Tag Archives: Toho Studios

Thoughts on Toho’s Creation of Godzilla: Monster Planet

10 Feb

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

  • Spoiler Alert

Toho Picture‘s Gojira: Kaijū Wakusei (Monster Planet) had me asking a lot of questions and I had to view it at least three times to see if any answers lay buried in the layers.

Netflix’s quiet release of the first film of the series had me excited, and the tease it made has me thankful that the wait to see part two will not be too long. When considering Kessen Kidō Zōshoku Toshi (literal translation: Decisive Battle Mobile Breeding City) arrives May 2018 in Japan, it’s safe to assume the worldwide release by Netflix will be near the end of the year — if not beginning at the start of the next, if I’m to assume there’s a pattern. For the last film of this animated trilogy, it could sedge way to new live action films, or look at an earlier chapter altogether.

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10 Most Anticipated Animated Films for 2018

30 Dec

By Ed Sum
The Vintage Tempest

Plenty of animated films will be coming in 2018 for the discerning connoisseur to consider. Disney and PIXAR do not dominate the market, and to offer enough international flavour is what makes this list different from others. While a strong anime theme persists, offered here are my picks for the 2018 year. Not every film have a set date; they are confirmed to come out within the year at least.

This list is organized into the most highly anticipated to “least.”

Godzilla: Monster Planet

Anyone living in Japan saw this movie already and the word is that this film is very good. The expectations from fans living elsewhere are high since this work is coming from the studio who birthed Gojira, and the look is epic.

Humanity had to flee the planet in order to survive this beast’s wrath, and now they want it back. Hopefully the advancements in technology can placate the behemoth! No date is given for the global Netflix release. Perhaps this movie will get a limited cinema screening first, where this film deserves to be seen, before heading to the streaming service.

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Godzilla vs Old Foes or New?

4 Aug

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Godzilla2014

Anyone monitoring the news coming from the San Deigo Comic Con 2014 will know by now that a second Godzilla film will be coming after director Gareth Edwards takes a much needed break (that is, to go work on a Star Wars project). But this time around, just who Big G might be facing will include the beasts from Toho Studio’s roster. Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah are confirmed to appear and Toho Studios could not be any more happier. All their famous beasts are getting Americanized.

Good or bad, this sarcasm is intentional. The 2014 film created a different kind of beast for fans to love instead. In Gareth Edwards’ interpretation of what Godzilla represents, he’s no longer a metaphor for the devestation wrought by the birth of the atomic bomb. He’s simply a force of nature who functions as more of an equalizer to the world to restore balance in anything mankind can unleash. That is, no matter what mankind can do to ravage the earth, Godzilla will appear to fix it.

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The Generations May Not Understand Godzilla 2014

16 May

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Godzilla2014

* Spoiler Alert

After ten long years, Godzilla is back! This reworking of the megalithic behemoth from the deep marks this creature’s triumphant return to the big screen and although this version is not a Japanese take, British director Gareth Edwards shows that a touch of good character drama and reinvention is all that’s needed to reinvigorate this franchise for an American audience.

Faith is restored to loving a radioactive monster that is now symbolic of Nature’s unleashed fury moreso than its origins by being birthed by the atomic bomb. The all too quick opening sequence explains that for viewers to subliminally process. In the classic film made by Toho Studios, this beast is not only a metaphor for the nuclear devastation that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan but also a symbol of terror. This looming essence represents a raw unrestrained power. The monsters it (not he, since the gender is unknown) fought often sought to subjugate humanity because of some alien race’s desire to conquer Japan, if not the planet Earth. In later films, it became an anti-hero.
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