Part Two – Godzilla Minus One: Strengths and Stupidities

 

By Joe Gibson

 

If you are unaware, I am currently in the process of releasing a Godzilla Minus One review here and to our YouTube page. I explain it in more depth in the previous part (https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2025/06/godzilla-minus-one-strengths-and.html), but the video will be more complete, and the review in blog post form is unfolding this way to advertise the video but also to give you this written option if you would prefer to read than listen.

 

The Ocean Battle Analyzed

 

 

The scene of the dossier on the moving Godzilla seems directly inspired from Godzilla 2014 (noted inspirations for the imagery of this movie are Gareth Edward’s 2014 film as well as the Spielberg films that inspired that one, and the above picture is of Takashi Yamazaki with Edwards after the fact), but, once we get to the first ocean battle against Godzilla, some shots will be almost direct reproductions of those in Godzilla vs Kong’s ocean battle, just transplanted to a different context with different stakes. I should mention that this Godzilla is territorial, and the shots of his pathing as well as GvK allusions indicate that territorial nature.

 

General MacArthur stops directly short of appearing in this movie, declaring that if the U.S. were to get involved in stopping Godzilla, that might exacerbate tensions with the Soviets. Though it is true and acknowledged in this very film that the United States helped Japan to rebuild after the war to the point where despite the nuke, we have been allies for decades, the particular thematic edge to this film lies in how those Japanese citizens affected by the war, both veteran and civilian, have to work to rebuild. The Japanese government, as cynical Akitsu will comment on, does not care about the people, will not stop Godzilla and will keep Godzilla secret because information control is their specialty. The U.S. government too does not have the interests of Japanese citizens at heart in this film for the story it is trying to tell. And, once the film gets to May 1947, near the uninhabited Ogasawara Islands, the Japanese government has sent Noda and his team to use the ocean mines to stall Godzilla until the Takao arrives after Godzilla destroyed a boat in that area. (This also justifies why our main characters are specifically the ones on the scene, which we would not have questioned as an audience but the movie cares to show this to us.)

 

Both Shinsei and Kaishen Maru look on at the destroyed ship, but Shikishima recognizes the type of destruction and the deep sea fish, telling the others about Odo Island. As far as everyone else is concerned, U.S. island hopping forces took out Odo’s garrison, and this speaks to the information control Japan utilizes that Akitsu comments on later. Noda shares his own trauma, and Shikishima tells him how scary it was to be around Godzilla before. Shikishima and Noda try to convince Akitsu to flee, but Akitsu steps up, saying that even though he does not like the government order, if they do not stall for time til the Takao shows up, who will? The destruction of the Kaishen Maru changes his mind understandably, and, yes, there was a fifty fifty shot there Godzilla surfaces to kill our main cast or the extras. That is just a lucky coincidence that he chose the other ship, but coincidences happen in real life as well, so I will permit that. Nothing is contrived here. Godzilla just chose poorly.

 

 

The Shinsei Maru has two mines to use, and the first, landing at the dorsal fins, does nothing. Shikishima starts trembling in the hands as he had on Odo Island, but Noda has the idea to put the remaining mine in Godzilla’s mouth. This has the unintended but realistic consequence that Godzilla’s teeth cut the line to the mine so Shikishima has to shoot it for it to explode. The explosion splinters the edge of the Shinsei Maru but more importantly explodes Godzilla’s left cheek and eye. Unfortunately, he heals from that and stands up to roar, but the Takao has arrived. You could argue this is coincidental timing that the Takao is right on time to save the characters from Godzilla, but one way we can judge coincidences and contrivances is how it affects the story if it does not happen. If the Takao were to be 5 seconds later, Godzilla would still be roaring. Godzilla had not started to lower himself into the water to swipe at them yet, nor had he started to charge up his atomic breath, which would have taken longer than another roar. The Takao could have arrived any time within the next 30 seconds, and the scene would not change. The Takao has also been en route for the entire scene, so there is no issue with their specific timing. The film plays out the same regardless.

 

Godzilla dives beneath the water in a shot like GvK, and starts ripping at the Takao. This is where the main caveat on my issue with the soundtrack lies. The track, called Divine, with the bell sound effects that comes out every time from here on that Godzilla does something significant is quite melodious and iconic. In any case, Godzilla changes strategy and uses his atomic breath for the first time in the film. After the initial beam, it leaves behind a mushroom cloud. 

 

As I mentioned before, the ocean battle homages GvK, most especially in the way Godzilla fires his atomic breath under a ship and then emerges to gaze at the main characters before swimming away. The context is very different however in a way that I find brilliant because it perfectly accounts for the resolution of this battle in a different way than GvK. As you can see from the burning all over Godzilla’s body after he unleashes the atomic breath, it hurts him too. It will be a major part of the final battle that Godzilla has to heal after using it, and that is the reason why he pulls it out rarely, also the reason why it marks the end of his Ginza rampage later, but, even though he has won this battle and the Shinsei Maru is at his mercy, he still has to retreat to heal his wounds. That alone justifies the survival of the characters in this scene and makes the stakes that much more palpable because it is possible to survive against Godzilla in attrition. Also, consider this. Not even Godzilla can misuse nuclear power in this movie without consequences. Godzilla, who was the first victim in this movie of nuclear power, feels pain every time he uses it again.

 

Act Two

 

 

With the appearance and retreat of full sized Godzilla, Shikishima waking up in the hospital arguably propels us into act 2. Shikishima seems to have a concussion, Mizushima has a broken arm, and the government of Japan has elected not to tell the mainland about Godzilla to avoid a panic. Akitsu criticizes them for this, and Noda has more diplomatic phrasing to explain he agrees with Akitsu and a now frantic Shikishima but that they cannot do anything to oppose the situation at that time.

 

Noriko finally asks Shikishima about what is tormenting him. The specific timing could be construed as coincidental, but Shikishima presumably is dealing with his trauma worse now that Godzilla is back, so it makes sense she feels like she has to ask him now. He confesses his backstory, including Godzilla’s role, and the soundtrack is back to repeating chords that again do enhance the moment but also do not feel like songs. I probably should stop harping on the soundtrack until we get to the older tracks they brought back. I am out of my depth when it comes to music theory. The acting is quite good consistently in this film, but I will highlight this scene, the aforementioned one where Noriko tells Koichi that everyone who survived the war is meant to live. Ryunosuke Kamiki as Shikishima consistently sells the trauma and pain of this surviving kamikaze soldier, and Minami Hamabe’s portrayal of Noriko exudes the compassion necessary for this interpersonal dynamic and the care for each other they have. I have been watching the original Japanese version of the film and not the dub, because dub Shikishima sounds like a mildly less deadpan version of the adult cartoon character Archer.

 

Shikishima ends the scene by breaking down again, speculating that this new life is a dream, and Noriko pulls him to her chest to let him feel her heartbeat again. We do not see it, but I suspect right after this scene is where Shikishima and Noriko have the conversation about settling down together. Later on, we learn definitively that the care they have for each other is romantic and that they would like to love each other except that Koichi’s war is not over yet, and, contextually as well as elevating their intimacy and vulnerability with each other, this scene is the latest it could have happened timeframe wise and most open conversation they have had these last two years.

 

When Shikishima awakes the next day, he sees Noriko feeding Akiko a radish, and he wants to live again with these two as his family. Tragically, this also seems to be the day Godzilla makes landfall in Japan for his rampage in Ginza…where Noriko works. Any future they have, they must fight against Godzilla for. Shikishima learns of the news when he is playing with Akiko after Noriko has left.

 

People run in the streets as Godzilla throws a train down an alley and steps, with just his foot on the screen. As best as I can determine, because it really is one to one, that shot homages Godzilla vs Kong when his foot comes down in the Hong Kong streets. Anyway, a section of train hurtles toward the train Noriko is on and, unless Godzilla picked up the train car after he threw it, that means these vignettes are happening contemporaneously. The rest of the homages in this scene will be to the 1954 Godzilla’s attack on Ginza, as he rips apart the buildings and Noriko’s train. 

 

The ground breaks under Godzilla’s feet as he plods his way over to the train and lifts it up by his mouth. Classic Godzilla music plays as Noriko holds on for dear life and the train car falls apart.

 

 

Now this is actually the worst scene in the entire film. Noriko has the core strength to survive this initial scenario, and Godzilla moves conveniently over some water she can fall into without taking damage. That is fine; the suspense comes from the danger she is in, so the film should maximize it, and again I allow for coincidences for the water being there. Godzilla killing the journalists is a little less passionate than it was in 54, but that is because this is him expanding his territory not delivering retribution, and actually the special effects are much better here than in 54. The track Mahara Mothra plays for some reason, and that’s weird but not an issue. Okay what really breaks this scene is what happens next with Noriko and Shikishima. Everything else is amazing, including the rendition of Godzilla’s Theme that plays during the destruction.

 

Noriko finds herself in the crowd of people fleeing Godzilla, knocked over by the stampede, and Shikishima somehow finds her. I do not have an issue with this part, and actually it was based on a true story. It is lucky that Shikishima is able to find her, but he should know roughly where to look as they have not moved too far from where her train actually fell. Again, I am fine with this plot point in isolation (stacking this on top of her train survival is starting to strain credibility), but I know my mother finds that to be the broken premise so I will acknowledge it is debatable. However then, Shikishima and Noriko, moving slower than the people around them, very luckily happen to narrowly be the farthest people back out of reach of Godzilla’s tail swipe. Tanks fire on Godzilla as the pair reach the alleyway of a couple of buildings. Godzilla finally unveils his atomic breath dorsal plate charge (in this one, they all push out one by one as they glow and eventually collapse inward to push out the beam, it is very impressive.) The atomic breath has a mushroom cloud and acts like it is a nuke dropped on Ginza, vaporizing most of the people and sending out a shockwave to destroy every building. Noriko just narrowly pushes Shikishima between the only two buildings that survive the shockwave. I like what this does for the characters; she gets to save his life and demonstrate to him that he deserves to live, but he should be dead too right now. Buildings behind them also got levelled. If this were to play out logically, the rest of the movie would not happen!

 

 

The conclusion of the Ginza setpiece and apparent loss of Noriko strikes me as the structural midpoint (huh mathematical midpoint too what do you know) of the film to push Shikishima into his darkest moment at the end of act 2 before the climax of act 3 where he will make a choice either to live as Noriko wanted (and seemingly gave her life for) or die as Shikishima thinks the ghosts of his past and society as a whole want him to do, so this is not only just a scene in the movie but one of the most important ones for how the rest of the movie plays out. Consequently, I think this part of the film deserves closer inspection, and it does not work, I am sorry.

 

Allegedly, the novelization calls Shikishima’s survival in Ginza a miracle, and I'm sorry, but while absolutely true, that is still a copout answer, and the only way I would accept his survival as logical is comprehensive blast radius calculations or perhaps exposition about those two buildings being reinforced (though it would be still be lucky he made it to them when he and Noriko were close enough to Godzilla to only narrowly evade the tail swipe).

 

 

Godzilla gazing on his destruction and roaring triumphantly while Shikishima screams in the black rain; those parts work on a deep primal level, and, once again the film has Godzilla retreat here to heal from using the atomic breath, but Shikishima literally should not have survived this. The story needs him to, and this is a break from cause and effect to benefit the story when otherwise the storytelling and cause and effect were lockstep together closer than almost any other Godzilla film. 30,000 were killed or injured, and pieces of Godzilla’s flesh peeled off. That is important to keep in mind as we proceed to Noriko’s ultimate fate. She is within the number of dead AND injured, and Godzilla cells are in play.

 

Noda, Mizushima and Akitsu all join Shikishima and Sumiko at his house to take care of Akiko, and Shikishima goes back to the pictures of the soldiers and what they represent about his depression. Noda, to console Shikishima, tells him about the civilian veteran force to defeat Godzilla, the special disaster countermeasure meeting. All of the veterans salute Captain Hotta when he emerges, but he will be quick to remind them later on that he no longer pulls any rank over them. They have negotiated to use four naval destroyers initially intended for turnover to the United Nations, and Noda unveils his plan to destroy Godzilla with the power of the sea (place freon tanks around his waist and sink him to the depths to allow the sudden pressure changes to kill him. If that fails, bring him up suddenly with inflatable rafts to subject him to explosive decompression). The imagery of the freon bubbles sinking Godzilla borrows from that of the Oxygen Destroyer in 1954, but this is a fundamentally different type of attack, more down to earth and realistic.

 

Some of the veterans meet Noda’s ideas with pushback. Shikishima is actually the most passionately adversarial and almost storms out of the room, but his respect for Noda and want for revenge against Godzilla makes him stay. That very public display of begrudging respect probably helped many of the veterans stay longer, but some of them do end up leaving because Hotta does not intend to force anyone to stay, and they have their families. Some brave extras do step up and inspire the rest to stay.

 

In a discussion that turns somewhat hostile, Shikishima suggests flying around in a plane to distract Godzilla (this will be crucial to their ultimate victory), Mizushima suggests using the Destroyers to pull Godzilla out of the water (weirdly enough, this too is crucial to their victory), Akitsu shouts at Shikishima for not appreciating Noriko, and Shikishima reveals that he actually does love Noriko but his war is not over yet, implicitly not until he or Godzilla or both are dead. As this is a moment of revelation and minor emotional release, I will call that the end of act 2, but it is sometime around this point that it switches into act 3 in any case.

 

 

Consequently, that is where I will end for today, but if you would like to be fully caught up for part three of this review in the next few days, I would like to encourage you to watch this video that premiered at the start of this week, a debate between myself and Doug Gibson about if Minus One or Godzilla 1954 is the better film.  Though the review allows me more time to lay out my thoughts, I will reference parts of the debate in my review, and, if you are enjoying this content so far, why not check out the debate in the meantime?

https://youtu.be/bjGSaU7H4TE?si=tuZ5HX-j2oTnmfna

 

Godzilla Minus One: Strengths and Stupidities Part One

By Joe Gibson

 

Here, at Plan9Crunch, but also at our YouTube page, I like to revisit, review and even rank kaiju and tokusatu franchises (links to some of the relevant videos and articles at the end of this one). This review of Godzilla Minus One has long been in the works, but I wrote it as a video essay you will be able to see in full on our YouTube page at the end of this week. Consequently, there is some content missing from this three part blog post version.

 

Introduction: All Roads Lead To Godzilla Minus One

 

Takashi Yamazaki has long had a working relationship with Toho. After 2004’s Godzilla Final Wars, Godzilla the franchise went on hiatus indefinitely, only resurrected by Yoshimitsu Banno’s efforts that eventually culminated in Legendary’s 2014 film. But Godzilla, the character and pop culture icon, still remained in public consciousness and through references in movies. Toho permitted Takashi Yamazaki to include a version of Godzilla in a dream sequence in the film Always Sunset On Third Street 2 (2007). From that Godzilla, you can see the ways Yamazaki was experimenting with Godzilla designs integrating features from past designs as well as his own flourishes.

 

 

Takashi Yamazaki is the director and writer and led special effects on Godzilla Minus One. For one thing, that means that if the film truly is as good as everyone says from all of those standpoints, he is a genius, but also, it means that his vision is uniquely captured in this movie being the way it is. This film is a period piece, taking place between 1945 and 1947; the Always Sunset trilogy films are also period pieces set mid 20th century. Many concepts, shots and characters in this movie deliberately homage ones from the original 1954 Godzilla film, Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah Giant Monsters All Out Attack 2001, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla 2002, Godzilla 2014 and Godzilla vs Kong 2021. I will call those out when we get there, but while those shots originated elsewhere, Yamazaki is placing them in his own new context, same as the music tracks from 54, King Kong vs Godzilla and Mothra vs Godzilla.

 

And Yamazaki has other experience directing Godzilla with his theme park attraction Godzilla The Ride displaying his take on a kaiju battle involving Godzilla (looking so close to his later Minus One design it is uncanny), Rodan, and King Ghidorah. Toho had approached Yamazaki to make a film for them shortly after his Always Sunset 2 scene, but he was waiting for the technology to catch up to his vision, and Godzilla The Ride proved that it had.

 

 

With all of this context in mind, we can get into some disclaimers, a piece of trivia to set the tone of this review and then the review proper.

 

T Minus One: Countdown To Review

 

The main Godzilla design in Godzilla Minus One (the one featured post “atomic baptism” in the traditional Godzilla posture as opposed to the T-Rex esque Odo Island form) is 50.1 meters tall. Why is that?

 

To start, the original Godzilla was 50 meters and so was his Showa series successor. The Heisei revival brought him up to 80 and ultimately 100 meters to contrast against higher skylines, while the Millennium series oscillated around 50 meters again to make the miniature sets more detailed (but then they included worse CG than before, so…) with Final Wars returning Godzilla to 100 meters tall. Then, after 2014, a little bit of an arms race commenced in regards to Godzilla’s size. The 2014 Legendary one was 108 meters, and 2016’s Shin Godzilla (from Toho once again) was 118.5 meters, so Legendary’s Godzilla grew to be 119.8 meters, just barely edging out Shin Godzilla. While all this happened, two Godzilla animes came out. Godzilla Singular Point released later but entered production sooner and featured a Godzilla that was 45 meters tall until it abruptly grew to 100 meters, while the Monster Planet trilogy has a Godzilla that was 300 meters tall…and nobody has tried to beat Monster Planet Goji’s size.

 

While it would seem based on all this that this is in keeping with a decade long trend of one upping previous Godzilla sizes, it is actually a more mundane and insightful answer. Yamazaki wanted this Godzilla to be 50 meters like the original but also wanted to place emphasis on the dorsal fins of Godzilla to where they peak over his head as a crown. The effects team measured from toe to dorsal fin tip, which resulted in the extra .1 meters. This film and creative team is not guided by petty size increases but an attention to detail in their own product that no one would have expected to that degree. Keep that in mind for when we get to the review. Whatever issues I have with the film do not diminish the care that went into this film (unlike Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, where the crew admitted on the commentary track that they stopped caring about the details). And in case you’re wondering about the size of Godzilla’s smaller Odo Island form, that is 15 meters.

 

I should lay out a few terms before I delve especially deep into the movie. I personally define art through it being the creation of a human to express something, often a theme, and I believe it is possible though often difficult to analyze art to find out whether its expression is consistent (good) or inconsistent (bad). Conversely, I tend to think of literature as art which earns serious consideration and downright warrants study into its textual, subtextual or metatextual tendencies in relaying themes and concepts. Forgive me if these are nonstandard definitions; if you have better words to describe these ideas, please share them. But that is what I would like to concern myself with today. 

 

All Godzilla films are art, and I like to evaluate them based on the internal consistency of their text because that is how I can measure a film easiest, the structural integrity of its story. However, it quickly becomes apparent that some films are special for how they develop their plot and characters, allegory or presentation in the chosen medium, and there is more to learn from it than just the component pieces of its story. The thing is that even though such films are absolute masterclasses in whichever category, that does not guarantee them to be flawless on my scale of internal consistency, which I find to be the most important consideration for a review such as this. I find the storytelling in Attack on Titan (an anime/manga about humanity fighting humanoid giant monsters) for instance, to be brilliant for how it portrays the cycle of war and radicalization first through subtext and then just as text, but major plot beats in seasons 1 and 3 rely on just actual plot holes about the Colossal Titan especially. A score out of 10 has to factor in the best and worst parts of a story, which is why I go about searching for the merits and flaws of the given work. It might be weird to hold a mature philosophy lesson to the same standard as a popcorn flick, but I want to give every film the same fair shot on the same scale, so if something I consider literature makes a mistake I would criticize in mere art, I have to consider that in my final score and in general.

 

I have said this before, but it bears repeating, that there are three areas you are sure to eventually disagree with in my analyses: 1. The flaws and merits each of us notice. 2. Our evaluation of the severity of those flaws and merits (how much they should affect a score). 3. Our comparison of those to other relevant examples. At the end of Godzilla Minus One, lead character Shikishima will fly the Shinden plane perfectly on his first try while recovering from very recent swelling around the eye. I noticed this on my first watchthrough, and I have gone back and forth on how big of an issue I think it is. This should technically impede his ability to do this to a substantial degree, but the movie consistently emphasizes the skills of Shikishima (the opening scene of the movie establishes his skill through his perfect landing on Odo island). Suspending disbelief feels like a cop-out to me in this case, because if Shikishima were compromised by depth perception issues, Godzilla would have chomped down on him during one of the moments it was Shikishima’s own skill navigating him around the kaiju’s body. This is where I would compare it to other media to compare my thoughts on how egregious other similar examples are. Not to commit a “whataboutism” and deflect discourse of an issue to a different show, what I have to do is consider if a movie I consider worse featured a similar plot point and if the context for it in that film is better or worse. You will see an example of that thought process later on in the review.

 

Plot Runthrough w/ Analysis

 

 

I will start with a conclusion and structure some of the summary I inevitably include to prove this point. Shikishima’s journey is central to the structure of this narrative (obvious) and consequently the meticulous detailing to his arc and the story surrounding him makes him the best realized character in the film and probably the franchise as a whole. The nuance in this portrayal of PTSD and suicidal ideation is unique even though he is building upon other characters in this archetype Tsujimori and Akane from Godzilla vs Megaguirus and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla who both also partake in a cold open battle against Godzilla that costs lives of people around them and affects their self worth. What sets this movie apart from those though is how this already increased runtime grounds us in Shikishima’s perspective compared to the more ensemble nature of those previous films.

 

Cold Open

 

After some logos for Toho and the “70th anniversary production,” which proves my point that Toho considers this such, we open on Ensign Koichi Shikishima (Lieutenant in the novelization apparently, I don’t know if you can be both), a kamikaze pilot, in the closing months of World War 2. Shikishima lands on Odo Island for mechanics to look at his rig, and, though this is less obvious in the film, the runway is covered in bombing holes, so our very first impression of Shikishima is his great skill at piloting. The novelization by Takashi Yamazaki himself represents sort of a director’s cut version that elaborates on these minor details, but the English translation is not out yet, so I only have access to reporting on what it says, and it seemingly emphasizes the bombing holes during Shikishima’s landing. Also, despite the fact that Yamazaki uses the novel to answer questions about the film, I do not like using external media in that way, and every time I bring up something from a novelization that you could not reasonably glean from the film, that is an issue. In this case, most novel exclusive details are still possible to interpret from the film itself however.

 

Tachibana interrogates Shikishima about the actual problem with this plane’s rig (there is nothing wrong with the engine or fuel line), but, after Shikishima walks off to the shore, another mechanic, apparently named Saito, confides that he agrees with Shikishima’s decision. This is realistic in that the mechanics would all have differing perspectives due to being different people all involved in a war, but it also foreshadows that despite Tachibana being in a leadership role to these people, they will disobey him at their own discretion, such as when they all fire on Godzilla, despite his protests, sealing their fate. In any case, after Saito and Shikishima talk, deep sea fish float up to the surface, each one malformed from the explosive decompression of moving up from underwater depths with Godzilla as fast as he does. (If you’re wondering why that does not kill or harm him even before getting mutated by the nuke, one of the few things I do know about Yamazaki’s authorial intent that made it into the novel and not the film is that Godzillasaurus here already has a healing factor for whatever reason.)

 

Some users of TVTropes seem to believe that, had Godzilla not attacked, the Odo Island crew, particularly Saito would have sabotaged Koichi’s plane in order to back up his story about the malfunction and save his life. I do not see any evidence of that in the movie (for the majority of the runtime, Shikishima is convinced the ghosts of this crew want him dead and punished for Odo island), but I also do not think Saito’s name is ever spoken in the film, so the tropers may have access to other information than I have, be it a translation of the film’s official novelization or statements from Takashi Yamazaki.

 

The emergence of the deep sea fish references the trilobite in Godzilla 1954, but these fish appear throughout the movie and not just once (so what could be a mere reference becomes a motif). Also, once Godzilla becomes larger, it seems he brings up larger and more plentiful specimens, foreshadowing the mechanics of the plan to defeat him, but we’ll get there eventually. I somewhat question why evidence of Godzilla’s arrival is on the shore to the left of the landing strip where Shikishima sits, whereas Godzilla attacks from behind trees on the right side of the landing strip. First, the film implies a small time skip between the two scenes, but this is also important for establishing Godzilla as a living and thinking creature in this film. And, yes, as far as I have heard, the novelization includes a dinner scene between the fish and Godzilla appearing. As far as what I can observe in the film, I see a Godzilla already using the dark and tree obstructions to mask his approach, acting intelligently from the very beginning. As this assault continues, you will notice that Godzilla spares Shikishima and Tachibana, the only two who do not fire upon him. As for those two, Tachibana orders the other men around intelligently, subverting Godzilla’s advantage by shining a light on him and ordering retreat to the trenches, eventually sending just Shikishima to his plane to fire the gun. The existence of this trench seems to imply a less than cordial initial occupation of the island, which the bombing holes in the runway might confirm, but there seems to be at least a functional relationship between these mechanics and the natives.

 

A very quick throwaway line reveals some of the Odo island mechanics have discussed Godzilla with the natives, and this is frankly enough to get the point across but feels incomplete without the context of how the Odo Island villagers acted and responded in the original film in your head. There was debate there between the older, more conservative villagers and the younger ones as well as a component of human sacrifice in order to offset food shortages and satiate the beast (also likely a King Kong reference). The movie stands on its own merits, but it is better for the audience if you have the context for at least 1954’s film and probably Godzilla vs King Ghidorah 1991 where the imagery of a pre-nuke dinosaur form for Godzilla attacking WW2 soldiers on an island originated. In terms of how this film references and celebrates the previous films in the franchise, it oscillates between elevating the concepts, just reproducing them and merely alluding to them, which is a caveat I will put on the overall use of references and fanservice.

 

Shikishima is unable to stop himself from shaking to fire on Godzilla, so the mechanics do so instead, even trying to lure Godzilla back to Koichi after he wanders to the trench. Every person that fires on Godzilla (be it a beam of light or actual firearm) dies by Godzilla’s hand (or teeth or tail), and it is interesting he stopped just short of killing Tachibana and Shikishima too. It is equally interesting but far less important to the portrayal of Godzilla that he also already has fresh scars from something in his CGI texture body in this scene. We only see Godzilla in this film through the perspective of Shikishima, almost as this demon embodying the personal wounds and regrets of this one kamikaze soldier, but Godzilla is his own creature and agent, and the ambiguity about Godzilla’s moral code, while less well defined than movies like the original film or the Heisei series, is still present for us to speculate on and interpret. According to Yamazaki in interviews and the novelization, Godzilla likely would have survived Shikishima’s guns, but I prefer the ambiguity in this scene, as it exists in the movie.

 

Shikishima awakes, and Tachibana is furious that Shikishima survived because, from Tachibana’s perspective, it was Koichi’s cowardice that killed the men. Once the war ends, Shikishima and Tachibana return home. The facial hair on Shikishima on the boat shows that time has passed (specifically 6 months), and, for whatever reason (maybe it’s the angle), Tachibana has never looked like the same person as he does in the rest of the movie in this scene to me, but the signature limp confirms that it is Tachibana giving a mysterious sleeve of pictures to Shikishima (though it is revealed later, these are the pictures of the fallen Odo Island mechanics and their families that will haunt Koichi in tandem with dreams of Godzilla). I do wonder why Tachibana never gave him these sooner, but it really affects nothing in the larger cause and effect except that the imagery of this discovery on the boat of surviving soldiers is more cinematic. (Also, as I alluded to, the mechanics disobeyed orders from Tachibana, so he was probably using the images to shame himself until his hatred for Shikishima festered into an acceptable target.)

 

Act One

 

 

Upon returning to his hometown, Koichi finds that it is in ruins, his parents are dead, and his neighbor Sumiko has lost her children. The soundtrack for these last two scenes is a vaguely metallic shrieking in the background, which I am only mentioning now because, while of minor importance, the original tracks in this movie, while effective sound effects to supplement the emotion, don’t really sound like songs, and that is one my main criticisms of the movie minor as it is. In any case, Sumiko is shocked to see Koichi alive, and the actress’ acting clearly shows the moment she realizes the shameful act he has done in fleeing service. She ultimately hits him and blames his disgrace for the circumstances around them (though she acknowledges it was more soldiers than just Shikishima that made that choice.) He asks about his parents, and she explains they died in the air raids along with her children. Consider the similarity in Sumiko and Tachibana’s responses to Koichi’s survival, the shame and disgust that he survived while everybody else died and specifically that Shikishima did not do his duty. The fantastical Godzilla episode subtextually matches the mundane stakes of his decision to go to Odo in the first place.

 

Some time later, Shikishima is eating food in a black market when Noriko runs through, chased for being a thief, and she passes off the bundle in her arms to him, incidentally the baby Akiko. After a conversation between them that leads back to what remains of Shikishima’s house, one of Noriko’s first impressions of Koichi is that he is cognizant they are all just trying to survive and that he will not judge her for anything she does to that end. Once Noriko and Akiko settle in and fall asleep, Shikishima is unable to bring himself to remove them. I lump this first 20 minutes together as the character establishing scenes for Shikishima because, even though his unwillingness to die was his first introduction to us, and the Odo Island massacre was the inciting incident, the refusal of Shikishima to leave the baby behind or to leave Noriko unprotected even amidst confusion about why he is helping them, clarifies the stakes and themes of this movie about his found family and rebuilding Japan with people that care. I should mention that Akiko is not Noriko’s biological child, so all three of this new family (four if you include eventual Auntie Sumiko) have lost family in the war from differing perspectives, and each person was vulnerable, so even though the kamikaze appointment means that only Shikishima was “supposed to die,” we root for all of their survival together. 

 

For implementation of this theme, Noriko tells Shikishima that everyone that survived was meant to later in the film (the antitheme being Shikishima thinking the dead soldiers are asking him why he's still alive). Even Sumiko who blames and hates Shikishima for his dishonorable living cannot stop herself from sympathizing with this family to help them survive, and when she later pledges to take a greater role in raising Akiko, she happily reflects on the children that she raised before instead of their deaths. Skipping ahead for one brief moment, that is also why from a storytelling standpoint, Tachibana overcomes his hatred for Shikishima to repair the Shinden’s ejector seat and give him a chance to live. A version of this story where Tachibana did not do that or Shikishima chose not to live would undermine the themes of reconstruction. This movie is brilliant for now not only its strong themes but how those themes build and enhance the characters, stakes and plot, because it all feels natural the way it plays out, but I have the rest of the review to prove that point so let us get back into the plot.

 

Sumiko asks Shikishima about Noriko and Akiko, verbally attacking him but ultimately offering her help anyway once she learns that Noriko is not the biological mother of Akiko and thus cannot breastfeed her. Sumiko gives up her prized rice so that the baby can eat gruel and murmurs about it on the way out of Shikishima’s house. Then, the film jumps to March 1946 in the rain. 

 

 

The house is a little more put together, and Noriko’s clothes are a little less ratty, but the living conditions are still not great with bowls catching rainwater seeping through the ceiling, mismatched wall tiles and broken glass as well as stains and holes in their clothes. They allude to a previous scam job, as Shikishima’s new job offer to improve their living conditions seems too good to be true. This job is ultimately to be on a specially made (crappy wooden) boat the Shinsei Maru as gunner to destroy the remaining naval mines with characters Dr. Kenji Noda, “Captain” Akitsu, and Mizushima, who they call Kid. Shikishima tells Noriko that he is not doing this just to die and that there is hope of survival, unlike the war.

 

Shikishima’s coworkers have a witty rapport, as Akitsu asks practical questions about Shikishima as their sharpshooter, Mizushima is impressed that Shikishima saw action in the war, and Noda exposits that the wooden boat is good for the job because it will not set off the magnetic mines. Akitsu explains their job tasks, and it is not “As You Know” dialogue because the exposition benefits Shikishima as well as us. Shikishima proves very adept at shooting the mines, and Mizushima accidentally offends Shikishima by saying he wished the war would have gone on sooner so he could have joined too. It is worth mentioning that the Shinsei Maru also has a sister ship to help called the Kaishen Maru.

 

 

Next comes Shikishima’s nightmare reliving the Odo Island massacre from a slightly different perspective of a head on shot with Godzilla. Noriko’s dialogue indicates this is not the first time Koichi has had nightmares recently, but he is sufficiently rattled that he confides he cannot tell between reality and dreams, wondering if his life with Noriko is a dying dream or possibly purgatory. He reaches out to feel her just to be able to ground himself, and she pushes him off, jolting him out of it. The imagery here somewhat resembles sexual assault, but the novelization clarifies that Shikishima, when he puts his head near her chest, is trying to feel her heartbeat, and her heartbeat is what helps snap him back to reality. When she pushed him off, all of the pictures of the fallen soldiers fell out, and seeing them makes him start shaking and crying.

 

The film jumps to July of 1946 for the Bikini Atoll Operation Crossroads nuclear test that, for the first time in franchise history, we see mutate Godzilla…very briefly, and then we’re into a montage of Noriko raising Akiko, Shikishima bonding with his coworkers, and their house improving. The montage serves a very mechanical purpose to progress the rebuilding of Japan and age up Akiko before Godzilla attacks, but it also contributes more specific details into the overall setup and payoff of the film than it needed to. This is where Shikishima picks up his motorcycle and leather jacket he will wear throughout the film, Akiko learns to draw (that will be important for the end of the movie), and then it ends on the dinner scene that brings Shikishima’s work and home lives together but also contributes the photo of Noriko that will be so important to the climax. It is not strictly necessary to show us exactly when the picture of Noriko that Shikishima keeps is taken or that Akiko has started drawing because these are assumptions we could make, but the film consistently has this attention to detail that I admire a lot. During the montage, a few simple chords repeat, and it is a more memorable song than most of the original tracks before and after this, but with the first real track that has a melody happening 25 minutes in, I feel like I can still criticize the soundtrack

 

Akitsu politely comments on the improved house, and Noriko serves Noda a drink refill at which point he snaps the aforementioned picture. Akistu and Noda banter about hitting on Noriko, the married woman, and she surprises them by declaring she is not Shikishima’s wife. Koichi explains the family situation but harshly corrects Akiko when she calls him her father. Mizushima tries to lighten the mood, but Shikishima says he does not necessarily want this as his family, that it just happened to him. Something to notice in the background is that Akitsu, evidently playing an Uncle role, has Akiko sitting on his lap.

 

Finally, it is March 1947, and within their improved rebuilt house, Noriko unveils a new suit with her hair tied up nicely, as she has gotten a job in the rebuilt Ginza. She explains that he will never find a wife if she is always around and that this is not sudden for her as it seems for Shikishima. When Shikishima asks who will watch Akiko, Noriko says that Sumiko was quite happy to volunteer, boasting that she has raised three children before. As we know, those children died, and this is growth from Sumiko to move forward as Auntie to this rebuilt found family, which we saw the groundwork for and will also see her in the role of a little later on. And that brings us to the circumstances that lead to the first ocean battle against Godzilla…

 

 

….As this is a long review paced to come out over the course of this week, I will stop here temporarily. Over the coming days, you can watch the review come out on the blog here, and the full video will release this Friday. So, stay tuned for the ocean battle against Godzilla into act 2 of the film in a couple days and a third part finishing the film with some conclusions a couple days after that.

 

Consequently, that makes this week quite kaiju heavy, but we have a vast catalog of other cult materials you can interact with on this blog. If you do like the kaiju stuff but would prefer other subjects than Minus One, these links below may help to tide you over.

 

Blog posts

 

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2023/06/review-godzilla-versus-kong-2021-remake.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/06/a-nuanced-deconstruction-of-godzilla-x.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/06/part-two-nuanced-deconstruction-of.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/07/part-three-nuanced-deconstruction-of.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/11/godzilla-vs-mechagodzilla-ii-strengths.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/11/part-two-godzilla-vs-mechagodzilla-ii.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/11/part-three-godzilla-vs-mechagodzilla-ii.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/12/how-i-came-to-love-godzilla-vs.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2025/03/introduction-to-jun-fukuda-plan9crunch.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2025/03/march-godzilla-film-releases-ranked-jun.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2014/03/godzilla-is-on-this-authors-mind.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2021/12/godzilla-2000-review.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2010/02/godzilla-versus-monster-zero.html

 

Kaiju Playlist on Plan9Crunch YouTube link:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzpsBkJrfDIEBg2cFH6uobJXIPocsfuWs&si=Kl1yE3m8eRvU_YP5

 

 

Outlaw Motorcycles, 1966, an early genre documentary

Review by Doug Gibson

On this blog, I recently reviewed the semi-obscure "The Last of the American Hoboes," a late '60s feature-length documentary/narrative film history of hoboes. It was directed by Titus Moede (Moody), an iconoclastic actor/director/camerman/screenwriter/photographer who shot his films on a shoestring budget, when he could shoot them.

Moede died in 2001. I've long wanted to see an earlier documentary/narrative he bundled together. It's "Outlaw Motorcycles," 1966, a 35-minute short. Like "... Hoboes," it knocked around the basements of film distribution, with Moede selling many copies of both at a Los Angeles "mondo" film store, and through mail order. Both films entered the century largely ignored; neither was placed on the now-defunct TCM Underground. Both would have been ideal choices. In late 2023, both films were part of the several-films offering "Lost Picture set" Blu-Ray from Vinegar Syndrome. "Outlaw Motorcycles" was an extra for "The Last of the American Hoboes."I've seen both recently because "...Hoboes" is playing on Tubi. "...Motorcycles," for the time being, is on YouTube.

So, what do I think of "Outlaw Motorcycles?" Like "Hoboes," it's not a great film, but it's a fascinating time-capsule effort that merits more attention. This wasn't the first movie to feature motorcyclists, but it was very likely one of a just a few that was open-minded about its subjects. In this film law enforcement, while not overtly villains, are represented as individuals with power who will hassle the motorcycle gangs of that era.

Moede, who has solid history as a working actor, was a bohemian. While some scenes are staged -- as in "Hoboes," -- he walked the talk. The majority of participants belong to the motorcycle gangs that traversed California roads. Much of it was shot outdoors, and you can feel the uneasiness and/or fascinations people of that era felt watching the gangs.

The print I viewed was faded. Much of the dialogue (like "Hoboes") was probably dubbed later or just barely heard due to the low budget. But much of the film delivers authenticity. I particularly enjoyed the scene of a "biker wedding." The groom, after kissing his bride, gives several male biker buddies smooches on the lips. Another strong scene is a biker gang member's funeral.

The film has a scene where members of a biker gang meet and decide to raise money to buy lunches for victims during the Watts riots. The scene is probably staged but I'll accept that it occured. Like "Hoboes," it's strengthened by Moede's contacts and ability to go to locations that other films did not offer. In one scene a motorcycle gang member sports a Nazi swastika. I had though that association was a cliche, but apparently not.

Viewers learn in the film what a motorcycle gang's "mama" is. I'll keep it a secret. It leads to likely the most notorious/popular scene: a visit to a tattoo location where two "mamas" receive tattoos on two personal parts of the body. Gordon Barclay, an actor friend of Moede's who wrote and acted in "Hoboes," is the tattoo artist. I've read this film was banned in some locations. This scene is likely the reason. One shot in the scene, involving one of the "mamas," may be iconic. I know I've seen it before. It has the word "property" in it.

It's very low-budget, the film can plod at times, but it's an important film. Like Andy Milligan's early '60s short "Vapors," (a film about a NYC bathhouse) it provides a non-judgmental look at a culture that contemporary America -- at that time -- almost universally shunned and disliked.