.180 --> 01:10:14.600
then Miki, I think that's her name, right? The

01:10:14.600 --> 01:10:17.600
psychic character? Yeah. You know, she's the

01:10:17.600 --> 01:10:20.380
one who can, who like knows where Godzilla's

01:10:20.380 --> 01:10:23.560
second brain is and like has, you know, certain

01:10:23.560 --> 01:10:26.340
qualms, certain reservations about like being

01:10:26.340 --> 01:10:28.539
used to attack Godzilla, but she still goes along

01:10:28.539 --> 01:10:30.699
with it. So anyway, she's a complicated character

01:10:30.699 --> 01:10:33.539
and I feel like, you know, the Bechdel test,

01:10:33.779 --> 01:10:36.260
which is like a test about like the agency of

01:10:36.260 --> 01:10:38.000
female characters. Do they operate independently

01:10:38.000 --> 01:10:41.079
of male characters and so on and so forth? I

01:10:41.079 --> 01:10:42.819
think the characters in this movie pass that

01:10:42.819 --> 01:10:48.500
test, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And. And yeah, I

01:10:48.500 --> 01:10:50.500
think you can go on about that. You know, Godzilla

01:10:50.500 --> 01:10:55.439
at the end of this movie shows a parental instinct

01:10:55.439 --> 01:10:58.979
towards baby Godzilla. And I know we you know,

01:10:58.979 --> 01:11:03.039
the world just refers to Godzilla as a he. But,

01:11:03.039 --> 01:11:06.239
you know, we don't truly know that. And I think

01:11:06.239 --> 01:11:10.020
Godzilla can be. Well, well, here's my thesis.

01:11:10.340 --> 01:11:14.239
Men can also be motherly. How about that? I love

01:11:14.239 --> 01:11:17.479
that thesis. Yeah, for sure. And I like what

01:11:17.479 --> 01:11:19.300
you said about the feminine energy in this movie.

01:11:19.359 --> 01:11:20.619
And honestly, I think that's one of my favorite

01:11:20.619 --> 01:11:24.039
things about it. Yeah, yeah. I think Rodan is

01:11:24.039 --> 01:11:27.420
a female. I don't know why. They refer to the

01:11:27.420 --> 01:11:31.199
monster as a he. But in the first movie, like

01:11:31.199 --> 01:11:33.880
the first Rodan film, we have a mother and a

01:11:33.880 --> 01:11:36.640
father. And there's just something about Rodan

01:11:36.640 --> 01:11:40.319
that, I don't know, strikes me as a female character,

01:11:40.460 --> 01:11:45.100
like Mothra does. yeah yeah for sure protector

01:11:45.100 --> 01:11:48.460
that kind of thing you know yeah caretaker but

01:11:48.460 --> 01:11:52.979
men can be that too and we should be absolutely

01:11:52.979 --> 01:11:57.920
all right what else do you like about this movie

01:11:58.539 --> 01:12:01.039
you know, I do like that theme that kind of comes

01:12:01.039 --> 01:12:03.920
in at the end about life conquering artificiality,

01:12:03.939 --> 01:12:07.239
that whole thing. The Ifukubu, sorry, Ifukube

01:12:07.239 --> 01:12:10.079
music is really phenomenal. Like I love all of

01:12:10.079 --> 01:12:11.760
his soundtracks, but this might be one of his

01:12:11.760 --> 01:12:14.439
best. And there are so many moments that just

01:12:14.439 --> 01:12:16.800
are lent so much power and almost melancholy

01:12:16.800 --> 01:12:20.000
through his music. So yeah, that's really great.

01:12:20.720 --> 01:12:22.420
Yeah, that's the main stuff for me, I think.

01:12:22.939 --> 01:12:26.090
Same. all those things, his score blows me away.

01:12:26.170 --> 01:12:28.250
In the beginning, like you said, when we're getting

01:12:28.250 --> 01:12:31.569
just shots of Mechagodzilla being built, but

01:12:31.569 --> 01:12:34.829
also we see King Ghidorah's head, the mechanic,

01:12:35.130 --> 01:12:38.729
yeah, the Mecha King Ghidorah. It's just taken

01:12:38.729 --> 01:12:40.930
me back to one of my favorite movies and I'm

01:12:40.930 --> 01:12:44.510
feeling really pumped. I love the special effects,

01:12:44.770 --> 01:12:50.550
but I can't put into words how effective, how

01:12:50.550 --> 01:12:54.199
good, how mind -boggling. intricate these special

01:12:54.199 --> 01:12:57.739
effects are with like the blinking eyes when

01:12:57.739 --> 01:13:00.680
baby godzilla like the close -ups because the

01:13:00.680 --> 01:13:03.300
effects are so good they allow close -ups of

01:13:03.300 --> 01:13:08.800
baby godzilla of rodan of godzilla and i i'm

01:13:08.800 --> 01:13:12.979
not distracted at all by the the suit by the

01:13:12.979 --> 01:13:15.739
artificiality like it's so lifelike and then

01:13:15.739 --> 01:13:19.920
the animatronics were being used but man it's

01:13:19.920 --> 01:13:23.340
good like there's life in those eyes Yeah. Yeah.

01:13:23.479 --> 01:13:25.199
That's a good way to put it. Absolutely. And

01:13:25.199 --> 01:13:28.340
like, yeah, the special effects are really dynamic.

01:13:28.420 --> 01:13:30.060
Like there are some shots that are like from

01:13:30.060 --> 01:13:31.880
the point of view of some of the creatures or

01:13:31.880 --> 01:13:34.659
even from like, like Garuda, I think is the name

01:13:34.659 --> 01:13:36.079
of like the flying ship, you know, and there

01:13:36.079 --> 01:13:38.279
are these great aerial shots that are like from

01:13:38.279 --> 01:13:40.539
the perspective of that ship. So there's just

01:13:40.539 --> 01:13:42.560
so much energy and creativity in the special

01:13:42.560 --> 01:13:46.039
effects in this movie. Yeah. It's, it's, it's,

01:13:46.039 --> 01:13:49.079
I think, I think it's, it's the reason to watch

01:13:49.079 --> 01:13:52.500
this movie. Yeah, the number one reason for sure,

01:13:52.539 --> 01:13:54.680
but I was surprised by how many other things

01:13:54.680 --> 01:14:00.039
the movie has to offer as well. Yeah. My favorite

01:14:00.039 --> 01:14:03.380
part were when Godzilla and Mechagodzilla shoot

01:14:03.380 --> 01:14:06.340
their beams at each other, and you get a classic

01:14:06.340 --> 01:14:11.020
tug -of -war thing with the beams. So good. Amazing

01:14:11.020 --> 01:14:14.039
moment. I love that. Yeah, that whole fight at

01:14:14.039 --> 01:14:16.699
the end, maybe slightly too long, but there's

01:14:16.699 --> 01:14:19.600
so much good stuff in that. Yeah. Oh, and the

01:14:19.600 --> 01:14:23.579
brutality of Rodan's death. Yeah. A hole in his

01:14:23.579 --> 01:14:28.420
chest. He's gurgling bile. Yeah. And just like

01:14:28.420 --> 01:14:31.579
he he or she sacrifices themselves for Godzilla.

01:14:31.659 --> 01:14:33.720
That's amazing. You know, like it's a touching

01:14:33.720 --> 01:14:37.840
moment. It says it reminded that heartbreak not

01:14:37.840 --> 01:14:42.119
as effective as Honda's Rodan from 56. But but

01:14:42.119 --> 01:14:46.039
I think Rodan in these two movies, it just there's

01:14:46.039 --> 01:14:48.840
so much sympathy. The end of Rodan, the movie,

01:14:48.920 --> 01:14:51.260
breaks my heart every time I think about it.

01:14:51.859 --> 01:14:56.779
When they die in the volcano crater. Yes. I know

01:14:56.779 --> 01:14:59.100
I love Rodan, but it's been a while since I've

01:14:59.100 --> 01:15:00.560
seen it, so I don't remember it all that well.

01:15:00.640 --> 01:15:03.640
But that is ringing a bell. Yeah. The Honda touch?

01:15:04.020 --> 01:15:06.869
Yeah. Can I mention one more good thing? Sorry,

01:15:06.989 --> 01:15:08.289
I'm spending a lot of time on the good stuff.

01:15:08.430 --> 01:15:11.529
But like maybe my favorite instance of Ifukube's

01:15:11.529 --> 01:15:14.409
music in this movie is when there's like a song

01:15:14.409 --> 01:15:18.270
that Baby Godzilla knows somehow from like the

01:15:18.270 --> 01:15:20.829
island that the egg was hatched. And like the

01:15:20.829 --> 01:15:23.050
first time we hear that song, it's kind of very

01:15:23.050 --> 01:15:25.289
eerie. And then that causes Baby Godzilla to

01:15:25.289 --> 01:15:27.289
hatch from the egg. And then the second time

01:15:27.289 --> 01:15:30.109
we hear it is when a bunch of young girls who

01:15:30.109 --> 01:15:33.060
are like go to that like. telekinesis school

01:15:33.060 --> 01:15:35.340
that Mickey teaches at. They go to like baby

01:15:35.340 --> 01:15:37.920
Godzilla's pen and they all sing that song and

01:15:37.920 --> 01:15:40.600
they're like all like very adorable, like school

01:15:40.600 --> 01:15:43.199
children, but they sing this ominous, eerie,

01:15:43.239 --> 01:15:45.600
spooky song. And then baby Godzilla kind of is

01:15:45.600 --> 01:15:48.600
very frightened and goes haywire, you know, I,

01:15:48.739 --> 01:15:51.239
both of those scenes, I really love the music

01:15:51.239 --> 01:15:54.140
is great. And just like the, what's going on

01:15:54.140 --> 01:15:56.079
narratively is like really interesting as well.

01:15:56.560 --> 01:15:59.260
Yeah. I think there's a lot of bold choices in

01:15:59.260 --> 01:16:03.529
this movie. Yeah. Yeah. On the flip side, though,

01:16:03.670 --> 01:16:06.569
I do have I have some things that weren't working

01:16:06.569 --> 01:16:09.770
for me with some of these things. Like I love

01:16:09.770 --> 01:16:13.010
the whole psychic angle and they go to the school

01:16:13.010 --> 01:16:17.029
just as they did in Violante. But but here it

01:16:17.029 --> 01:16:20.609
felt more like a shortcut, like a narrative plot

01:16:20.609 --> 01:16:24.989
device. It didn't it didn't quite feel as organic

01:16:24.989 --> 01:16:29.229
to me. And this is my. My main takeaway, like

01:16:29.229 --> 01:16:33.710
I love this movie's effects and the score and

01:16:33.710 --> 01:16:41.789
the visuals. But I still am not clear on what

01:16:41.789 --> 01:16:45.390
people really want, their relationships. There's

01:16:45.390 --> 01:16:48.710
like a lot of character stuff that I was lost.

01:16:48.890 --> 01:16:51.770
I was like, I have lost the plot. I don't quite

01:16:51.770 --> 01:16:54.170
understand. And then at one point, someone says

01:16:54.170 --> 01:16:57.500
Rodan is. the half brother of baby Godzilla.

01:16:58.239 --> 01:17:01.340
Yeah. I literally threw my notes. I was like,

01:17:01.399 --> 01:17:06.279
when did that happen? I don't understand. Backtrack.

01:17:06.300 --> 01:17:09.260
Hold up. What's going on? So it's like things

01:17:09.260 --> 01:17:12.180
like that. They just, the script throws nuggets,

01:17:12.340 --> 01:17:18.479
but doesn't back them up really. Yeah. I think

01:17:18.479 --> 01:17:22.880
that's fair. Yeah. I think the movie moves so

01:17:22.880 --> 01:17:24.960
fast and there are so many delightful scenes

01:17:24.960 --> 01:17:28.340
and moments that maybe it's just assuming that

01:17:28.340 --> 01:17:33.680
we won't really care about that stuff. That did

01:17:33.680 --> 01:17:37.819
kind of work on me a little bit. Also with the

01:17:37.819 --> 01:17:39.359
half -brother thing, I was like, wait a minute,

01:17:39.399 --> 01:17:41.380
what the hell is going on here? But then some

01:17:41.380 --> 01:17:43.539
other awesome thing happened in the movie and

01:17:43.539 --> 01:17:45.319
I was like, who cares? I'll just keep on watching

01:17:45.319 --> 01:17:47.560
this. But yeah, the script definitely seems like

01:17:47.560 --> 01:17:50.579
it's cobbled together a little bit. You know,

01:17:50.659 --> 01:17:52.880
some of this. Oh, sorry. All right. No, I to

01:17:52.880 --> 01:17:54.939
be fair, I did have to look it up and there's

01:17:54.939 --> 01:17:56.760
a Reddit thread. I looked it up like what's going

01:17:56.760 --> 01:17:59.260
on. Why is why are they related to each other?

01:17:59.500 --> 01:18:01.539
And they're not really related to each other.

01:18:02.159 --> 01:18:04.800
It's like the whole cuckoo bird thing, which

01:18:04.800 --> 01:18:07.380
was mentioned in the beginning of the film, to

01:18:07.380 --> 01:18:10.239
be fair, where this was always a Godzilla source

01:18:10.239 --> 01:18:14.600
egg that ended up in Rodan's nest. These two

01:18:14.600 --> 01:18:17.300
were hatched in the same nest, which is why Rodan

01:18:17.300 --> 01:18:21.479
views baby Godzilla as his brother. But where's

01:18:21.479 --> 01:18:24.600
the other Rodans? How did this egg get into a

01:18:24.600 --> 01:18:28.979
Rodan nest? I just, I would like a little bit

01:18:28.979 --> 01:18:33.279
of fleshing out of these ideas. Yeah, I think

01:18:33.279 --> 01:18:36.979
that's fair. And maybe some of it is like, assuming

01:18:36.979 --> 01:18:38.819
that we know what happened in the previous movies,

01:18:38.880 --> 01:18:41.319
like it doesn't really explain Miki very much.

01:18:41.819 --> 01:18:43.619
So if you don't know who that is from Biollante,

01:18:43.739 --> 01:18:45.659
then that might be an issue. And then, like,

01:18:45.699 --> 01:18:47.399
I think the island that they're on where they

01:18:47.399 --> 01:18:50.060
discover the egg was also in Godzilla vs. Mothra,

01:18:50.159 --> 01:18:51.439
right? Even though I don't remember that very

01:18:51.439 --> 01:18:54.920
well. Maybe. That's what I read. It's like, is

01:18:54.920 --> 01:18:57.579
that a Mothra egg? Which we know is an established

01:18:57.579 --> 01:19:02.680
conceit in the franchise. Yeah. But that was

01:19:02.680 --> 01:19:05.460
also, like, a confusion for me. Like, what are

01:19:05.460 --> 01:19:08.420
we getting? Right. Yeah. And, like, yeah, like...

01:19:08.760 --> 01:19:11.079
I don't think it's a great thing if it's overly

01:19:11.079 --> 01:19:14.439
serialized like that. Previous Godzilla movies,

01:19:14.579 --> 01:19:17.880
it helps if you see them in succession and know

01:19:17.880 --> 01:19:19.380
what else is going on, but you don't absolutely

01:19:19.380 --> 01:19:22.560
have to. With this movie, I think it makes even

01:19:22.560 --> 01:19:24.619
less sense if you haven't seen the other previous

01:19:24.619 --> 01:19:27.659
movies. Yeah, but there's so much eye candy,

01:19:27.779 --> 01:19:31.140
and I mean that with all due respect. It's a

01:19:31.140 --> 01:19:34.979
beautifully looking movie. Yeah. One more thing

01:19:34.979 --> 01:19:40.119
I'll add. That detracted me from the beauty of

01:19:40.119 --> 01:19:47.479
the visuals during the final fight between Godzilla

01:19:47.479 --> 01:19:50.460
and Mechagodzilla. Godzilla's crashing down.

01:19:50.619 --> 01:19:52.720
Buildings are crashing down. Things are blowing

01:19:52.720 --> 01:19:55.460
up. There's a lot of explosions. And the camera

01:19:55.460 --> 01:19:59.560
is shaking itself. The camera is shaking wildly.

01:19:59.920 --> 01:20:04.439
I believe it's a choice to enhance the effect

01:20:04.439 --> 01:20:08.949
of... Quaking destruction. But I found it very

01:20:08.949 --> 01:20:12.609
distracting when so much of the rest of the battles

01:20:12.609 --> 01:20:16.670
is just a still camera. And now they made this

01:20:16.670 --> 01:20:19.850
choice and it didn't work for me. Yeah. Did you

01:20:19.850 --> 01:20:22.609
notice that? Yeah, I did. Absolutely. Yeah. It

01:20:22.609 --> 01:20:24.729
didn't really work for me either. It's relatively

01:20:24.729 --> 01:20:26.750
brief, so I guess I didn't mind at all that much.

01:20:26.829 --> 01:20:30.130
But yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Like

01:20:30.130 --> 01:20:31.989
the moment would be even more impressive if there

01:20:31.989 --> 01:20:34.770
was just like a great steady composition of it,

01:20:34.850 --> 01:20:37.109
you know? Yeah, let the scene just speak for

01:20:37.109 --> 01:20:39.390
itself. You don't need to embellish it in that

01:20:39.390 --> 01:20:41.869
way. Yeah, totally. I would agree with that.

01:20:42.130 --> 01:20:46.229
Yeah. And I, you know, yeah, the fight scene

01:20:46.229 --> 01:20:49.590
at the end, that's like, there's so much I love

01:20:49.590 --> 01:20:51.689
about it, like I said, but it does go on for

01:20:51.689 --> 01:20:54.430
a while. And it's maybe a little bit repetitive

01:20:54.430 --> 01:20:57.149
of the first fight that Godzilla and Mechagodzilla

01:20:57.149 --> 01:20:59.869
have in the movie too, because that earlier fight,

01:20:59.970 --> 01:21:01.729
they're like shooting the beams at each other.

01:21:02.279 --> 01:21:05.880
We see the thing that opens out of Mechagodzilla's

01:21:05.880 --> 01:21:08.060
chest to shoot that energy wave or whatever.

01:21:08.479 --> 01:21:10.819
So it's a little bit repetitive, and maybe some

01:21:10.819 --> 01:21:12.680
of those things could have been saved for the

01:21:12.680 --> 01:21:14.840
climactic fight, and the earlier one could have

01:21:14.840 --> 01:21:18.600
been a little bit shorter. So yeah, I would put

01:21:18.600 --> 01:21:21.340
that in the bad category. It's a relatively mild

01:21:21.340 --> 01:21:25.340
flaw, though, I would say. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,

01:21:25.359 --> 01:21:27.859
those are my big things with my big critiques.

01:21:29.449 --> 01:21:34.550
I mean, maybe the first act is a little slow

01:21:34.550 --> 01:21:38.170
to get off the ground. It's not boring, but it's

01:21:38.170 --> 01:21:42.069
also just like taking its time in a way that

01:21:42.069 --> 01:21:45.109
I don't know for Godzilla movie. I'd like it

01:21:45.109 --> 01:21:49.350
to get on with it a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, I

01:21:49.350 --> 01:21:51.369
think like the scene on the island early on is

01:21:51.369 --> 01:21:53.310
great. But then after that, we spend kind of

01:21:53.310 --> 01:21:56.369
a lot of time with Kazuma and Azusa and they're

01:21:56.369 --> 01:21:58.590
kind of like growing relationship. And some of

01:21:58.590 --> 01:22:01.229
that's pretty charming, but it goes on for a

01:22:01.229 --> 01:22:03.710
while. The baby Godzilla stuff, all important

01:22:03.710 --> 01:22:07.949
for the story. Yeah, I don't know. Maybe it was

01:22:07.949 --> 01:22:11.149
just my frame of mind at the time. Yeah, no,

01:22:11.229 --> 01:22:13.670
that makes sense. There's I do love a lot of

01:22:13.670 --> 01:22:15.430
that stuff, though, like the scene where like

01:22:15.430 --> 01:22:18.430
Kazuma has his little like pteranodon flyer,

01:22:18.449 --> 01:22:20.590
like the hovercraft or whatever. And like he

01:22:20.590 --> 01:22:23.229
and Azusa go for a ride on there and like baby

01:22:23.229 --> 01:22:25.590
Godzilla is like playing in its pen below. It's

01:22:25.590 --> 01:22:28.010
such a magical scene. It's very whimsical, like

01:22:28.010 --> 01:22:31.689
very joyous. You know, yesterday was a bad day

01:22:31.689 --> 01:22:33.170
for a lot of the reasons that we were talking

01:22:33.170 --> 01:22:35.689
about earlier in the episode. And like then this

01:22:35.689 --> 01:22:37.630
movie and that scene kind of lifted my spirit.

01:22:37.689 --> 01:22:43.219
So I like a lot of that stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Well,

01:22:43.219 --> 01:22:46.180
campy stuff. How can I forget? Not time for our

01:22:46.180 --> 01:22:50.439
ratings. One thing that comes to my mind when

01:22:50.439 --> 01:22:54.260
Azusa gets in the shipping container with baby

01:22:54.260 --> 01:23:00.680
Godzilla, I had to laugh at how willingly everyone

01:23:00.680 --> 01:23:03.180
was like, sure, that's a good idea. Get inside

01:23:03.180 --> 01:23:05.479
this thing and we're going to take you by a helicopter

01:23:05.479 --> 01:23:09.359
across the damn country. And then. Oh, Rodan

01:23:09.359 --> 01:23:11.680
attacks. Like who thought this would be a good

01:23:11.680 --> 01:23:17.000
idea? They let her in that thing. Right. I think

01:23:17.000 --> 01:23:19.399
you even see one character like start to protest

01:23:19.399 --> 01:23:21.840
a little bit. And then another guy like Azusa's

01:23:21.840 --> 01:23:25.039
boss is like, no, let her do it. Why? Why would

01:23:25.039 --> 01:23:29.300
you let her do that? It's shady. I'm like, look,

01:23:29.460 --> 01:23:33.060
I know she's. she's a pain in your butt but you

01:23:33.060 --> 01:23:37.500
know yeah just for like insurance reasons like

01:23:37.500 --> 01:23:39.579
you probably should not do that you know probably

01:23:39.579 --> 01:23:44.739
should not let that happen yeah So I think this

01:23:44.739 --> 01:23:46.619
was even more pronounced because I watched the

01:23:46.619 --> 01:23:49.260
Japanese version, Japanese language version.

01:23:49.640 --> 01:23:53.779
But the one American actor who plays, he's on

01:23:53.779 --> 01:23:56.380
the G -Force board of scientists or whatever,

01:23:56.479 --> 01:23:59.039
and I don't really understand why. But he's,

01:23:59.039 --> 01:24:02.399
I'm sorry to that actor whose name I think is

01:24:02.399 --> 01:24:06.220
Leo. Sorry, I do want to find out his name real

01:24:06.220 --> 01:24:10.500
quick. One moment. Leo Meneghetti is the name

01:24:10.500 --> 01:24:13.960
of the actor. He plays Dr. Leo Asimov. Asimov.

01:24:14.800 --> 01:24:17.600
Right. Yeah, ridiculous name. But he's not a

01:24:17.600 --> 01:24:20.000
good actor. I mean, like, his line readings are

01:24:20.000 --> 01:24:22.539
ridiculous. And, like, it's just even more pronounced

01:24:22.539 --> 01:24:24.920
if you, like, hear all this dialogue in Japanese.

01:24:25.300 --> 01:24:27.640
And then you hear, like, some really ridiculous

01:24:27.640 --> 01:24:30.859
English dialogue that's like, maybe we can flip

01:24:30.859 --> 01:24:33.000
Mechagodzilla over or something like that, you

01:24:33.000 --> 01:24:35.180
know? Like, and that's an issue with a lot of

01:24:35.180 --> 01:24:37.800
the... English language performances, I guess,

01:24:37.859 --> 01:24:39.779
but that character is especially ridiculous.

01:24:40.199 --> 01:24:44.399
Are there no good white actors in Japan? Because

01:24:44.399 --> 01:24:46.819
based on the Godzilla movies, there are not.

01:24:47.439 --> 01:24:50.119
Right. I mean, maybe Nick Adams was the exception,

01:24:50.239 --> 01:24:52.460
you know, back in the day. They imported him.

01:24:52.779 --> 01:24:56.079
Oh, true. Yeah, that's a good point. Maybe like,

01:24:56.140 --> 01:24:59.479
I don't know if it's just like a language barrier

01:24:59.479 --> 01:25:01.260
with the director, but you would think that the

01:25:01.260 --> 01:25:04.579
actor would be able to like say lines like semi

01:25:04.579 --> 01:25:08.529
coherently, you know? They never do it. No, it's

01:25:08.529 --> 01:25:11.590
terrible. Very amusing. And then on a similar

01:25:11.590 --> 01:25:14.770
note, there's like an automated voice and like

01:25:14.770 --> 01:25:17.390
the government like blast off center. And that's

01:25:17.390 --> 01:25:19.149
also in English, which I don't really understand

01:25:19.149 --> 01:25:22.630
why. But like the guy that they chose to like

01:25:22.630 --> 01:25:24.850
provide that voice is also ridiculous. And he's

01:25:24.850 --> 01:25:30.180
saying things like, insert coolant now. Things

01:25:30.180 --> 01:25:33.239
that probably he would not like this voice would

01:25:33.239 --> 01:25:34.859
not be saying in the loudspeakers or whatever.

01:25:35.000 --> 01:25:36.439
And I thought all that was really entertaining,

01:25:36.579 --> 01:25:42.920
too. Those are the campiest things I have. Those

01:25:42.920 --> 01:25:45.100
are good. Those are good. Yeah, I mentioned everything

01:25:45.100 --> 01:25:48.760
else. I think the whole idea of our Kazuma being

01:25:48.760 --> 01:25:52.699
a self -described Pteranodon nerd. I'm like,

01:25:52.739 --> 01:25:56.359
that's so that's so sweet, right? It's like,

01:25:56.380 --> 01:26:00.420
oh, look at you. Like that entitles you to some

01:26:00.420 --> 01:26:03.899
authority? I guess it does in this instance.

01:26:05.460 --> 01:26:07.699
Yeah, because he does whatever he wants. And

01:26:07.699 --> 01:26:09.479
like he is like assigned to be a parking lot

01:26:09.479 --> 01:26:11.920
security guard at one point. So like he's kind

01:26:11.920 --> 01:26:14.079
of in hot water for it, but like he still does

01:26:14.079 --> 01:26:16.279
just whatever he wants, you know? There's another

01:26:16.279 --> 01:26:19.859
bit where Rodan first appears and everyone's

01:26:19.859 --> 01:26:24.600
like, what's that? It's a giant bird. And I get,

01:26:24.659 --> 01:26:27.760
I talk to the screen sometimes. I'm like. Godzilla

01:26:27.760 --> 01:26:31.539
exists in this world. Mothra exists in this world.

01:26:32.180 --> 01:26:35.439
Why are you flipping your lids over this monster?

01:26:36.359 --> 01:26:39.359
Why are you all surprised this exists? Right.

01:26:39.539 --> 01:26:41.319
They shouldn't really be surprised by anything

01:26:41.319 --> 01:26:48.020
anymore. No. Yeah. Oh, my God. And, like, the

01:26:48.020 --> 01:26:50.739
scientists on the island talk about Rodan. Like,

01:26:50.739 --> 01:26:52.579
they're aware of Rodan, so you would think other

01:26:52.579 --> 01:26:55.949
people would be, too. That script. That script,

01:26:56.130 --> 01:26:59.329
I've got my eye on that script. Yeah, logic is

01:26:59.329 --> 01:27:04.770
not a strong suit. All right, well, I'm ready

01:27:04.770 --> 01:27:08.850
to wrap it up. Give it a rating. Yeah, for sure.

01:27:09.409 --> 01:27:11.930
It's good to get back into this with our first

01:27:11.930 --> 01:27:15.689
rating of 2026. As usual on Camp Kaiju, we have

01:27:15.689 --> 01:27:18.750
four ratings. Number one, it's a timeless classic.

01:27:18.750 --> 01:27:21.270
It definitely stands the test of time. Number

01:27:21.270 --> 01:27:23.449
two, there may be some antiquated moments, but

01:27:23.449 --> 01:27:25.609
overall it's great. It stands the test of time.

01:27:26.090 --> 01:27:28.689
Number three, it may be historically significant

01:27:28.689 --> 01:27:31.189
or just fun, but it does not stand the test of

01:27:31.189 --> 01:27:34.050
time. And our lowest rating, it is not worth

01:27:34.050 --> 01:27:36.010
revisiting. It definitely does not stand the

01:27:36.010 --> 01:27:41.869
test of time. Man, oh man. I'm torn. Me too.

01:27:42.109 --> 01:27:44.510
Stuck between two ratings right now. Me too,

01:27:44.670 --> 01:27:47.520
but are they the same ratings as you? I hope

01:27:47.520 --> 01:27:50.239
so. I don't know. I think so, but I could be

01:27:50.239 --> 01:27:52.779
wrong. Well, why don't you go first? Maybe you

01:27:52.779 --> 01:27:56.539
can sway me. Okay. I need a couple more seconds.

01:27:56.880 --> 01:28:02.960
Okay. It is an important decision. This is the

01:28:02.960 --> 01:28:04.899
hardest decision I've ever made on this show.

01:28:05.100 --> 01:28:07.380
I know. Usually I kind of know what I'm going

01:28:07.380 --> 01:28:12.520
to do from the start. I got to do it. It's a

01:28:12.520 --> 01:28:14.380
timeless classic. It definitely stands the test

01:28:14.380 --> 01:28:16.800
of time. Wow. Yeah, I have to go with the highest.

01:28:16.979 --> 01:28:20.300
I really love these Heisei movies so far, and

01:28:20.300 --> 01:28:23.340
this movie, it's kind of repetitive at times,

01:28:23.420 --> 01:28:25.079
but that's like the biggest complaint I have

01:28:25.079 --> 01:28:27.760
about it. It's so gorgeous and creative. I love

01:28:27.760 --> 01:28:30.520
the music. You know, the plot's thin, but there's

01:28:30.520 --> 01:28:32.880
enough there to keep you going, and like there's

01:28:32.880 --> 01:28:35.279
this sudden great idea and theme introduced at

01:28:35.279 --> 01:28:37.800
the very end, but it still seems kind of organic

01:28:37.800 --> 01:28:39.979
to the rest of the movie. I really loved it.

01:28:40.039 --> 01:28:45.170
Yeah, highest rating for me. That's beautiful.

01:28:45.550 --> 01:28:48.430
Those are not the two I was waffling between.

01:28:48.430 --> 01:28:56.789
Oh, okay. Oh, man. Do I want to be like, all

01:28:56.789 --> 01:28:58.189
right, you know what? You stuck to your guns.

01:28:58.289 --> 01:29:00.130
I'm going to stick to mine, but I'm going to

01:29:00.130 --> 01:29:03.109
have a caveat. Why not? Because we could do whatever

01:29:03.109 --> 01:29:07.250
we want on this show. I think this movie is so

01:29:07.250 --> 01:29:11.890
much fun. It is a blast. Throw it on, leave it

01:29:11.890 --> 01:29:14.130
in the background. You're going to love it to

01:29:14.130 --> 01:29:17.949
death. It's historically significant for reintroducing

01:29:17.949 --> 01:29:22.090
baby Godzilla and subsequent Heisei films will

01:29:22.090 --> 01:29:25.829
expand on that character. But if you watch this

01:29:25.829 --> 01:29:30.250
movie with any kind of discerning eye, and I

01:29:30.250 --> 01:29:36.130
know you did, so we have no offense. If you bring

01:29:36.130 --> 01:29:38.869
some intelligence to the movie, you know, critical

01:29:38.869 --> 01:29:43.869
thought. Just kidding. If you had any worth as

01:29:43.869 --> 01:29:46.590
a film critic, you would know. And I'm not talking

01:29:46.590 --> 01:29:53.350
about you, Matt. Of course. I think it kind of

01:29:53.350 --> 01:29:57.390
falls apart in the heart of the film with the

01:29:57.390 --> 01:30:00.930
characters and the plot elements. I think it's

01:30:00.930 --> 01:30:03.210
just a little too flimsy in that department for

01:30:03.210 --> 01:30:05.670
me to say it stands the test of time as a film,

01:30:05.829 --> 01:30:10.789
whatever that means. But as just, but just as

01:30:10.789 --> 01:30:13.189
like entertainment, like this movie rocks and

01:30:13.189 --> 01:30:15.850
I will, I'll always go back to this movie because

01:30:15.850 --> 01:30:18.310
it's such an easy watch, but maybe that's the

01:30:18.310 --> 01:30:21.869
problem. Maybe it's a little too easy. Doesn't

01:30:21.869 --> 01:30:24.289
make me think too much. Sometimes I like that.

01:30:24.489 --> 01:30:28.010
I like to be challenged a little bit more. Yeah,

01:30:28.109 --> 01:30:31.659
I. Probably overrated it a little bit. No, you

01:30:31.659 --> 01:30:34.640
didn't. I think perhaps he might have underrated

01:30:34.640 --> 01:30:36.140
it a little bit, though, too, you know? See,

01:30:36.260 --> 01:30:40.420
there you go. But my goal for 2026 before this,

01:30:40.479 --> 01:30:43.420
I was like, I want to be more discerning. Because

01:30:43.420 --> 01:30:46.039
last, in the fall, you were very critical of

01:30:46.039 --> 01:30:48.260
movies that I was like, I love that. I don't

01:30:48.260 --> 01:30:54.239
care about the specifics of filmmaking. It's

01:30:54.239 --> 01:30:57.479
got a giant shark that eats teenagers. I love

01:30:57.479 --> 01:31:01.239
it. Yeah. Jaws 2 is a good example of that. Yeah.

01:31:02.340 --> 01:31:04.300
Well, yeah, I think we're going in opposite direction

01:31:04.300 --> 01:31:07.800
because I do feel like, you know, for 2026, I

01:31:07.800 --> 01:31:09.619
want to be like, you know what? This movie gives

01:31:09.619 --> 01:31:12.140
me pleasure. And I love that. Like highest rating,

01:31:12.220 --> 01:31:16.319
you know, five out of five. Yeah, that's so great.

01:31:16.819 --> 01:31:20.680
And we need that. So if I rained on anybody's

01:31:20.680 --> 01:31:25.810
parade out there. Sorry, but this movie still

01:31:25.810 --> 01:31:29.789
rocks, so 100 % agree with you. And we also need

01:31:29.789 --> 01:31:32.550
the critical eye and the appropriate criticisms,

01:31:32.609 --> 01:31:35.890
so we need both. There you go. Listeners, let

01:31:35.890 --> 01:31:39.850
us know what you think. All right, well, coming

01:31:39.850 --> 01:31:43.750
up next, Matt, what do we got? The Abominable

01:31:43.750 --> 01:31:47.750
Snowman from 1957, a Hammer Horror release. Very

01:31:47.750 --> 01:31:50.250
excited for that one. Me too, folks. Check out

01:31:50.250 --> 01:31:56.100
our... patreon to watch it and we'll we'll be

01:31:56.100 --> 01:32:00.239
in touch until then stay campy thanks for hanging

01:32:00.239 --> 01:32:02.140
out with us friends please rate and review the

01:32:02.140 --> 01:32:04.800
show and follow us on patreon .com slash camp

01:32:04.800 --> 01:32:07.020
kaiju for additional videos reviews merchandise

01:32:07.020 --> 01:32:10.300
and more other ways to get in touch camp kaiju

01:32:10.300 --> 01:32:13.399
at gmail .com and kaiju podcast .com instagram

01:32:13.399 --> 01:32:19.380
and our voicemail number 612 -470 -2612 Camp

01:32:19.380 --> 01:32:22.720
Kaiju is recorded in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Minnesota,

01:32:22.960 --> 01:32:26.039
with Meany's Mailbox Music by Ben Cook -Felts.

01:32:26.119 --> 01:32:29.539
Thank you, friends. Until next time, stay campy.

01:32:29.760 --> 01:32:32.439
And Camp Kaiju is brought to you by Zach Linder

01:32:32.439 --> 01:32:34.500
and the Zach Pack, powered by Coldwell Banker

01:32:34.500 --> 01:32:36.380
Realty. Whether you're looking for your dream

01:32:36.380 --> 01:32:38.720
home, a savvy investment property, or expert

01:32:38.720 --> 01:32:41.119
guidance in home rehab and flipping, the Zach

01:32:41.119 --> 01:32:43.640
Pack has you covered. Check the link in the show

01:32:43.640 --> 01:32:51.810
notes for more information. What we've got is

01:32:51.810 --> 01:32:56.729
no Pteranodon. This baby is something else. I'm

01:32:56.729 --> 01:32:59.829
sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's

01:32:59.829 --> 01:33:02.569
not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer

01:33:02.569 --> 01:33:05.310
anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible.

01:33:05.649 --> 01:33:09.590
Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to

01:33:09.590 --> 01:33:11.689
help one another. Human beings are like that.

01:33:12.090 --> 01:33:13.850
We want to live by each other's happiness, not

01:33:13.850 --> 01:33:16.010
by each other's misery. We don't want to hate

01:33:16.010 --> 01:33:18.439
and despise one another. In this world, there's

01:33:18.439 --> 01:33:20.199
room for everyone, and the good earth is rich

01:33:20.199 --> 01:33:23.460
and can provide for everyone. The way of life

01:33:23.460 --> 01:33:26.319
can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the

01:33:26.319 --> 01:33:30.619
way. Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded

01:33:30.619 --> 01:33:33.220
the world with hate, has goose -stepped us into

01:33:33.220 --> 01:33:36.000
misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed,

01:33:36.300 --> 01:33:38.960
but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that

01:33:38.960 --> 01:33:41.739
gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge

01:33:41.739 --> 01:33:44.060
has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and

01:33:44.060 --> 01:33:47.279
unkind. We think too much and feel too little.

01:33:47.659 --> 01:33:50.960
More than machinery, we need humanity. More than

01:33:50.960 --> 01:33:53.380
cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.

01:33:53.840 --> 01:33:55.939
Without these qualities, life will be violent

01:33:55.939 --> 01:33:59.260
and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio

01:33:59.260 --> 01:34:01.500
have brought us closer together. The very nature

01:34:01.500 --> 01:34:03.300
of these inventions cries out for the goodness

01:34:03.300 --> 01:34:05.720
in men, cries out for universal brotherhood,

01:34:05.779 --> 01:34:08.420
for the unity of us all. Even now, my voice is

01:34:08.420 --> 01:34:10.659
reaching millions throughout the world. millions

01:34:10.659 --> 01:34:12.880
of despairing men, women, and little children,

01:34:13.020 --> 01:34:16.340
victims of a system that makes men torture and

01:34:16.340 --> 01:34:19.079
imprison innocent people. To those who can hear

01:34:19.079 --> 01:34:22.300
me, I say, do not despair. The misery that is

01:34:22.300 --> 01:34:24.920
now upon us is but the passing of greed, the

01:34:24.920 --> 01:34:27.699
bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress.

01:34:28.000 --> 01:34:31.140
The hate of men will pass, and dictators die,

01:34:31.420 --> 01:34:33.699
and the power they took from the people will

01:34:33.699 --> 01:34:36.300
return to the people, and so long as men die,

01:34:36.619 --> 01:34:40.520
liberty will never perish. Soldiers, don't give

01:34:40.520 --> 01:34:43.479
yourselves to brutes. Men who despise you, enslave

01:34:43.479 --> 01:34:46.100
you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to

01:34:46.100 --> 01:34:48.180
do, what to think, and what to feel. Who drill

01:34:48.180 --> 01:34:50.680
you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you

01:34:50.680 --> 01:34:53.260
as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these

01:34:53.260 --> 01:34:56.680
unnatural men. Machine men with machine minds

01:34:56.680 --> 01:34:59.600
and machine hearts. You are not machines. You

01:34:59.600 --> 01:35:02.500
are not cattle. You are men. You have the love

01:35:02.500 --> 01:35:05.119
of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate. Only

01:35:05.119 --> 01:35:07.539
the unloved hate. The unloved and the unnatural.

01:35:08.680 --> 01:35:10.939
Soldiers, don't fight for slavery, fight for

01:35:10.939 --> 01:35:13.260
liberty. In the 17th chapter of St. Luke it is

01:35:13.260 --> 01:35:15.460
written, the kingdom of God is within man, not

01:35:15.460 --> 01:35:18.300
one man nor a group of men, but in all men, in

01:35:18.300 --> 01:35:21.319
you. You, the people, have the power. The power

01:35:21.319 --> 01:35:23.539
to create machines, the power to create happiness.

01:35:23.800 --> 01:35:25.880
You, the people, have the power to make this

01:35:25.880 --> 01:35:28.279
life free and beautiful, to make this life a

01:35:28.279 --> 01:35:30.779
wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy,

01:35:31.140 --> 01:35:34.500
let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let

01:35:34.500 --> 01:35:37.909
us fight for a new world. A decent world that

01:35:37.909 --> 01:35:39.810
will give men a chance to work, that will give

01:35:39.810 --> 01:35:42.649
youth a future and old age a security. By the

01:35:42.649 --> 01:35:44.770
promise of these things, brutes have risen to

01:35:44.770 --> 01:35:47.350
power. But they lie. They do not fulfill that

01:35:47.350 --> 01:35:50.229
promise. They never will. Dictators free themselves,

01:35:50.529 --> 01:35:53.810
but they enslave the people. Now let us fight

01:35:53.810 --> 01:35:57.250
to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free

01:35:57.250 --> 01:35:59.630
the world, to do away with national barriers,

01:35:59.890 --> 01:36:03.050
to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance.

01:36:03.310 --> 01:36:06.470
Let us fight for a world of reason. A world where

01:36:06.470 --> 01:36:09.590
science and progress will lead to all men's happiness.

01:36:10.510 --> 01:36:13.550
Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all

01:36:13.550 --> 01:36:13.949
unite!