Bill: I want to talk about the roar in 2014 Godzilla and the effort they put into.

Bill: So they were asked to revamp it while paying homage to it.

Bill: They spent six months over the three-year production experimented with different techniques.

Bill: They used microphones that could record sound inaudible to human ears.

Bill: They recorded hundreds of sounds at 192 kilohertz before slowing them down to

Bill: an audible range until they stumbled upon the combination that worked.

Bill: The final version was the 50th the team produced.

Bill: They tested it on a backlight at Warner Brothers using a 100,000-watt Tor speaker

Bill: array for the Rolling Stones.

Bill: It was powerful enough to rattle pipes and rooftops and was estimated that it

Bill: could be heard up to three miles away.

Bill: They sent out flyers warning surrounding neighbors in the community about the

Bill: sound disruption because they thought even with preventative measures,

Bill: people would be able to hear it.

Ward: That's fucking sick.

Bill: So it is truly like, it is a unique creation for this film.

Bill: While also, again, like I said, like that is one of the reasons I love this movie so much.

Bill: Like they really truly pay homage to the original, the bones of the original

Bill: film and Godzilla as a concept are throughout this film, always there. They never ignored it.

Bill: Hello, and welcome to Left of the Projector. I'm your host, Bill,

Bill: back again with another film discussion from the left.

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Bill: that drop every Tuesday.

Bill: Now, on to the show. This week on the show, we are continuing our series on

Bill: Gareth Edwards films with the 2014 film Godzilla.

Bill: It was the first American Godzilla installation since the abomination that is

Bill: the 1998 version, and that is a hoof.

Bill: We really prefer not to acknowledge its existence.

Bill: It was the first Godzilla film following the Millennium Era in Japan.

Bill: It was a massive commercial success, making over $529 million worldwide.

Bill: As we'll see, there are a lot of themes that are present in the original 1954 Godzilla film,

Bill: as it harkens back to the idea that Godzilla and the atomic testing of the 1950

Bill: are intrinsically linked i am bill your host today with or my well my co-hosts evan.

Evan: Hello i'm here with you today as well talking godzilla.

Bill: And ward how's.

Ward: It going happy to be here.

Bill: Guys tell me uh let's talk a little bit about what how we feel about godzilla

Bill: leaving me for last as the super fan i.

Ward: Mean i like big scary monster i mean i could be a bigger fan definitely not

Ward: like a big Godzilla expert, but I like Big Scary Monster, and I enjoyed watching this movie.

Ward: I don't know if I enjoyed it nearly as much as you, Bill, but...

Ward: I can't wait to take a couple of jabs at you because of this.

Bill: Oh, jabs. Okay. All right.

Ward: I'm mostly like I got one.

Bill: Okay. All right. I'm looking forward to seeing what that is. I really want to know.

Ward: Nah, it's a very light jab.

Evan: Yeah. I mean, for me, we did, I don't know when this was, Bill,

Evan: like maybe three or four months ago, we did an episode on the original Godzilla film, 1954.

Evan: And for me, generally, as I like Godzilla, I've only seen maybe a handful of, massive franchise.

Evan: I think there's 38 total films, including some of the newer American ones.

Evan: The one thing I'll say about this one versus just as far as a film goes,

Evan: I like the way that it seems to not ignore the historic film.

Evan: aspects of the franchise going back to the original film

Evan: and so i originally didn't love

Evan: this movie when i watched it when it came out i watched it about a

Evan: year ago and i'm like well it's okay this time for

Evan: this episode i watched it again and i liked it

Evan: a little more and i don't know this feels like one of those

Evan: ones where maybe by the end of this episode i'll maybe either have

Evan: a greater appreciation for it or i'll be

Evan: like fuck this movie but probably not wow i

Evan: don't think that's actually the case but i did like

Evan: and i think one of my favorite aspects of this movie and

Evan: i this is not i don't know the series so tell me if this is wrong it seemed

Evan: very like spielberg asked to really kind of hide godzilla from the audience

Evan: for a long period of time so that when he finally does make the appearance it's

Evan: like it's it's just it's better it's uh that's.

Bill: That's something that's you know it's not entirely like not presence with it

Bill: present within Godzilla, you

Bill: know, the original Godzilla, he was also pretty hidden for a long time.

Evan: That's true.

Bill: You know, he peaked a little bit. And then if we look at some of the more,

Bill: uh, recent installations that kind of harken back to the original Godzilla,

Bill: like Shin Godzilla or Godzilla minus one, both of those movies also really,

Bill: you know, I mean, Shin Godzilla, there's a long period of Shin Godzilla,

Bill: like it shows up and then he disappears for like quite an extensive period Yeah.

Bill: It's not a completely absent concept within Godzilla films.

Evan: I don't even say that as a negative. I think that's actually a positive.

Bill: No, I do as well. I think that a lot of the people of critics,

Bill: they complain about things like that.

Bill: I think critics in general often miss the point of Godzilla movies and they

Bill: either focus on one thing to the detriment of the other.

Bill: As for myself, I am a huge Godzilla fan. And I grew up like watching the original

Bill: Godzilla and the American remake and King Kong and all that stuff and Godzilla

Bill: versus Kong and all the original stuff.

Bill: Yeah, Godzilla is a huge, I'm a huge Godzilla fan.

Bill: I actually am looking at like Godzilla Mothra tattoos because I'm also a huge Mothra fan.

Bill: I love Mothra, especially I love the original Mothra, but I also really love

Bill: the legendary verse Mothra.

Bill: And that is an important thing. what we were talking about is the legendary,

Bill: uh, legendary universe of Godzilla.

Bill: This is got the American Godzillas are technically, and not technically,

Bill: they are explicitly, they're separate from the Japan cinematic universe.

Bill: They exist in parallel. They have to follow the same rules as the Japan cinematic

Bill: universe of Godzilla, but they are their own thing.

Bill: They do not exist within that universe.

Bill: So, you know, outside of things like, um, destroy all monsters,

Bill: you know, like you don't really see crossover between those things.

Bill: I think that the legendary, I love the legendary Godzilla movies,

Bill: the legendary monster verse in general.

Bill: I think that they don't get, they get a lot of flack from diehard,

Bill: you know, like old school Godzilla fans. Um, and I, um.

Bill: Think that is undeserved. I think they are.

Bill: I think the design of Godzilla in The Legendary Reverse is probably some of

Bill: the best Godzilla design ever done outside of minus one. Yeah, I love Godzilla.

Bill: This is one of my all-time favorite movies. I cried when Godzilla used his atomic

Bill: breath in this movie for the first time on screen and crushed my wife's hands in joy and passion.

Bill: so

Ward: I love that for you.

Bill: Yeah i i yeah i

Bill: just it's like because they still hearken this is one of those few these movies

Bill: are one of those few movies that they are taken off of like older material um

Bill: but they retain like the the real soul of the original they make it a point

Bill: to go back to it They make it a point to,

Bill: to use the effects,

Bill: the sound effects, the voice of the original series and work it into this along

Bill: with like the music and everything. They really make it a point to work it in.

Bill: So it's like they, they don't, unlike that fucking movie with Matthew Broderick,

Bill: they don't just like ignore the legacy. They really work things in.

Bill: And I think it's, it shows they, they respect the, the, the,

Bill: the character and the world.

Ward: Yeah, and as we were saying, not having a lot of the screen time for Godzilla

Ward: kind of slow burn style, I don't know, I just figured...

Ward: i'm not a big godzilla guy but like we recently

Ward: did monsters by gareth edwards and so i figured it

Ward: was like oh this is gareth edwards which is big monster

Ward: money dog like yeah he's slow burned in

Ward: monsters just like he slow burned teased it here and then like yeah you had

Ward: a long lingering shot of monsters but like he had no fucking real money to make

Ward: like an actual sizable lingering shot versus big monster big money yo let them fight like yeah.

Bill: Let them fight.

Ward: You know what i mean and so like i saw it through that lens is like maybe not

Ward: so much how it relates to like previous iterations of godzilla but just previous

Ward: iterations of gareth edwards films and i thought it was good let.

Evan: Me ask you this i couldn't really find much about this so we did the gareth

Evan: edward movies monsters which was a minuscule budget you know nothing this this

Evan: movie had a 160 million dollar budget in comparison obviously it's godzilla it was like the.

Ward: Basically illegally shot in several different countries yes for monsters like

Ward: this this is a completely different.

Evan: Thing so why do you think in your own opinion that they bring gareth edwards

Evan: in to make this movie like It just seems like this improbable,

Evan: I hate using the term like rags to riches, but it's like, you know,

Evan: he's this guy who made this low budget movie where he sort of teased monsters

Evan: and it had kind of a nice plot.

Evan: You know, it was kind of an interesting character study, less about the monsters.

Evan: And then they're like, yeah, this guy's the perfect guy for Godzilla.

Evan: And he respected the Godzilla sort of lore and he respected all of those things. I don't know.

Ward: In my typical continuing to bash Gareth Edwards fashion, it's because he's not

Ward: actually that anti-imperialist.

Ward: You could see the cooperation with the DoD in this movie. It was very present.

Ward: It was very present.

Bill: I have a thought on that.

Ward: You have a thought on that?

Bill: Yes.

Ward: Yes.

Ward: Go for it.

Bill: Okay. So that's actually like, that is a major criticism that this movie has

Bill: gotten about the military, the use of the military.

Bill: And I think that it is a fundamental misunderstanding and a misapprehension

Bill: of the way the military is presented in this movie and ties into the larger

Bill: reason they may have chosen Gareth Edwards after monsters.

Bill: And also the manner in which Godzilla in 2014.

Bill: Well, Godzilla in the legendary verse, how Godzilla in the legendary verse fundamentally

Bill: functions different than Godzilla in the classic, the Toho or, you know, um,

Bill: the millennium era, all that Godzilla has taken on many roles throughout his

Bill: history within the various like film series.

Bill: and the thing is it's like you know so like in 1954 like Godzilla represents

Bill: the atomic bomb that's what Godzilla represents and the idea that like you know humans like un.

Bill: Unleash devastation upon themselves. And while the nuclear aspect is present

Bill: in 2014 and the Legendary Reverse at large,

Bill: the fact of the matter is that Godzilla in 2014 and the Legendary Reverse does

Bill: not simply represent the atomic bomb.

Bill: Godzilla represents nature.

Bill: Godzilla represents the world and nature and the balance of ecology and this,

Bill: the way, and this is a, this is a trend throughout the film,

Bill: throughout the films, all the films about the idea that nature as a system has

Bill: a way of balancing itself and humans are part of that system.

Bill: And they continually think they control that system when they do not.

Bill: And that they basically need to be put in their place and monsters in a lot

Bill: of ways shows that that was a huge part of monsters when we talked about it

Bill: right like the fact that like the american military thinks they can control

Bill: the monsters they think they can bomb them and gas them into submission and what happens big.

Ward: L i mean like like the monsters there inherently don't really pose a threat

Ward: they're just you know they're big monsters right and then yeah the american military makes it worse.

Bill: Right the american military makes it worse and they

Bill: keep trying to control them and they just keep spreading instead

Bill: of like dealing with it and like learning to

Bill: live alongside with it they keep trying to kill

Bill: it and then it keeps spreading and moving past

Bill: and that is that really is the lesson of like godzilla and the kaiju of the

Bill: legendary verse it's the story of like these things are represent nature they

Bill: represent the fundamental power of nature and how you are part of that system

Bill: and You cannot defeat it, which brings me back to the military.

Bill: And I think that it is, to fast forward all the way to the end, at the end of the film.

Evan: Spoilers.

Bill: Yes. We see, the military is such...

Bill: a focus throughout this. But I will ask you this. What does the military ever do?

Evan: Fuck up. Nothing.

Bill: They do nothing. They never achieve anything meaningful. They never do anything

Bill: effective. They never achieve anything meaningful.

Bill: They do nothing. Right down to the final scene in which the main character, Ford, who stands in.

Bill: First of all, the only character, the only military character that we have a

Bill: one-on-one with deliberately dismisses the note, like when his father says to

Bill: him, how's the bomb building business?

Bill: And his immediate response is, I don't build bombs.

Bill: I disable them. I just, I dispose of them.

Ward: The only character- Immediately tries to church it up.

Bill: Right. Like he immediately, he's like, the only character, like the only character,

Bill: the only military character you're supposed to have any sympathy for in this

Bill: entire movie is the only person in the military who's like,

Bill: I'm in this for one reason and one reason only, and that is to defuse things.

Bill: I'm like, almost like the, you know, like, Gareth Edwards, they were given DOD

Bill: money and Gareth Edwards said, fine, I will take that.

Bill: The only person in this entire movie that's in the military that anyone cares

Bill: about will stand in, like, absolute opposition to the intended goal and purpose

Bill: of the military. and none of you will do anything useful.

Bill: Right down to the very last scene with Ford, well, not the last scene,

Bill: when Ford is on that boat trying to lure that bomb out,

Bill: And Godzilla shows, the Muto shows up, and this scene could not be more symbolic

Bill: of the purpose of the military in this movie.

Bill: The Muto shows up, stands over Ford, opens his mouth, and he goes to fire his

Bill: gun, and nothing happens. He does nothing. He can't even impotently fire at it.

Bill: He can do nothing. And what happens? As he's staring down the throat of the

Bill: Muto that's going to devour him,

Bill: Godzilla grabs the muto and kills it the military is completely and utterly

Bill: ineffective throughout this entire movie yeah they're constantly tracking.

Evan: The mutos and they like can't actually.

Bill: Can't do shit.

Ward: They also i mean they provide a lot of uh

Ward: filming scenes on the aircraft carrier yeah

Ward: and um yeah no i definitely

Ward: saw points where like you can see like the the dod rewrite where

Ward: it's like why the fuck would monarch cede fucking operational

Ward: control over this situation to the fucking

Ward: u.s navy and also why the fuck would

Ward: monarch brief some random ass navy lieutenant

Ward: from eod into what the secrecy of

Ward: fucking monarch is and then go oh yeah um good

Ward: luck getting back to the states just no no

Ward: no they wouldn't fucking do that no no so here's

Ward: an interesting if you wanted it for the story's sake you could rework it where it's

Ward: like oh he witnessed while like trapped in the van he saw the muto with his

Ward: own eyes and he was the only one who actually saw it so he's actually important

Ward: now so we got to keep him with us and oh he also actually has some skill sets

Ward: but like you're also not convincing me that a halo lieutenant a navy lieutenant

Ward: knows how to fucking do a halo jump

Ward: No, no, I can't speak to that.

Evan: Tom Cruise can do a halo jump. I bet he could do it.

Ward: No, not some random, some random Navy lieutenant. No, no.

Evan: Well, so here's something that's maybe not directly related,

Evan: but somewhat related to kind of like how the military is.

Evan: And I was reading up about this is some of it's in the Wikipedia,

Evan: but I was reading a few articles separate from it that is linked to it.

Evan: They're talking about how they created the script and also how Edwards came

Evan: on. Apparently the script went through like a number of rewrites.

Evan: And the final rewrite was Frank Darabon, who people probably know from,

Evan: you know, he's done Nightmare on Elm Street.

Evan: He did The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Mist. Like he's big into

Evan: a lot of those Stephen King adaptations.

Evan: And, you know, known for not shying away when it comes to, if you've seen The

Evan: Mist, you know what I'm talking about.

Evan: But he apparently said that when they were writing it, they couldn't figure

Evan: out how to, you know, make it so Godzilla shows up in the 50s.

Evan: They allude to the fact that all the testing of atomic bombs was not testing.

Evan: They were trying to kill Godzilla, and they failed. And then Godzilla just kind of disappears.

Evan: And they couldn't figure out, oh, how is it going to be believable that no one

Evan: knew where Godzilla was this whole time?

Evan: So that's where they created the idea of, like, what is the Monarch as sort

Evan: of, like, the group, international group that's basically both trying to get

Evan: rid of Godzilla but also hide his existence.

Evan: And so, I mean, I think it's, like, a good—that just was kind of,

Evan: like, leading me to the idea of Monarch and, like, what you think about that.

Evan: And that's kind of part of this new U.S.

Evan: version of the Godzilla universe is this secret organization.

Bill: Monarch has existed throughout the history of Godzilla.

Evan: Okay, well, fuck me. I don't know what to put it on.

Bill: Yeah, no, Monarch is not new to...

Ward: Um and does that include soviet nuclear testing hey.

Evan: Hey whoever edits this episode cut that stupid part out.

Ward: Yeah cut that shit out does that include soviet nuclear testing was

Ward: also an attempt to deal with that or is this like a portrayal it's never mentioned

Ward: it's just a portrayal it's just like an attempt to be like hey we americans

Ward: uh we weren't entirely bad with all of our nuke testing some of it was to stop

Ward: try to stop godzilla okay oh.

Bill: Wait no i'm sorry monarch no i'm sorry Monarch was created by a legendary.

Bill: I am thinking of, there is another.

Evan: Oh, there was another.

Bill: Yeah.

Evan: Okay. So it makes me feel slightly better, but it makes sense that it's like

Evan: the idea that someone, that there is some sort of secret organization.

Evan: And part of the idea of like, there being the secret organization of Monarch

Evan: also like the, for anyone out there who is like me and is maybe not like the

Evan: biggest Godzilla fan, but likes it in these kinds of movies,

Evan: I would recommend the show Monarch, which I thought was quite,

Evan: was, was actually, I think it's better than these movies personally,

Evan: but that's, That's an aside.

Ward: I haven't watched it at all. I need to check it out.

Bill: See, that's the thing that I was saying. It's like, Godzilla serves different

Bill: purposes in different movies.

Bill: And it's like, in this one, Godzilla is very much meant to be the representative

Bill: of like, he is the allegory. He is the metaphor.

Bill: He is nature. He stands in as that whole thing. And then there are other movies

Bill: like Godzilla X Kong. It's like,

Bill: or like New Kingdom, where it's like, yeah, he's a giant monster.

Bill: That's what he's there. He's there to beat up other monsters.

Bill: That's what Godzilla's there.

Bill: Like, that's a monster movie. It's just a bunch of monsters fighting.

Bill: And it's like, they can exist, you know, together, you know.

Evan: I mean, it's very clearly implied by the doctor in this movie, the Godzilla 2014.

Bill: Shirazawa?

Evan: What is his name? Shirazawa. Like, he seems like, as the movie unfolds,

Evan: and his sort of, they don't really listen to him really at all.

Evan: Like the military does not really listen to him.

Evan: They kind of have him around, you know, just in case they might need his expertise.

Evan: But he seems to have the concept of the fact that Godzilla will eventually come and kill these Mudos,

Evan: and then disappear into the night, like end of a Western movie,

Evan: because he very clearly understands that balance concept, whereas the military

Evan: doesn't care about that.

Evan: They don't believe that to be true. they just have they're just trying to kill

Evan: him and it's funny that they often are like yeah we need to avoid civilian casualties

Evan: i'm like when is the military ever fucking try to avoid military casualties

Evan: like that would be a fucking first i like the character i wish they used him more shirozawa i.

Bill: Love shirozawa um i mean he's in the second movie as well um but yeah he really

Bill: sets the tone of, he is the voice of the, like, metaphor for the film.

Bill: That Godzilla is the concept of nature, and how Godzilla is there as an,

Bill: almost as a lesson to humanity that their hubris will no longer be

Bill: can not be tolerated, you know, because really that's, you know,

Bill: it's to go back to like the atomic testing.

Bill: It's, it's still tied into that idea that it's like humans think they can control

Bill: things and they can't, and they need to learn.

Bill: And this is a, a, this is a concept that's like revisited throughout the,

Bill: like the legendary verse.

Bill: Um, as you continue in these movies, which are not Gareth Edwards,

Bill: but it's still like, it's like laid in there that like,

Bill: you know, humans have to learn how to like coexist with things

Bill: which when when godzilla

Bill: the original godzilla was made the big

Bill: lesson the big fear of the time was atomic testing

Bill: atomic bombs humans had split the atom and the destruction of that and this

Bill: movie is very much of its time as well than that like what is our biggest fear

Bill: now like our planet is going to be uninhabitable because we fucking broke it.

Bill: Like that nature is going to come back and through like natural processes that

Bill: we have destabilized, it is going to make it uninhabitable for us.

Bill: And the only way that we will move forward is by understanding and knowing our

Bill: place within nature as opposed to separating ourselves from it entirely.

Ward: I'll agree with that but at the same

Ward: time last few years i have been urging people to

Ward: understand how imminent like nuclear holocaust like

Ward: apocalypse is like we are like

Ward: these last few years how we're pushing for fucking nuclear war yeah and like

Ward: that's like even more so now yes um talking like oh golden dome's gonna make

Ward: nuclear war not just possible but easy in 2014 It seemed that was not a topic,

Ward: though. Yeah, no, definitely not a topic.

Ward: But I mean, since the Russian-Ukraine conflict has popped off,

Ward: we have been closer and closer, almost to the point of Cuban Missile Crisis at times,

Ward: of fucking nuclear disaster.

Ward: And there's no talks of detente, no talks of fucking treaties or de-escalation.

Ward: It's just, oh, no, no, no, we can figure out how one side can win a nuclear war.

Bill: Yeah, that's a different bunch.

Ward: Yeah, no, I think everyone should definitely be more worried about the reality

Ward: of nuclear holocaust, nuclear annihilation on planet Earth right now.

Ward: And then if we somehow the people who like fucking led us into like Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya,

Ward: fucking all this current shit that we're dealing with now somehow steer us out

Ward: of nuclear disaster, they still have to figure out climate collapse right around

Ward: the corner. So, yeah, it's not looking great.

Evan: Let me ask you this. This is more like about the movie and like the idea of MUTOs in the universe.

Evan: So as part of like the opening to this plot, I think you mentioned that this

Evan: kind of it starts in 1954 as you kind of understand that there's this Godzilla creature.

Evan: They're trying to kill him with nuclear weapons. Then it goes into 1999 where

Evan: they have this in the Philippines and they're doing like a uranium mine which collapses.

Evan: Is it supposed to be obvious that the mining is what causes them to just see this pod.

Evan: Like a spore or whatever, like a giant spore where the monster is?

Evan: They just happen to come across it because...

Evan: chrysalis like they find they find one that's dormant

Evan: and one that's hashed and it's leading into the sea and then they sort of gets

Evan: you then you get the nuclear power plant um disaster which is you know kind

Evan: of covered up and you don't really know what happened when you learn later that

Evan: it was because of you know the muto and god you know talking to each other wait what's the,

Evan: i guess i'm asking is like what's the point of having the philippine showing

Evan: the you know our you know imperialism what do they have

Evan: they even give it a name what's it called uh oh universal

Evan: western mining very uh yeah just like the universal corporation evil bad corporation

Evan: i know but it has a perfect name like universal western like the west and mining

Evan: you know very perfect and i guess is that the radiation from all of what they're

Evan: they're doing leads to it and it just seems like stupid question i.

Bill: Think it's more i mean i was sort of like they just keep digging and it's like

Bill: they don't pay attention to things they just you know like they just uncover

Bill: things they they shouldn't be uncovering it's it's like the the the dwarves in the mines of moria,

Bill: they dug too deep it's like rain of fire yeah yeah.

Evan: Oh there's the balrog whoops yeah.

Bill: They dug too deep oops all monsters yeah yeah.

Evan: But if but if they hadn't dug do you think they wouldn't of woken it up.

Bill: I don't think so no i think it ties it ties back to the notion of like humans

Bill: just doing what humans do and they should stop doing shit like stop stop act stop thinking.

Ward: We can fucking control.

Bill: Everything stop.

Ward: Just digging in the ground thinking you know exactly what the fuck you're doing

Ward: you know maybe put some fucking thought into what we're doing.

Bill: Yeah not just profit it's just it's all about hubris it's just humans just do

Bill: whatever the fuck they want without the thinking of like the consequences.

Bill: And, you know, this is what they got. Giant monsters.

Evan: I do love in the movie the actor who plays, I think his character is, the Admiral Stentz.

Evan: He's played by David Strathairn. Like, you've seen him in a million freaking movies.

Evan: He's in all of the Jason Bourne movies. Like, as that, you know,

Evan: the guy at the helm, you know, like calling all the shots.

Evan: And he's fucking awesome in this movie. He's a great actor. And he's just good in that role.

Evan: Yeah, he's a good actor. I loved him in this. And we also didn't,

Evan: we didn't mention that, you know, uh, the father of the Navy guy is,

Evan: um, played by Brian Cranston.

Evan: Unfortunately not in the movie that long, but, you know, we love Brian Cranston.

Bill: Yeah, I do think that it probably,

Bill: you know, to rewind this entire thing, to go back to the original,

Bill: the start of the entire movie, that, you know, the entire beginning of the movie has to do with nuclear,

Bill: a nuclear power plant in Japan.

Bill: and it's destabilization and

Bill: meltdown due to the escape

Bill: muto um the awoken

Bill: muto borrowing into it and you know going to consume the radiation because that's

Bill: a recurring theme that most of the kaiju and the monsterverse like they sustain

Bill: themselves on radiation to some degree or another and yeah brian cranston as

Bill: the like i guess head engineer.

Ward: Yeah nuclear walter white yeah speaking

Ward: about nuclear walter white like dude how heartbreaking

Ward: it is that he has to fucking close the fucking door

Ward: on his wife yeah and like i i dude i would lose my shit i'd go crazy too if

Ward: that was me i had to do that to like do that to my wife i would just hope that

Ward: like i think i at least raised my kid well enough that she when she grew up

Ward: she wouldn't join the military,

Ward: you know she wouldn't be that desperate um

Ward: i would like at least got some instilled in her like you don't join join the

Ward: imperialist this the imperialist organization but um but yeah no i'd uh i'd

Ward: definitely lose my fucking shit after losing my wife like that yeah and especially

Ward: in a conspiratorial sense dude oh yeah i'd be fucking hunting for the truth absolutely the.

Evan: One thing great about this movie and i think in they're talking about that in

Evan: the the uh darabon's uh like writing of the script was to have less focus specifically

Evan: around Godzilla and actually having meaningful,

Evan: fully developed characters, which you do get in this movie pretty well,

Evan: even if maybe the characters aren't the best, you know, people necessarily all the time.

Evan: But, you know, showing, you know, the, the, what,

Evan: what happens to Brian Cranston's character from having to literally see his

Evan: wife does die of radiation behind a door that he has to physically well like

Evan: not physically close but close behind as you're saying and i mean he goes into

Evan: like a deep depression it's up to.

Ward: Him to hit the button.

Evan: Yeah he's.

Ward: Getting yelled at to close the door so i'm pretty sure they don't have a button

Ward: anywhere else to close that door.

Evan: Yeah yeah that's right show.

Bill: Him hit the button.

Evan: As his wife at the last second like just in the right moment too That scene is heartbreaking.

Bill: It's a terrifying scene. The way it's shot where you can actually see the irradiated

Bill: smoke billowing down the hallway and then they turn to him screaming is intense.

Ward: It's terrifying.

Bill: Yeah.

Evan: And then she, you know, I'm assuming the death from that is very painful and horrible.

Ward: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Ward: It's not great.

Bill: I'm sure it was probably faster than most people that die of terrible radiation

Bill: poisoning, but I don't think it was, you know, I don't think it was great.

Evan: And I guess to add to this, I mean, maybe it wasn't obvious,

Evan: but then their son, who's played by Aaron Taylor Johnson, then joins the U.S.

Evan: Navy and is the, what's it called? EOD? Is that his?

Ward: Yeah, EOD, yeah. Explosive Word in his disposal.

Bill: To be fair, I mean, it's not really fair, but like to like piggyback off of

Bill: like Ward's comment, like, you know, if like, you know, if my mother,

Bill: my wife died, like I, at least he's good.

Bill: Joe wasn't a great parent to start with.

Bill: Brian Cranston's character was not a great parent to start with.

Bill: He forgot his own birthday.

Bill: And the fact that his kid was trying to like celebrate it for him,

Bill: like clearly not the most present parent in the world.

Ward: Definitely.

Evan: Not nuclear.

Ward: Walter white yeah.

Evan: And it's very clear when he has to go then like rescue his dad of japan for

Evan: being arrested that they don't talk very much it seems like they just sort of

Evan: have a you know pretty bad uh relationship like he didn't like the and then

Evan: right and then brian cranson didn't know how old his grandchild was either like

Evan: yeah it's like dude come on really,

Evan: you're living in like this weird room with like conspiracy shit all over fair.

Ward: But he's also correct about his conspiracy so.

Evan: That's true that's not helping.

Bill: Yeah that's they're like to

Bill: be validated that doesn't help this kind of person no it doesn't at all no.

Evan: No yeah but he was correct he didn't think that i mean the,

Evan: Was the story that they were giving people in Japan was that it was just a meltdown and that was it?

Ward: Yeah, that it was a meltdown, that the whole island was irradiated,

Ward: dangerous levels of radiation, like whole nine yards.

Ward: But he had the readings beforehand that knew that there was something happening

Ward: that caused it and that it wasn't just a meltdown.

Ward: And then he had his buddy drop sono buoys for him outside the island and then

Ward: picked up those readings again and was like, I was right.

Bill: There is so much like in terms of world building,

Bill: there is so much done in this movie that competently and like very well done

Bill: lays out the further world building as these movies move forward,

Bill: including the sonar buoys, the tracking of the echolocation.

Bill: like this movie i don't

Bill: think gets enough credit like i don't think edwards and

Bill: like the script right like i don't think they get enough credit for the groundwork

Bill: they laid for the movies moving forward and how much work they put into creating

Bill: a cohesive lore behind the way these creatures function.

Bill: You know, the sonar thing is, it's a huge thing. We return to the whole,

Bill: like, sound throughout the movies.

Bill: And I really think that is a credit for that, as a world-building nerd.

Evan: Yeah, I, to be fair, I don't know that I remember The King of Mops is the sequel to this one that well.

Evan: I did not like the Godzilla vs. Kong movie.

Evan: If you can be mad at me at another time about that.

Evan: But, like, to speak to the world-building, I think that it's very well done

Evan: to, you know, the way they created it and all the human side of it.

Evan: And there's something else I was going to say. Uh,

Evan: I know what it was. How come the baby Godzilla's from the 1998 version didn't

Evan: grow up and hatch for this movie? Sorry.

Bill: I'm not engaging with that.

Ward: No, I like it. I like it. Bill, as the expert, I think you should have to answer it.

Evan: I think that they decided that movie, that was TriStar Pictures.

Bill: It doesn't exist. It's not part of this universe.

Ward: I don't like that answer.

Evan: That exists in the what is it?

Bill: The Broderick verse.

Evan: The Broderick verse.

Evan: No, I was going to say, what is it?

Bill: This movie very much establishes itself as if it is a modern day sequel to the original Godzilla.

Bill: It is very much meant to be rooted in the world of the 1954 Godzilla. Like, very much so.

Evan: It does. Because this came out before the Godzilla Minus 1, which I realize

Evan: is kind of like a prequel in a way of the original.

Evan: But they actually fit into that universe, too. It sort of feels like it kind

Evan: of could be dropped into there, and it makes sense.

Bill: Well, Godzilla Minus 1 is really, I mean.

Evan: Awesome?

Bill: Oh, yes, absolutely. So good. Godzilla Minus 1 is so good.

Ward: So fucking good.

Evan: It's actually my favorite Godzilla movie. Sorry, everyone.

Bill: It's totally worthy.

Evan: It's a correct opinion.

Bill: Absolutely like worthy like you know um statement i i would say that godzilla

Bill: minus one i don't think godzilla minus one really functions so much as a prequel

Bill: as godzilla minus one is basically a retelling of 1954 godzilla yeah.

Ward: That's what i felt yeah okay that's fair it was.

Bill: It was like.

Ward: A recreation of origins like the recreation new origin.

Bill: Yeah retelling.

Ward: Of the origin story yeah.

Bill: It is a it is a retelling it was great you know god.

Ward: It was so.

Bill: Fucking so good another movie i cried cried when it got so uh word uh listen

Bill: i just really like the roar okay,

Bill: it's it's iconic it's so good tell you it's meaningful to me but yes it is really

Bill: more of it it is a retelling um,

Bill: And, you know, so regardless of whether it's the 1934 one or Godzilla minus

Bill: one, 2014 is really meant to be rooted in that, like, universe and that, like, that timeline.

Bill: So the Broderick first does not get a factor into this at all.

Bill: That's the official term now. It's the Broderick first. There's one movie in it. And that's.

Ward: Is it really?

Bill: No. I made that up.

Ward: No.

Evan: I think that that film would be would land in, like, the Zack Snyder verse.

Evan: Sorry. If we have any Zack Snyder friends.

Ward: No don't put no don't no you just put it out in the universe the whole like

Ward: idea of a fucking zach snyder godzilla that's gonna happen now dude you fucked

Ward: up you fucking you just no there's.

Evan: There's no way that they would.

Ward: Let him.

Evan: Make a movie right like that one but they'd have to.

Bill: No toho actually has some real serious

Bill: like they do not again like i said like

Bill: even though like legendary the monster verse of

Bill: legendary is its own universe they still

Bill: have to follow the rules of like toho and the

Bill: way godzilla is treated within that

Bill: within movies like toho has basically they literally have a big room with like

Bill: all this like stuff like memorabilia from god and they take people into it they're

Bill: like these are the rules you have to follow and like they can't you can't not

Bill: follow those rules or you they

Bill: won't let you make a movie like that's just all there is to it like sacks.

Ward: And i are just gonna do with netflix like their fucking dumb.

Bill: Ass star wars shit that.

Evan: You try to first rule of Godzilla is that if you're first time fighting God,

Evan: if you're the first time there, you have to fight Godzilla or can't talk about

Evan: Godzilla. Sorry. It's not a terrible joke.

Ward: Yeah.

Bill: They have like very specific things. No, I don't think they will ever, um, allow, uh,

Bill: zack snyder to do anything so all right so some

Bill: of the the the big rules are godzilla never

Bill: dies first of all and godzilla does

Bill: not prey on people or things and we know that zack snyder would have to be like

Bill: all like edgy and dark and make godzilla like you know he'd fight batman or

Bill: something yeah like something really stupid and so they won't let that happen yeah do you want to do.

Ward: You want to see a petty godzilla.

Bill: Yeah this.

Ward: Is zack snyder would kill it the pettiest godzilla ever.

Bill: Yeah it's like i don't like a single.

Evan: Zack snyder movie so.

Bill: It's like a major thing which is like funny because like when you watch like

Bill: godzilla x kong new empire like you see kong like hunt down like he hunts and

Bill: eats like things but you know godzilla now that the only thing godzilla fights

Bill: is other kaiju that's it you know like that's it.

Ward: I was looking at the other godzilla so much like that's just a big guy chilling.

Bill: Until.

Ward: It's time to fight another big.

Bill: Monster. Mostly he just wants to nap.

Ward: Yeah, he just wants to nap and then it's like oh, time for somebody to catch

Ward: these hands? Alright, let's fucking do it.

Bill: It's like, I'm boss, let me nap, and if you won't let me nap, I will fuck you up.

Ward: Let's fucking run it, alright?

Bill: Let's do it.

Evan: I mean, and looking at the Monsterverse version, sort of these,

Evan: this american you know run of films is

Evan: that you see all the different co-stars as they

Evan: call them like the other monsters that are in it and it's sort of just an ex

Evan: i don't want to call it excuse but it's sort of like they're going to introduce

Evan: these other cool ass monsters and then godzilla's gonna have to save everyone

Evan: from uh themselves and kill them for for us because very marvel-esque well i

Evan: don't want to call it that is.

Ward: That what i thought.

Evan: You said it not insinuating I wasn't insinuating that I mean I was just kind

Evan: of saying I'll fucking say.

Ward: Everything's Marvel in America because everyone's 12.

Evan: The Marvelization of America it's everything's Marvel everyone's.

Bill: 12 it really comes like it's again you know it's the whole thing it's like you know,

Bill: Godzilla is very much represents like that balance of nature and

Bill: it's like this is out of hand he is they mean like

Bill: they refer to him like throughout he's the alpha like that's

Bill: the whole thing that's why like Kong and Godzilla can't

Bill: coexist because they're both alpha species and

Bill: God and Kong will not bow like that's the

Bill: whole thing like Kong will because Kong is

Bill: not just a monster or like

Bill: kong is basically a sapient being and he's like yeah no like i'm i'm the boss

Bill: too like no and like kong had his own island for like fucking however many years

Bill: you know and it's like it's like no i'm the boss and like godzilla's like no

Bill: no i'm the boss and it's like no no no it's like that's the whole thing it's

Bill: like they neither of them will bow to the other what's.

Evan: The oh is it kong skull island is that the like sort of like the prequel.

Bill: Part of the.

Evan: Monster universe yeah.

Bill: Kong Skull Island is one of my all-time, all-time top favorite.

Bill: I love Kong Skull Island.

Ward: So is like the 2000s Kong movie considered the Matthew Broderick of the Kong movies franchise?

Evan: Which is the movie you're talking about?

Ward: I love that.

Bill: Directed by, why can't I remember it? Peter Jackson.

Evan: Oh, fuck. I forgot about that movie. Holy shit. That's with Naomi Watts.

Ward: Jack Deep Cut.

Bill: Naomi Watts.

Evan: Yeah oh shit Andy Serkis yeah god is that movie terrible I can't I don't know

Evan: if I've seen it since it came out yes,

Evan: I assume.

Ward: That's why I had to ask if it's considered the same level as the broader Godzilla for three hours.

Bill: It's terrible in a different way.

Evan: Wow, there's an extended cut that's 200 minutes. Holy shit.

Bill: It is like three hours of overuse of CGI and Jack Black.

Evan: That's so disappointing.

Bill: I fucking hate Jack Black. It's like three hours of CGI. It's so bloated.

Ward: They should have put baby Kongs in that one. Like there's baby Godzilla's in Zing Bob Broderick.

Bill: I have not seen it in a long time.

Evan: I don't actually know that I've seen it now that I'm, I remember its existence, but it's crazy.

Evan: That was Peter Jackson's first film after making Lord of the Rings. Does that make you sad?

Bill: Yes, it does. That makes me sad.

Ward: It should.

Evan: They're like, oh, what do you want to do next? I'm going to do King Kong.

Evan: And then he makes this behemoth piece of crap.

Bill: Yeah.

Bill: It's pretty bad. And Skull Island is...

Evan: That movie, I like the Skull Island.

Bill: I mean, I rewatch all of these movies at least once a year.

Bill: Yeah. And Skull Island is actually one of my comfort movies.

Bill: I will put that on when I'm feeling down. I'm like, I put Skull Island on.

Evan: So going back to the movie and where they...

Evan: We're talking about how they... So there's the secret organization that's keeping Godzilla quiet.

Evan: But at the same time, like Brian Cranston had discovered that where the where

Evan: the the the nuclear facility melted down or whatever, you know, the what happened to it.

Evan: They're like basically have these little shitty electric fences around this

Evan: crystal as being like, yeah, let's just hope that nothing happens here.

Evan: And then like, you know, it fucking comes out and just fucks everyone up.

Evan: But what did they think that they were actually doing? do they actually think

Evan: they would be able to control this and does this go again to the idea that we

Evan: can't do shit with nature it's gonna fuck us up anyway pretty much right.

Bill: I think so because like even monarch which is

Bill: the organization that's supposed to track and control

Bill: these things i'm like they kind of have like you have

Bill: conflicting opinions even within monarch and like sarazawa

Bill: clearly like repeatedly just

Bill: like he just kind of wants to like

Bill: monitor and then there's the other half which are like they want to control

Bill: and you know in like cage and like control and he's like yeah you're never it's

Bill: that you're never gonna be able to like you know even this organization that

Bill: that's their whole purpose like they can't they're not going to yeah i mean.

Ward: Like as like not a big expert

Ward: coming to this movie and watching it it seemed like

Ward: they're mostly just trying to monitor and keep

Ward: people away yeah from the area so

Ward: that like if shit went down it's kind of minimized that's like why the whole

Ward: part of the whole island is deemed like deathly radiation radiation is that

Ward: um keep people away they got minimally staffed like yeah they got electric fences

Ward: but it's not like they got like they got tanks,

Ward: stationed around they don't have artillery pieces they

Ward: ain't got giant guns or explosives ready to

Ward: go to destroy this thing so it's not like a true control measure it seems it's

Ward: just a monitoring and keep other and keep humans away and so that it just minimizes

Ward: the disaster which it kind of did that's at the first yeah it only was monarch

Ward: personnel at the start and joe's dad,

Ward: or for his dad joe yeah you know i mean really they weren't supposed to be there

Ward: in the first place you know like not.

Evan: Even supposed to be here today man.

Ward: Monarch monarch.

Bill: Really it's like keep humans away and like kind of like segregate basically

Bill: monarch is all about like segregation like keep humans away from this stuff

Bill: because it's they can't handle it and they will cause problems and to go back

Bill: to like you know why all this happens what we see repeatedly and again Again,

Bill: I say like, you know, there have been,

Bill: there have, one of the criticisms of this movie is the, the glorification of the military.

Bill: And again, and like, again, I have to like time it again.

Bill: The reason things are bad is because of the military. The mucho escapes.

Bill: What does it take? What does it take out? What does it go to first?

Bill: Military stockpile. What is it could nuclear submarine again and again throughout

Bill: it. If it was not for the military, these things wouldn't be where they are

Bill: over and over and over again.

Bill: Who causes the problem? The military.

Ward: I mean, shit.

Ward: U.S. was looking into using thorium salt reactors up until they realized,

Ward: oh, you can't use the byproducts of thorium salt reactors to make bombs. And so they gave that up.

Evan: I also love holistic. One of the things that's also hysterical to me about the

Evan: military part and them being incompetent is they're like, you know,

Evan: they send a bunch of people to go check out their waste facility, like in the desert.

Bill: Yeah.

Evan: And they just go there like, oh, like checking through these doors.

Evan: It's fine here, fine here. And then they get to one. There's like,

Evan: oh, guys. And it's just like a hole in the back of the fucking thing.

Ward: I love that buildup. I love the buildup because it's so serious.

Ward: Like elite special ops dudes getting black hawked into a fucking nuclear facility, getting dropped in.

Ward: They're going through clearing every single chamber systematically door by door.

Ward: Like they know what they're doing. Nope. Too late.

Evan: Did they not see the giant hole when they flew in over with the helicopter?

Bill: No. Which is like, again, it's like my favorite thing. Because,

Bill: again, this is like the military.

Bill: It always felt to me like such a, it's like, yeah, I'll take your DOD money

Bill: and I'm going to make you look like fucking idiots.

Bill: Because who the fuck needed the military special ops figures to go to the door

Bill: to door? A janitor could have done that. And you know what?

Evan: Don't they have cameras?

Bill: The janitor would have had just as much odds of dealing with the Muto if it was out as these guys.

Bill: They're like, we have to send the special ops guys who also can't do anything.

Bill: Anybody could have gone to those doors, but like, no, we have to make a show of force. To what?

Bill: The fucking giant bug? It doesn't care about you. You're not important.

Ward: Yeah, show of force, and we just got like dinky little M4s, nothing that can

Ward: actually even seriously hurt a creature of that size.

Evan: And then their plan is to put a nuke, which is on a train, to go to kill it, not thinking like, hmm.

Evan: Gee, I wonder if the MUTO will try and follow said train with said nuke on it.

Evan: Maybe that's not a good idea. And guess what?

Evan: It wasn't a good idea. Narrator. Wasn't a good idea.

Bill: Narrator voice. Wasn't a good idea.

Ward: I mean, it would have been a funny scene with the janitor just like mopping the hallway.

Bill: Yeah.

Ward: And like the phone's ringing and it's the dudes on Monarch trying to get a hold of the facility.

Ward: And he hears the phone ringing and then he just sees light shine through all

Ward: of a sudden, like one of the visors.

Evan: He's cleaning the windows of each of the little things.

Ward: Oh, that'd be great. Yeah. And it just turns super bright all of a sudden.

Bill: He just squeegees each one. We go to the last one.

Evan: I will say, though, the train part and the scene on the train and sort of the,

Evan: you know, they're underneath it and hanging.

Evan: Like, that whole scene is pretty awesome. Great scene.

Bill: And then when it comes back, when it comes to the tunnel on fire,

Bill: cinematography is really, like,

Bill: Including as ridiculous, stupid military porn as it is, but the Halo scene is an awesome scene.

Ward: Yeah, there's no need for those smokes that they have deployed while they're dropping in.

Bill: Yeah.

Ward: There's not a single need for that.

Bill: But it looked awesome.

Ward: But it looks so fucking sick.

Bill: Yeah.

Ward: I wrote that in my notes. Literally no need for smoke, but looks fucking sick.

Bill: Yeah, especially when one of the guys randomly gets taken out by the Mudo as he's coming down.

Ward: Yeah, exactly. Like, that's why you didn't need the smoke, big guy.

Bill: Yeah.

Ward: But it looked really cool, so a dripper drown.

Evan: They also make it seem that another, this is one of those just,

Evan: like, film, you know, things that are just, you know, doesn't have to make sense, but it's fine.

Evan: they make it seem like they go pretty deep into san

Evan: francisco and yet they have like enough time to just carry the warhead

Evan: like through the town they're like yeah we're just going

Evan: to carry it to the water i mean i guess they're saying that he's very close

Evan: to the you know to the uh to the

Evan: water but the hole that that they built that the mutos create like in the ground

Evan: where they're like laying their little nest is fucking huge yeah it looked cool

Evan: as hell too that part also looked really good Like all of the CGI in this movie

Evan: looks a thousand times better than probably 90% of the Marvel movies.

Bill: Absolutely. I mean.

Evan: And it was made right around the time that Marvel was starting to make their

Evan: movies, right? Like 2010.

Evan: Well, I guess the Iron Man movies are. No, when is that? Like 20. 2008. Five?

Ward: Maybe. I don't know. I want to say 2008. Why do I want to say 2008?

Bill: 2008. You were right.

Ward: That's the first time.

Evan: Right? Yep. So it was by this time they had made, you know, like a lot of them.

Bill: I feel like 20 will be soon.

Evan: I don't even know.

Evan: For those listening, I'm going to tell you exactly how many they made.

Ward: Probably into like whatever the fuck, phase fucking two at that point.

Evan: They were at, 2014 was Captain America Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Bill: Damn, yeah, that is like.

Ward: Yeah, they're building up for Civil War. Yeah, see?

Evan: So they're seven movies deep at that point.

Bill: They're building up for Civil War and downgrading their special effects budget.

Evan: I mean, those early ones, like the original Thor and those Iron Man movies,

Evan: those look pretty good as far as effects go.

Ward: I feel like Godzilla destroyed like three Navy battleships, which was pretty fucking sick.

Evan: I also like that at some point he like purposely sit, like swims underneath

Evan: them. He's like, yeah, I don't need to fuck this one up.

Evan: Cause that's where all the good characters are. I'll just swim underneath it.

Bill: Well, that's like a recurring theme is like, you know, like if you don't get

Bill: in his way, he doesn't bother you. Like, right.

Bill: If not, he's not a hunter, just leave him alone. He will do what he needs to

Bill: do and then go back for, a nap like come.

Evan: On godzilla joy destroy the financial district.

Bill: Please i mean he will destroy the financial district he will do that he doesn't

Bill: even mean to it's just you know his tail's really long and it just just knocks buildings over and.

Ward: Those hips don't lie.

Bill: No they think.

Ward: Sway it's happens.

Bill: He's got and you know he's got thunder thighs it's.

Evan: A bear market after he comes through.

Bill: I actually don't know what that means.

Evan: It just means that it's the bad time for both stocks.

Ward: It's a down market.

Evan: Actually, it would be a good time if you were like a military contractor,

Evan: though, and you need to rebuild the city afterwards.

Bill: But yeah, it's time and again. And even they show the whole bridge scene.

Bill: If they hadn't fucking attacked him, he wouldn't have even done anything to the bridge.

Bill: We time and again return to the impotence of humans in the face of nature,

Bill: and their attempts to control it are what lead to disaster. they are what lead

Bill: to cut like things coming back onto them.

Evan: I'm no engineer but didn't he break part of the golden gate bridge and yet it didn't collapse.

Bill: Uh there i mean yes there's also like there's redundancy built in i don't know

Bill: how much but there is redundancy built in yeah.

Ward: I'm not there's there's there's got to be a little bit that it can give it can

Ward: lose before like structural all structural integrity is lost.

Bill: I mean we do learn like i think it does like totally collapse in the end or

Bill: like at least partially collapse in the end.

Evan: I think we learned that later on. I mean, the thing that's crazy is like the

Evan: little kid, you know, is like constantly in harm's way and you're like there

Evan: was actually a moment when I remember seeing it the first time being like,

Evan: is the kid gonna die and you know.

Bill: Like Which little kid? There's two little kids that are constantly in harm's way for a period of time.

Evan: That's true. I meant his son, like the, you know, the what's his name? Joe's son.

Evan: Joe? No, Joe's the father. What's the Joe's the father?

Ward: Ford.

Evan: Ford, right. Like there's like multiple scenes where it's like,

Evan: yeah, son, I'll see you tomorrow. And then like, he's gone for a really long

Evan: time. You're like, is he going to see him again?

Evan: You know, at the end you think he's going to die and then he doesn't die.

Evan: He's not in the second one, right?

Bill: No, none of the people in this movie are in the second one.

Evan: It's all, it's completely new, right? No.

Bill: One of my least favorite people.

Evan: I forgot that. I haven't seen that one, I don't think, since it came out.

Evan: Yeah, she's not a good actor.

Bill: The second one is- No.

Evan: Sally Hawkins is in it again.

Bill: Yes. Oh, yes. I'm sorry. Yes. Well, yeah. I'm sorry. The like,

Bill: you know- Side characters are in it. The Brody people, the, you know, they're not in it.

Bill: But like the Monarch characters, yes, they are.

Evan: And Dyson Stratham is in it again.

Bill: Yeah. Yeah.

Evan: Stratham.

Bill: But none of the Brodies. Which makes sense.

Bill: Like you would want to be as far away from that as possible if that happens

Bill: to you. Like you would not want to be involved in that at all.

Evan: Is that far enough?

Bill: Yeah.

Ward: Dude, the fucking miracles they had to, like, make for the fucking Ford Brody

Ward: just to be able to get chained through the whole thing, like,

Ward: that's not happening for any military guy.

Ward: Like, it's not happening. He's not getting briefed in and then letting go and

Ward: then getting adopted in by some other fucking, by army guys getting brought

Ward: in and then magically has his fucking Navy kit when he gets told,

Ward: yeah, you can come with us army guys. No.

Bill: I mean, I can't speak to that. it's.

Ward: Silliness it's it's absolute silliness.

Bill: I mean i gotta be honest ford is a so not an important aspect of this movie for me.

Ward: Oh, no, I'm absolutely sure.

Evan: No.

Ward: Yeah, why would you care about that guy in a big monster movie?

Evan: Yeah, none of the, well, they also have Elizabeth Olsen in it, is his wife.

Bill: I cannot find the name of the child that plays the son. Look, I literally, I cannot.

Evan: Oh, they mention it. Well, because, you know, so when they were producing,

Evan: when they were originally, he wasn't the original character.

Evan: Aaron Taylor Johnson was not their first pick. It was supposed to be Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Bill: Who turned it down.

Evan: But no, C.J. Adams plays him as a boy. That's the actor.

Bill: No, I met his son.

Evan: Oh, you're talking about his son.

Bill: I met his son. I cannot find the name of his son.

Evan: They don't list it in IMDb.

Bill: I'm not.

Evan: I mean, maybe he could be, well, you think he'd be credited for,

Evan: he's in like multiple scenes.

Bill: I'm sure he's credited. I'm on Wikipedia, but he's just not included.

Evan: Wikipedia is not very good when it comes to showing more than the first collection,

Evan: especially in a movie like this where there's so many people who are in this.

Evan: you know, there's all the other military dudes. And then, Oh.

Bill: Carson bold, a Sam Brody.

Bill: finally found it he was buried really like at the bottom but he was totally an action vote when.

Evan: You said he was buried i'm like did he die and i didn't realize that.

Bill: Like no he didn't die.

Ward: This poor kid not that buried.

Bill: Yeah i i just you know like for me this movie really sets this and and like

Bill: as a person who is um and has always been like very environmentally minded like

Bill: that's been And like that,

Bill: the environment was very much like my path into like leftism and Marxism and

Bill: like, you know, social justice, like, you know, social justice revolution.

Bill: um to me this movie always was

Bill: always like very meaningful because of

Bill: the like the lessons that it imparted about systems and nature and how humans

Bill: need to really come to terms with like they are part of nature they cannot control

Bill: it like that was why this movie has always meant so much to me.

Bill: Um, cause it's, for me, it's one of the most important, like allegorical,

Bill: like pieces in terms of that.

Bill: Um, and it like really sets it, you know, I think it's one of the most,

Bill: you know, it's a very successful, like lesson for that, that allegory of like, you know,

Bill: nature and humanity's place within it. And they continue that throughout the movies.

Bill: And it's always very meaningful, meaningful, meaningful to me for that.

Ward: No, absolutely. I mean, it's, and it's not even hard to like come to that,

Ward: like conclude, like conclusion on your own too.

Ward: You just go, you just sit there going, damn, what would it be like if we had

Ward: to like a giant monster that like was to protect us?

Ward: But he like fuck shit up sometimes. And it's like, oh shit, that's us.

Ward: Oh fuck. We should probably be better.

Bill: And like it also like it so much so that like even like the design because the

Bill: design of Godzilla for the 2014 got a lot of flack and it's like the design of Godzilla is,

Bill: even ties into that because it is a more realistic

Bill: a biologically realistic design

Bill: of godzilla in the way he is formed yeah but it's gotten a lot of flack because

Bill: of like the legs especially in the way the feet are but it's like they explain

Bill: why like you know and it's it makes sense it's like you know godzilla his like

Bill: lower form is built like an elephant and that makes sense because elephants how else.

Ward: You're going to support that much weight.

Bill: Yeah and that.

Ward: Much mass especially on land if you're an amphibious creature like that.

Bill: Right you're.

Ward: Gonna have to be massive.

Bill: Yeah and it's especially.

Ward: If you want to keep the bipedal.

Evan: I mean i'm a lay person i'm i'm not the like you know i'm not a godzilla expert

Evan: so for me i'm not looking at it based on sort of the historical nature i'm just

Evan: like it just looked really good and seemed like it made sense to me.

Ward: I mean if you want to stick to like that like kind of like that bipedal nature

Ward: of godzilla you gotta have a heavy ass bottom end to be able to support that mass realistically.

Bill: But it's not just the, it's the literally the, the, the legs and feet are like

Bill: columnar column, columnar, like, like the way elephants are,

Bill: where he doesn't have like huge, like talents on his feet. It's really more

Bill: of a pad, you know, much like an elephant.

Bill: And that's, it makes sense. Like they, the designers, like it's,

Bill: it's part of the whole thing that it's like, they paid attention to nature.

Bill: They paid attention to like the way, the world functions in telling a story

Bill: about how you humans are part of nature and you have to pay respect to it and

Bill: you you don't control it you know they they paid attention to the whole thing

Bill: and that was always like although that was like really like important important part of it i just.

Evan: Found uh there's a website that actually lists how tall godzilla is supposed

Evan: to be in every single movie.

Bill: Which is.

Evan: Oh that's great do you what do you what do you do you know do you know bill already.

Bill: What do you think what.

Evan: Do you think what would you say.

Ward: Oh shit in this movie yeah if i had to guess oh shit like,

Ward: What, like 600, 700 feet tall?

Evan: No.

Bill: No.

Evan: Not quite that tall. 354, they claim.

Ward: I don't know. I'm bad.

Bill: Yeah.

Evan: But it's taller than a lot of other movies.

Bill: It's taller than almost all other Godzillas. He is one of the tallest Godzillas.

Evan: In the Shin Godzilla that made him taller.

Ward: He seems fucking massive.

Bill: He is one of the tallest Godzillas. Shin Godzilla is taller,

Bill: but Shin Godzilla is also built weird.

Ward: Yeah, Shin Godzilla is weird.

Bill: But yeah, he is one of the taller ones. I will tell you that,

Bill: like, as a person who has written extensive, you know, uh,

Bill: fiction involving giant monsters, you quickly realize how big three fifth,

Bill: like you think to yourself like, oh, he's gigantic. He should be like 600 feet tall.

Bill: And then you like, look it up and you're like, oh wait, no, that's fucking huge.

Bill: Like that is really, really insanely tall, you know, like, and you start to

Bill: realize like, oh, like in actuality, like three.

Bill: 300 feet tall is already like mind-blowingly large for an organism.

Ward: Yeah.

Evan: Yeah. Like the thing that I always think is interesting when I watch like some

Evan: of the movies where they have him standing in the ocean.

Bill: Yes. It seems like he's able to stand. Yes. That is a recurring issue with,

Bill: um, the movies in general.

Ward: He's insanely good at shredding water with his lower half.

Evan: He does the Godzilla paddle.

Bill: That is a, um, you know, a recurring issue.

Bill: For reference, and I like to return to this as like a baseline when I often

Bill: like I'm doing like height stuff for things like when I'm writing the Statue of Liberty. Okay.

Bill: Just the statue. How tall do you think just the statue is? Not including the pedestal.

Ward: 110 feet.

Bill: It's 151 feet with the pedestal from ground level to torch. How tall.

Ward: See, I have to go complete opposite. I got to go like conservative guesses because

Ward: I went six, seven hundred early on.

Evan: No, it's a 290. Oh, it's like 300.

Bill: So when you think that, like how, the statue of Philippi is fucking huge. Like it's really big.

Evan: And it's almost 100 feet bigger than that.

Bill: Right. And it's like, and you think, you're like, oh, wait, like my perception

Bill: of how big things are is actually like really fun. and it's like you know we

Bill: don't really realize and then you like you compare it to things like oh that's

Bill: gigantic like that's really big.

Evan: It's so funny that when i went to goop when i went to duck duck go to type in

Evan: how tall is the very first suggested option is baron trump why i don't i don't know he's a lot.

Ward: Shorter than god's off is he supposed to be like because he's supposed i think

Ward: he's like seven foot and so because there's a lot of memes about a baron trump

Ward: should be in the nba he should just give up he should just give up on his family

Ward: and politics and just join the NBA he just needs to learn how to ball he should

Ward: just become a point guard his true calling King.

Evan: Kong by comparison is only 104 feet in this universe Godzilla is triple plus

Evan: his height three and a half.

Ward: Times yeah how's fucking Kong Kong's not winning that fight so.

Bill: Kong grows as.

Evan: The monster first continues yes in the later one he made he's like 300 feet.

Ward: Oh okay that's fine then there's also the fact that.

Bill: Like Like Kong, again, is like a sentient species.

Bill: Like Kong uses weapons. Like he's.

Ward: Yeah. And he made the, he made the decision to use steroids.

Bill: And he did that too.

Ward: I get it.

Bill: Yeah.

Ward: I get it. You know, it's very much like Barry Bonds' situation.

Evan: Yeah, he's wanting to hit the war home.

Ward: Did you see Mark McGuire? Yeah, I would do steroids too.

Ward: And like, so Kong saw Godzilla and was like, dude, I got to hit the juice.

Evan: What's that guy benching? I mean, geez.

Bill: So, in King of Monsters, the sequel, Godzilla is 394.

Evan: I assume there are people that are talking about why they change height in the same universe.

Bill: He grew.

Evan: Okay.

Bill: That's what it is.

Evan: He had a growth spurt.

Bill: Because he grew. I mean, a big part of it is he literally evolves.

Bill: Evolution is a huge part of the Legendaryverse. Evolution and adaptation is a huge part of it.

Evan: I really want to see someone do like a Photoshop of King Kong with like a Giants

Evan: jersey on, like playing baseball, you know, like he's swinging the bat,

Evan: you know, how many, who would he sign with?

Evan: Who would sign King Kong? I assume the Yankees.

Ward: Savannah Bananas for sure.

Ward: He'd be a fool not to take it.

Evan: You've been listening to Left of the Projector. This is Evan and we'll catch you next time.

Ward: Have a good one.

Bill: This is Bill signing off.