Look out fer flyin styrofoam

[onionhead]

Having seen the 1956 Americanized Godzilla on AMC the other night, I has moment to pause and consider other memorable moments of mass mayhem and general destruction, my favorites being:

Tokyo trounced, film above--actually better in the original Japanese version 2 years earlier

Tokyo again, War of the Gargantuans 1966

NYC, King Kong 1933

Half the planet, The War of the Worlds 1953

[kriegerg69]

onionhead wrote:

> Having seen the 1956 Americanized Godzilla on AMC the other
> night, I has moment to pause and consider other memorable
> moments of mass mayhem and general destruction, my favorites
> being:
>
> Tokyo trounced, film above--actually better in the original
> Japanese version 2 years earlier

I....and many, MANY other people....beg to differ about the Americanized version being BETTER than the 1954 Toho original! That's simply not so.....as much as I can enjoy the reedited version with Raymond Burr, it's widely acknowledged by anyone who has seen the original Japanese version (which I have on an import laserdisc) that the original edition is far SUPERIOR to the recut/hacked up American edition. Aside from the hammy acting of Raymond, the 1956 edition is about 18 minutes SHORTER than the Japanese original.....one character was removed from the original version and entire scenes were cut out, and a couple of other scenes were reedited back into the film in a different order. All of that completely changes the entire tone of the film. The 1954 version is a very serious and heavy message movie....The 1956 recut has half the tone and atmosphere of the original.. You need to go back and reexamine the original Toho version again.

[darkautumn]

I caught GKOTM on AMC (which basically sucks now) too, and noticed that the film seemed either time-compressed or speeded up. This is one of my all-time favorite movies, and being pretty familiar with it, it really looked at certain points like it was about to break into a 'Benny Hill' chase sort of thing. When this really started bugging me, I checked the time; the US version of the first 'zilla film clocks in at 78 min. (some sources list 80, but the DVD is exactly 78.) AMC ran it in a 90-min. timeslot WITH commercials (lots of 'em.) Did anyone else notice this? Is this just another example of how absolutely awful AMC has become over the last year?

[Flangepart]

Forget AMC. The "DeBurred" version is, indeed, far superior. As are all the Toho films. The U.S. version was okey, concitering....but yeah, get the real deal.

[onionhead]

kriegerg69 replied with:
>>The 1954 version is a very serious and heavy message movie....The 1956 recut has half the tone and atmosphere of the original.. You need to go back and reexamine the original Toho version again.


My implication was that the original 1954 version was superior to the Burr blend.  The original Toho production was a dark comment on the hazards of nuclear weaponry on life, and not as cartoony as the American version turned out to be.
 
(Brace for responses, now cut to the chase)

ANYWAY. . . .
The point was, what does anybody else have a favorite mass destruction film?
If so, what is it???



Post Edited (08-04-03 15:14)

[Andrew]

You know, the movie that jumps to mind is actually after the destruction.  In "Fist of the North Star" there is a shot of a tanker (as in the ship) stuck through a skyscraper.  The tanker must have been empty and the skyscraper made to last, but it is memorable.

Lots of Anime has serious devastation in action.  "Akira" and "Legend of the Overfiend" come to mind.

Along the lines of live action (well, CGI), I am going to vote for the beginning of "LEXX:  I Worship His Shadow."  The Shadow's ship firing those huge energy webs and decimating the planet was a good use of effects.  You really feel it when that last shot hits home.

[Brother Ragnarok]

Although you really don't see what happens, Godzilla's first use of his breath weapon in GMK is stunning.  I showed that clip during a presentation I was giving in my Asian film and literature class and several people in the audience actually gasped or said "woah" like a startled Keanu Reeves.  Keep in mind these are people who have no idea Godzilla had any films past '75 and that you can't see the zipper anymore.
Also, every action scene in Gamera 3: Incomplete Struggle dwarfs anything I have ever seen and probably ever will see.

Brother R