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Godzilla (2014) Discussion & Poll - CLOSED


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Godzilla (2014)  

31 members have voted

  1. 1. Execution?

  2. 2. Recommendation?



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Godzilla (2014) (7.1 DTS-HD MA)

 

Level        - 5 Stars (114.24dB composite)
Extension - 2 Stars (21Hz)
Dynamics - 4 Stars (25.17dB)

Execution - 3 Stars (by poll)

 

Overall     - 3.5 Stars

Recommendation - Rent (by poll)

 

Notes:  This is a decent reboot of the old & cheesy franchise.  However, it suffers from the blockbuster Hollywood loudness wars.

 

Mixers, probably at the behest of producers/directors,  sometimes feel the need to "turn it to 11" at the expense of dynamics and extension.  Godzilla suffers from that misconception.  It has very loud bass, but it's almost all 30Hz and above.  Without anything powerful below 30Hz, these giant monsters' footsteps feel weaker than the effect caused by closing your theater's door.  This says nothing of the destruction and havoc they wreak on screen.  All of it lacks the weight and impact that should accompany massive structures being destroyed.  Just dialing back the obvious low shelf filter by 10Hz would have fixed this one. 

 

And, it's not a very dynamic track.  Its dynamic range is compressed compared to many other big bass mixes we're seeing these days, which has the effect of making the big scenes seem less loud overall.  I think this might have been impacted to a degree by the sound team's reuse of some generic bass effects throughout the movie.

 

Long story short - yes, it's loud on average.  Yes, it sounds good on your ported subs, so you'll probably love it.  And, really, that's all that matters - whether or not you liked it.  But, here we're passionate about bass, and we want it to be amazing.  This is a one trick pony mix, and by no means is it amazing.  It doesn't feel convincing compared to many other movies. 

 

For instance, when thinking about VERY LARGE & POWERFUL things on screen, consider the impact each of these films had in your theater and then tell me which one's overall bass mix you prefer:

 

Godzilla_Comparison.gif

 

I know which scared the crap out of me, and it wasn't Godzilla.  That's not to say it's bad; it's just not close to the true MONSTER it could have been.  ;)

 

EDIT:  maxmercy did a clipping analysis and found that the people who thought this was rough sounding were right: it clips pretty terribly.

 

PvA:

 

post-17-0-29167000-1410877100_thumb.png

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This and Pacific Rim were a "MAJOR" disappointment in the bass department FOR ME!

I was sooooooooo looking forward to this and am disappointed to say the least.

 

I can't stand to see graphs look like a volcano's side view on the left side!

 

 

I said the same thing about Pacific Rim and somebody came to its defense. I actually said I thought it was one of the biggest let downs of all time besides Avengers. People say Pacific Rim is a bass monster, I guess I missed it? 

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As someone with a "ported 20Hz Sub" I can say that this sounded pretty good, although I felt like there was something missing. My new couch seems to resonate pretty heavily at about 45 Hz though, so this sure was fun. But the bass reminded me of Pacific Rim with it's reused bass effects and slightly lacking extension(for my system).

Was a bit surprised to see pretty much nothing below 25Hz when looking at it in SpecLab, except for some sweeps that go to about 18Hz.

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If you can only do into the 20-30Hz range with a ported sub, then it's almost impossible to know when there's something missing.  For those folks, absolutely, this mix will sound killer because it's very loud above there.  And, without that critical knowledge of full-bandwidth reproduction, louder is almost always considered better AND deeper, due to how we hear.  That's just how it is.

 

But, I challenge anyone to goto a construction site, see, feel, and hear the very deep bass produced by heavy equipment, and then come back to me and say that a film like Godzilla has appropriate bass.  Even better, if you live near an AFB, listen to the pounding bass created by transport helicopters and Ospreys.  If those little machines (by contrast) can create bass so potent that it makes pressure waves you can hear and feel, which they do, why wouldn't we want 500ft tall monsters to at least produce something similar in our theaters?

 

My comments on filtered blockbusters don't reflect a bias against people with ported subs or limited bandwidth systems, because we all get enjoyment from things differently, and as long as you enjoyed the movie, that's what counts.  I'm against the studios putting out filtered mixes, because they technically don't have to.  You can have it all when mixing a movie - single digit extension, huge dynamics, and very loud overall levels.  Many movies in the data-bass prove this.  :)

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My sub is flat to about 20 Hz, not much below that though. But I can definitely tell the difference between WOTW or Oz The Great And Powerful(the movie that propably impressed me the most on my system) and Godzilla.

And I'm against filtered mixes too, even if I can't always tell the difference (some day...).

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At least it's Pacific Rim" style bass! this was a minimum requirement for a purchase for me (which I did) I have sealed subs and thoroughly enjoyed "Pacific Rim" regardless of filtering! if your setup can handle being subjected to the "loudness war" the better the experience will be. Its really no excuse because I feel its intentional <_< , its very very rare to have what I call a reference mix Oblivion , Ender's Game , Oz and recently CATWS  these can and do represent careful crafting of level, dynamics and extension. Now as for the rest its a box of chocolates :rolleyes:  some you like and some you want to spit out ! So Godzilla is loud but has extension down to 21hz and good and loud 30hz stuff . I'm all in and will rate it after I see it.  :P

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I watched Captain America 2 directly after Godzilla, and from the very beginning, the difference in dynamics, impact, and extension is IMMEDIATE and a huge difference.  I couldn't believe what a difference there was between the mixes: it's shocking in a full-bandwidth, reference-capable system, and CATWS isn't the best ever.

 

Seriously, though.  Why couldn't the mixers and sound designing crew for Godzilla even get the chopper scenes, train scenes, and heavy artillery fire scenes correct with adequate bass?  It's like they just ignored that stuff.

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If you can only do into the 20-30Hz range with a ported sub, then it's almost impossible to know when there's something missing.  For those folks, absolutely, this mix will sound killer because it's very loud above there. 

 

I don't think it will sound killer at all.  Look at this weak a$$ movie.  This is a scene with monsters smashing into buildings.  WEEEAAAAKK! 

 

Epic, no bass in a MONSTER movie, FAIL!!!  Where do I get my money back?

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If you can only do into the 20-30Hz range with a ported sub, then it's almost impossible to know when there's something missing.  For those folks, absolutely, this mix will sound killer because it's very loud above there.  And, without that critical knowledge of full-bandwidth reproduction, louder is almost always considered better AND deeper, due to how we hear.  That's just how it is.

 

But, I challenge anyone to goto a construction site, see, feel, and hear the very deep bass produced by heavy equipment, and then come back to me and say that a film like Godzilla has appropriate bass.  Even better, if you live near an AFB, listen to the pounding bass created by transport helicopters and Ospreys.  If those little machines (by contrast) can create bass so potent that it makes pressure waves you can hear and feel, which they do, why wouldn't we want 500ft tall monsters to at least produce something similar in our theaters?

 

My comments on filtered blockbusters don't reflect a bias against people with ported subs or limited bandwidth systems, because we all get enjoyment from things differently, and as long as you enjoyed the movie, that's what counts.  I'm against the studios putting out filtered mixes, because they technically don't have to.  You can have it all when mixing a movie - single digit extension, huge dynamics, and very loud overall levels.  Many movies in the data-bass prove this.  :)

 

Thanks for that.  I'm one of those with a 25Hz sub, but I get what you're saying!  Good real-world examples there.

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Thanks for the clipping and LFE analysis guys. Any chance this was done deliberately (artistic intent) for dramatic effect or is that a stretch? Clipping has never been something I am sensitive too for whatever reason (maybe my speakers are not revealing enough or I am just not bothered by it for whatever reason) so I am not a good judge of it in general. Hoping to watch this tonight.


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I would say that if there was extension AND clipping it would be artistic, as then they would be seeing that it's just so loud and low that the human ears would clip it, but as there's no extension, they seem to have just taken a non-sound designers advice and just upped the midbass level without leaving room for the ULF.

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