Netflix Stealth Dropping Godzilla Minus One Is One of Its Greatest Flexes in a Long Time

Streaming Wars is a weekly opinion column by IGN’s Streaming Editor, Amelia Emberwing. To read the last entry, check out Madame Web Is Right Where She Belongs: The Netflix Top 10.

It’s been said that I’m too hard on streaming services from time to time. While I maintain that it’s impossible to be too hard on any corporation — especially those that promise the world and just kinda break things instead — readers who feel like I am bullying their favorite executive can take comfort in what I’m about to say: Netflix did something very interesting last Friday, and it’s the streaming network’s greatest flex in a long, long time.

I’m talking, of course, about stealth dropping Godzilla Minus One — one of the most sought after and domestically difficult to access films in the last year — on a random Friday night at midnight PST without shouting from the rooftops for weeks that it was coming. And they would have been right to do that shouting, for what it’s worth. Godzilla Minus One is a huge get, one not unlike the platform’s rights acquisition to beloved Tollywood hit RRR in 2022. Though, with RRR, Netflix had the hurdle of a complicated translation issue. (The version on the streamer was dubbed in Hindi and then translated to English for Western viewers, meaning that it went from Telugu to Hindi to English. Talk about lost in translation.)

Godzilla Minus One does not share that same translation issue, with both subbed and dubbed versions available on Netflix, like, right now! As I write this! You can just watch it!

This is exactly the kind of accessibility that I want to see from streaming platforms. Making films like Godzilla Minus One and RRR easier to access is great for everyone. And, just casually dropping the news into the conversation on a random Friday evening, Netflix “no big deal” reminded the world that it remains top dog in the streaming space. “Oh, that thing all of you have been waiting to drop in the US? Sure, here you go.” Respect, Netflix.

For those on the outside looking in and wondering what all the fuss is about, Godzilla Minus One took the world by storm in 2023. Though it received mixed reviews in Japan, international audiences couldn’t get enough of the film. It walked away from the Oscars with a win in the Best Visual Effects category, and is the first Godzilla film to ever do so. Other than that, I’m not gonna babble too many needless facts here (you’ve got Wikipedia for that). But what I can tell you on a personal level is that the film is one of my favorites in the last decade and the most frequent lament I have heard since the film debuted is “I’m so bummed I missed it in theaters.”

…Ok, it’s still not back in theaters, but you get a chance to watch it now! And I’m jealous, because what a wonder it would be to check out this dang thing again for the first time.

If you’re wondering what makes Godzilla Minus One so special when we already “have Godzilla at home” with the Legendary Monsterverse, I think the neat thing about kaiju is that they sort of transcend comparison (on the sheer enjoyment level, at least. Do your thing, critic buds). There’s the “comparison is the thief of joy” of it all, of course, but mostly it’s just not something that I’ve found necessary when it comes to the Toho and Legendary franchises. All Godzilla, all different. The Legendary Monsterverse speaks to my love of stompy, stompy, smashy, smashy. If you’re walking out of one of those movies complaining about the plot, we are not the same. Did kaiju stomp around and f*ck shit up? Perfect, no notes. Please tell me again how Kong got a new mech arm because he went to the giant monkey dentist. I love it! (It’s on Max now!)

Meanwhile, it’s not the (previous) post-theatrical exclusivity that makes Godzilla Minus One so singular. It’s the human experience showcased alongside the sheer destruction of a force of nature. Minus One sheds the silliness of recent kaiju fare, but does not lose itself in its own no-nonsense narrative. Godzilla here is less the allegory for nuclear war and instead an extension of it. Concurrently, the story of humanity leaps off the screen as you watch the protagonists navigate post-WWII Japan, their perceived personal failures, and discover their reasons to survive.

What I’m saying is that some days I want a nice slice of pizza. Other days I want Domino’s. Why compare when they both scratch different itches?

Netflix bringing stories like Godzilla Minus One into homes across the world is exactly what streaming platforms were meant for. Dropping by on a Friday with a casual little “oh yeah, you can watch this now” is a flex that I have no choice but to respect, and I hope they learn from the positive reactions they received from fans. (They’re gonna learn from the brief subscriber bump, but hey… I’ll take it!)