Kaiju Antihero
October 27, 2019 2:45 PM Subscribe
Scoring Godzilla : "We all know Godzilla’s iconic roar, but the musician who scored Godzilla's rampages is not as well known. The composer Akira Ifukube’s collaboration with the director Ishiro Honda is fascinating because the two men had different ideas of what Godzilla represented. Honda filmed Godzilla as a monster, but Ifukube saw Godzilla as an anti-hero." -- The Imaginary Worlds podcast presents an excellent story on the origin of Godzilla's theme music.
[FWIW, this podcast had the theme in my head for month, and finally got me to go watch Shin Godzilla [[fanfare]], which is now my second-favorite kaiju movie after Pacific Rim. It's a monster movie for NUMTOTs.]
[FWIW, this podcast had the theme in my head for month, and finally got me to go watch Shin Godzilla [[fanfare]], which is now my second-favorite kaiju movie after Pacific Rim. It's a monster movie for NUMTOTs.]
Well, sure, that’s a cute theme and all, but what you really need is a theme that lets Tokyo know just how screwed it really is.
For example
/nods heads
Yeah, that’s some good theme.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:08 PM on October 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
For example
/nods heads
Yeah, that’s some good theme.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:08 PM on October 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
This is the time when things are picking up at work; new applications are ramping up, and I'm still dealing with a huge data analysis project.
That's when I start playing the JSDF March. When you here that playing, you know the humans may be totally outmatched, but that's not going to stop them.
posted by happyroach at 5:04 PM on October 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
That's when I start playing the JSDF March. When you here that playing, you know the humans may be totally outmatched, but that's not going to stop them.
posted by happyroach at 5:04 PM on October 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
Yo Ifukube-san, I'mma let you finish, but Pharoahe Monch turned your Godzilla Tubas into one of the greatest sample loop beat drops OF ALL TIME. (Seriously, if you want a lick to Make An Entrance to, use the first 15 seconds of Simon Says.
posted by bartleby at 7:00 PM on October 27, 2019
posted by bartleby at 7:00 PM on October 27, 2019
you know the humans may be totally outmatched, but that's not going to stop them.
Well, sure, the humans are outmatched until they get the twins to sing the summoning song for Mothra to come help them.
posted by gusottertrout at 11:31 PM on October 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Well, sure, the humans are outmatched until they get the twins to sing the summoning song for Mothra to come help them.
posted by gusottertrout at 11:31 PM on October 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
But then that's always the way isn't it? Guess vs Ask Kaiju culture. The military is the driving influence and always sure they can get what they want with their guns, while the diplomatic corps is, like, "Hey, it looks like we've lost, how about pulling back and asking the giant moth for help."
But the Military is all, "We haven't lost, we just made a wrong turn using those tanks, once we use the jets we'll get there. This isn't the first time we've fought Kaiju. We found a way to beat them before."
"But that was only because there was a volcano nearby as a useful landmark, and, really, it was just Rodan, everyone knows how to beat Rodan. We should ask those twin fairies for directions on how to get the giant moth to help. If you'd just listened to that nice lady from Venus last time it would have saved you a lot of fuss."
"We're not going to ask for help! You know who asks for help? Xiliens! That's who. We haven't lost and we're not Xiliens!"
All too typical, throw in a little marching music and stick to the same path. The JSDF really needs to embrace a change in attitude.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:41 AM on October 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
But the Military is all, "We haven't lost, we just made a wrong turn using those tanks, once we use the jets we'll get there. This isn't the first time we've fought Kaiju. We found a way to beat them before."
"But that was only because there was a volcano nearby as a useful landmark, and, really, it was just Rodan, everyone knows how to beat Rodan. We should ask those twin fairies for directions on how to get the giant moth to help. If you'd just listened to that nice lady from Venus last time it would have saved you a lot of fuss."
"We're not going to ask for help! You know who asks for help? Xiliens! That's who. We haven't lost and we're not Xiliens!"
All too typical, throw in a little marching music and stick to the same path. The JSDF really needs to embrace a change in attitude.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:41 AM on October 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
That original Godzilla score is absolutely incredible. It really captures both the majesty of Godzilla himself and the terror of being in his path. In that respect, I think it's only even approached by the score of Neon Genesis Evangelion, especially the "Beast" theme. Which makes the cameo appearance of "Decisive Battle" in Shin Godzilla all the more appropriate.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:54 AM on October 28, 2019
posted by tobascodagama at 10:54 AM on October 28, 2019
re: Mothra's theme - finding out that the lyrics are meant to be Indonesian has been a fascinating moment for me, as over the years the subsequent versions just got even more further away from the Indonesian diction into just some Japanese pidgin that I could scarcely believed it until I read the original lyrics, and not like, the romanised katakana version on animelyrics or whatever.
posted by cendawanita at 1:32 PM on October 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by cendawanita at 1:32 PM on October 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
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posted by DoctorFedora at 3:40 PM on October 27, 2019