Dean Israelite's 'Power Rangers' Suits Revealed, Analyzing The New Look

If you've been following the news for the upcoming 'Power Rangers' reboot, this is the unveiling you've been waiting for. Teasing us with Rita Repulsa and a shot of the main cast in street clothes was just a lead-up for the main event, and Entertainment Weekly brings us our first look at the 2017 feature film's heroes post-morphin' time. Check them out below, along with my personal analysis.

Here's what the director of the reboot, Dean Israelite, had to say about the new designs:

"The show was about kids coming of age, about metamorphosis. These suits needed to feel like they were catalyzed by these kids and their energy, their spirit."

I agree with him about the coming of age aspect to the show, but I don't see where he's coming from with that last sentence. Nothing about these suits seems to be directly relatable to the human teenage experience, but maybe he's hinting at something revealed in the film itself. His production designer, Andrew Menzies, also talked about the immense pressure involved in trying to please everyone:

"It’s tricky finding a new language for a superhero costume. Ours is an alien costume that grows on them, that’s not man-made. You can’t win everyone over, but we are trying to appeal to a more mature audience and gain new fans."

He's right of course, fans are already finding things to nitpick about with these new costumes. I can admit that Kyle and I had similar reactions, but I wanted to break it down a little more and maybe shed some light on what might have inspired these designs.

The image at the top of this article comes straight from the 1995 'Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie.' Just like we spoke briefly about on the podcast this week, these costumes were mind-blowing to my much younger self, as spandex was replaced by flexible armor that produced gadgets and cool new weapons, I couldn't help be impressed. They kept pretty close to the original show's design while updating them at the same time to compensate for a much larger budget. I think they did a fairly good job in retrospect.

These new suits are similar to the recently revealed Rita Repulsa design in my opinion; they just don't stand out at all. There's nothing inherently unique about them or specifically tied to what the filmmakers have described in the press. There are multiple quotes where they've said that the costumes would reflect the fact that they morph onto the Rangers instead of being suits that you change into. Many people took this to mean that they might have a kind of organic quality to them and I think Elizabeth Bank's character has a feel that conforms to that concept. The Ranger's armor, on the other hand, looks like it stands alongside the standard Hollywood overly-designed "power suit" look. So much so, in fact, that I couldn't shake the feeling that I had seen a similar design to these before.

The first that came to mind actually has a loose connection to this reboot. Production designer Andrew Menzies worked on another film franchise that shares many of the elements seen in these new designs: the modern G.I. Joe reboot. I called it a loose connection because he actually only worked on 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation.' I do think the normal costumes that characters wear in both of those films share some DNA with the new Ranger's suits, but in particular, the "accelerator suits" in the first film were the most apparent to me immediately. Here's a reference if you've forgotten that film as much as the rest of the public has:

You can really see it in the helmets and the spaces between pieces of heavier armor. The designs are so busy it's hard to tell what's really going on.

The second image I thought of was 2009's 'Robocop' costume. This is actually closer in the way that it has a more streamlined look to it that's more fitted to the body, but is still trying way too hard to look cool and stand up to an original iconic design.  

At the end of the day, it's the story and characters who are going to make this reboot successful or not. They'll most likely get a decent opening weekend just out of the curiosity and nostalgia of the fanbase, but if they want this to turn into a franchise and bring in new audiences, they're going to have to make something truly worthwhile. I really hope that's the case and we're seeing these designs wildly removed from the context of a good film, but I am definitely starting to have my doubts.

I think with everything they've said about these costumes, they really could have gone for a more organic, skin-adhering type of suit that would have been unique. If you haven't seen it, there was a sizzle reel type fan film that had some b-list (but awesome) actors attached that actually got fans pretty excited for a modern interpretation of this universe. It found a way to update the suits in some really interesting ways. They're actually what I imagined when director of the new film first started teasing what the suits might look like. Below are some shots from that, as well as an embed of the full film if you want to check them out in action (Warning, graphic content and language).

So, what do you think? Let us know in the comments if you think the film is on track, or at least interesting, and whether or not you'll be there on day one of the release.

Warner Bros. Wins Bidding War Over 'Monsterpocalypse' Movie Rights

Looks like the Monsterpocalypse won't be canceled after all my friends. As we reported last Friday, a bidding war had spun up over the film rights to the Monsterpocalypse board game from Privateer Press. Some massive Hollywood players that included the likes of Dreamworks, Sony, Warner Bros., and a mysterious fourth movie studio duked it out all weekend trying to secure the property and we now have a winner!

The Hollywood Reporter's sources are saying that Warner Bros. has won the bidding war and now owns the right to make 'Monsterpocalypse' with Fede Alvarez attached to co-write and direct. Of course, the super interesting bit in all of this is that Warner Bros. is also the studio in charge of the Godzilla-verse (along with Legendary pictures) and the Pacific Rim movies. This figuratively makes Warner Bros. the king of the giant monster movies! Obviously, we could speculate whether or not Warner Bros. is thinking about adding this franchise into either of their two existing giant monster universes, but I honestly would be perfectly happy with this staying its own thing.

The larger question to me is whether this marks a new interest in the genre overall or is just another exception to the rule. With multiple upcoming projects, not just on Warner Brother's slate, are we about to see a major rejuvenation of the atomic age of monster movies? That would be very exciting for fans everywhere, and as we've seen with the superhero genre, it just takes one great movie to start a major trend in Hollywood and audiences wallets alike.

Are you excited for Warner Bros. to take the reigns of an American giant monster empire? What do you hope they bring in from the game to the silver screen? Comment below and let us know your thoughts!

Zilla: What's In A Name?

Gojira. Godzilla. G.I.N.O. Zilla. All of these names represent the exact same creature, and yet, fans get up in a tizzy when people call the creature from the 1998 film 'Godzilla' by a few of those titles. This topic has popped up on multiple forums and Facebook groups on several occasions and this being the internet it usually ends up with a lot of insults being thrown around and a moderator putting their foot down and removing the topic. Well, I'm here to give my thoughts on the naming of this black sheep of the Godzilla family and show you that you can call him whatever you want.

In 2004, Toho decided that they were done making sly references to the 1998 creature not being the real Godzilla (watch the beginning of the movie 'Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All out Attack' or 'GMK' for short) and wanted to use him as a separate entity in their new film 'Godzilla: Final Wars.' Fans were actually rather excited to see the American-made creature go up against the OG Godzilla, but were met with a dilemma. If Godzilla (Gojira) is the name for the traditional Japanese form of the monster, what do we call the American monster? Toho decided to rebrand the monster under the new name Zilla, since the creature took the "God" out of the name Godzilla (Shogo Tomiyama, the producer of the film, and many others were the ones who came up with the name). And thus, we all had our answer. Toho also stated that the American design would be referred to as such from now on in any media. The design of the creature and the rights to any future use reverted back to Toho after Sony did not make a sequel within the allotted time frame. 

I personally accepted this new name wholeheartedly and even stopped using the name I came to know him by, G.I.N.O., aka "Godzilla In Name Only." I used the name Zilla to describe the creature himself and his particular design whenever it was used, including the original film and the animated series that followed it (technically Zilla Jr. is the name of the animated series creature, but I digress). I really like that Toho accepted the creature into the Godzilla series proper and I think that he has always worked best as a separate creature. Obviously, I knew that this was all being done in retrospect and that they weren't going to go back and officially change any of the merch for the 1998 film, but that didn't matter. Zilla was here to stay and could not be forgotten. Everything was fine in the fan community... Or so I thought.

Zilla has become more popular as of late and there has been a new influx of fans for his specific movie. I don't think that these fans deserve ridicule or anything like that, in fact more power to them for being fans of something that is generally disliked. The thing I take issue with is the new and older fans of the 1998 'Godzilla' refusing to let anyone call the creature anything other than Godzilla. Now, I understand that this is technically correct and that his name in the film is Godzilla, therefore he can be called Godzilla. I'm not arguing that he be stripped of his name, but that it is much easier to distinguish the specific design as Zilla so that everyone knows what you are talking about. In fact, the name he should be called by is actually Gojira, since according to the film, the news anchor mispronounces his name as Godzilla and then it just kind of sticks. I don't see any of these hardcore G-98' fans trying to call the creature Gojira and have everyone understand which creature they are talking about... Which is kind of the point of this article. 

In a post 2014 'Godzilla' world, the americanized name of Godzilla has seemingly been attached to the Legendary design by Toho themselves. Since we now have essentially three different Gojiras, is it that wrong that fans distinguish them in the community as Gojira (Toho designs), Godzilla (Legendary design), and Zilla (the G-98' design)? I personally don't think so. But, if you are adamant that Zilla should be called Godzilla, and only Godzilla, then you need to at least understand the following: If you say Godzilla without the context of the 98' film, we are all going to think of the traditional Gojira designs before we think of Zilla. That is just a fact. Insulting either side does nothing, and a fan community should be more willing to accept the nicknames that are given to the creatures. I still end up calling him G.I.N.O. half the time because that's what I grew up calling him.

To summarize my point, I really just want everyone to take a step back from the naming debacle and just realize that Zilla, in whatever form or name, is a cool design and I'd like to see more of him. The movie he came from originally is not perfect and in fact does have a lot of negative aspects to it, but honestly, there are some worse Gojira films out there (I'm looking at you Godzilla's Revenge).

Will you start accepting people calling him Zilla, or will you stand your ground? Please comment below and start a healthy discussion about this unique creature design.

Shin-Godzilla Maquette And More Shown Off At Japanese Convention

As we previously reported, Toho Pictures has brought a highly detailed maquette from their new film 'Godzilla: Resurgence' to the Nico Nico Super Conference 2016. More images are appearing all over the internet as fans get a first hand look at the disturbing new design. Director Hideaki Anno will also be speaking at the event, so hopefully we'll get some new information from the filmmaker in the coming days. In the mean time, check out images straight off the conference floor below, as well as some of my thoughts after getting a closer look at the design.

As we mentioned in our in-depth breakdown of the new design, the tail looks to be embedded with sea life skeletons that form a kind of club at the end. His arms are small, but look a lot better here than they have so far. I'm also a big fan of the feet actually, although I understand I'm in the minority on that one.

I personally think these photos do more to reinforce my interest in the new Shin-Godzilla than anything else. It's a completely new take on the King of Monsters, and a welcome one after years of people expecting minor tweaks to the suit and nothing more. Of course, you have to expect that the ultra-mutated look is in large part due to the story and themes of the new film. I think either in this movie or the next (if it does well enough) we'll get to see a fully regenerated version of this suit and it will be one of the closest iterations to the original 54' design we've ever gotten. 

Those last few shots are from the special effects exhibit that lets you stand in for Godzilla and Ultraman respectively.

Check back for more information from the event as it continues to unfold and later as we hear from the filmmakers themselves!

Bidding War In Hollywood Arises Over 'Monsterpocalypse' Movie Rights

A new giant monster movie might be on the way and it comes from a pretty unlikely source. Monsterpocalypse is a board game by Privateer Press, and right now a handful of studios that include Warner Brothers, Dreamworks, and Sony are in a tense bidding war to acquire the rights to make a feature film/potential franchise. The deal comes packaged with director Fede Alvarez, who is known for helming the 2013 remake 'Evil Dead.' He and his writing partner Rodo Sayagues will pen the screenplay.

If you feel like this story sounds familiar, it's because a similar situation happened in 2010 when director Tim Burton and screenwriter John August tried to get an adaptation off the ground. It lost its footing in 2013 when Guillermo Del Toro released his giant monsters versus robots project 'Pacific Rim.' The studio thought they were too similar and the filmmakers went their separate ways.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a deal could come as early as the end of this week. They go on to say that the pitch for this adaptation is very different than the approach Burton was going to take, and even though it retains the "humans versus monsters" narrative, it would stand apart from Del Toro's 'Pacific Rim' as well. 

I'm not sure how many people are aware of this board game, but I played it in college with co-host of the podcast and contributor to this blog: Kyle Minnick. It was a really interesting and fun game, but it definitely stands apart for trying to create a fleshed out universe and story to play in. It took place on an alternate Earth that is constantly under attack by alien and cross dimensional beings who used giant monsters to do their bidding. Of course, humans created G.U.A.R.D. (Globally United Advanced Research and Defense) which used giant robots piloted by humans to fight back. Sounds a lot like 'Pacific Rim' doesn't it? The major difference between the two properties, besides one being a board game, is where they were influenced. 'Pacific Rim' is an obvious homage to classic kaiju films and 'Evangelion,' where Monsterpocalypse draws from all over the genre while mixing in some elements of H.P. Lovecraft's books, 'King Kong,' and 'The War of the Worlds.'

I'm going to go one step further in getting you excited for this possible adaptation and embed director Fede Alvarez's breakthrough short film 'Panic Attack.' Watch it below and let us know if you think the filmmaker can hold his own in the genre.

Legendary Pictures And Warner Brothers Are Being Sued Over 'Kong: Skull Island' Dispute

Ah Hollywood, the place where everybody wants a piece of every pie. Apparently the creator and artist of the book 'Kong: King of Skull Island' Joe DeVito is filing a suit saying that Legendary/Warner Bros. have violated their "implied contract" with the creator and is also claiming that the companies used the framework of his story for their new film 'Kong: Skull Island'. 

DeVito's attorney submitted the following statement:

"More than 80 years have passed since the public was introduced to Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong," states the complaint filed Wednesday by DeVito's attorney Randy Merritt. "In that entire time, not one motion picture or television program has told the story of the iconic creature’s origin or his relationship to the mysterious island on which he was found."

Now, this statement is extremely strange and doesn't make a whole lot of sense especially considering we have had two film reboots of this franchise/monster so far and the 2005 Peter Jackson Kong specifically brought up a lot of hints towards Kong's history within the visuals. There does however seem to be one part of this whole thing that may have some validity. According to the Hollywood Reporter, there was going to be a high budget TV series produced by Legendary that was going to be directly based on the book, but the deal fell through eventually. It sounds like he got screwed over by the companies wanting to do something different with Kong.

During an April 22, 2014, pitch meeting at Legendary, DeVito says his team presented its vision for the Kong Skull Island project, including how the events after Kong’s death could tie to events before his discovery. Despite what DeVito paints as a positive response to the pitch, Legendary passed on the project and, because of its new relationship with the studio, di Bonaventura backed out as well.

After searching for other production partners, DeVito claims in July 2014 he came to an agreement with Warner Bros. That same summer, Legendary announced its release of a Skull Island motion picture and not too long after DeVito says the company bullied Warners into dropping out of his series. 

“When reminded that the agreement for the Kong Skull Island Project called for a guaranteed pilot, Warner Bros. negotiated a kill fee with the Writers and returned the rights to the Kong Skull Island Property to DeVito ArtWorks,” states the complaint. 

Legendary later announced Warner Bros. would be taking over for Universal Studios on production of the film.

Now look, obviously I haven't seen any more footage from the film 'Kong: Skull Island' than the rest of you, but what I do know is this: from what I can tell, there are absolutely no similarities between DeVito's book and the upcoming film! The book works as a sequel to the original Kong in which Carl Denham's son (Vincent Dunham) ends up going back to the island and has to be saved by an aged Jack Driscoll. It does a bunch of flashbacks and shows the origin of the original 'King Kong' (1933) and shows the effect taking Kong had on the villagers (once again just to be specific, the 1933 Kong villagers).

 The new film is going a completely different direction, with the events of the 1933 Kong never happening and a new group of characters discovering the island in the 1970s during the height of the Vietnam war. This Kong seems to be more in line with the 1976 film, and is just using the base concepts of the ape and the island (Dinosaurs may be included too, but for now we actually have no idea). Not to mention, this being tied to the Legendary Godzilla-verse and being a set up for the film 'Godzilla vs Kong' which further distances itself from the story of DeVito's book (Kong is dead in the book since it is a sequel to the original film). This movie seems like it is the first time anyone has seen the creature, and is a completely new take on the legendary monster and his history.

While the properties (film and book) may have originally been intended to be be similar, I just don't see any actual evidence of that being the case anymore. Maybe the creator of the book, DeVito, knows more than we do, but for now this seems like someone lashing out because they weren't able to get a TV deal/movie deal. Also, one could argue that he owns no actual stake in the Kong character, since I believe the rights are currently owned by Warner and Legendary (if not, then they are probably on loan from Universal). 

Do you think that this guy's suit is valid? Have you read the book 'Kong: King of Skull Island' and would like to give your thoughts on it? Comment below and let me know!

'MECH: Age Of Steel' Will Show The Other Side Of The Fight In 'Kaiju Rising: Age Of Monsters'

It could be that I just have kaiju books on the brain, what with our upcoming podcast episode and all, but when I ran across a Kickstarter page promoting a new anthology book about giant kaiju-fighting robots, I had to run back here and fill you all in. 

The series of stories written by an intense assortment of best-selling authors focuses on giant mechs and the pilots who control them. Each story will be its own slice of kaiju-battling action and drama that will be unique to the contributing author's perspective. The book is actually a follow up to the well known Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters anthology collection and is being called a "companion" of sorts to that book. A few of the stories will be related to or reference the other, so I think it's probably worth checking out the original if this looks interesting to you.

Here's a list of the stories and their author's contributing to MECH: Age of Steel :

• “Travailiant” by Kevin J. Anderson & David Boop
• “Easy as Pie” by Jody Lynn Nye
• Untitled by Peter Clines (Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters tie-in) 
• “Ordo Talos” by Graham McNeill 
• “Rogue 57” by Jeremy Robinson 
• “Toy Soldier” by James Swallow 
• “Birthright” by Martha Wells 
• “A Single Feather” by Jeffrey J. Mariotte & Marsheila Rockwell 
• “Jäegermeister” by Gini Koch (as J.C. Koch) 
• “All for One” by Mark Teppo 
• “I Am the Pilot” by Ramez Naam & Jason M. Hough 
• “All Together Now” by Ramez Naam & Jason M. Hough 
• “The Bonus Situation” by Jeff Somers 
• “Fadem” by Anton Strout
• “The Tempered Steel of Antiquity Grey” by Shawn Speakman 
• “Mecha Mishipeshu vs Theseus IV” by C.L. Werner (Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters tie-in) 
• "After the Victory" by M.L. Brennan 
• “The Cold and the Dark” by James R. Tuck 
• “Vulture Patrol” by Jennifer Brozek 
• “Here We Go! Fight!” by Kane Gilmour 
• “The Stars Shine Home” by Mallory Reaves 
• "Battlefield Recovery" by Andrew Liptak 
• “Integration” by Steve Diamon
• “Of the Fire” by Paul Genesse 
• “Machine Heart” by Patrick M. Tracy 

I didn't start this podcast or blog to be a mouthpiece for promoting Kickstarters, but I thought this looked really interesting and I'm going to have to pick up the first book and keep an eye on this new one after seeing the talent involved. Let me know if you might do the same.

MECH: Age of Steel will release on January 10, 2017 by Ragnarok Publications. You can get an early pre-release copy by contributing to their Kickstarter here.

Coming Next Week - Episode 07: Jeremy Robinson's 'Project Nemesis'

We've been very busy as of late here at Tokyo Lives, but not busy enough to put down author Jeremy Robinson's excellent Kaiju thriller 'Project Nemesis.' This is the first book in a series that goes way back with my co-host Kyle, and we decided that it was more than worthy to be the main topic of our next episode coming sometime next week.

If you're a fan, definitely tune-in for our in-depth breakdown of what makes Robinson's universe stand apart from the many movies and comics that have come before it. If you've never heard of the series before, settle in as we tell you why you need to pick it up as soon as possible and how it has come to be known as essential reading for any fan of giant monsters or well written sci-fi action in general.

We hope you'll join us as we discuss the book as we think it'll be a really different and exciting episode. If you've been enjoying the podcast overall and the direction we're taking it, jump on over to our page on iTunes and leave us a review. This is a huge help to the show and it lets us reach out to a larger audience so we can keep making more episodes.

Will 'Independence Day: Resurgence' Feature Giant Bio-Mech Suits?

If you were a kid in the summer of 1996, you had one thing on your mind: Jeff Goldblum. Okay, maybe in reality it was the aliens and their city-spanning flying saucers with wall-of-fire creating laser beams. As well as scene-chewing performances by Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Bill Pullman, and everyone's favorite drunken (former) abductee: Randy Quaid. This is a film that defined alien invasion movies for a generation, and put plenty of future big name actors on the map. What's really surprising is that it took twenty years to get a sequel out in theaters, but lo and behold, this summer millions of 90's kids will get their long forgotten wishes with the release of 'Independence Day: Resurgence.'

What does this have to do with giant monsters? Not much honestly, except for the fact that the latest trailer suggests the film is apparently throwing its hat into the kaiju-genre ring. I've assembled some screenshots of what I believe are giant, bio-mechanical suits worn by the aliens in the upcoming blockbuster. Take a look and see what you think.

These first four shots show two advanced alien fighters bearing down and firing on an almost 'Cloverfield' looking creature running across a rooftop. Hundreds more fighters swarm above and around the buildings. Did the heroes of the film take control of one of these things and that's why the aliens are attacking it? Are they in the fighters trying to take one out?

Here are the shots where everyone watching the trailer took notice of the tentacled monster. It shows the camera tilting down on a humvee as a large clawed foot raises up and then comes crashing down, destroying the vehicle and the soldiers occupying it. Based on the background swarm of fighters, this looks like the same scene as the one above. Not sure why alien fighters and humans would be shooting at the same thing, but maybe this is a different monster, or those two fighters earlier in the trailer really have been commandeered by the protagonists.

Here's my theory on what these things are. Notice the color of the creature's skin? As I mentioned, I think these are larger, different versions of the "armor" that the aliens wore in the first film. Here's a picture to jog your memory:

They're already making homages to dozens of classic alien invasion stories with this franchise, and I believe that this is their version of the "tripods" from H.G. Wells' famous 'The War of the Worlds.' They've already set up that these aliens are small in stature, but use suits in combat roles. Why wouldn't they be able to make them whatever size and shape they could dream up? I think this is a great concept and I'd like to see the universe expanded more in future films/comics/etc because of ideas like this.

Hopefully, the upcoming movie is fun and well executed, otherwise no one will care about seeing more of these weapons in action.

'Independence Day: Resurgence' is directed by Roland Emmerich and releases June 24, 2016.

'Jurassic World 2' Will Shoot In The UK, Title To Be Announced Soon

As we've previously reported, 'Jurassic World 2' has a new director and is moving full steam ahead. News will be coming often as the film moves out of development and into pre-production, with the cast and crew already starting to open up about what we can expect from the ambitious reboot's sequel.

It seems that the movie will be primarily filmed on sound stages somewhere in the UK. Pinewood Studios is a possibility, but they're booked up years in advance, so you would think we would have already heard about that bit of news. The fact that they're moving away from Hawaii (where every other 'Jurassic Park' film used as a location) is pretty telling that we're going to have a very different story this time around. Are we going to see a predominantly urban adventure for the first time in the franchise's history? This could be an amazing turn for the series, even though we've briefly seen this kind of interaction in the original sequel 'Jurassic Park: The Lost World,' it was received divisively by fans and critics alike. Hopefully, we'll know more about what the script has planned for us in the near future.

The second bit of news comes straight from the newly appointed director Juan Antonio Bayona and is from a Spanish television program he was being interviewed on. Thanks to the fine people over at the JP Legacy twitter account, it was revealed that Bayona knows the title of the film and that it will be public knowledge soon. He will be meeting with producers of the film Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, and Colin Treverrow in the near future to discuss details of the upcoming production, and we can only hope that they will steer him in the right direction.

'Jurassic Park 2' is scheduled to be released June 22, 2018.