"Godzilla Minus One" Becomes First Godzilla Film Ever Nominated For An Oscar

Finally, after decades of derision of Japanese special effects, Toho Co., Ltd.'s special effects department is getting some respect from Hollywood.

Godzilla Minus One has been nominated for Best Special Effects by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences.

Paste Magazine reported:

Chalk up another city destroyed, and another major accomplishment for the King of the Monsters: For the first time in his 70-year history, Godzilla can claim to be an Academy Award nominee. As part of the newly announced nominations for the 2024 Oscars ceremony, the critically acclaimed Godzilla Minus One has been given a nod that no other Godzilla film has ever received, with a nomination in the Best Visual Effects category. The listed nominees for the film are Takashi Yamakazi, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima. It will be up against some difficult competition in the category, in the form of The Creator, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Napoleon and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

Regardless, this is a pretty big moment for the Godzilla fandom, accustomed as they are to the series receiving popular adulation over the decades but little critical evaluation, other than belated admiration for the 1954 original from director Ishirō Honda. It is perhaps fitting that Godzilla Minus One take up the torch for the series’ prestige going forward, considering that of all the many Gojira sequels, it feels the most like a direct continuation of Honda’s film, taking place in a devastated postwar Japan where the appearance of Godzilla forces the population to come together in the spirit of neighborly camaraderie. The film has been universally acclaimed, and places extremely highly in our own ranking of the entire Godzilla film series to date.

To read more, go here. 

Win or lose, Congratulations, Toho!

Remembering Koichi Kawakita

Remembering special effects director Koichi Kawakita on his 80th birthday.

Above, Koichi Kawakita and yours truly at G-FEST 2000 in Hollywood.

 

Kōichi Kawakita (川北 紘一, Kawakita Kōichi, December 5, 1942 – December 5, 2014) was a Japanese special effects director, cinematographer, and optical photographer.

Born: December 5, 1942 in Nihonbashi, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan

Died: December 5, 2014 (aged 72)

SFX Director Teruyoshi Nakano Reportedly Dies At 86

Above, Teruyoshi Nakano in 2004.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A few hours ago, the Monster Attack Team Facebook Page posted the following:

Rest in peace SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano who passed Jun 27 2022. His explosive work on films: King Kong vs. Godzilla, War of the Gargantuas, Godzilla vs. Smog Monster, Japan Sinks, Prophecies of Nostradamus, Godzilla vs  Mechagodzilla, Return of Godzilla & much more will live on forever 

After seeing it, I did some digging in the Japanese media. However, my searches drew blanks. This is not to say that the news is untrue (hopefully it is, for obvious reasons), it is just that the Japanese news media doesn't seem to be reporting it as yet.

Nakano took over special effects duties following the passing of Eiji Tsuburaya and became known as "Mr. Explosion" for his use of special effects pyrotechnics.

I met Mr. Nakano back in 2004 at G-FEST. 

"Godzilla vs. Biollante" Stop-Motion Battle Footage Surfaces

Above, the Godzilla vs. Biollante Japanese poster.

The second movie in the Heisei series of Godzilla movies from Toho Co., Ltd. was 1989's Godzilla vs. Biollante.

At the helm of directing the movie's special effects was the late Koichi Kawakita.

Apparently, Toho decided to experiment with some stop-motion effects during the movie's production. Footage of a battle between Godzilla and Biollante has surfaced on Twitter and posted by @doctoruwatson.

Here's the link to the footage:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1191001720794468353

It appears that the stop-motion effects weren't good enough (I agree, if that was the decision's reason) to include in the final cut of the movie and ended up on the cutting-room floor.

Still, it is interesting to see.

A History of Godzilla Special Effects

Above, Haruo Nakajima taking a break during the filming
 of Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964). Photo by Toho Co., Ltd.

For a 62 year-old character, Godzilla is showing no signs of letting up. Despite his age, he is only getting better.

Inverse.com has an article on the progression of special effects techniques that have been and are being used to bring the Big G to cinematic life.

They start with:

Godzilla has been gracing our screens for more than 60 years. We’ve watched the monster ravage whole cities and fight some memorable adversaries over the years, and thanks to the franchise’s long run, we’ve also seen in these films the progression of cinema history. In particular, the special effects techniques that bring Godzilla to life have changed considerably, from a man in a rubber suit stomping around tiny-Tokyo to miniatures and CG visual effects. With the franchise’s latest film, Shin Godzilla, now in American theaters, Inverse revisits the monster’s significant effects legacy.

To read the article, go here.