On The Edge Films Issue #1: GODZILLA

Volume 2, issue 1

May/ June

In this issue:

Where it all started: Ishirô Honda’s Godzilla

Gareth Edward’s Monsters

Where it all went wrong: Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla

The Return of Kaiju #1: Godzilla (2014)

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On The Edge Films is a fledgling venture which seeks to give young film writers a platform to be crea-tive and express themselves.

Back in 2012 I started OTE as part of a module at University. It has since transformed from an assign-ment into my greatest achievement. I have a fantastic team of writers from all different backgrounds who constantly supply me with reviews and articles that push the scope of film writing on a weekly ba-sis.

When it came to launching our first issue we couldn’t think of a better film to climb on the back of than Godzilla. After all he is one of cinema’s most recognisable icons. We formulated this issue around Gareth Edward’s revival and used his three key tasks 1. To pay tribute to the Japanese original 2. To build an impressive follow up to his debut Monsters and 3. To abolish all memories of Roland Emmerich’s version as our framework. Over the next few pages we’ll take you on that journey.

We are proud to support Godzilla and we are proud to have made this issue. Thank you for picking it up and enjoy reading what’s inside!!!

Cover artist– Gethin Oliver

Gethin is a freelance graphic artist, designer and illustrator situated along the south-coast of England. His work follows an exploration through hand-rendered and digital illustration, which can be experienced within a myriad of artistic avenues. Through working closely with the fields of music, film, street apparel and envi-ronmental design, Gethin has built up a portfolio filled with exciting imagery which not only aims to please the viewer, but engage them with quirky ideas and satire.

The young university graduate also works with a passion for building towards our sustainable future. Through projects exploring the impact humanity has on our environment, he has helped raise awareness for charities and organizations related to the protection of the Artic as well as the Amazon Rainforest.

Gethin will be displaying his work at the Plymouth College of Art Summer Show in June before heading down to London for the New Designers exhibition in July. At these shows, he will be displaying work in the fields of children’s book illustration, innovations for interior design, as well as educa-tional devices for environmental sustainability.

Gethin is continuously working on personal, commissioned and collaborative designs while building a brand that reflects his own ideals, interests and pas-sions.

www.behance.net/gethinoliver

www.godesign.bigcartel.com

[email protected]

@gezlightning

Welcome to On The Edge Films A message from the editor, Josh Senior

Page 2 ISSUE #1: GODZILLA

Where it all started: Ishirô Honda’s Godzilla By Benjamin Halford


Out at sea, a ship of civilians is sunk in a massive explo-sion and on a visit to a nearby island a team of scientists learn about the ex-istence of "Gojira" (Godzilla)

a massive beast who terrorises the island from time to time and who is given a sacrifice in order to improve fishing, ac-cording to the locals. At first, Godzilla is nothing more than a curiosity and a minor level threat, but then the beast arrives in Tokyo, looking to destroy mankind, who has awoken his rage by running tests of nuclear weapons.

It becomes very clear early on that Godzilla could be read as

an allegory for the darker side of Japanese history in the 20th

century up to that point. The obvious comparison leads to

the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (indeed,

the bombing of Nagasaki is mentioned outright at one point

in the film) there's also moments that lend comparisons to

the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake that devastated Tokyo, con-

troversies surrounding Japan's Axis-powers allegiance and

the fire bombings on the same city during the war. Given

that the film was released in 1954, as Japan was on the verge

of the post-war economic miracle that would see it trans-

formed from a European-influenced, partially-industrialised

nation into an economic and technological powerhouse in its

own right, the sense of an impending change is in the air, es-

pecially given the plan to take down Godzilla. But it is seen

through a very tentative perspective. A nation scarred by

war and tragedy that may, in order to survive, stumble right

back into hardship.

Under the direction of leading sci-fi direc-tor Ishirô Honda, there's an air intensity about the film right from the start, with the pulsating (and actually still rather modern-sounding) theme from Akira Ifu-kube whilst Godzilla roars over the music. Honda's style is economical, like many films of its kind, what character develop-ment there is is carried along in an ever-moving plot. Still, interesting side charac-ters appear, most notably Serizawa, a scarred and eye patch-wearing scientist representing the trepidation surrounding the progress of modern science and Yama-ne, an older and more in some ways ambi-tious scientist played by a favourite of Honda's friend and contemporary Akira Kurosawa, Takashi Shimura. A brilliant and expressive actor as shown here, in Sev-en Samurai and his leading role in Ikiru.

Yes, the Godzilla franchise is a monster of

its own, but Honda's 1954 original foray

into the story of a giant reptile stomping

Japan is a great feat in its own right, by

bringing together a definite influence from

1933's King Kong and mirroring to Japan's

own fears for its society, Godzilla is truly a

marvel.

Audiences should be fully aware that a new rendition of the classic Godzilla franchise is

about to rear its monolithic reptilian head and kick-start the season of summer block-busters which is quickly dawning upon us.

Given that the previous Hollywood Godzilla production was the inconceivably dull 1998 monstrosity – Godzilla (2014) is a film which audiences can actually look forward to with optimism with it being helmed by Monsters

(2010) director, Gareth Edwards.

Gareth Edwards’ confident debut may have been re-

leased in the shadow of the subtly similar South African

megahit – District 9, but Monsters undoubtedly re-

mains as good a picture, per-

haps even bet-ter. In hind

sight.


Gareth Edwards’ Monsters By Liam Hathaway

Firstly, its very modest budget of only $500,000

does not reflect on screen as Monsters genu-

inely looks as if it cost $15 - $25 million to make at least. Edwards is evidently a

director who knows how to put every penny onto screen without cramming CGI onto every square

inch of the frame or exploding everything.

In some respects, Edwards has created an ‘anti-monster movie’ – the focal point of Monsters is not

actually monsters – they are merely a normalized aspect of the diegesis and narrative which involves a photojournalist escorting his employer’s daughter to

U.S. soil over quarantined territory.

The focus is the relationship that is forming between these two out-of-sorts characters as they spend time with each other – a relationship that is genuine as the actors got married in real-life.

As for the scenes with Monsters – they are handled astonishingly; considering the budget, the effects are remarkable, yet subtle so to not overshadow the actual characters.

Despite the film’s title, the glowing Octopi-like crea-tures somewhat resemble the mystical underwater aliens in James Cameron’s The Abyss – they are not really monstrous at all – to some, they may actually look beau-tiful. However, one genuine-ly tense sequence takes place inside of a stationary vehicle as the monsters are attacking outside – evoking the ac-claimed ‘T-Rex vs. Jeep’ sce-ne in Jurassic Park.

Looking back, Monsters was an interesting feature and with Godzilla’s release date fast approach-ing (15/05/2014), fans can look for-ward to it with the knowledge that someone who has previously demon-strated real flair with a tight budget was sat in the director’s chair of the upcoming feature. Gareth Edwards has definitely proved himself more-than-capable, let us see if he can de-liver on an even larger scale!

Page 5 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1

Shameless Hollywood capitalism tends to rub peo-ple up the wrong way, especially when it comes to remaking established East Asian classics. What’s irksome about Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla is not that it’s a substandard redressing of a fantastic film, but that it ignorantly decontextualizes the monster which, in Ishirô Honda’s original, repre-sents the terrors America inflicted upon Japan with the A-bomb. No matter where you stand on the politics of World War II, America in 1998 had nev-er experienced anything on the scale of the Hiro-shima/Nagasaki bombings, and given that the monster originally symbolised the effects of a terror at the behest of the Americans, it’s unclear where the gall to remake Godzilla came from.

Yet viewing the movie without regard to its roots doesn’t do it any favours either. It’s appearance at a time when the western world was rife with millennial dread positions Godzilla arrived squarely within a slew of big-budget disaster movies linked to fears of the Y2K bug, among them Twister, Deep Impact, Armageddon and Emmerich’s own Independence Day. Relevance barely comes into it, however, when the studio’s sole overbearing interest was to cash in on the success of Jurassic Park and its sequel.

Co-writer and producer Dean Devlin would later suggest, in an interview with Bloody Disgusting, that Godzilla 98’s failure was entirely his own fault, decrying his one-liners-by-numbers script while vapidly praising Emmerich’s “amazing job at direction”. But don’t be fooled; Godzilla trudges through its over-sized running time without ever arousing a single iota of tension, every dingy sequence completely lack-ing in vibrancy and zero charisma emitting from any of the actors. The downfall of this project was a disappointingly collaborative process.

Certain individuals even seem to put less than no effort in, such as Jean Reno, who is capable of good things yet here acts as though he was out to single-handedly sabotage the entire movie. Too bad Emmerich and Devlin beat him to the punch; Godzilla’s only qualities were its special effects, impressive for 1998 yet rendered as flat and dull as the rest of the film as time progressed. What’s left is an often cringe-worthy portrayal of aston-ishing human stupidity and bizarre logic, such as when weedy little Matthew Broderick manages to kick a 9-foot baby Godzilla out of a lift; but even then, the movie doesn’t have the decency to be laughably bad. It’s just flatly, flatulently terri-ble. Your move, Gareth Edwards.

Where it all went wrong: Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla By Liam Ball

Page 6 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1

The Return of Kaiju #1: Godzilla circa’ 2014 By Josh Senior


Since Warner Brothers acquired the rights to Godzilla in 2010 the question has lingered “how do you make Godzilla a marketable and interesting commodity again?” This is particularly difficult considering the less than tepid 1998 incarnation from Roland Emmerich. Since then Godzilla has gathered dust on the movie shelf. Now, Godzilla lives.

Yet, by all rights this newest iteration shouldn’t really exist. Directed by Gareth Edwards of low budget Monsters fame, written by the relatively unknown Max Borenstein and starring a cast of actors (Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor- Johnson, and Elizabeth Olsen) grounded in independent films and television, 2014’s Godzilla is an entirely different beast. The approach here has been to place the weight of expectancy for this cinematic behemoth in rather inexperienced hands.

This take on the Godzilla story refreshes the char-acter’s Japanese/ Honda origins and pits him in the middle of a battle between mankind and other unnamed monster aggressors. We are forced to side with Godzilla who appears from the ocean’s depths like an old Samurai to re-establish Earth’s natural order.

Edwards’ Godzilla is slightly a victim of indeci-sion. It’s as if the director couldn’t decide between making the film strictly a blockbuster or a piece of high art.. It falls somewhere in between yet fails to satisfy either category. The film is broken into three acts noticeable for their apparent shift in genre from political thriller to high speed chase and end-ing up as the monster brawl it teases to become for over an hour. The film can’t decide which character is the lead, Bryan Cranston is cut criminally short and Aaron Taylor- Johnson assumes responsibility for the entirety of Earth’s safety with a series of death defying acts of self-sacrifice.

The faults detract from Edward’s intentions, outside of the leading cast characters feel underdeveloped and type cast. Merely there to sign post the action that takes place. Keith Watanabe’s scientist is there for the cultural link and to utter sections of prose famously repeated in the trailer. The pacing is rather clunky and attempts to build anticipation for the film’s final third. This however materialises into impatience as we await the monster showdown.

Credit where credits due though Edwards and co. have come up with something that does manage to entertain and satisfy that itch that has needed a scratch since 98’. The ending sequence is fantastic and more than makes up for any niggling errors and dead pan performances. You become a part of mankind’s des-peration as San Francisco is smashed to pieces. It makes a pertinent point about man’s attempts with creation, after all the monsters in the film feed off of energy we produce. When this finally clicks everyone turns to Godzilla for help and he is happy oblige our screams of terror (even if he instigates some of his own).

If the job was to give Godzilla new legs to stand on then the film has achieved this by literally building them two miles high. As the titanic reptile slips back into the ocean at the film’s ending we can see a bright future for the character and the franchise. When our anti-hero returns a more calculated story could make this generation’s Godzilla the legend he deserves to be. Only time will tell.

Disclaimer:

In the words of Abraham Lincoln On The Edge Films is a magazine “of the people,

for the people”. All of the content and artwork in this issue is original material from

our team of writers and graphic designers.

This is a not for profit piece of creativity that seeks to entertain, educate and inspire.

If you have a problem with anything we are trying to achieve please forward all

your complaints to the trash can… we’re not interested.

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On The Edge Films Issue #1: GODZILLA