| By NORMAN ENGLAND, From fanzine site'Fangoira', It simply wouldn�t be summer in Japan without a Godzilla production to offset the sweltering season, and the staff at Toho Studios is back again and working on GODZILLA X MECHAGODZILLA. In this, the 26th entry in the popular series, the Big G returns to face off against another classic nemesis, a towering robotic version of the King of the Monsters that has appeared in three previous features. The film began lensing last month; working within Toho Studios as well as numerous locations around the Tokyo area, the crew is set to wrap the two-month shoot on or around August 15. Helming MECHAGODZILLA, scheduled to open nationwide in Japan December 14, is Masaaki Tezuka, marking his second effort in the franchise after 2000�s GODZILLA X MEGAGUIRUS. Inside Toho�s Studio 5 and seated beside a mockup of the front of a Maser Tank (a futuristic laser cannon that has been a staple of Toho films since the 1960s), Tezuka finds a spare moment to explain his somewhat different take on the new film. �For MEGAGUIRUS, my goal was to make a fun, straightforward action film,� he begins. �However, this time I�m looking to change the tone and to make it more of an adventure tale. The way I describe it is as a �real simulation� movie, if that makes sense. What I mean is that I want the audience to fully buy that what they see on the screen is real, despite being fantasy.� Each director in the series has their own take on Godzilla�s character, and Tezuka is no different. �In MEGAGUIRUS, my thinking was for Godzilla to be godlike. This time I�m going to veer from this a little. As I said, simulated reality is the keyword here. I want Godzilla to be less an icon and more a real creature--one that is its own species and with its own lineage.� Working closely with Tezuka is producer Shogo Tomiyama. Trained for the job by Tomoyuki Tanaka, one of the monster�s original creators, Tomiyama marks his 10th Godzilla production with the new MECHAGODZILLA. There is probably no man alive more knowledgeable about Godzilla and his soon-to-be 50-year history, and Tomiyama believes the time is ripe for Mechagodzilla to return. �We settled on Mechagodzilla because of its longstanding popularity in the franchise,� Tomiyama says. �In fact, I had been considering using it as early as GODZILLA 2000, but we just never hit upon the right story. It�s always difficult to bring back old favorites because of how much importance the originals hold with the fans. But scriptwriter Wataru Mimura really hit upon a good idea, and so I went with it. �This movie features the third variation of Mechagodzilla,� Tomiyama explains. �Space aliens created the first version, and in the 1990s it was built using future technology. However, this time it is a present-day, manmade creation. One of our goals is to up the human interaction with the monsters. By having Mechagodzilla be a human invention, and under human guidance, it will strengthen the personal element and increase the audience�s connection with the protagonists.� The movie focuses on Japan�s attempt to rid itself of Godzilla through the creation of Mechagodzilla. Constructed from a combination of advanced bio- and mechanical engineering and stocked to the hilt with offensive weaponry, Mechagodzilla represents the highest level of early 21st-century technology. Central to the story is female officer Akane Yashiro, played by Yumiko Shaku. A trained pilot and key figure within the team in charge of Mechagodzilla, she has harbored an intense, personal hatred of Godzilla ever since her senior officer was killed during a skirmish with the beast several years earlier. �There is a young girl in the film�s story,� Tomiyama elaborates. �The daughter of Mechagodzilla�s creator, she refuses to accept the fact that people should fight at all. Japan has been at peace since losing WWII, and while we want to preserve peace, there are times when people must fight against something. In the story, this girl is made to understand this point. For me, this is one of the film�s more interesting plots, and the one that will help the audience to better understand the story�s heart.� Once again, there will be no narrative connection between this and previous Godzilla sequels. As per Tomiyama�s vision, each new story starting with GODZILLA 2000 resides within its own self-contained universe, with the films answerable only to the 1954 original. In this way, it is his hope to release Godzilla from the quandary of contradictory situations created through the series� nearly half-century existence. Heading the FX team on MECHAGODZILLA is Yuuichi Kikuchi. A veteran assistant director of past Godzilla, Gamera and Ultraman productions, he makes his debut as FX team head with this movie. �My aim is to make it as action-packed and visually stimulating as I can,� Kikuchi says. �I feel that the greatest Godzilla fight sequences are the ones in KING KONG VS. GODZILLA. I�m using that film as a source and hope to top its excellent battles.� Modern U.S. FX filmmaking relies heavily on cutting-edge CGI, whereas Toho has a reputation of doing things in more conventional ways. �While the temptation to rely heavily on CGI is there,� Kikuchi admits, �I will only use it sparingly. Godzilla is and always has been about men in suits. This is not to say that I won�t use the best tools I can, and there will be plenty of composite work. However, this will be done utilizing the elements in a more traditional fashion.� Returning to the Godzilla creative team is suitmaker Shinichi Wakasa. His latest version of the quintessential kaiju is a streamlined rethinking of the Godzilla suits he built for both G-2000 and MEGAGUIRUS. �This time out, I made several modifications at the request of director Tezuka,� Wakasa explains. �One is the color. My first two Godzillas were green, but now he�s back to classic gray. I also made the head smaller and reduced the size of the dorsal fins. The purple tinge originally added to the fins is lost, too. When I make a creature, I like to begin with a point of reference in the natural world, and this time I started with my ideas based around a tiger. But when the director saw this, he sort of freaked out and told me to stick with the G-2000 style. Mr. Tezuka has strong ideas about Godzilla�s look, and his aim this time out is to redefine the elements of a classic Godzilla.� The film also features an elaborate Mechagodzilla suit built by Startrain. A relatively new company, Startrain debuted in 1998 on MOTHRA 3; their Godzilla r�sum� consists of G-2000�s Orga and the flying Megaguirus. �When we designed Mechagodzilla,� Tezuka says, �we used elements from the original over those of the 1993 version. I want a classic Godzilla look for this movie, so I�m employing other classic Toho items as well, such as the Maser Tank you see in the studio here. And of course there are new things as well. When working with a film series as venerable as Godzilla, it has to be a balance of old and new. We want to please both old and new fans.� When queried on the choice of Mechagodzilla as Godzilla�s latest opponent, Tezuka indulges in a little friendly chiding of last year�s GODZILLA: GMK before returning to the shoot. �The thinking at Toho is that we must produce Godzilla films with enemies culled from a short list of bankable, classic monsters. But last year�s director, Shusuke Kaneko, nearly exhausted the list by employing three classic kaiju. He has really put me in a spot! The only decent one left over was Mechagodzilla.� |
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| The suit for the new film 'Godzilla X MechaGodzilla' is a modified Gira-Goji suit from 'Godzilla X Megagirus'. The suit went from neon green to black, the spines were made less jagged, smaller and the purple color is replaced with a grey color. The head is also diffrent. It's made much smaller, with a smaller mouth, bigger eyes and curved snout. Everything else is still the same from its last appearence. Apparently the original blue ray is still around because of Tezuka wanting to give the movie a 'classic' feel. |
| Above the modified Godzilla roars a challenge to MechaGodzilla, and to it's left it's first incarnation crashes along to battle Megagirus. |