The Bloody Pit #29 - GODZILLA FINAL WARS (2004)

A rock 'n' roll Godzilla movie? Yeah, that seems to be what we have with GODZILLA: FINAL WARS (2004). Director Ryûhei Kitamura was tasked with bringing his kinetic style to the Millennium series which may (or may not) have been a mistake. His love of the crazier Big G films of the 1970's certainly shines through in this entry giving the proceedings a strange throwback quality that previous movies in the series had steered clear of. The fan reaction to GFW was very split and as this was to be the last Godzilla movie - possibly ever- and also the film released in celebration of Gojira's 50th anniversary it is easy to understand how nearly nothing could have pleased everyone. Sadly, the Matrix/X-Men elements have not aged nearly as well as the bad-ass monster battles - of which there are many. I think any film that causes me to utter the phrase 'unnecessary plot clutter' clearly has its problems.

 

As you might expect on a film this divisive there is some disagreement between Troy and I on the qualities Kitamura brought to the table. If the standard split of opinion on this one is 'fan boy vs. fan' then our discussion will mirror that divide pretty closely. Of course, before we get to GFW we talk a bit about my inevitable viewing of another Eli Roth disaster and Troy's recent trip into the Lon Chaney scented Inner Sanctum. Don't ever say we aren't diverse in the horror movie topics that get randomly discussed when we start babbling! So get off your ass and come down here. Rock 'n' Roll ain't no riddle, man. To me it makes good, good sense.

 

We have a very full mailbag at the end of the show this time out. Several listeners sent their thoughts and corrections to us about both our kiaju episodes and the epic CONTAMINATION show as well. It's nice to know there are folks out there that are enjoying what we do and, rest assured, we intend to keep it up. We have some great shows on the way in the next few months. If you have any comments about the show - or corrections - you can write us at thebloodypit@gmail.com where we'll be thrilled to hear what you have to say. Remember that you can send MP3's or WAV files of your comments as well and we'll blend them into the feedback section next time out. Thank you for downloading and listening!