The Godzilla Thread

[Zandrax]

Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghodorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)



The significance of this movie is that it was directed by Shusuke Kaneko, who was responsible for reinventing the Gamera franchise in the mid 90s. When Toho agreed to hand over Godzilla to Americans, they turned to Mothra as their movie kaiju. Kaneko made Gamera films for Daiei, the main Toho competitor. But this ain't "The Mothra And Gamera Thread"....

Anyhoo, not only does this film ignore all previous movies, it also takes a different approach to the Godzilla lore. Instead of simply being a nuclear metaphor, Godzilla is also the embodiment of the souls killed or abandoned during WWII. It is also implied that it was these lost souls that revitalized Godzilla years later, rather than there simply being another monster as with other stories.

Yuri is an amateur reporter trying to film docudramas about monsters. Her team stumbles upon some earthquake tremors and briefly see mysterious old man. One of her teammates find a book that tells of three guardian monsters. She meets with the author, only to find that it is the same old man, Professor Isayama (this is explained far better in the Japanese version). Isayama warns Yuri that she must go the the sleeping place of Ghidorah before Godzilla returns.


Gotta love how evil and badass this Godzilla looks.

Mothra (in larva form) surfaces out of the ocean, toppling some stupid late night party kids. Yes, it should be noted that Mothra, a guardian monster, actually kills some people. Granted, she's killing STUPID people, so maybe that's just a side note.

Shortly, Baragon surfaces and starts a tramplin', and works a squash match against Godzilla. It pretty much is a squash match, as Baragon gets almost no offense in. Eventually, Mothra cocoons and re-emerges in her classic form. Her wings are digitized, which really adds to the effect. King Ghidorah and Mothra tag team Godzilla, but G eventually deals the final blow to Mothra... Mothra, in her dying moments, transfers her essence to Ghidorah, who becomes King Ghidorah. The two kaiju fall into the water where they fight underwater.

Meanwhile, Yuri's father (a high ranking commander), takes a sub and flies straight into Godzilla's mouth. After Godzilla drops the hammer on King Ghidorah, he fires a missile into Godzilla's heart from within. After making it to the surface, and realizing he may be terminal from the radioactive exposure, he and Yuri salute the site, honoring the monsters and the people that gave their lives to fight Godzilla.

In a final twist, all footage of Professor Isayama somehow has him missing, and Yuri's team find out that the real Professor died in the 1954 attack. It was is spirit lingering to warn others.

I had some issues with this one. Being a continuity guy, I really hate it when they make movies that ignore previous installments. There have been so many reboots in the Millenium series, they'd be catching up to Marvel Comics. But apparently these aren't reboots, just different takes on the Godzilla lore. If you take out the predispositions, this one easily earns an 7. It's entertaining, has a deeper story than most 'Zilla films, and has some pretty darn good effects to boot. Definitely the best of the Millenium series so far.

The only real downsides were most of the underwater fight going unseen, and Mothra pretty much being third fiddle to Godzilla and Ghidorah. Plus, a human submarine succeeding where giant monsters failed can seem a bit anticlimactic. But the flip side is the irony of humans overcoming such big adversity.

Onlys
-directed by Shusuke Kaneko
-King Ghidorah is depicted as a heroic guardian and not an evil monster. According to Wikipedia, this was because the part was originally meant to be Varan, a lesser known Kaiju, with Anguiras in the Mothra role. But Toho asked him to use Ghidorah for the name value.

Here is a clip I put up a while back to demonstrate this Godzilla's power http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhrwR94VmRo

[Doctor Who?]

Hey one quick question.

A friend of mine said he saw a movie where the Japanese Godzilla killed the American one,did he know what he was talking about is there a movie like that?

[Zandrax]

Hey one quick question.

A friend of mine said he saw a movie where the Japanese Godzilla killed the American one,did he know what he was talking about is there a movie like that?

Godzilla: Final Wars is the movie. It's what remains to be the last Godzilla movie, and it will probably be that way for a few years. Toho is taking a break from 'Zilla films for a while.

[Doctor Who?]

So it did happen?

YES!

[MSTJedi]

So it did happen?

YES!

Oh yeah, great scene. Takes GINO out like a chump.

[Doctor Who?]

Zandrax where are you getting the DvDs of the movies that are not out in the states and do the discs have subtitles?

Thanks.

[Zandrax]

Zandrax where are you getting the DvDs of the movies that are not out in the states and do the discs have subtitles?

Thanks.

95% of these should be pretty readily available. Godzilla 1985 I saw on an old VHS, and Biollante I found via torrents. The only other one I had difficulty with was the Japanese version of King Kong vs. Godzilla, which again is out there on torrent if you know where to look.

But I think http://www.tohokingdom.com has links for international titles if you do not wish ti infringe on international copyright laws/

[Doctor Who?]

Ok thanks.

I just assumed you had gotten a hold of DvDs some how because of the pictures of the covers.

Thanks again.

[Zandrax]

Ok thanks.

I just assumed you had gotten a hold of DvDs some how because of the pictures of the covers.

Thanks again.

Nope, just did a search for the movie and linked a pic in most cases.

For what it's worth, the GMK clip I had in my last review was taken right from my DVD.

[Zandrax]

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)



Very similar plot to 2000's Megaguiras, but executed much better. Better characters, better plot, and better effects. Once again, this is a sequel to the original 1954 film that pretty much ignores everything in between. It's kind of annoying seeing all these films that ignore previous stories, especially after watching the Heisei series which had a continuity to them. At least this one does mention appearances by Mothra and whatever the creatures were in War Of The Gargantuas.

Akane is a JXSDF soldier who combatted Godzilla in the late 90s. Most of her team was killed in the attack, and the blame shifted to her, even though it's arguable whether she truly was at fault. She accepts the blame and is disgraced.

Flash forward a few years, and the JXSDF has a new plan. The Prime Minister (played by veteran Godzilla actor Akira Nakeo) had a team salvage the bones of the original 1954 Godzilla. By enlisting the brilliant but bumbling scientist Tokumitsu, he hopes to create an anti-Godzilla weapon. You see, he's helped develop the technology to recreate creatures by attaching robotics to their skeletons. The Prime Minister's hopes is to create a giant robot from the bones of the original Godzilla, with state of the art weaponry. This is of course the latest incarnation of Mechagodzilla, the Kiryu. The main weapon of Kiryu is the Absolute Zero Cannon, which reduces the target's temperature to Absolute Zero, rendering it brittle. Pretty cool effect in the movie.


The all-new 2002 model comes fully equipped with Absolute Zero Cannon, concussion missile launchers, and satellite radio compatibility.

Tokumitsu lives with his daughter, who is the "Kenny" of this film. By "Kenny", we don't mean South Park, but the usual annoying kid in short pants. She has a pet plant that she talks to. A lot.

The JXSDF turns to Akane to pilot Kiryu, a role she reluctantly accepts. No sooner is Kiryu operational that Godzilla surfaces, ready for some smashin'. Kiryu is flown into action by some oversize, really slow flying jets. The battles goes pretty well... until Akane goes for the Absolute Zero cannon. Godzilla lets out one of his mighty roars, and Kiryu starts malfunctioning... and goes on his own rampage! Akane tries everything, but Kiryu somehow has a mind of its own. Once again, a few on her team blame her for the problems.

It is theorized that since Kiryu was created from the bones and DNA of Godzilla, that some remnants of the original Godzilla remained. Godzilla's roar triggered this reaction, and the JXSDF leader keeps his confidence in Akane. Before long, Tokumitsu has the kinks worked out of Kiryu, and the entire third act is Round 2. While the effects aren't perfect, it's a great smackdown that any giant monster fan would love.

This one earns an 8.5. It has a solid story (with a few character quirks), likable heroes, and the best effects yet of any 'Zilla film. If you like a big fight at the end of your monster movies, get this one.

Firsts
-appearance of Kiryu
-Millenium series film to recognize continuities outside of the original 1954 Godzilla.

[gojikranz]

well i was gonna watch it i even started watching it then as usually happens something bit complicated and unpleasant came up in my life so im just gonna jam out my thoughts on these last two.  i hope you havent been waiting for me to go on.

GMK
i like the new direction but i cant habe ghidora being a good guy i just cant.  i really wish they had stuck with it being varan anguiras and baragon.  instead the go for the names which is especially evident in the far to bulky name.  but that aside its pretty cool from what i recall.  i did enjoy the jab at the american godzilla "american experts say it was godzilla but we have our doubts"   of course that pales to what will be coming in a few films.
the tallest godzilla suit ever is used here and its pretty slick.  but the ghidora suit just seems so small and puny sigh.  baragon is nice to see though, especially after the short shrift he was given in DAM.  I'll go for 8 of 10 i havent watched it in a while and their must be a reason.

GXM/ Tokyo SOS
whenever godzilla wants to make some money they just gotta pull out mecha godzilla.  a part of me wishes they would get some new monsters but hey mechagodzilla is mechagodzilla and its pretty bad ass.  and hey my girl kumi mizuno is back althugh she cant play the babes like she used to always good to see a familiar face.  this one kind of blurs together with its following sequel but they are both good and both fairly short and brisk so thats not so bad just pretend its one big 3 hour mecha godzilla extravaganza.  unless i find the time to watch Tokyo sos again ill probably just let this stand as my thoughts for both of them.  the effects are spot on and probably the highpoint of the series for me effects wise, final wars bit of a little bit more than it could chew i think.  lots of great battles i remember one shot of mechagodzilla against teh sunset that was particularly breathtaking ( i got to see SOS in theaters was really cool).  ill give it a 9 of 10 great execution but maybe a bit more originality...

one to go for me im interested to see what you think of it cause i have heard wildly disparate reviews from fans.

[Zandrax]

Godzilla: Tokyo SOS



Inferior, but entertaining sequel. The main saving graces of this movie are the cameos by the characters of the previous movie, the appearances of numerous Godzilla veteran actors, and the insanely long confrontation with Godzilla that is literally over half the movie.

Another good thing about this movie is it actually acknowledges the previous film. In fact it picks up shortly after the previous film ended. MechaGodzilla is still under repair from the previous film, and its Absolute Zero cannon is no longer operational. The JXSDF decides to replace it with a maser cannon.

Professor Chujo is enjoying a life of retirement. He was one of the characters from the original 1960 Mothra, even played by the same actor . He lives with his nephew Yoshiro (a plane mechanic working on fixing MG) and Shun, the "Kenny" of the movie.

The Mothra Twins (who no longer look like twins) visit Chujo, and plead with him that Godzilla's bones must be returned to the sea. Mothra believes that humans should not mess with the bones of the undead, because the souls of the dead must be left to rest in peace. Chujo agrees, but Yoshiro believes that MechaGodzilla is the best line of defense. The Twins warn that if Godzilla's bones are not returned to the sea, Mothra will declare war on Japan. However, if the humans agree, Mothra will defend Japan against Godzilla.

Chujo goes to Prime Minister (again played by veteran Godzilla actor Akira Nakeo) with the news, but the PM refuses, citing that MechaG is the best hope humanity has against Godzilla.

Shortly after, Godzilla surfaces in the sea and battles his way to Tokyo. Mothra swoops in and fights valiantly. But Chujo is smart enough to see that Mothra is fading fast.  Hotshot pilot Kyosuke is the new Mecha G pilot, and he takes teh fight right to Godzilla.

Meanwhile, on Mothra Island twin Mothra larva hatch, and begin making their way toward Mothra's locations (presumably they know psychically).

The rest of the movie is pretty much a knock down drag out between Godzilla, Mothra, MechaGodzilla, and the Larva Twins. It is definitely the longest fight in any Godzilla film. And it makes this movie a recommendation. If you like big fights, this movie is for you. It's literally the entire second half of the film, and apparently takes all night in the movie time.

I give this one a 7.5. The effects just weren't as convincing, sans Mothra's triumphant initial fly-in to challenge Godzilla. The stroy is relatively weak, but the action makes up for it.

A few other cameos are notable. The JXSDF's general is played by another Godzilla veteran Kôichi Ueda, who had been in many of the Millennium and Heisei series films in smaller roles. Akane, the pilot from the previous movie, appears to pass the torch to Yoshino about a third of the way into the movie.

Only
-Millennium film that is a direct sequel to a previous film

[gojikranz]

it was cool that they brought back the character from mothra.  if im not mistaken it might be the record for longest gap between the same actor playing the same character.    when i saw it in theaters he was there to introduce it.  unfortunately sony hadnt released the dvd yet so i didnt have anything good for him to autograph.

[Zandrax]

Just one more to go. Final Wars, here I come...

[Henry88]

Just one more to go. Final Wars, here I come...

and i know how that's  going to turn out