Tokyo Monsters Attack!

 

I wrote and field-produced this segment about Japanese "kaiju eiga" (monster movies) for the National Geographic Channel's "Nat Geo Amazing!" show, which aired this summer.

Although it's only a few minutes long, it was filmed over the course of an entire day on Death Kappa's Yokohama soundstage. The destruction of the single building that "Hangyolas" chops in two took a solid four hours out of that: the technicians decided on the breaking point, smashed the building themselves, and rebuilt the tiny chunks into a seemingly untouched building for a better effect when the kaiju demolished it. Monster movie making is hard work.

A couple of notes: my original script did not include the word "cheesy." And one of the more interesting bits for fans didn't make the final cut: an interview with director Tomoo Haraguchi, who explained that since a kaiju movie is pure entertainment, "realism" is largely besides the point. Haraguchi, who haspreviously drawn a parallel between the suits worn by kaiju actors and those used in traditional kabuki productions, explained that over-the-top theatricality is part of the genre's whole charm. Perhaps one could say that one person's "cheesy" is another person's "kabuki"...?

 

Comments

[Erik Sjoen]

Looks like Kappa was getting the beat down... Nice clip Alt-san!

[wah]

Having watched this video before reading all of the post, I thought to myself, "Matt would never call a monster movie 'cheesy'!!"

[ChrisM]

I really liked the clip but thot Nat Geo failed big time by using the word "cheesy" and now that I'm reading your account of what was left out-I see they totally missed an opportunity to discuss a different perspective on the whole genre. I'm guessing they should stick to documentaries about real animals.. :-)

[Roger]

I really dislike Nat Geo Amazing. I was DVR'ing it to see all of the AltJapan-produced segments but it was too much to stomach, even while riding the fast forward button. I'd swear that's the same narrator from Maximum Exposure.

[JoanneB]

Using the word "cheesy" really undermines the whole point--I was really glad to hear that it wasn't part of the original script, but sad to think someone along the line thought it necessary to add.

[spm]

I wish the only thing i had to do in life was build miniature cityscapes and blow them up with giant rubbersuit monsters. (kicks stone)

[Johnny]

Yeah, I'm a writer too and I also know that directors are kind of stubborn and it never ends up designing the show 100% by your own writings. Though...good job !

[Daniel]

Nice segment, but terrible, terrible narrator, It sounds like he's narrating a children's pantomime show...

[Jonathan O.]

I didn't imagine that to create japanese movies would be that hard...you just give them a camera and they'll improvise !

[Donna]

nice documentary! i've always wondered how they do it...