Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies (1990)

Before I loved giant monster movies, I loved dinosaur movies.  It started when I was a little kid enamored with Don Bluth's The Land Before Time, and despite some interruptions (like most kids, I didn't have much of an attention span) I managed to stay fond of dinosaurs right up until the Summer of 1993 when I was treated to seeing Jurassic Park in theaters.  That clinched it, and from that point on I was dino-crazy!  I had dinosaur toys, dinosaur bedsheets, dinosaur pajamas, dinosaur magazines, books, and, of course, videos.  

I discovered Godzilla in early 1994 and that began my life-long fandom of giant monster movies, but my first introduction to the genre beyond the Godzilla series came through a little video my Dad picked up around 1995 titled Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies!  

With a cover like this, who could say no?

The tape was a compilation of old dinosaur and giant monster movie trailers, filled with oodles of awesome stuff and movies I'd never heard of.  I loved the tape and watched it over and over religiously, exposing me to a world of rampaging city-smashing beasts that my 9-year old mind had not yet fathomed.  Here was where I discovered the work of Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen, caught my first glimpse of Gorgo, and realized there was more fun to be had beyond the seemingly endless adventures of Godzilla and his cohorts.  They were all here:  The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), King Kong (1931), Rodan (1956), Gamera the Invincible (1965), and many more!  So many fond memories, and so many movies that, even today, I've yet to see.

It was released by GoodTimes Home Video (the same company that released Godzilla vs. Megalon on VHS, amongst others), which unfortunately shut down back in 2005.  If you've got kids, though, see if you can track this one down.  It kept me hooked for years and helped establish a love for these movies that's lasted almost two decades.  I highly recommend!  ^_^

What IS a Giant Monster?

A question I've seen debated again and again is over what, exactly, qualifies as a "giant" monster?  Is it only Godzilla-sized monsters?  Are Mighty Joe Young or Gwoemul from The Host (2006) too short?  Should Japanese Daikaiju be considered separate from Western giant monsters?  Where do dinosaurs or fantasy creatures stand?

I figured it was worth laying out my position on this issue.

In my opinion, if its abnormally large - usually, this means bigger than a truck - it's a giant monster.  However, that doesn't mean every movie that features a giant monster should be considered or listed as a giant monster movie.  Ghostbusters (1984) has the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, but I doubt anyone really considers that a giant monster movie.  Similarly, just because there's a large creature (or creatures!) running wild doesn't make it a giant monster movie either - I throw films like Jaws (1977), Jurassic Park (1993), and Primeval (2007) into this category, as they're more accurately classed as Killer Animal or Dinosaur pictures.  I still enjoy these movies, though, and a lot of times I'll sort of arbitrarily declare this or that film to be a giant monster movie irregardless of any logic.  ^_^()

Dinosaurs present a complicated case, because in my opinion they're sometimes giant monster movies, like The Valley of Gwangi (1968), but then sometimes they're not, like Jurassic Park.

So, if I boiled it down, what makes a giant monster movie a giant monster movie?

The assault on civilization.

One thing most giant monster movies share - from King Kong (1933) to Yonggary (1967) to Super 8 (2011) - is a conflict between the monster and society, often showcased by the monster attacking a city or being attacked by the Army (or both).  The thing about regular Monster movies or Dinosaur movies is that, almost always, the monster's target is a person or group of people.  In Jaws and The Beast (1996), the monster is more like the serial killer in a Slasher movie:  picking people off, one by one, terrorizing a community or small isolated group of people.  In Dinosaur movies, there are no targets at all - often, the story is about a group of characters trying to survive in a hostile environment (filled with man-eating beasts).  In a Giant Monster movie, however, the monster's target is civilization itself.  In Gojira (1954), The Beast from 20.000 Fathoms (1953), and Mothra (1961) the monsters sink ships and attack cities.  There's no keeping their existence secret.  In fact, there's more than one Giant Monster movie where the climax is the monster's reveal to the general public - most regular Monster movies never have that moment.  Instead, the heroes spend the movie trying to convince the authorities that the Monster exists, often without success, and in many films the authorities' role is to show up at the end to claim the bodies.  While the success rate of the police and military against giant monsters is, at best, unsatisfactory, they at least show up and get a chance to try.

I don't mean "Oh, a cop takes a shot but it does nothing."  I mean, a Giant Monster movie will devote a significant portion of the film - a scene, a sequence - to the authority figures acknowledging the threat, devising a plan, and acting on it in an effort to defeat the monster.  Hell, plenty of Giant Monster movies organize their plot around successive plans, each failing until the heroes finally devise one that works - Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) or Gamera the Invincible (1965) are examples of this.  This shifts the conflict of the film from "Hero v. Monster" to "Society v. Monster" - it's no longer about the hero, alone, struggling against the beast, instead it's now the hero and society itself, together, struggling to overcome the antagonist.

As I said, there are exceptions.  I consider Anaconda (1997) a Giant Monster movie, even though it fits none of the criteria above.  Why? 

'Cause I like it, that's why.  NYEH!  :p

My Dwindling Hope for Kingdom of Monsters

You might remember a while back when I posted reviews of the first three issues to the then-new comic book, Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters, from IDW.  Well, it's been a year since that series started and several months since it ended, and...well...


Let's just say, if you were following that series, things did not go anywhere near as well as I'd hoped.  Here are my thoughts on issues #4 through #12, which I think nicely documents my sunk feelings for this comic.

Godzilla:  Kingdom of Monsters #4

I decided to give this a 4 out of 5 (B+).

An improvement over KOM #3, focusing the story on just two plots (Sgt. Woods and Minette/Mallory/Battra), giving us some cool monster action, and providing us with another interesting character in Steven Woods. The first seven pages paint a really interesting picture with this character, who so far seems to be the most level-headed person presented thus far besides Ogden: a no-nonsense, moral, and honorable soldier, a fundamentally good but cynical person with a dark streak. I really like this character and hope he sticks around - if Mechagodzilla is presented like the '93 or Kiryu interpretations, I could easily see Woods be cast as the pilot. The beginning also goes a long way toward explaining why the series has focused so much on the social/political commentary: it seems the writers are establishing that the monsters are besieging a culturally decayed world completely incapable of dealing with this crisis due to its own ineptitude. As such, I suspect a lot of this series will be showing the world's transformation from this vapid and hollow society to a more competent one. 

The B story, continuing the Minette/Mallory/Battra storyline from last issue, was also good. After the bizarre and disturbing behavior the characters displayed last issue, it was refreshing to see them actually act like children - it seems they don't fully comprehend what they're doing and are treating it almost like a game, which actually makes their actions even more disturbing. 

The one real negative aspect here is that, after all the build-up, the fight between Godzilla and Anguirus was rather...underwhelming. Perhaps its the art style finally getting to me, but the fight was bland...yeah, emphasis was placed a bit more on Steven and what he was doing, but they could've come up with something a bit more exciting. I was also disappointed that Issue #4 didn't pick up from Issue #3's cliffhanger - I wanted to see more of the Shobijin! 

Ah well. A strong issue, IMO, and hopefully Issue #5 will give us some better action, as well as continue with Woods, Minette/Mallory, and the Shobijin.

Godzilla:  Kingdom of Monsters #5

It was tough to decide this, but I've decided to give this one a 3.5 out of 5 (B). I like the change in art style and the upping the ante on the action (Rodan is so cool, but so underutilized), but this issue has WAY too much going on. There's something like five storylines in this issue (Rodan/UN, Anguirus/the Survivors/the Military, the Family, Minette and Mallory, and Woods) and, as a result, we get little to no emphasis on anybody. Rodan and the attempts to stop him are cool, but what was the point of telling us what happened to Anguirus after the battle or of those two unnamed survivors? Just to give Ogden his cameo and let us know Girly Yaya is dead? I'll have to read KOM #6 first, but I suspect the Minette/Mallory/Battra stuff could've been included either last issue or next issue. Perhaps the one who gets shafted worst is Woods, who just suddenly reappears on the second-to-last page to meet the little girl. Where was he all this time? 

Had they focused on Woods, Rodan, and the family from Pasadena, I think I would've given this a 4 out of 5 (B+), but just...no. Too much happening equals a downgrade. And considering how much G&G improved with Issue #2, a B is particularly kind - those less forgiving will probably score this MUCH lower. 

Probably the only thing most everyone can agree on is that it's a nice break from routine to step away from the political jokes and the only real commentary is from the older couple toward the end. This issue sets up a Battra Imago v. Rodan fight in Paris for next issue, though, so I'm very much looking forward to that (and, hopefully, the Shobijin will finally reappear and be formally introduced).

Godzilla:  Kingdom of Monsters #6

I'm giving this a 1.5 out of 5 (D), but I want it made clear I'm being VERY VERY generous. This was BAD. The worst issue of the series, easily. If it wasn't clear in the rest of the review (or the fact that I waited a month to write this up), I've lost my patience with this series. I really honestly thought they were going somewhere with all of this, as disjointed as it was, but this issue proved me wrong...and that makes me both angry and disappointed. Angry, 'cause I fought so DAMN HARD to defend this thing, and disappointed 'cause where I thought they were going was SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING. UGH! 

The artwork wasn't really much off from Santos' previous work, though I didn't like the way Godzilla came out this issue. The plot is was really burns me up, though! Woods and the girl (I apologize, I can't remember her name and can't be bothered to check) have a decent storyline, pretty much what I expected following Issue #5. What pissed me off was the direction they took Ogden's character, throwing him the idiot ball, and how sloppily they introduced Mechagodzilla. It was stupid to an incredible degree. Really, after all that's happened, a GIANT ROBOT is the government's next idea? Ogden has no problem with that, not questioning it? For once, the idiot gallery the series has made the American public into is right, and it's made MORE absurd by the idea it takes only a month to build the damn thing! Don't get me started on Mt. Rushmore or the attack on Atlanta. Just don't. 

I'm going to continue to buy the series, at least hoping things pick up after this story arc ends. But, God, was that BAD.

Godzilla:  Kingdom of Monsters #7

*SIGH* I'm going with 2 out of 5 (D+). Honestly? I don't know why everyone is calling this an improvement over last issue, it's only marginally better and that's just because it doesn't have anywhere near as stupid a storyline as the Mechagodzilla plot last issue. I just don't care what's going on here anymore. Woods has stopped interesting me by virtue of him doing nothing, they've written out Ogden (Really? They're just going to gloss over the collapse of the US government?), and Minette/Mallory would be interesting if they hadn't been ignored since they arrived in Paris. Whereas last issue was stupid, this issue just feels LAZY as hell. Everything in the last two issues should've happened over the course of two issues each (except for the Minette/Mallory stuff, which should've happened in one issue a LONG time ago). 

You already lost my patience, comic, don't test me any further. >=(

Godzilla:  Kingdom of Monsters #8

Hm. After thinking about it, I think I'm going to give this a 2.5 out of 5 (C). On a second reading, it is an improvement over the last couple issues, but really not by very much. On the one hand, the comic has become more focused, switching between only Woods/Allie and Godzilla v. Ghidorah. For those who've been craving action, this one certainly delivers. Unfortunately, that's about all it delivers. 

Let's start with Woods and Allie: my Lord, they are BORING! It's just the same scene over and OVER again: we start in media res as Woods beats up some attackers, Woods explains to Allie why they attacked, they move along to stay away from monsters. It was kinda interesting in Issue #6 (though it was already continuing the idea from #5), but after three issues in a row with these two doing basically the same thing, I'm sick of it! At least it seems like the writers are too, 'cause they finally stuck Woods in Mechagodzilla (which they should've done sooner, and could've handled MUCH better). But, really, any hope I had for Woods as our hero is more or less gone now. He bores me! At least in Issue #4 he sparked by interest by being somewhat likable yet doing something heinous, now he's just dull. 

The other big plotline here was the fight, and boy was it dull too. Considering the fight takes up 10 pages, remarkably little happens in it. Seriously, the play by play is: beam attack, beam attack, tackle, beam attack, grapple, beam attack, nuclear pulse. That's it. This fight would take up, what, a minute or two of screentime in film? Even that long? It's an uninteresting fight, and if this is supposed to be the "finale" of this story arc it's one HELL of a let down. This may be more subjective, but I don't like the way either monster is drawn here either - the style actually reminds me a lot of that little mini-comic that came packed with the Trendmasters toys back in the day. To top it off, where are the backgrounds? It's either a orangey-whispy design (fire-illuminated smoke?) or just solid colors, with the only hint they're supposed to be fighting in a city being some crumbling buildings tossed in the corners in a few panels. How the hell do you set a fight in Washington and not use ANY of the landmarks? That there were TWO 2-page spreads, neither of which were at all necessary, just annoyed me. Those are two pages we could've used to make for a longer and more interesting fight! 

I'm going to make an effort to re-read all 8 issues so far and see if maybe this reads better as a single story than as individual issues (I'm kinda doubtful). Hopefully, with the creative team changing for Issue #9, things start to really improve.

Godzilla:  Kingdom of Monsters #9 and #10

Just read KOM #9 and #10, and thanks to Ciramella's writing there has been a noticeable improvement in the last couple issues. He's hampered by the mess the previous writers left him, but he's doing remarkably well considering. Santos, unfortunately, remains disappointing. 

I'm also somewhat mixed on this series ending in February. On the one hand, it's probably for the best: there's so large a plot snarl I can't think of much else to solve it beyond straight up saying, "Stop. Fast forward 5 years after this all settles," to work it out. At that point, you may as well do what IDW has decided and end the series anyway - whatever comes out of such a change would be effectively a completely different story. I hope that, whatever they come up with to replace KOM, at least retains the Battra twins, who I've always felt make great (if underutilized) villains. 

On the other hand, though, I think the comic is on a good path now and is improving. It's kind of a shame that they're pulling the plug. Ah well. 

PS: LOVE the Messina cover. ^_^

Godzilla:  Kingdom of Monsters #11

Finally picked up KOM #11. I finished it in, I kid you not, roughly 90 seconds. UGH. 

I really wanted to like this series, and I gave it PLENTY of chances (and second-chances, and THIRD-chances...), but I lost my patience with this nonsense around 6 months ago now. NOTHING HAPPENED. 

FOUR SPLASH PAGES. The only characters to appear at all were Minette and Mallory, and they do essentially nothing (which, if I recall, what little they DID do was just a repeat of last week). This issue did almost nothing to move the plot forward. As much as some people hated the socio-political commentary in the first half of KOM, at least the first half had a PLOT and CHARACTERS - their attempt to create a post-apocalyptic world in the second half has been an abysmal failure. 

Here's to hoping the next ongoing will be better.

Godzilla:  Kingdom of Monsters #12

That's IT?!!

After all of this nonsense, THAT is how they decide to end this?  No resolution, no real finale, just narration and shots of the world ruined?

UGH.

Final Score:  1 out of 5 (D-)

As much as I liked some of the earliest issues, this series spiraled so far down the drain in the end that now I don't think anything could have saved.  This was an unmitigated disaster of a comic book, but to IMMENSE shame by how much better Godzilla:  Gangsters & Goliaths and Godzilla Legends turned out to be.  IDW has proved it can produce better, so the terrible writing of this series is completely unforgivable.

Here's hoping the follow-up series is much more on par with their two mini-series and far superior than their first attempt at a Godzilla ongoing.

Ressurection!

Geez, I never intended to let this blog die so fast!  Sorry about that to all two of you who follow me.  ^_^()

With Summer rolling around again and Grad school coming to a (nearly) final end, I think it's time I start setting up a more consistent schedule for everything that I do.  To that end, you can expect some sort of update on this blog at least once a week, every week, from now on.  I've seen plenty of Giant Monster movies in the last few months that I've been dying to talk about, so you can expect a new review some time soon!

Again, sorry about letting this die.  Let's try to revive it, shall we?  ^_~