Are the fights scripted?

[RexRaptor]

Ive been wondering, are Kaijuu fights scripted? I understand that when he uses his beam they are, but i mean, just normal HtH fighting. Now, the specail moves of course would be scripted, like Godzilla " Gliding " on his tail.

So..what do you think? I personaly think they arnt, and they let the actors have at it..( There in Rubber suits..cant hurt that much )

[Cole Deschain]

I can almost assure you they are.

Stage combat is a tricky usiness- suppose the guy playing Godzilla knocks the guy who's playing Rodan over when the crew isn;t ready for it- do you have any idea how heavy those suits are?

[Excelsior]

I'm sure they're choreographed down to the last tail smash. There's too much riding on those scenes for the powers-that-be to allow any real improvising on the part of the stunt men.

Have you ever seen what it takes to choreograph a human fight scene? I'm sure it's that difficult (or more) to do a kaiju one.

[Jet Jaguar]

Choreographed AND scripted
Everything you see in a film is meant to be there
Thats what a Director does,and the Actors have to know where to be & when

[Jokezilla]

I've been in a stage fight and I can tell you that they take weeks of preparation, a Kaiju fight would have to be planned till the very last small detail and would take months. The buildings take a long while to build and if one is broken accidentally and wasn't meant to it could set back the film by a while. Plus visibilty is very poor in those suits and to just have at each other would be stupidly hard. It is also very dangerous as Deschain said, although the suits are big an padded what if they fell on one of the minituare explosives-that could cause major damage.

[Studio Asperger]

Just about everything in any filming project is staged and choreographed, right down to the smallest detail. I've worked on a couple of sets for TV shows, and I can tell you that everybody has to know where to be and what to do at what exact time. Ages can be spent just fine-tuning one scene, shuffling actors about if the director wants to get a specific shot.

I also know that stage fights are extremely tough to make believeable without causing real harm to each other as it is. I'm willing to bet with suitmation actors it's even worse - you're wearing a costume that's the equivalent of two heavy guys sitting on you, with next to no visibility and being extremely hot and uncomfortable. Just improvising in such circumstances would be nigh-on dangerous, so fights would have to be choreographed to the letter.

Even in a non-fight situation, things would be tough for a suitmation actor. I remember reading comments made by the guy who plays Godzilla, commenting on the 'surfacing' shots. He stated that if he slipped and fell into the water, he'd drown because the suit's far too heavy to pull himself up with, least of all with the pressure of the water on you as well.

Yup... it must be tough being a Toho monster actor.

[Shin lvl2 Goji]

Choregraphing a fight scene just with people is hard, just from doing movies at home I know. I can only imagine how many times harder it is to do it in those huge suits. Not only do you have to worry about executing the move to look right and to do the right moves, but moving around in those suits is tough and accidents can happen easily.

[Baran-no-goji]

Most of the final fight in KK vs G were choreographed by none other than suitmation actors Haruo Nakajima and Shoichi Hirose. First they choreagraphed w\out the suits then when they had them on they couldn't match their planned choreography!! Suits were too big and heavy!

[Charles RB]

According to an interview of Haruo Nakajima in Steve Ryfle's Godzilla book, Nakajima was given free reign to choreograph a lot of the fights himself.

[The Great MM]

There as real as WWE fights, they are staged...but accidents can happen for better or worse...but they can be edited and redone here...

Good Examples
----------------

During MechaGodzilla assualt in "Terror of MechaGodzilla", Godzilla's back spines catch on fire by mistake, this actually makes a scene of awe.

In "Godzilla vs. Mothra", during an attack on Godzilla, Godzilla's head catch fire, and looks rather good.

Bad Examples
-----------------

During a scene with Rodan in "Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla 2" a wire holding up the Rodan suit brakes and the suit and actor fall nearly 25 feet... this was a redone scene and not put in the movie.

While Godzilla rampages through a city in "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah", when the actor steps onto the shopping mall, he trips, and bangs the suit neck...where his head is, into the side of a building, giving him a concussion, I belive this was edited from the film.

[Mothraleo]

On the bad ones. Fire Rodan didn't have a suit actor from what I understand. It was just a prop. And the scene with Goji in Ghidorah, it looks like its still in the film.

[MirrenDono]

I'd think so, otherwise it'd be waaaay too hard or would be extremley slow and boring. Unlike in the WWE, where only the winner is staged and huge moves are practiced, most Kaiju fights are scripted. Large slams and throws would be much too hard to improvise without practice or on the spur of the moment. Plus it's very much a struggle to do those fights in the heavy, bulky costumes. It'd be next to impossible to improvise a perfect fight like in the movies

Oh, and another accident-

In the Original Rodan movie, while the one Rodan was being held in the air by cables, one snapped, and the actor, inside the suit, fell to the ground from 10 feet in the air. Luckily this was taken out, because if not...well...it'd be freakin' hilarious XD

[EternalMothra]

They have to be scripted because in Godzilla vs. Destroyah, they were using some kind of gas for the burning Godzilla suite and the man in it passed out from extreme exposure to the gas. Mistakes can happen all the time, so they have to script it so they can do the same thing over again, but in the correct way.

[Charles RB]

And when filming Varan, an explosive burnt Nakajima in his "important spot". But he didn't mention it because he didn't want the rest of the crew to worry. That is how hard that man was. :)

[juan]

They are scripted. I read it in the John Q Public "Official Godzilla Compendium," a working man's monster book, and other things.

The section on suits says that the actors have to rehearse many times before they put on the suit. After all, not only are the suits heavy, (the suit used for Godzilla 1985 weighed over two hundred pounds) they are also extremely hot and hard to move in. Internet Movie Database said that in making Godzilla King of the Monsters/1954, that a cup of Nakajima's sweat was drained from the suit after a take. There's also other things. Perhaps you've asked, how does the actor see out the suit and how does he even breath? Little holes are drilled into the neck of the Godzilla suit and the actor is expected to see and breath through the suit.

There's also something else. When the big fight is an city, the actors have to rehearse even more. If they screw up the effects team has to rebuild that section city again. (Granted, they're made to be destroyed but I doubt that Tsuburaya's successors would like to build the same city five or ten times.)

As to how much being in the suit might hurt, it can hurt a lot. Accidents hapen of course, such as in King Kong vs Godzilla. At the end when the two monsters fall off the cliff, the actor playing Kong was on the bottom and took a lot of water. There's pyrotechnics. In Godzilla vs Mothra, Nakajima's suit's Godzilla head was set ablaze with real fire, accidentally I think. Kenpachiro Satsuma spoke of being worried in the Mt. Fuji volcano scene in Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth. More routine things include battles with the military. Nakijima has been quoted as saying that being shot by the model rockets feels like being pelted with stones. I doubt that the monster to monster fights would hurt any less.

The fights are scripted, down to the last detail.

[RexRaptor]

What about when hes just rampageing? I doubt THOWS need to be scripted. Yea, the exsplosoins and the beam, but thats about it.

[The Great MM]

What about when hes just rampageing? I doubt THOWS need to be scripted. Yea, the exsplosoins and the beam, but thats about it.

Doubt, they need to know where to be and how fast to go in order to make sure that the explosions happen when he is there and hits em. The actor alone doesn't cause explosions, and you also have the team who controls the head and tail.

[Gorjirus]

Everything in the G movies are scripted that you see on film (except for said mistakes). Read an actual script. Everything is in there, down to the facial expressions (unless the director wants a change, but that is close enough).

[Dante]

The mistakes are of course not, but the rest would have to be. In order to get the desired special effects, they would have to be.

Even the HtH fights. If they let them go at it, one of them could get knocked over and unable to get back up. Then the other one could just kick the crap out of them. I doubt the director wants that.

[RexRaptor]

The mistakes are of course not, but the rest would have to be. In order to get the desired special effects, they would have to be.

Even the HtH fights. If they let them go at it, one of them could get knocked over and unable to get back up. Then the other one could just kick the crap out of them. I doubt the director wants that.As long as its not Godzilla in the final Fight, the Director would be happy...

[MirrenDono]

^ Umm...no he wouldn't. I don't see why you'd wanna make a lame fight of one kaiju just getting bashed.

[RexRaptor]

^ Umm...no he wouldn't. I don't see why you'd wanna make a lame fight of one kaiju just getting bashed.If its mothra..then yes.

[The Great MM]

If its mothra..then yes.

wow.... that has gotta be one of the most...oh nevermind I'm not gonna get another warning for even saying it, things I ever heard.

[juan]

:nonono2: Now now, RexRaptor, you shouldn't be so cross about it. :nonono2:

We're just trying to answer your question though I must apologize if we've injured your pride. Friends?:)

[juan]

Hey Studio Asberger, I just recalled what you said about the suit actor drowning. It was Haruo Nakajima, the first and greatest Godzilla suit actor of them all. (Well, there's Satsuma...) He said that about the water scenes in "Godzilla: King of the Monsters/1954."

:blush: Good heavens... I am a geek to be able to list suit actos...:blush:

And Monster Master, I did some checking.. that scene was in Sapporo, a city in Japan's northernmost big island, Hokkaido. I think that the scene was left in.

There was another suit screw up in Godzilla in "Godzilla vs Mothra." While Goji is in the city, his tail is caught on a tower and he stumbles forwards. Probably a mistake. That's all and I hope that y'all have a nice day!

[baragon2005]

During a scene with Rodan in "Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla 2" a wire holding up the Rodan suit brakes and the suit and actor fall nearly 25 feet... this was a redone scene and not put in the movie.
The last time (excluding Final Wars) someone was inside a Rodan suit for a Godzilla movie was 1968. The Rodans in 1993 were stiff props.








:baragon:

[MirrenDono]

Originally posted by juan
:blush: Good heavens... I am a geek to be able to list suit actos...:blush:
Oh that's nothin', I've memorized every single name for the different Goji suits ^_^