GODZILLA DESIGN TOURNAMENT FINAL RESULTS

Not surprising. Hard to top the original! I really enjoyed this series, looking forward to similar tournaments in the future!

Kinda disappointing that based on the particular audience on this and twitter the original just runs away with the tournament so handedly.

Moviewise I can understand, but suitwise I'm left guessing, was the original really that much better than every suit it faced save Shin?

Are you going to post the Monster Zero results by comparison? I don't know how they voted, but at least in the movie tournament the original didn't run the field and was a more interesting because of it.

I actually haven't posted it over there--If I do it, it'd have to be mixed up again since a few have seen this bracket.

I'm a little disappointed as well with the original winning. I think the design overall is unquestionably THE Godzilla above any other design, but I also think there's some "original bias" running the tables here. Honestly, I think it should have (or could have) been stopped by the MosuGoji.

Not sure how it got passed the BioGoji either, considering the absurd, mass popularity of that suit.

Here’s my 2 cents.

Firsts of anything generally get a leg up for me. Why? Originality. It’s the first of its kind and nothing like it had come before. Anything coming after has springboarded off of that; standing on the shoulders of giants, as they say.

The original King Kong, Star Trek, Night of the Living Dead, James Bond, and yes, Godzilla. These have all spawned countless sequels, remakes, reboots, and imitators, but they’re unique in that they got the ball rolling. The original Enterprise (from the TV show) is still my favorite design of that ship. I’m a huge zombie/Walking Dead fan, but they’re probably not here without George Romero and his low-budget b&w horror movie.

Now, having said that, I still think the ’54 G design is the best…

For me, the original design is perfect in its imperfections. I love this design because he looks twisted and scarred. As the movies went along Godzilla’s design became more about symmetry and having a more clean look. In the ’54 design he’s crusty and his dorsal spines are jagged and asymmetrical. Outside of Counterattack, his spines were never like that again. For years after, they were more rounded on the edges. Although they went with a jagged look starting with 2000, they looked too chiseled, were huge, and let’s be honest, they were pinkish-purple!

I always loved the little ears and four toes as well, and his roar is also my favorite.

As for the Shin design, they went with a throwback look; in fact, the closest to the ’54 design, but honestly, there are angles (straight on), where he looks terrible. The arms are these little spindly things and his tail, although cool looking, is about 3 miles too long. There is a picture/angle of his face though, that I think is featured on the soundtrack, kind of a side, almost ¾ view, where he looks outstanding. I love that picture of Shin.

My other favorite G designs: (64) Mothra Vs G, (89) Biollante, (91) King Ghidorah, (02, 03) Kiryu.

BTW, although I don't love the 2000 design, I loved Yuji Sakai's initial concept maquette, which the final suit only remotely resembled.

^While agree about the originality and the, "perfections in its imperfections," I also think there have been other designs that do right by it and honor it in ways that couldn't have been envisioned or conceived at the time--They work just as well for their particular visions. Now, if there ever is to be an argument about what is the "perfect" or "true" Godzilla design, we can only point to 1954 as it was originally intended to be the only incarnation. But I don't think that should negate the positives of other designs.

 Fair enough, though while I personally don't view Shodai as the best, it is probably in my top 5 suits assuming I'm just grouping bio/ghido together. It was just saddening that once it killed the first Mosugoji suit it became clear where this tournament was going. I think the only reason shin took what it did is because it's kind of the flavor of the month suit still being the most recent and giving a lot of people a great godzilla movie they've been waiting over a decade to have.

I think a lot of people voted more on the movie the suit was associated than just the suit itself though. I don't have any real evidence, but it was something I constantly had to remind myself when I voted that it wasn't for the movie the suit stood for. 

Not negating them at all. Again, totally subjective. That's my perfect Godzilla, but there are others as I, and you, have mentioned that I like. My love for MVsG (64), both the movie and design, is well documented! One of the most malicious looking. The Biollante design took the best of '84, but took the face and head to whole new heights; a very cool and ferocious look. The eyes, teeth and overall head design, loved it.

@Durp - In my case, some of the suits/movies may have gone hand in hand, but as much as I love the BioGoji suit, I'm not a huge fan of the movie itself. Conversely, I love Ghidorah and Monster Zero, but the G design was a step down from the suit it was based off - '64.

While I can't speak for everyone who voted, many definitely voted for different reasons. Some tried to be objective about the designs or the suits and what they could do. Others just went on with what they felt looked best. And yes, some voted based on the movie they were associated with--All of these reasons were basically admitted to by twitter users. Not all users, but a handful.

I will say that the movies do have an effect on the suit designs. Would ShodaiGoji (1954) have worked with the story for Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla (1974)? Absolutely not. Some of these designs were created or modified based on what direction the films were going and by that token alone, there's a flaw with the entire competition. The "best" suit will absolutely not fit with every film.

It's also an issue I have with list making. A lot of these films are different enough from each other that it's hard to compare in terms of style, tone and vision--But that's a different topic.