2024 visual effects Oscar winner Godzilla Minus One on Netflix: 5 reasons to watch the new Godzilla movie on OTT

Godzilla Minus One was released by Toho Studio, which had started the Godzilla movies franchise in 1954. The film won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards. (Image via X)

'Godzilla Minus One' opens on a Kamikaze pilot flying into a repair shop on the now-famous Odo Island in Japan. The locals here have been talking about a sea monster. The only way they know the monster is coming is through sightings of dozens of deep-sea fish that die and come up to the surface before Godzilla makes his appearance. Within minutes of getting this information, we see the nuclear monster emerge and lay the area to waste. At this time, no one knows that Godzilla is practically indestructible.

Two years will pass before we see Godzilla again - this time in Tokyo's upmarket Ginza neighbourhood. The way writer-director Takashi Yamazaki has reconstructed Tokyo of the 1940s - and the way Godzilla goes about destroying it in the film - are tremendous feats of visual effects that are impressive even on a laptop screen.

It's no wonder that 'Godzilla Minus One' won the 2024 Oscar for visual effects - the first Godzilla film to win an Academy Award in 70 years. Made on a budget of USD 15 million, it collected USD 115 million at the global box office. The film is now streaming on Netflix. A for-rent or purchase version with subtitles is also available on on Amazon, Apple iTunes, Google Play and Microsoft. Here are 5 reasons to watch the latest film in the Godzilla franchise:

1. Watch Godzilla Minus One for its Oscar-winning visual effects

There's a prolonged scene in Godzilla Minus One where a World War II Kamikaze pilot is trying to lure Godzilla back to the sea. Scientists and World War veterans have devised a plan to use "the power of the sea" to kill the monster. They don't know if it will work, but it's the only they shot they have.

As the pilot flies in circles around the humongous nuclear lizard, the camera zooms in and out to show the scale of the monster versus the pilot in his relatively tiny fighter plane. It is one of the most CGI forward scenes in the movie, and might have been hammy in a less able pair of hands than writer, director and VFX supervisor Takashi Yamazaki.

Indeed, Yamazaki oversaw the visual effects for Godzilla Minus One, which combines old-school techniques with new-age technology to create movie magic. Videos have surfaced online, explaining how the team achieved the effects, from making waves and creating different types of ships using the same set to defining the way Godzilla moves through land and water. It's also remarkable that a team of just 30-plus VFX specialists managed all 600-odd VFX shots for the film in eight months.

Don't miss the recreation of Japan after World War 2, and Godzilla's famous atomic breath and blue ray.

2. Watch Godzilla Minus One for its legacy

When the first Godzilla film released in 1954, Haruo Nakajima played the fictional monster wearing a high-quality creature suit (suitmation). Since then, 37 more Godzilla films have been made. Godzilla Minus One is Japan's Toho Studio's 33rd film in the franchise.

Over the last 70 years, Godzilla has fought 15 villains, including King Ghidorah and Kamacuras. The Godzilla films are divided into their own eras, with identifiable markers in terms of look, feel and theme. The current Reiwa period that began in 2016 with Shin Godzilla is marked by a return to origins and more convincing depiction of the monster using modern CGI. Over the decades, the franchise has also gathered a large following all over the world. Indeed it's become quite the obsession to explain how Godzilla's atomic breath works, and how he can turn his radioactivity on and off.

3. Watch Godzilla Minus One for its story

Godzilla Minus One is a story of redemption. A Japanese World War II kamikaze pilot suffering from PTSD seeks to redeem himself by taking on the nuclear lizard on high seas. It is an explosive story with a rich history. Last year, just before the film released globally, there was panic that a real Godzilla could emerge as Japan dumped water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Yamazaki wrote the script over three years (2019-22), drawing inspiration from Godzilla movies past as well as the works of Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli) and Steven Spielberg.

4. Watch Godzilla Minus One for its cast and crew

Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus One stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki. Kiyoko Shibuya is the visual effects director, Masaki Takahashi is the 3D computer graphics director, Tatsuji Nojima is the effects artist and compositor on the film, and the music is by Naoki Sato.

5. Watch Godzilla Minus One to mark 70 years of the monster franchise

Over 70 years, Godzilla has gone through many makeovers. The latest one brings the fictional monster back to roots. As Yamazaki told the Los Angeles Times: “We wanted to go back to the original reason for Godzilla’s existence... The creature is a metaphor for nuclear weapons, so we mimicked the way a weapon would work inside of his body. Each element would come together and create an implosion, and that’s when the blue rays would come out.”

Godzilla Minus One is available on Netflix and for digital purchase and digital rental starting June 1. Learn more: https://t.co/N9T9DEXLmw#GodzillaMinusOne #Godzilla pic.twitter.com/EcsYxOHwqR

— GODZILLA.OFFICIAL (@Godzilla_Toho) June 1, 2024