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Oddly enough, Godzilla -1 ended up being a +10

Noriko saying “Is your war over?” at the end of the movie made me cry.

As a Japanese,i really want to thank you for liking this film. About the ''-1.0'' on the title,it means that Japan became minus when Godzilla came. After the war,japan was destroyed and people lost everything.Which meas 0.But Godzilla come and makes it to -1.0

As an example of how carefully crafted and layered the themes of this movie are and how they are blended into literally everything. This is one small detail, barely delivered as a throwaway line. Unless you know some history. Take careful note, there are 4 Japanese Destroyers used at the end. Three are pretty clearly said by name a few times. But the one the heroes are on? It's name is only mentioned once in passing, in the meeting scene. This is a very very specific ship. It's the Yukikaze. For those not familiar with some detailed WW2 history, the Yukikaze is a rather famous ship. Probably only sitting below the Yamato, Akagi and Kaga in terms of its fame. It is famous for surviving. Yukikaze was famous for being the only Japanese Destroyer to survive the entirety of WW2. The other surviving ships came into service during the war. Yukikaze was present for every major battle. Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guadalcanal, Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. She even sank a US ship at Guadalcanal. She took virtually no damage, and brought home all but 3 of her crew members. Killed right in the final days of the war when she was strafed by a US fighter. So she is viewed as a Hero ship. BUT She is also viewed as a cursed ship. She is "That Which Survives". She was sailing alongside escorting all 3 Yamato class ships when they were sunk. The Battleships Hiei and Kirashima. Three Cruisers. Several Carriers including the third Yamato, Shinano which was converted late in the war. She was the only ship to return from Operation Ten-Go, the suicide charge of the Yamato to Okinawa, undamaged and with no loss of life. For a sailor to see Yukikaze sailing alongside his ship, was to know he was doomed. Yukikaze would survive. Yukikaze always survived. Those around her didn't. She was the Flying Dutchman of the Japanese Navy. So the very ship they have the protagonists on at the movies end is the physical embodiment of WW2 Survivors Guilt. She is "That Which Survived". While at the same time being the embodiment of the movies final themes. It works on so many levels. And it's just the ship. Which they took pains not to call attention to.

I think modern movies cost so much because studio executives have programmed themselves into believing that *they've* programmed audiences into only wanting these types of movies. People wanting a return to more normal moviemaking are not a silent minority, but the people running these studios are totally delusional.

The other important thing is there is no plot-induced stupidity required to make the movie work. 'Doc's plan is critiqued and he admits it isn't perfect, but it's the best they can do. Even 'the Kid' who has his idea shot down listens to the critique, and improves his plan to make it work, and shows up at the critical time to help. 'The useless to the rescue' indeed. Akiko doesn't wander into Godzilla's path like an idiot to create drama, all the characters do the best they can with their experience and talents. It's refreshing to see a movie that doesn't require people to be stupid for the plot to work.

I watched the movie in theaters and had a blast. I want more movies to have heart like this. Crazy that you can get so invested in the plot and then go ape shit watching a monster destroy a city. The movie flows super well and nothing feels unnecessary

The problem with modern movies is they didn't learn from things like the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, while the budget was 200+ million a vast majority of the time spent making those three films was dedicated purely to planning, storyboarding, and crafting believable sets

Ive been a Godzilla fan ever since I was a toddler. Always hated the human characters and practically worshiped Godzilla growing up. For the first time in my entire 32 years of life, this Godzilla movie did the one thing none of the other Godzilla movies ever did. Which was make me care more about the human characters than Godzilla himself.

This is the first Godzilla movie in my 30 years of watching Godzilla movies where I actually REALLY LOVED the human characters and human story. This movie did excellent in its story telling.

7:38 Andor is a great example of what happens when a studio does none of those things and lets the writers and directors form an actual good story. But then despite it being the best thing that ever happened to that franchise the studio went right back to doing exactly everything this segment describes.

For anyone curious why the movie is called Minus 1 Japan after all the fire bombings, the nukes dropped and the aftermath of the war put them in a state where they were quite literally back to 0. The government basically let the people fend for themselves which is why you see no government or real military in the movie after the war was over. Then the arrival of Godzilla is basically putting them all the way in the negatives. If you look up pictures of Japan right after the war it's incredibly scary that it looks like something straight out of the Fallout games that's how bad the situation was for the people.

The scene of Godzilla chasing the small vessel was absolutely one of the best moments of tension I've ever witnessed in cinema. From the sound design to the realism of the monster, and the excellent performances.

I’ve been a godzilla fan since 2016. It’s insane that after years tracking down the dvds and blu rays I’d eventually see one of my favorite Godzilla movies ever made by Toho in theaters. I love Shin Godzilla but that was really an Anno movie more than a Godzilla movie. This movie was almost perfect. I would have liked to see a rubber suit again, though.

I practically never see movies in theatres, but on a whim I made an exception and saw Godzilla Minus One. Best movie decision I've made. I was suprised how much it FELT like the 1954 original. It has its spirit in some way I can't describe. Maybe it was how Godzilla was finally a force of nature again, or how they treated the human characters.

I will say this That neighbor lady that complained to the main character at the beginning, i legit thought she was gonna be one of those asshole characters that gets killed in some ironic way but no she turns into a character i really liked same for basically everyone else

What i really love about this film is that there was a rare theme in the film and that was the family built, not by love but frome survival, you have the orphan girl , the young woman who plays the role of the child's mother, the kamikaze pilot the unofficial father and you have widows who lost her husband and kids but also takes on the role of the aunt. I love how that the mother and the father don't have a romantic relationship butt they generally care for each other

MY favorite part, was when Godzilla roared, and said: "It's skreeoonkin' time.".

the fact that indie films like digital circus are more successful than big time movies like wish just makes this even more glorious

I was literally on the edge of my seat, mentally begging Koichi not to do "it." This is the first time I've actually cared about the human characters in a disaster/monster movie.

"why is it called that?" If i remember it was in the trailer: the war "zero"-ed japan, and then godzilla appears, and that sets them even further back, back to -1

That shot of Godzilla swimming after the boat, his beady little eyes staring right at it is legitimately scary. He looks like the fucking devil. You can see the hatred in his eyes.

Whoa. That section where a movie was getting praise from the possum was so relaxing. It recontexulizes every other review for bad movies I've seen from him. Now all those times he's angry about something bad hit harder.

I came in expecting to disagree, but this has been my opinion for a while now. Ever since I took a film minor in university, I remember what my professor said about some of the most ground-breaking films ever made: "often the best stuff didn't have the biggest budgets." As a for instance, Jaws altered its ideas because the shark looked so bad, and it revolutionized cinema (and public opinion of sharks, which is unfortunate). Star Wars IV was on a tiny budget compared to what its following films would use, and people were blown away by the sheer creativity. The fact that it was changed so drastically later only speaks to the impact it left: how many other films from the 1970s have had entire sequences/scenes redone for the sake of adding new graphics in scenes? I LOVED the MCU when it started but, like all sagas, it needs a stopping point. Only Bragi of Norse mythology can tell a story with no end and have all listeners enraptured. That makes me think that ending a story is part of the human condition, meaning that endlessly expanding on a story (losing the older generation) while also endlessly hearkening back to what came before (eventually losing the newer generations), means that the narrative loses most of its audience as people seek out definitive beggings and ends to their tales. Hell, that's where the "happily ever after" trope comes from, because we all get that life goes on, but we cannot follow someone's narrative forever!

For a Godzilla fan like me, this movie was like going from fast food to a big gorgeous steak. Meaty, well made, beautifully presented by a master chef. So deeply satisfying and truly unforgettable.

Just for perspective I’m severely dyslexic but I saw this movie in theatres and even I really enjoyed it. I can only really pick up keywords but I still managed to figure out what was happening. Literally an amazing movie!

Just saw this in theatre, didnt know this was out until a few days ago. Absolutely loved it. Like MOST godzilla movies, hes just not in it enough, but the character stories are deep, that i found myself so worried about the outcome Really hard for most people to understand what that man has been through One of the best GZ movies out there

This was my very first Godzilla movie ever and I think I made a good choice by making it my introduction to the franchise! I geeked out over the references to WWII and Japanese warships for days after I saw it, and the death roar blast was probably one of the coolest things I'd ever seen on a movie screen.

Took my 9 year old nephew and 11 year old niece to see it last night and they loved it Even when the action is put on hold in the middle of the film to tell the love story they stayed engaged and kept on reading the subtitles. That’s pretty impressive in 2023 !! Godzilla is my favorite film monster and I have the Criterion version of original film on DVD and in my opinion this movie surpasses even the original in quality of storytelling. This film does everything Hollyweird fails at. It allows time to develop the characters so the protagonist has a real redemption arch and you care deeply about his fate during the final showdown. This is the baddast, meanest Godzilla design ever. That nuclear heat ray effect is total eye candy. I will be going for a second viewing on the big screen so I can spend less time reading the subtitles and more time enjoying the care that went into the excellent action scenes. 11/10. This is just an excellent movie that so happens to have a monster in it. Bravo to the whole team that made this thrilling movie experience happen 🙌🏼

A possum of culture.

I've loved Godzilla since I heard about them as a kid, but Minus One was the first movie I've ever seen in films and I was in absolute awe. I cried. It's such a touching story, yet at the same time has all the amazing Godzilla moments you hope for. When I first saw the trailer I thought it was cringy-looking, especially his new atomic breath wind-up, but I realized after watching the whole thing that it was just how trailers are nowadays. I'd love to go watch it again it was so worth it

I knew about the low budget for this film going in, and I came away thinking the effects were great and the performances from the actors were great. If this is what Japan is gonna keep making, then we want more.

The difference is that non-American studios still care about things like storytelling. Also, Toho is incredibly protective - and I would say many of the Japanese studios - of their IP. If they can help it, they will make sure it is done well and definitely not done on the cheap. Another good example of this is what was shown at the beginning of the year, which was the Super Mario Bros Movie.

I’ve already seen it twice, and I am seeing it again tonight. I have never seen a movie three times in theaters, but if is going to be any, it has to be this one. Minus One is not just a film - it’s an experience, and WOW is it a great one! Stunning visuals, compelling story, fascinating characters, and some absolutely brutal action from the G Man. 11/10!

I saw it at the theater yesterday. I hadn’t watched a single trailer. Just went based off of word of mouth. I was pleasantly surprised. It was a different take on the Godzilla story and felt fresh. Glad I gave the creators of the film my cash and time. Was worth it because they actually put effort into the film and it shows.

That scene with him chasing the boat was straight outta Jaws. This movie was fantastic.

First, it was manga overtaking comics, then animé receiving incredible boosts of attention online, and now Japan is schooling the west even on movie production. I'm not saying it's "superior nippon quality", but the way I see it, japan has more respect for the arts, since they can't compensate with money, anyway. This means more creative freedom and more surprising hits that introduce fresh concepts and ideas to the mainstream as they gain traction (for better or worse, at times).

I love how your reviews eventually transform into an indictment of everything wrong with modern cinema.

They need to make a sequel immediately and give this writer/director a much bigger budget. One of the few directors that actually deserves it.

I saw the movie three times in theaters before being able to drag my father to see it(we live in different states and I was worried at first it'd be out of theaters before I visited for the holidays, thankful it did well enough to keep it going). While some of it was that I'm also learning the language and thirst for Japanese films in theaters without dubbing, the story was just something else. Like, I've NEVER walked out of a Godzilla, or any monster, film before feeling for the human characters. Yet, こさんの戦争、終わりましたか？made me tear up on the first go and several other scenes did so on following watches. That said, my father protested at first, he "didn't want to read a movie" but ultimately he admitted he enjoyed it. Like, my mom felt the need to tell me she asked him how was it and he said it was good. 😄

This is the first movie in a long time to make me and my brother tear up. For me it was the reunion at the hospital, for him it was when they unveiled the prototype airplane 😂 God I love him.

If there's one thing I can say about this movie, it'd be that it was a good watch overall. The CGI for Godzilla looked pretty good practically 100% of the time, and the human parts of the story were really good almost 100% of the time. However, the thing that impressed me the most was Godzilla's atomic breath... like, holy sh*t was it great or what? The first blast we see against the Takao was cool, but that second blast in the Ginza district and the third one near the end of the film were downright beautiful. They carried the type of weight I think the American Godzilla movies haven't had with their atomic breath since the 2014 movie - raw and destructive power. If Toho is setting up a whole new series of films with _this_ Godzilla, then I'm all for it because I want to see more.

For anyone that doesn’t know it’s called Godzilla Minus One because Japan was already at level zero with the adom bombs and stuff from WW2 and Godzilla wrecking Japan put them at minus one

"those movies are nothing but bright colors and noise" so very very true.

For reference in regards to the 15 mil budget, Cloverfield cost just under 40 million, in 2008. I was a little harsh on some of the weaker CG moments until I read about the budget this movie was made on. It’s impressive.

As someone who works in animation and seen/told how these people work in marketing and directing, I can confirm, Possum pretty is on point. The only other things I'd add is the optimisation in marketing and resource managment. So much money goes into marketing shifts, opting in and out, changing and managing different countries, a few being difficult to deal with like, China. Then there's the resource chuck where a bunch of tiny studios and organisations filter the film and it's content to appease "The Data" and that costs a lot of money, it's also where a lot of the activist, meta, woke, and internet culture gets crammed in.

for fucks sake, now we can't even get really good movies without it causing people to whine endlessly?!

One other thing I appreciated about the movie is its committment to historical accuracy. All the Japanese warships that appeared - Takao, Yukikaze, Yukaze, Hibiki, a Matsu-class, all some of the handful of Japanese ships that survived the war, and all modeled fairly accurately. They even had their names written in big English letters on their sides, like they were during the Allied occupation.

They didn't say it in this movie but they used to sacrifice young girls to Godzilla at Odo Island in the 1954 movie

As a GWoT veteran, when the Waifu character ("Noriko") said: "Everyone that survived the War was meant to survive the War" while the main was having a full-blown PTSD/panic attack...I started crying a bit...in a Godzilla movie...wow. Loved this movie!!! ~~❤

Foreign firms are increasingly surpassing Hollywood, which is on the decline along with American pop music.

genuinely the best movie I've seen in quite a while, given the garbage hollywood churns out on a regular basis

I’m actually going to buy the blu ray for this when this comes out. I really loved this movie. I saw it the first week it came out and it’s still stuck with me.

Took a bunch of my friends to see it. At first I thought they were going to whine an about reading subtitles. In the end they enjoyed the story so much they didn’t mind! They were very impressed.

Damn, this movie cost less than a She Hulk episode. And it's just undoubtedly better.

After watching this movie I haven’t been able to not think about it. It was by the far the best movie I’ve seen in theaters in years. Just hearing that original Godzilla theme when he came out was goosebumps every single time. What a theme and what an amazing movie! Just insane how good this movie was.

and this is why reviews like this are important for theatre because im going to see it today even though its ugly outside

Most modern Hollywood movies seem more like some sort of money laundering scheme rather than any kind of creative endeavor.

He destroyed a city once, but even that was important to the story. It was a tragic moment and we saw how much people lost and how they felt and gave the already beaten men, a reason to stop it. Unlike the American sludge, where people can comfortably turn their brains off when monkey and lizard keep changing their size.

KZfaq DID tell me you uploaded this time. Great video dude! Looking forward to the next one. Glad you enjoyed this one as much as I did.

This movie must be good. Never thought I'd see the day where the Possum liked something right out of the gate. He's completely right about movies by committee. I would also like to add that very same committee is responsible for hiring these non-talented hacks to make them.

The godzilla design in this looks pretty damn epic.

i like how they managed to show godzilla as actual monster rather than supernatural kickass being. Seeing it on big screen only adds to it. There was atmosphere of seriousness and how often can you hear dog dying under godzilla's foot? Some of the CGI was indeed low quality and couple of CGI loops are being reused during various scenes.

The only reason hollywood movies have such high budget isn't because it's put into the movie or the cgi. In fact teams working on cgi gets shafted with low pay and high volumes of work. The real reason hollywood have such big budgets is because the director pockets a lot of that and even more so paying high profile actors. Most of these actors don't even care about how bad the scripts are and only cares about the fame and money. They only "confess" to having disagreed with the script and direction on the movie when it flops so that they can save face.

This movie had me griping the theater seats, it was terrifying and exhilarating and I loved every horrifying minute. Though he wasn't in most of it, the human parts were just as engaging and you really felt for them. 10/10 will recommend to all old and new big lizard lovers.

Great movie. Perfect blend of old and new Godzilla. Saw it twice already.

I've been watching Godzilla since the '70s, and this is one of the best Godzillas ever made. The depth of the characters draws you in, as most everyone os broken in some way. Its not mentioned enough, but my favorite character arc is the mechanic. He goes from absolutely hating Koichi, and blaming him for failing his duty twice to die for his country to doing what he needs to do to ensure that Koichi lives. Its a beautiful progression of character.

The movie “Godzilla Minus One” is called Godzilla Minus One is because of the setting being post war Japan which is after WW2,it said they were already at 0 but since godzilla came they were even less then 0 so it’s -1.

Not true, I remember one Monsterverse human character: the guy who tried to sacrifice himself with grenades only to get tail-whipped with the timing of a Family Guy joke.

When a $15 million Godzilla looks better than $300+ million Marvel movie

just watched it and the movie was heart wrenching, sad, and fills you with hope. Loved how godzilla is finally a villain again, as he should be. And the humans were actually fantastic in this movie. The captain made my whole theater crowd giggle and laugh. While the pilot brought many to tears, did noriko. And that little girl akiko brought me to tears too. Again japan just gets Kaiju movies. How godzilla is portrayed is amazing. I felt small and afraid since godzilla looked and felt like a almighty being that killed and had no remorse because it is a MONSTER. People should watch this movie in theaters no matter what.

Your review is so on point. You had to see the japanese trailer to know -1.0 means Japan was at 0 then Godzilla brought Japan to -1.0. When you talked about the marketing aspect that was the other main theme of Shin Godzilla, pointless bureaucracy. The director of the movie. Yamazaki, is a vfx artist & he wanted to keep -1.0 as close to the first movie as possible. I totally agree with you on so many points especially wanting Hollywood to sink so we don’t have to get all this carbon copy garbage anymore.

At the beginning of the movie, Godzilla was only 15 meters but after the nuke he grew to 50 meters

I went in totally dark -- I didn't even know it wasn't a contemporary setting. This movie was incredible. I was really moved by the characters, and I audibly shouted, "NO!" at... that one part.

Yes, movies made in the Hollywood system are bloated because the unions demand it. You have to pay a production assistant $6,000 a week and theres over 30 of them on any given film.

Monsterverse is mindless and soulless imo. It (kinda) looks like Godzilla but misses any kind of charm and Hollywood just can't seem to grasp what G is about. I've never once felt I was watching a genuine G movie. Toho on the other hand is nailing it with Shin and -1. The weight and social commentary about both government and regular people is what Godzilla has always been about. (Don't get me wrong, the campy ones are just that, campy fun. But even those felt genuine)

The riskier it is to make successful movies that people actually want to see in the film landscape in general the more I feel companies will _have_ to take risks just to scrape by. You know what they say, pressure makes diamonds.

I loved the movie, specially because I am a big navy fan and the battles at sea scenes appealed to me. But now that you mentioned that there is less city destruction than normal godzilla movies, it sparkled me, one of the reason they managed to make such a good looking movie for so little may have to do with the fact that CG at the sea are cheaper and looks better.

Couldn't agree with you more, Godzilla minus one was the best movie of this year in my book and honestly one of the best movies I've seen in years

I agree that Minus One is amazing, but why do we keep hating on the other main aspect of the Godzilla verse? Godzilla is a cultural icon for both being a representation of a horrible tragedy caused by humanity, and a Badass monster fighting other badass monsters. Edit: I forgot to add that I definitely agree that its no excuse for the writing of the human characters to be so bad, when they themselves play such a huge role in the movies, but the action packed scenes revolving the Kaijus itself is not a negative.

The main character Koichi is what Godzilla 2014 tried to do with Bryan Cranston but failed

Finally a movie that isnt trash, Possum eating well today

Been an absolute *FANATIC* for Godzilla ever since I was a little kid, and this move was just incredible, the amazing human cast and overlapping story and character arcs, the portrayal of post war trauma, and of course the King himself Godzilla. It was all just S+ level stuff.

You making a video on this movie was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

This movie was amazing, we need to take notes from Minus One.

Honestly one of my favourite things about Godzilla movies is seeing what studios and such come up with for the IP, it's not always good or interesting but they're typically pretty alright, that being said it is really nice to see one return to form complete with an enticing and interesting human driven plot.

This was, no joke, the first movie that actually made me feel something in over six years.

What’s outrageous is that it didn’t get nominated for Best International film?

The biggest crime here is that it didn't have full theatre release and a marketing campaign I got LUCKY it was popular enough to get 2 theatre show extensions so I found an opening to watch it on the big screen

Legitimately the most entertaining movie I’ve seen all year. Awesome action, awesome story and feels like a real open and closed story despite some pre-credit scenes. The setting and atmosphere is perfect.

wow ive just found your channel and i already find it enjoyable to watch imma sub (btw sorry about my bad spelling)

Went to see this with my dad on Boxing Day and it was great. Made us both want to make going to the movies a thing again. It's just a shame so much of the "coming soon" list seems bland and uninteresting. The idea of taking a big blockbuster budget and breaking it down to make smaller movies where they can afford to try something different sounds like the way to go. I'd happily take a spin on something that isn't more of the same with an extra helping of "the message". For now I guess we're stuck with "stupid fun" like the new Jason Statham movie. *sigh*

I liked that none of the actors looked like junkie burnouts the way most Americans have in film for the past 20 years.

It's funny that while most studios have commitees aiming to appeal to every demographic, Disney is doing the exact opposite by antagonizing audiences as a whole then blaming them when films flop

Happy holidays, Possum!

I absolutely loved this movie!!!! I honestly think that Hollywood should learn from this, but they never will

A movie that proves people aren't tired of things being "political" so much as they're tired of things pretending they are to fill a bunch of checkboxes on a spreadsheet. Almost like being sincere about something means you put actual effort into it.

-1 because Japan was in a situation of post war in the film so they are already at zero. Godzilla made the situation minus one

Bro sounds like he worked at GameStop at one point or uses Reddit on a daily