Is This Really The Company Handling The American Release Of 'Godzilla: Resurgence?'

This week, film distributer New World Cinemas spoke for the first time about their supposed 'Godzilla: Resurgence' U.S. distribution on their Facebook page. While we have previously reported that New World Cinemas would be taking the reins on the American release of the film, I'm starting to have some doubts that an unknown distributor would be given the reigns to a reinvigorated franchise the size of Godzilla. I have a bit of evidence (or lack thereof) that may shine some light on this bizarre turn of events.

The above mentioned Facebook post stated the following:

“To all GODZILLA FANS! We are working hard to bring GODZILLA to every State! Patience my Friends... she is coming soon!”

Looking at the post from a purely innocent standpoint, this seems to be great news. Fans have been plastering their Facebook and Twitter with questions pretty consistently since their name showed up on the film's IMDB page. Their website has also had a strange "coming soon" page listing a 2017 release for a DVD of the film for over a month now. The Facebook post is the first real comment they have made about the film's release, other than a couple images of text that say in very broken English:

“Godzilla “The King of the Monsters’ is back in a new film “Godzilla: Resurgence.” Going back yo his roots, The Toho Company and co-drectors Hideaki and Shinji Higuchi have designed Godzilla to be more menacing and destructive. THE FILMS OPENS IN JAPAN JULY 29 2016 and will be distributed in the USA through NEW WORLD CINEMAS some time after that.”

I did not edit that paragraph in any way and you can clearly see that on both their official site and their Facebook page they come off as incredibly unprofessional. Toho has yet to officially make any sort of statement announcing an international release of the film and has made no mention of the film being distributed by New World Cinemas or anyone else for that matter. 

This all just seems extremely suspicious to me. In the last thirty years, Toho has distributed the Godzilla films in the United States using major companies like Sony (Late Heisei and the Millenium films including 'Godzilla: Final Wars')  and HBO/Miramax ('Godzilla vs Biollante'). Heck, even 'Godzilla 1985' was distributed by a company called New World Pictures (no relation to New World Cinemas) that had worked as a distributor on major films running all the way back to the 60's. Big companies are interested in distributing Godzilla films because they usually make decent money in DVD sales with barely any cost to the studio.

We know there was a marketing expo back in January/February that was showing off the concept of the film for a potential international distributor. There have also been rumors floating around that Warner Bros. were given first dibs due to their ongoing relationship with the American Godzilla sequels. If a big studio like Warner Bros. were given the opportunity to distribute, how did this tiny company that mostly distributes bottom-rung independent films win out the bid? Godzilla has become a house-hold name again due to the generally well received American movie from 2014 and has made a new audience interested in the G-man for the first time. It doesn't make any sense that none of the studios who worked with them before (especially Sony who seems to have an excellent relationship with them distribution wise) wouldn't want to capitalize on Godzilla 2014's popularity. In the modern distribution landscape, this situation looks like dollar signs, even without considering a theatrical release for 'Godzilla: Resurgence'.

Another suspicious item to note is the New World Cinemas official Twitter, which is plastered with political propaganda for the upcoming american presidential election. This official company Twitter page for the company reads more like a personal account and definitely does not exude any semblance of professionalism. Toho has always seemed like a corporation that prides themselves on being very straight laced and polished. Why would they allow their most iconic property to be handled by this strange company? 

I'm not going to call out New World Cinemas for outright lying to us just yet, but this whole situation seems extremely odd. I also worry about this company being in charge of subtitling and/or dubbing the film with their lack of integrity regarding the release and how they run their business. Many individuals and companies have tried to contact them for screening information and outside of confirming that they are in fact handling the distribution of the film to one fan that reached out, they have ceased responding to even professional inquiries. 

I'm sure we will find out more in the coming months, but for now call me a skeptic with this being how the U.S. distribution of the film will move forward. You can see New World Cinemas IMDB page here if you want to look into the other films they have previously distributed.

Am I looking into this too much? Do you think they really are the distributors of 'Godzilla: Resurgence'?

Dean Israelite's 'Power Rangers' Suits Revealed, Analyzing The New Look

If you've been following the news for the upcoming 'Power Rangers' reboot, this is the unveiling you've been waiting for. Teasing us with Rita Repulsa and a shot of the main cast in street clothes was just a lead-up for the main event, and Entertainment Weekly brings us our first look at the 2017 feature film's heroes post-morphin' time. Check them out below, along with my personal analysis.

Here's what the director of the reboot, Dean Israelite, had to say about the new designs:

"The show was about kids coming of age, about metamorphosis. These suits needed to feel like they were catalyzed by these kids and their energy, their spirit."

I agree with him about the coming of age aspect to the show, but I don't see where he's coming from with that last sentence. Nothing about these suits seems to be directly relatable to the human teenage experience, but maybe he's hinting at something revealed in the film itself. His production designer, Andrew Menzies, also talked about the immense pressure involved in trying to please everyone:

"It’s tricky finding a new language for a superhero costume. Ours is an alien costume that grows on them, that’s not man-made. You can’t win everyone over, but we are trying to appeal to a more mature audience and gain new fans."

He's right of course, fans are already finding things to nitpick about with these new costumes. I can admit that Kyle and I had similar reactions, but I wanted to break it down a little more and maybe shed some light on what might have inspired these designs.

The image at the top of this article comes straight from the 1995 'Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie.' Just like we spoke briefly about on the podcast this week, these costumes were mind-blowing to my much younger self, as spandex was replaced by flexible armor that produced gadgets and cool new weapons, I couldn't help be impressed. They kept pretty close to the original show's design while updating them at the same time to compensate for a much larger budget. I think they did a fairly good job in retrospect.

These new suits are similar to the recently revealed Rita Repulsa design in my opinion; they just don't stand out at all. There's nothing inherently unique about them or specifically tied to what the filmmakers have described in the press. There are multiple quotes where they've said that the costumes would reflect the fact that they morph onto the Rangers instead of being suits that you change into. Many people took this to mean that they might have a kind of organic quality to them and I think Elizabeth Bank's character has a feel that conforms to that concept. The Ranger's armor, on the other hand, looks like it stands alongside the standard Hollywood overly-designed "power suit" look. So much so, in fact, that I couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen a similar design to these before.

The first that came to mind actually has a loose connection to this reboot. Production designer Andrew Menzies worked on another film franchise that shares many of the elements seen in these new designs: the modern G.I. Joe reboot. I called it a loose connection because he actually only worked on 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation.' I do think the normal costumes that characters wear in both of those films share some DNA with the new Ranger's suits, but in particular, the "accelerator suits" in the first film were the most apparent to me immediately. Here's a reference if you've forgotten that film as much as the rest of the public has:

You can really see it in the helmets and the spaces between pieces of heavier armor. The designs are so busy it's hard to tell what's really going on.

The second image I thought of was 2009's 'Robocop' costume. This is actually closer in the way that it has a more streamlined look to it that's more fitted to the body, but is still trying way too hard to look cool and stand up to an original iconic design.  

At the end of the day, it's the story and characters who are going to make this reboot successful or not. They'll most likely get a decent opening weekend just out of the curiosity and nostalgia of the fanbase, but if they want this to turn into a franchise and bring in new audiences, they're going to have to make something truly worthwhile. I really hope that's the case and we're seeing these designs wildly removed from the context of a good film, but I am definitely starting to have my doubts.

I think with everything they've said about these costumes, they really could have gone for a more organic, skin-adhering type of suit that would have been unique. If you haven't seen it, there was a sizzle reel type fan film that had some b-list (but awesome) actors attached that actually got fans pretty excited for a modern interpretation of this universe. It found a way to update the suits in some really interesting ways. They're actually what I imagined when director of the new film first started teasing what the suits might look like. Below are some shots from that, as well as an embed of the full film if you want to check them out in action (Warning, graphic content and language).

So, what do you think? Let us know in the comments if you think the film is on track, or at least interesting, and whether or not you'll be there on day one of the release.

Zilla: What's In A Name?

Gojira. Godzilla. G.I.N.O. Zilla. All of these names represent the exact same creature, and yet, fans get up in a tizzy when people call the creature from the 1998 film 'Godzilla' by a few of those titles. This topic has popped up on multiple forums and Facebook groups on several occasions and this being the internet it usually ends up with a lot of insults being thrown around and a moderator putting their foot down and removing the topic. Well, I'm here to give my thoughts on the naming of this black sheep of the Godzilla family and show you that you can call him whatever you want.

In 2004, Toho decided that they were done making sly references to the 1998 creature not being the real Godzilla (watch the beginning of the movie 'Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All out Attack' or 'GMK' for short) and wanted to use him as a separate entity in their new film 'Godzilla: Final Wars.' Fans were actually rather excited to see the American-made creature go up against the OG Godzilla, but were met with a dilemma. If Godzilla (Gojira) is the name for the traditional Japanese form of the monster, what do we call the American monster? Toho decided to rebrand the monster under the new name Zilla, since the creature took the "God" out of the name Godzilla (Shogo Tomiyama, the producer of the film, and many others were the ones who came up with the name). And thus, we all had our answer. Toho also stated that the American design would be referred to as such from now on in any media. The design of the creature and the rights to any future use reverted back to Toho after Sony did not make a sequel within the allotted time frame. 

I personally accepted this new name wholeheartedly and even stopped using the name I came to know him by, G.I.N.O., aka "Godzilla In Name Only." I used the name Zilla to describe the creature himself and his particular design whenever it was used, including the original film and the animated series that followed it (technically Zilla Jr. is the name of the animated series creature, but I digress). I really like that Toho accepted the creature into the Godzilla series proper and I think that he has always worked best as a separate creature. Obviously, I knew that this was all being done in retrospect and that they weren't going to go back and officially change any of the merch for the 1998 film, but that didn't matter. Zilla was here to stay and could not be forgotten. Everything was fine in the fan community... Or so I thought.

Zilla has become more popular as of late and there has been a new influx of fans for his specific movie. I don't think that these fans deserve ridicule or anything like that, in fact more power to them for being fans of something that is generally disliked. The thing I take issue with is the new and older fans of the 1998 'Godzilla' refusing to let anyone call the creature anything other than Godzilla. Now, I understand that this is technically correct and that his name in the film is Godzilla, therefore he can be called Godzilla. I'm not arguing that he be stripped of his name, but that it is much easier to distinguish the specific design as Zilla so that everyone knows what you are talking about. In fact, the name he should be called by is actually Gojira, since according to the film, the news anchor mispronounces his name as Godzilla and then it just kind of sticks. I don't see any of these hardcore G-98' fans trying to call the creature Gojira and have everyone understand which creature they are talking about... Which is kind of the point of this article. 

In a post 2014 'Godzilla' world, the americanized name of Godzilla has seemingly been attached to the Legendary design by Toho themselves. Since we now have essentially three different Gojiras, is it that wrong that fans distinguish them in the community as Gojira (Toho designs), Godzilla (Legendary design), and Zilla (the G-98' design)? I personally don't think so. But, if you are adamant that Zilla should be called Godzilla, and only Godzilla, then you need to at least understand the following: If you say Godzilla without the context of the 98' film, we are all going to think of the traditional Gojira designs before we think of Zilla. That is just a fact. Insulting either side does nothing, and a fan community should be more willing to accept the nicknames that are given to the creatures. I still end up calling him G.I.N.O. half the time because that's what I grew up calling him.

To summarize my point, I really just want everyone to take a step back from the naming debacle and just realize that Zilla, in whatever form or name, is a cool design and I'd like to see more of him. The movie he came from originally is not perfect and in fact does have a lot of negative aspects to it, but honestly, there are some worse Gojira films out there (I'm looking at you Godzilla's Revenge).

Will you start accepting people calling him Zilla, or will you stand your ground? Please comment below and start a healthy discussion about this unique creature design.

Shin-Godzilla Maquette And More Shown Off At Japanese Convention

As we previously reported, Toho Pictures has brought a highly detailed maquette from their new film 'Godzilla: Resurgence' to the Nico Nico Super Conference 2016. More images are appearing all over the internet as fans get a first hand look at the disturbing new design. Director Hideaki Anno will also be speaking at the event, so hopefully we'll get some new information from the filmmaker in the coming days. In the mean time, check out images straight off the conference floor below, as well as some of my thoughts after getting a closer look at the design.

As we mentioned in our in-depth breakdown of the new design, the tail looks to be embedded with sea life skeletons that form a kind of club at the end. His arms are small, but look a lot better here than they have so far. I'm also a big fan of the feet actually, although I understand I'm in the minority on that one.

I personally think these photos do more to reinforce my interest in the new Shin-Godzilla than anything else. It's a completely new take on the King of Monsters, and a welcome one after years of people expecting minor tweaks to the suit and nothing more. Of course, you have to expect that the ultra-mutated look is in large part due to the story and themes of the new film. I think either in this movie or the next (if it does well enough) we'll get to see a fully regenerated version of this suit and it will be one of the closest iterations to the original 54' design we've ever gotten. 

Those last few shots are from the special effects exhibit that lets you stand in for Godzilla and Ultraman respectively.

Check back for more information from the event as it continues to unfold and later as we hear from the filmmakers themselves!

Will 'Independence Day: Resurgence' Feature Giant Bio-Mech Suits?

If you were a kid in the summer of 1996, you had one thing on your mind: Jeff Goldblum. Okay, maybe in reality it was the aliens and their city-spanning flying saucers with wall-of-fire creating laser beams. As well as scene-chewing performances by Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Bill Pullman, and everyone's favorite drunken (former) abductee: Randy Quaid. This is a film that defined alien invasion movies for a generation, and put plenty of future big name actors on the map. What's really surprising is that it took twenty years to get a sequel out in theaters, but lo and behold, this summer millions of 90's kids will get their long forgotten wishes with the release of 'Independence Day: Resurgence.'

What does this have to do with giant monsters? Not much honestly, except for the fact that the latest trailer suggests the film is apparently throwing its hat into the kaiju-genre ring. I've assembled some screenshots of what I believe are giant, bio-mechanical suits worn by the aliens in the upcoming blockbuster. Take a look and see what you think.

These first four shots show two advanced alien fighters bearing down and firing on an almost 'Cloverfield' looking creature running across a rooftop. Hundreds more fighters swarm above and around the buildings. Did the heroes of the film take control of one of these things and that's why the aliens are attacking it? Are they in the fighters trying to take one out?

Here are the shots where everyone watching the trailer took notice of the tentacled monster. It shows the camera tilting down on a humvee as a large clawed foot raises up and then comes crashing down, destroying the vehicle and the soldiers occupying it. Based on the background swarm of fighters, this looks like the same scene as the one above. Not sure why alien fighters and humans would be shooting at the same thing, but maybe this is a different monster, or those two fighters earlier in the trailer really have been commandeered by the protagonists.

Here's my theory on what these things are. Notice the color of the creature's skin? As I mentioned, I think these are larger, different versions of the "armor" that the aliens wore in the first film. Here's a picture to jog your memory:

They're already making homages to dozens of classic alien invasion stories with this franchise, and I believe that this is their version of the "tripods" from H.G. Wells' famous 'The War of the Worlds.' They've already set up that these aliens are small in stature, but use suits in combat roles. Why wouldn't they be able to make them whatever size and shape they could dream up? I think this is a great concept and I'd like to see the universe expanded more in future films/comics/etc because of ideas like this.

Hopefully, the upcoming movie is fun and well executed, otherwise no one will care about seeing more of these weapons in action.

'Independence Day: Resurgence' is directed by Roland Emmerich and releases June 24, 2016.

Overanalyzing The New Shin-Godzilla Design

I'm back and ready to pick apart everything about the latest Godzilla design for the 2016 Toho Pictures film 'Godzilla: Resurgence.' This is an opinion piece (specifically my opinion) and I’m sure there will be a lot of fans out there that will harshly disagree with my thoughts on the design. Nevertheless, I have a lot to say about specific choices they made, for better or worse, and I think that some of you out there will agree with me. I’m going to break this down by parts of his body and then talk about the design as a whole at the end. Starting off with the-

Head

What I like:  I really enjoy the return of the googly eyes from the original 54' puppet that was used for all the close-up shots in the original film. His teeth being so sporadic and different than any design for this creature that has come before is also a plus for me.

What I do not like: Unfortunately, I have more dislikes than likes for the head design we got. First decision I have to question is why you would make a reference to the puppet from the original film with the head design instead of the much better looking and much more universally liked suit from the same film. This facial structure doesn’t really work for me either. I can talk for days about how the pulled back mouth makes no sense anatomically speaking. Why did his whole skull structure change while regenerating from whatever awful thing happened to him? I can understand the jawline going that far back and looking like it does except for one thing, there shouldn’t be any teeth that far back on the jaw! I’m also okay with the huge amount of teeth in general, but what I’m not fine with is the blatant disregard for how exaggerated the skull looks. The mouth just looks really awkward when he opens it (more like a Muppet than an actual creature).  As I mentioned above I like the googly-ness of the eyes, but I don’t like how small they are. I would prefer if they were 25% bigger than they are now. Oh, and one last thing about the head…

It really has problems from certain angles, especially from the front. This isn’t the first suit design that looks a bit odd forward facing, but I was hoping that they had evolved to the point of tweaking where they could get it looking good from all angles.

He especially looks silly from the front when he opens his mouth. His head also lacks any real definition and is a bit too large for his body.

Chest and Neck

What I like:  Here is where we get to some good stuff. His skin is amazing! I love how it looks like burnt flesh that is either trying to regrow or could just fall off because it is barely attached. Really, it's another call back to the 54' design and the horrors of the atomic bomb in general. I actually do like the chest spike which seems to change sizes depending on the angle that you look at it. I know it contradicts everything I said above with the whole staying anatomically correct speech, but hear me out. The chest spike could explain Heisei Godzilla’ s weird third boob thing in the middle of his chest.

What I don’t like: His neck is a wee bit too long and is surprisingly devoid of much burn/scar tissue (other than the weird gill like structure toward the back half of his neck). Other Godzilla designs have had long necks as well, so this specific nitpick is just a personal preference.

Arms and Hands

What I like: I like that they keep the burned off flesh look from the torso and once again, I love the call backs to 54' but…

What I don’t like:  ...the arms are super tiny! 54' had small arms as well but they at least looked like they could grasp onto something and pull it down.

The new arms look vestigial, as if he evolved or mutated one step further he wouldn’t even have them. His hands also seem to have very little movement with the bit of footage that we have seen so far. As of right now, I don’t think he’s going to be using these to do much of anything in the film. One last note, they seem to be stuck in a strange upward position which adds to the overall creepiness of the design.

Back & Dorsal Plates

What I like: EVERYTHING! I love the red glowing parts in the crevices of his spines, and the fact that he has five rows in general. I love that his spines are not all uniform to each other and that they look like they are continuing to grow.

Legs and Feet

What I like: I like the basic structure of his legs and the fact that he has four toes. The saurian influences are extremely apparent with how his lower leg contorts.

What I don’t like: They really missed the mark with the actual feet… I really like what they were going for, all except one huge thing they forgot when designing a creature with saurian features; dinosaurs still had heels!

The oversight makes him look like he is standing on his tiptoes at all times and pretty unstable. I do want to point out that it is completely possible that the toy (only good look at his feet available) is supposed to be taking a step with his left foot. If that is the case, my complaints about the feet are null and void. Though I’m also not the biggest fan of the claws on his feet being curled upwards either. They almost look like they are glued on to the toe instead of it being an actual part of the foot itself.

The Tail

What I don’t like: I really don’t have much positive to say about the tail, actually. It's so thick that the rows of spines along it look even smaller than they normally do on other Godzilla designs. It has a very strange group of bulky ridges to it that make it look trapezoidal in shape. The tip of the tail has a weird bulge to it that almost looks like it would evolve into some sort of ankylosaurian weapon. Then there is the now infamous whale skeleton…

This may get explained in the film, but for right now it's just strange. The length isn’t really a problem for me, but the way it flops around up in the air through most of the footage doesn't work for me. It should be versatile, but it is used mostly for counter balance. Final thought on the tail: can we officially move away from the rounded end of the tail design? Even the 54' Godzilla design had a pointed tail (which they make multiple references to within this design as stated above).

Overall Thoughts

Overall I feel like this take on Godzilla is a little bit over-designed in some areas (mouth, tail, feet) and under-designed in others (head and arms/hands). The overall look really does evoke the 54' Godzilla, but the extremely awkward head design and the strange proportions are very off-putting.  

So, now for the big question: do I like it or not? I actually can’t decide, and I know that seems like a cop out, but let me explain. There are a lot of design decisions that completely baffle me, but may be made clear through the story of the film. It is still possible that he is healing throughout the film and his design will change significantly. As a one-off film I think it is perfectly acceptable, but I hope that they look back at some of their more popular designs (not the hand puppets of them) for future films in this newly revived Japanese 'Godzilla' series.

What did you think of the design? Do you agree with my thoughts? Do you want to take up your pitchforks and hunt me down? Let me know in the comment section below.

'Godzilla: Resurgence' To Get An American Release

This is the news we've all been waiting for, but maybe not what we expected or in the form we wanted. New World Cinemas has announced that they will release the film in 2017 on DVD. They have not mentioned a Blu-ray release, or a theater distribution plan as of this writing. 

Many of the blogs jumping on this story are treating the announcement as evidence that there will not be a theatrical distribution at all. I think it's a little early to claim that, as we've seen in the past, Fathom Events and a few other foreign distribution models have worked well in doing limited releases of big movies coming from abroad. 

With Toho Picture's tight lipped promotion of this film, I believe this is an announcement that we'll hear in the coming months. We have to keep in mind that they created an international title for this film and know that there is an audience for it outside of Japan.

We'll keep an eye out for further developments. The "in progress" 'Godzilla: Resurgence' page on the New World Cinemas website can be found here. 

Would you travel to a theater presenting the film in a one-time-only event style? Let us know in the comments.

Breaking Down The 'Godzilla: Resurgence' First Trailer Footage

It’s that time again, folks! I'm here to break down a trailer and think way too much about every little bit of information I can glean from it. Toho Pictures released their first full trailer yesterday for ‘Godzilla: Resurgence’ (‘Shin-Gojira’ in Japan) and it actually gave us a great amount of insight into the film for being a one minute and thirty second long trailer. Let’s jump in.

First, we have the good old Toho Scope logo. I believe this is actually a throwback to their older films since most of the time they use the Toho Co., LTD logo. Not much else to say about this image though.

Here we get our first CGI enhanced shot of Godzilla in the trailer. I originally thought this was just a puppet, but on further inspection it does appear to be aided with effects. It weirdly looks like Shin-Goji lost some jaw ligaments with how wide his mouth can open. I also think the roar used here is from the later 90's Godzilla films (end of the Heisei film series). Personally, I hope that this is a placeholder as it doesn’t really fit the design all too well.

Next up, we have a really nice scene where Godzilla’s huge tail sweeps above a suburban area. There is actually some really neat shot composition going on here, and I love how the people in the street are just kind of looking up in awe at the massive object passing overhead. I’m pretty sure I’d do the exact same thing.

First good full look at the design moving at a shuffling pace. This Godzilla definitely seems like he is in a constant amount of pain just from moving around. Whatever happened to him before this movie (or during) must have really done a number on the Big Guy.

“You are one ugly mother----." This design is not easy on the eyes… but in a good way! He has a very sinister grin at all times, and always looks like he is up to no good. I think his face from the front actually kinda looks like a bunch of ground up meat that formed into the shape of a head but…. well, that’s just my opinion. The eyes are super tiny and have a laziness to them, which is actually similar to the original 1954 design. I wish they were a little bigger though.

Great shot of the new design's back! I really love the red accents this design has going throughout it! Makes him look like drying lava and also may be a callback to Burning Godzilla from ‘Godzilla vs Destroyah.' It is interesting that he appears to have five rows of dorsal plates instead of the typical 3 which may also be a nod to the Heisei designs.

This is Hiroki Hasegawa, who is playing "Rando Yaguchi" the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary. Pretty sure he is going to be the one running the war room we see later in the trailer.

Satomi Ishihara is playing "Kayoko Ann Patterson" an advisor to the President of the United States. Not sure how she is involved. She is said to be speaking a lot of English in this film, which is not this particular actress's strong suit.

Akira Nakao is playing some sort of military officer. He has been in other Godzilla films before including ‘Godzilla vs. Destoroyah,' ‘Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II,' 'Godzilla: Final Wars,' and ‘Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.'

Not quite 100% on this, but I’m pretty sure this is Kenpachiro Satsuma, a.k.a. the suit actor for the 90’s Godzilla films. I’m just noticing this now, but it sure does seem like they are really harkening back to the Heisei series a lot…

Really cool night shot of people evacuating Tokyo, (I assume). None of the Godzilla shots are from a night sequence except for the first shot of him roaring... end of the film maybe?

Really beautiful shot of the Tokyo skyline! I wonder how much of this will be standing by the time the end credits roll.

Here's war room I mentioned where all the higher ups are going to gather and discuss a way to deal with the threat of Godzilla.

I think this is from one of Godzilla’s first rampages in the film, a.k.a. the scene where the tail shot is taken from. Looks like some great prop work and CGI background matting. This really shows you how much Toho is trying to undertake with their revival of the Godzilla series. Not too sure who this character is… maybe Yutaka Takenouchi? 

CGI shot of some helicopters on their way to assault Godzilla. I think the CGI in this scene is alright, but not the greatest. Then again, we have had some really bad CGI air vehicles in previous Godzilla films, and these are leagues better than those (I’m looking at you ‘Godzilla 2000’).

Once again, some really spectacular cinematography going on here. The camera moves with the tank as it swings around to take a shot at Godzilla.

Take a good look at Shin-Godzilla’s shear size in relation to modern skyscrapers in this shot where he is about to be hit in the eyes. Not the eyes! Anything but the eyes!

Yet another great shot, but Goji’s silhouette looks a little strange here. His arms are super tiny!

(Editor's note: They're not that small. Very reminiscent of 54's arms.)

Another glimpse at the design from the front; not something you’d want to wake up to in the morning!

Really nice scene of Godzilla wading through a city at dusk, possibly heading to his final destination. I’m sure this shot of him is all CGI, but with the way his tail is moving maybe it is a CGI enhanced suit. His tail actually looks really weird in this shot; almost like it has no weight to it at all.

Super close-up look at his leg. The reason I wanted to post this shot is that shows that his hands are so skinny and stiff that they continuously stay in this weird upward facing position. If you look back at any of the other shots where you can see his hands, they don’t really move too much.

Finally, a profile shot showing how messed up he really is. Looks to me like his flesh is in the process of regrowing, which is why we are seeing this glowing redness all around his body. Some of the dorsal spikes seem to have just sprouted once he started regenerating. I’m not claiming that the original rumors about him becoming a fully skinned Godzilla by the end of the film are true, but it is pretty obvious that he is coming back from being injured at the hands of something devastating.

And that’s it for our breakdown of the trailer for Godzilla's latest return to the silver screen. What did you think of the footage ? Do you think some of my wild accusations are correct? Do you like the design of Toho’s new Godzilla? Let us know in the comments below!

'Shin Gojira' arrives in Japanese theaters on July 29th, 2016.

First 'Godzilla: Resurgence' Trailer Released

Just hours after we posted news that more info was on the way for 'Shin Godzilla/Godzilla: Resurgence,' the first full trailer dropped for the film. Watch it now below.

Before this was revealed we had only gotten a teaser trailer of some bystanders running in the streets amidst Godzilla's classic roar. This shows much more than that, but still retains the qualities of a teaser trailer to me. 

We still don't know anything about the story or the characters, but this should give fans more to chew on while Toho still gets to keep most of its cards hidden. Hopefully, this is just the start of a larger dump of information and promotional teases.

What do you think of the new Godzilla design in action? Are you going to go out of your way to see this if it opens stateside in limited release? Fight it out in the comments section and keep a look out for our breakdown of this unique trailer.

Breaking Down The 'Kong: Skull Island' First Look Footage

So, if you're like me, you've already watched Legendary Picture's first look at 'Kong: Skull Island' at least a few times, but I ended up going a little further than that. Below are some specific screenshots from the featurette and my thoughts on a few different interesting aspects of the new footage.

These first couple shots remind me of a scene straight out of 'Jurassic Park.' I'm sure they take place in-between a couple of action set pieces as the team explores the island in search of whatever it is the story has them looking for. Have they already encountered Kong at these two separate points?

This shot is a couple of frames before an explosion sends one of the characters soaring. Maybe taking place at their camp or even at the native's village? It's hard to tell, but I think we'll lose a couple characters here. 

After playing Loki, it's hard to see Tom Hiddleston in such a man's man role, but he seems perfectly comfortable running around in this footage. In the film, he plays a former British SAS officer who travels with the group and probably has more than a passing interest in Brie Larson's character.

Easily the most popular image from the video, it's hard to tell what's going on in this shot. The imagery is undeniably striking though.

Our first look at Samuel L. Jackson's character before zooming out to reveal...

...THE BONES OF A DEAD KONG! 

Obviously either a sibling/parent/rival/etc to the leading ape in the film, this at least answers a few of the questions concerning what his size might be in this new shared universe with Godzilla. Let's hope the actual Kong is even bigger than this or the 2020 rematch with the big G won't last very long.

So many Vietnam war callbacks. I really do hope it does more with tying into the time period than just flashing familiar uniforms and guns. It could make for a much deeper film. 

This looks like it takes place on the ship before reaching Skull Island. I'm really digging the look of the film from these monitor shots, but they obviously don't fully reflect what the Arri Alexa cameras are capturing and sending off to the colorist. Take them with a grain of salt.

This looks like a downed helicopter, or something along those lines, so I'm guessing they arrive on the island with a bang and part of the plot centers around them trying to get back to the boat.

If I were a betting man, I'd put some money on this shot taking place later in the film. It really has that feel to it, and who knows what matte is going to be placed on that green screen in the background. 1970's New York from a high vantage point, maybe? I doubt it, but it would be pretty amazing to see the classic third act played out with the type of style they're going for in this film.

These last two really interest me because of how different they are from the rest. Here are at least two characters who never make it to the island presumably, but are pulling all the strings. John Goodman in particular looks to be up to no good, but again, we'll have to see more of the movie before we really know what's going on or what his character's sinister desires truly are.

What do you think of this early look at the film? Does it make you want to see more, or are you worried about the direction they're taking? Let us know in the comments below.

UPDATE: 

So, it was pointed out to us here at Tokyo Lives that John Goodman can in fact be seen in the above "group shot" of the military on the island. So, he does make it there despite my speculating otherwise.