Friday Night Double Feature: It Came From Japan

We’ve had a couple week hiatus from our Friday Night Double Feature as we’ve acclimated to the new year. 2008 has brought a lot in its wake, making the transition into the new year a little rougher than I anticipated. For those who look for this weekly team-up of movies, my apologies for the absence. We’re back, and not going anywhere any time soon.

The big release this weekend is Cloverfield, which many people want to be a monster movie. It’s not, and it never was. It’s a survival story, much like Signs wasn’t really a movie about an alien invasion. It’s a more personal look at a story that happens during something bigger, rather than the special effects extravaganza we’ve all gotten used to.

For Friday Night, however, you don’t want those personal stories. You want giant robots and monsters crushing everything before them while the general public freaks out. Forget about the sensitive side of the story – give us a gigantic threat and the explosions that come with it. Give us, a giant Friday Night Double Feature.

Gojira

If you’re going to do a marathon on giant monsters crushing the hell out of things, start with the classic, Gojira (which, reportedly, is the inspiration for the circumstances of Cloverfield). Most movie fans are aware of the giant green lizard from his massive follow up films, but few have actually seen the 1954 black and white original. Even fewer have seen the non-Americanized cut of the movie. While the atomic threat cautionary tale storyline exists in both versions (and possibly heavier in the Japanese version, since they didn’t shy away from the mentioning the American bombing of their country), there are enough differences to make me prefer the original Gojira cut rather than the Godzilla: King of all Monsters version. High on the list is the absence of Raymond Burr, who was added to give the film some emotional weight. Unfortunately for Burr, his single day shoot didn’t add much to the movie and, in fact, killed some of the pacing. Thanks to DVD, you can check out the original and decide for yourself.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

I said last year I was going to have a little more fun with this column, and I meant it. That’s right – I’m pairing the Toho classic with the guilty pleasure of the ‘90s, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The first movie isn’t all that bad, however, and certainly features what we want in this week’s feature: big things stomping the crap out of things. Unlike the other movies, which felt more like extended versions of the series used solely to move the characters to the next evolution of the Japanese series, this first movie felt like the producers woke up one morning and realized they had some money and could actually do one decent story for their characters. Yes, it’s campy, yes it’s corny, and yes, the forty-years older Godzilla origin actually has effects that will withstand time more than this overly reliant CG-fest, but it’s still enjoyable. Just steer clear from any of the other Power Rangers flicks, which I won’t even recommend as alternate or additional options below.

Other monstrous invasions: Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster, Invasion of Astro-Monster, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Transformers

Enjoy our Double Feature suggestions? and maybe we’ll use them in a future column.