It's unlike Netflix to not give its subscribers a heads-up about the various movies and shows coming to the platform – check out the top 5 for this June – but the new Netflix no.1 movie this week bucks that trend by appearing out of nowhere (well, almost).
Godzilla: Minus One appeared on the best streaming service's roster on 1 June with no warning – apt, really, as that's like Godzilla itself rising from the waters – and immediately climbed the ranks as fans clamoured to watch the latest Godzilla flick. Check out the trailer below for a taster:
It's refreshing to see Godzilla return to its roots, so to speak, as Minus One clearly pays its respects to the Japanese original movie from back in 1954 – that's an almost-implausible-to-think 70 years ago! The original Godzilla is a landmark movie that changed cinema – and still regarded as a classic, with a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Minus One is set in Japan, is in the Japanese language – with subtitles, it's not dubbed (unless you select that option) – and that helps deliver an even more authentic experience that's at times homage to the original movie. Albeit one that's far more up-to-date visually and loaded with current and internationally relevant themes.
As you can see from the trailer, the visual effects (VFX) are at times highly reflective of many older Godzilla movies of old, with a touch of almost stop-motion appearance about them, but in a much more polished and relevant format. It looks great.
Those visual effects were the work of Takashi Yamazaki, who also wrote and directed Minus One, which sounds like a mammoth task – but what a great success it has become. Not only is it the Netflix no.1 movie right now, it's also got a unanimous 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes from both critics and audience alike.
It's not often that a foreign language film rises the ranks in cinema or on Netflix, but Godzilla: Minus One is really flying at the moment – and deservedly so. The movie netted almost $116-million at the box office, too, smashing its $12-million budget. And now it's smashing Netflix's chart, so get viewing if you've not caught this monster movie sensation yet!
