(1954/56) dir: Inoshiro Honda, Terry Morse; w/ Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura Momoko Kochi, Akira Takarada. · · · The first and best, this was before the Big G became a pop culture icon. Okay, the fx are cheap -- this first costume gives Godzilla an almost cherubic look, and the American bits are spliced in none too gently, but it has a much more serious tone than the following flicks. You can enjoy it as a cheesy movie, but if you've got a strong disbelief suspender muscle, this can actually be a thrilling and sometimes scary flick. The ending is simplistic, almost anticlimactic -- I can remember seeing this as a child and feeling very disappointed that Godzilla was actually dead. Ah, well -- it's just as well he didn't live to see what was done to him in the sequels. Long live the King of the Monsters.
The following 14 Big G films that make up the Showa ("First Generation") Era series. The Showa Era series follows one consistent timeline (despite various incongruities along the way over its 20 year history), and the series never ended in a definitive manner, but simply ceased production following 1975 when Toho determined that the Big G franchise of films' popularity and audience attendance had waned to the point where it no longer justified the ever-shrinking budgets previously alloted to keep the series going. It was a lengthy uphill battle series producer/executive producer Tomiyuka Tanaka waged to eventually return the Atomic Titan to the big screen after scrapping the Showa Series continuity for good. He blamed the lack of continuity for the series' eventual loss of popularity as a result of the Big G's slow metamorphosis from a deadly serious destructive menace to humankind to a campy, kid-friendly heroic defender of the human race.
(1955 - aka Gigantis the Fire Monster) dir: Motoyoshi Oda; w/ Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki. · · · A buck-toothed & geeky looking Godzilla (whom the English version calls Gigantis) battles with Anguirus in Osaka. Then, um, a couple of pilots have a few subplots. Then the brave fighter pilots bury Godzilla/Gigantis under a glacier. This was a very quick and very, erm, inexpensive follow-up to Godzilla. Unfortunately, the miniatures & suit-mation effects reflect both the lack of experience and the meager budget, plus the script is a barely passable plate of leftover hash. However, the English language narration, seeking to build a story around it all, is quite ridiculous and mildly amusing.
(1956) dir: Inoshiro Honda; w/ Kenji Sawara, Yumi Shirakawa. · · · A deep mining operation uncovers some really big bugs, and then two super-big pteranodons terrorize the world with supersonic super-booms. This one is a little refreshing, since it comes from the era before Toho dumbed-down its monster films. Although the monsters get very little screen time (which is probably okay, since they look pretty dorky), the movie fills in with a tight and exciting script. In the end, the two Rodans fulfill the Japanese "nobility of failure" motif, and their final destruction is sad and we're almost sorry they are gone.
(1961) Director, Robert L. Richards - Writer (screen story) (originally as John Loring) (screenplay) (originally as John Loring), Daniel James - Writer (screen story) (originally as Daniel Hyatt) (screenplay) (originally as Daniel Hyatt), Wilfred Eades - Producer, Herman King - Producer, F.A. Young - Cinematographer, Angelo Lavagnino - Composer, Eric Boyd-Perkins - Editor. · · · This is a British rip job version of Godzilla which was filmed off the coasts of Ireland, in London and in the MGM studios in Hertfordshire, England with British, Irish, and American actors. Yet, even with the rip-off factor firmly in my mind, this was still an enjoyable venture into the realm of really big monsters and their movies. *LOL*
The story line involves a sea monster, Gorgo, who is caught and brought to London for exhibit. But hot on the trail, is the mother of Gorgo (who is also much, MUCH larger), and she is anything but happy.
The film is shot well except for the underwater scenes which appear to have been shot through a blue lens which made some scenes nearly undiscernable. The acting quality is on par for that era and actually, a bit above par all things considered. And the effects and miniature work is somewhat decent, except for Gorgo/Gorgo's mum, who looked a bit like a hand puppet in some shots and like a plastic child's toy, in others.
In some ways, this film is superior to those produced by Toho, and in others, it is vastly inferior. The acting quality is lightyears better, but the monster itself was not nearly as well done as the Big G. The gratuitous British Royal Air Force cameos were priceless and as ineffective as one might suspect, as she makes her way towards the infant.
The trappings on the island are a well assembled hodgeÐpodge of "Viking" relics which were not entirely accurate in their labeling, but we'll forgive them considering the budget and the production dates.
All in all, once the decidedly pekinese-puBig G looking Mama Gorgo arrives on the scene, this is a pretty good action/monster flick. Just remember, it's NOT a Toho production, and there is no Godzilla in this film.
It rates a 7.2/10 on the "B" scale, and a 5.3 on the "A" scale.
(1961) dir: Inoshiro Honda; w/ Ken Uehara, Yumi Ito, Emi Ito, Jelly Ito, Takashi Shimura, Seizaburo Kawazu. · · · A greedy promoter kidnaps the spooky fairy twins and Mothra trashes half the planet to rescue them. Although she's better known in the States as Godzilla's co-star, Mothra first appeared as the star of her own film. It's pretty well done, if you forgive the battery-powered special fx. However, with a sympathetic monster and no bad monster to fight, and just one sneering businessman as an antagonist, there's little action and no real excitement. I would say it's strictly for the kids, but the first half (before Mothra shows up) might bore them.
1963 - Americanized version) dir: Inoshiro Honda; w/ Tadao Takashima, Kenji Sahara (American cast = Michael Keith, Harry Holcombe, James Yagi). · · · A pharmaceutical company tries to bring King Kong to Japan to star in commercials, but he ends up in a wrasslin' match with Godzilla for stomping rights to the Pacific Rim. Of course, this Kong is a special Japanese mountain-sized version who gets more powerful when he's zapped by electricity. Godzilla gets a new suit this time -- it looks good but is very unconvincing in motion. Kong, on the other hand, just looks like a doofus. And their fight scenes are mostly just tongue-in-cheek Sumo spoofing -- but there are plenty of elaborate miniatures to crush. It's not one of the best in the series, but it's important because it was a boxoffice smash and launched Godzilla's popularity in the States. Oh, and when the Japanese come up with a giant octopus, they don't mess around. We're talking a really -fig bucking- octopus! (Actually, I thought he was adorable and I'm glad Kong didn't kill him.)
(1964 - released to US theaters as Godzilla vs The Thing) dir: Inoshiro Honda; w/ Akira Takarada, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi. · · · A good-hearted moth and a couple of really ugly grubs defend Nagoya from Godzilla's rampage. This is one of the better made early Godzilla flicks -- there's even some spectacular effects in among the cheesy ones. It's one of the few that's enjoyable for its merits as well as its badness. This may also be the most-broadcast & influential of the series -- I think because of those spooky little fairy twins. I don't know about anybody else, but they scared me worse than Godzilla ever did. Also, can anyone tell me what "plan C" is? When the all the army's weapons prove useless and the general calls for "Plan C" -- from that point on the military is never seen again. Hmm....
(1964) dir: Inoshiro Honda; w/ Yasuke Natsuki, Yuriko Hoshi. · · · The monsters begin their transformation from forces of nature into regular Joes. Godzilla & Rodan trash half of Japan during a really stupid-looking grudge match, but the Mothra-grub breaks them up & talks them into teaming up to defend Earth from the new bully on the block, the three-headed space monster. And mixed in with all this is a sloppy goulash of a subplot involving wacky UFO watchers, a Himalayan princess who may actually be a Martian, an assassination plot, and the twin fairies. This one is strange even by Japanese monster movie standards.
Our hero upon observing the monsters’ conversation: "Aw, these monsters are as stupid as human beings."
(1965 - aka Invasion of Astro-Monster, Monster Zero, Kaiju daisenso) dir: Inoshiro Honda; w/ Nick Adams, Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno. · · · This film has been touted as "under-rated," and a "lost gem" in many reviews over the years, but I have to say that this one belongs in the sole domain of the MST3K guys.
There is very little plot/story line. The monsters only receive the most cursory treatment as the humans in the movie upstage the Big G.
Premise: Planet X is being buggared by Ghidrah/Giddorah so they come to earth to "borrow" Godzilla and Rhodan/Rodan to help rid them of the menace.
Sub-Plot: The monster battle is a red herring in a world domination scheme.
The real heroes are the astronauts. The monsters receive very little camera time. Our favorite monsters only have what appears to be a few "cameos" here and there. The miniature work was a bit better, but not so much as to vindicate leaving the monsters OUT of the monster movie.
Godzilla is a bit more personable in this one, the predecessor to the wiggling, hiney-shaking Godzilla of the future. The effects are a bit worse than in previous Big G movies, but that could just be the downright hokey/campy concept that a spinning top is a flying saucer and wearing stupid-looking hats made Japanese actors look like "aliens." *lol*
This is still one of my favorites because it just makes me laugh.
So if you like your Big G with extra cheese, then order this one with fries and a Coke!
It rates a 6.4/10 on the "B" scale and a 4.8/10 on the "A" scale.
(1965 - aka Gamera the Invincible; Monster Gamera) dir: Noriaki Yuasa; w/ Eiji Funakoshi, Harumi Kiritachi, Junichiro Yamashita. · · · Unh -- Gamera's first -- erg -- movie. Halfway through this flick, I suspected that I had grown a brain tumor and couldn't think straight anymore. This is what happens when a rival studio comes up with their own competitor to the Godzilla series, but has only a fraction of the budget & talent that was behind Godzilla. You thought Godzilla's Revenge was bad? Compared to this, Godzilla's Revenge was Gone With the friggin' Wind. Let's see, a mysterious bomber is shot down over the arctic, resulting in a nuclear explosion that wakes up a prehistoric giant turtle that shoots flames & flies. Gamera stomps all over Japan and roasts tens of thousands of people to death. Meanwhile, some psycho kid who lost his pet turtle is trying to convince everyone that Gamera is really good and gentle and loves all children. Woo!! they needed to hit that kid with a tranquilizer dart. The production & acting quality is dismal, and a few scenes feature some Anglo "actors" who are stupefyingly incompetent. The script bounces all over the place like it was written by a six-year-old. If the scenes were all shuffled and respliced in random order, this thing wouldn't make any less sense. It's the sort of movie that has to be heckled in order to be survived.
When first imported to the States, some American-filmed scenes with Brian Donlevy were spliced in. Many current video versions do not include these scenes.
(1966) dir: Shigeo Tanaka; w/ Kojiro Hongo, Kyoko Enami, Akira Natsuki. · · · Greedy treasure hunters accidentally unleash a chameleony lizard-monster -- it's tongue is a battering ram and spews freezy-mist, it's back-spines emit an explosive rainbow! Gamera returns just in time to be freeze-dried by Barugon. So the humans do a whole bunch of silly things involving diamonds, mirrors, and death-ray projectors, all of which amounts to nothing. But of course, Gamera revives and saves Japan from the menace of Barugon. It's immensely silly with wonderfully nonsensical science involving "light molecules" and "infrared radioactivity". This has a bigger budget & more action than the first Gamera flick, and is a right fun movie to heckle with friends. And that island princess is a major babe -- hubba, hubba.
(1966 - aka Ebirah, Horror of the Deep) dir: Jun Fukuda; w/ Akira Takarada, Toru Watanabe, Kumi Mizuno. · · · Godzilla continues his transformation into a nice guy -- castaways must awaken Godzilla to defend them from a bunch of high tech mercenaries and their pet giant lobster. Godzilla's costume this time is highly detailed but kind of dorky looking. The film is just as silly as you would expect, but it's action-packed, rather fun, and there's no chubby little kids running around.
(1967) dir: Noriaki Yuasa; w/ Eiko Yanami, Isamu Saeki, Mikiko Tsubouchi. · · · Mount Fuji erupts and Gamera drops by for a sauna -- however, the eruption also releases Gaos (so named by the chubby kid), who is a foul-tempered foxbat-thingy who spits hypersonic vibrating laser-beam-thingies. Gaos almost eats the chubby kid, but Gamera saves him -- and it's a good thing, too. The grown-ups would have been helpless without the chubby kid -- he's the only one who knows anything about fighting monsters. So with the help of the chubby kid, a giant merry-go-round and a fountain of blood, Gamera is triumphant. Moderately amusing, if you forgive the fact that it insults the intelligence of toddlers. urp.
(1967) dir: Jun Fukuda; w/ Tadao Takashima, Akira Kubo, Beverly Maeda. · · · A Scientific research station on a remote island finds itself in the middle of Godzilla hatching season. Well, we've got a googly-eyed Godzilla and goofy music to start with. And baby "G" (Minilla) tries desperately to be cute, but ends up looking like lumpy fungus. However, their enemies, a giant spider & giant mantis, were pretty cool looking. The script is rambling and pointless, and both human characters & monsters just tumble around in random events until the movie's time is up.
(1967 - aka Monster From a Prehistoric Planet) dir: Haruyasu Noguchi; w/ Tamio Kawaji, Yoko Yamamoto. · · · An expedition to the South Seas discovers baby Gappa and takes him back to Japan to be the centerpiece of a new theme park. Ma & Pa Gappa don't like that. Stomp! Stomp! They swim, they fly, they spit heat rays! Well, it fulfills the usual formula, and there's even the requisite cute kid (a Japanese boy in blackface, if you can swallow that) who's always shouting the monster's name. The effects are silly and the script is slow, scattered and, if possible, even more nonsensical than the usual Kaiju hash. It might compare favorably with the hastily-made Godzilla films of the same era, except this thing moves so achingly slowly. Even the monsters' stomping scenes go on for so long you just might forget that you're watching a movie and wander off to do housework.
(1967 - Japan - aka Big Space Monster Guilala; Gilala) dir: Kazui Nihonmatsu; w/ Toshiya Wazaki, Peggy Neal. · · · We start with an annoying little soap opera about Japan's latest attempt to reach Mars, which is accompanied by godawful night club music. After being attacked by a giant meat pie, the ship returns to Earth with a little glowing glob. Fortunately for the audience, the glob grows overnight into Gilala, one of Japan's goofiest looking giant monsters. Now it's up to the lady astronaut to invent monster-retarding foam! It's stupid enough to be actually painful in spots, but they had something like a budget and someone worked hard on the miniatures. The monster scenes in the second half of the flick are joyfully silly, but first you'll have to heckle your way through the stunningly idiotic space explorer scenes.
(1968 - Japan) dir: Ishiro Honda; w/ Akira Kubo, Yukiko Kobayashi, Kyoko Ai, Jun Tazaki. · · · In the near future (1999), all the world's monsters are confined to Monster-Land, sort of a theme park for giant critters. However, this just makes it easier for evil space ladies to round them up and use them (Godzilla, Rodan, & a slew of monsters I never heard of before) against the Earth. This one is really kind of fun, but it's best to switch off your brain and just stare vapidly at the elaborate fireworks. Attempting to actually follow the story could leave you cross-eyed & dizzy. At best, you'll get three-word explanations as to why the heroes are whizzing here and flying there; going to the moon to find that it isn't so, and going somewhere else to find that it is so, after all; and flying their spaceship into caverns and getting shot with something that's going to kill them but, no, it's okay now. Huh? Wha? Never mind, just watch the cute monsters stomp on everything.
(1969 - aka All Monsters Attack) dir: Ishiro Honda; w/ Kenji Sahara, Machiko Naka. · · · A dweeby little kid gets picked on by the school bully, but Baby Godzilla teaches him to stand up & fight for himself. Of course, it's all a dream, except for the part where the kid captures the bank robbers. Oog. What's monster-language for "stinks on ice"? This counts as one of Godzilla's most embarrassing roles. The soundtrack is canned jazz, the characters are insipid, and the bulk of the monster footage was snipped from previous films. However, a little humor is provided by an atrociously bad English language dubbing job.
(1969) dir: Noriaki Yuasa; w/ Nobuhiro Kazima, Miyuki Akiyama, Christopher Murphy. · · · Two little kids are whisked off to an alien planet where they meet evil Space Babes who eat brains and control the evil monster Guiron (who, in my youth, was always referred to as The Kitchen-Knife-Creature). But Gamera, the Children's Friend (complete with sappy theme song), stomps on the bad guys, does gymnastics, and rescues the kids. It's got a lot of action, some very elaborate sets, and it's dang silly even by Gamera standards. There's plenty to enjoy & laugh at, but my vote for the most hilarious thing about the movie is the dubbing. This is among the most incompetent English dubbing jobs I've ever heard. Not only is the voice acting wretched, but the dialogue is sprinkled with random words and pauses in a vain attempt to match the lip movement. This is a true icon of giant monster silliness.
(1971) dir: Noriaki Yuasa; w/ Eiko Yanami, Reiko Kasahara, Mikiko Tsubouchi. · · · An evil UFO tries to enslave the Earth, but two annoying munchkins outwit the invaders. But then the UFO turns into a gigantic shark who has musical dorsal fins and sleeps very soundly. Gamera defeats him with a combination of rock-chucking and fire-breathing. And the whole thing is a thinly disguised ad for a Japanese aquatic park. Not as much fun as other Gamera flicks, this one is flakier than average and abandons all pretense at catering to any audience member over the age of 18 months.
(1971 - aka Godzilla vs Hedorah) dir: Yoshimitsu Banno; w/ Akira Yamauchi, Toshie Kimura, Hiroyuki Kawase. · · · A monster arises from the sludge of water pollution. It suckles on industrial smokestacks and spews acid mist that dissolves people! So a cutesy-looking Godzilla and a brave scientist team up to trash the bugger -- all to Japanese disco music. And that's not mentioning the cartoon interludes, the tyke who has prophetic visions of Godzilla, the fact that Godzilla's breath can power electrical generators, and that Godzilla learns how to fly! Woo. The scripts for Godzilla movies tend to be scattered & hiccupy, I know, but this went way beyond the pale. As a viewing experience, this flick is about as coherent as channel surfing. It's so bad, I honestly suspected the filmmakers of having indulged in recreational drugs. Despite that, there's so much silliness & nonsense that I couldn't help but have a gas. A very guilty pleasure.
(1972 - aka Earth Assault Order: Godzilla vs. Gigan / The Earth Destruction Directive: Godzilla vs. Gigan / Godzilla on Monster Island / Godzilla vs. Gigan / War of the Monsters ) dir: Jun Fukuda; w/ Hiroshi Ishikawa, Tomoko Umeda, Yuriko Hishimi, Minoru Takashima. · · · A monster theme park for kids turns out to be a cover for an invasion by evil space roaches. What it really boils down to is a taBig G team match pitting Godzilla & Anguirus versus Ghidrah & Gigan (this is Gigan's first flick -- he's got a buzz-saw in his belly!). And Godzilla is almost killed by big blue laser beams fired from a statue of himself ...that's operated by evil space roaches. (It's best not to think too deeply about the plot in these flicks.) Godzilla's suit looks pretty good this time, even though you can see the zipper flap. This entry in the series seems to have a bigger budget; there are tons of exploding miniatures and the fight is pretty brutal, including a little spurting blood. But I really could have done without the dubbed-in translations of the monster language. Although this falls squarely into Godzilla's "stupid" period, it's kind of fun nonetheless.
(1973) dir: Jun Fukuda; w/ Katshuiko Sasaki, Yutaka Hayashi, Hiroyuki Kawase. · · · This travesty of a movie opens with a gay couple(?) watching the most annoying kid in the whole world while he rides some idiotic-looking dolphin shaped paddle thingy on a lake(?). When the water begins to shimmer and drain, thereby endangering this horrid little demon spawn of a kid, the couple can't think of anything better to do to save him than shoot a spring loaded harpoon at him (the kid)!!! Unfortunately for the audience, they missed killing him and saved him from being sucked into the lake(?).
Meanwhile, Megalon, a giant flying roach(?!) is sent up to the surface to discipline those naughty humans who insist on firing their nuclear testing warheads into the water and thereby screwing up their kingdom so cleverly named "Seatopia." *major eye rollings ensue*
The final bout features the Big G and his pal, the inflatable robot Ultraman. (No, due to international copyright, he's NOT Ultraman. He's Jet Jaguar. But we must RUN like he's Ultraman!--thanks Austin Powers 3!) versus Megalon (the cockroach thingy) and Gigan.
I rate this as the most IRRITATING Big G flick. The plot is an annoying attempt at an action/adventure story that has little (if anything) to do with the monsters, the Big G gets a wall-eyed cartoony costume, the annoying brat's dubbed-in voice is a nerve-wracking fanny-smacking whine, the monsters' fight scenes look like a gang of schoolyard dorks picking on each other, and the music is some gawdawful cacophony that sounds like it was performed by the director's tone deaf ADHD-suffering "help me I'm on meth-amphetamine and I can't help myself" nephew.
The budget for this one was obviously just a bit of left-over cash from some other project, as the sets were minimal. They actually reused city destruction footage originally used for Ghidrah(!) and some of the fight footage, if you can BELIEVE IT, was recycled from Godzilla vs Gigan. Next to Godzilla's Revenge, this is the nadir of the series.
All that having been said; however, this was a fun movie. It's target audience was obviously 8-12 year old boys and that shows; boy does it show. This is one of those fun movies where the Big G jumps around like a crack-addicted butt-monkey and acts like he's got some martial arts abilities but is too afraid he'll show up his tag team partner, to demonstrate his talents.
The cockroach-thing made Me laugh when I first saw this ages ago, and I found that it still makes Me laugh. As do the sheet-wearing Seatopians who were decidedly NOT Japanese. *LOL* Crazy stuff. Just crazy stuff.
3.3/10 on the "B" Scale. I don't know if that even registers on the "A" scale. If it does, it's certainly not over a 1/10.
(1974 aka Godzilla vs the Bionic Monster; Godzilla vs the Cosmic Monster) dir: Jun Fukuda; w/ Masaaki Daimon, Kazuya Aoyama. · · · This flick is like watching a badly edited highlight reel. Near as I can figure, an Okinawan prophecy brings Godzilla around to destroy the world. But wait -- it's really Mechagodzilla in disguise; he's made of space-titanium, is controlled by evil space-monkeys, and has really cool theme music. This guy has massive amounts of firepower, and to defeat him, Godzilla must team up with King Caesar, the shaggy protector of Okinawa. Even that's not quite enough, so Godzilla uses lightning to invent a new power for himself: super-magnetism! The plot makes about as much sense as a music video, but the climactic fight scene is spectacular. Godzilla is still stuck with the cherubic, googly-eyed looks, but the fights are exciting and feature less of the wrasslinBig G parody nonsense of the previous movies. Pluses & minuses -- on the whole, it's kinda fun.
(1975) dir: Ishiro Honda; w/ Katsuhiko Sasaki, Tomoko Ai. · · · An embittered scientist plans to use Titanosaurus to wreak vengeance on the Human race; he joins forces with the evil space-monkeys, who are rebuilding Mechagodzilla and now have really silly helmets. Interpol investigates! (I guess that monster attacks fall under their jurisdiction.) Godzilla finally pops up as an afterthought and dismantles Mechagodzilla again. Yeesh -- trying to summarize this plot is a bit like sticking one's head in a Mixmaster. The story proceeds with assumptions, great lurches, and odd flashbacks. In an attempt to regain falling audience numbers, they went for a more dramatic feel on this one, even recruiting veteran director Honda and replacing the jazz soundtrack with an orchestra. However, the 1970's were a depressed time for theaters in Japan as elsewhere, and the Japanese audiences were beginning to discover the glories of Hollywood special effects. After Star Wars hit the screens, Godzilla would hibernate for almost a decade . . .
Check out the scene when Mechagodzilla unleashes his awesome firepower and Godzilla actually bursts into flames! That was not on purpose. But they kept that quick shot in the film (just before the firehoses were turned on). Being inside a Godzilla-suit is not the easiest job in show biz.
This synopses and reviews of the seven films that make up the Heisei ("Second Generation") Era, or second series, of Big G films (beginning with Godzilla 1985 [1984]), that continue directly from the first film while completely ignoring the continuity of the 14 subsequent Big G films that form the original, or Showa Era, series of Big G films, as well as the 'Second In-Between Period For Godzilla,' which describes what occurred involving the Big G during the three year interim between the completion of the Heisei Era series and the beginning of the third, Alternate Reality series of Big G films (the latter starting with Godzilla 2000 [1999]). These seven films all follow the same timeline, where the series ends definitively with Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995), the final film in the Heisei Series continuity, which concludes with the death of the Godzilla that existed in that timeline.
Please note that with the exception of the first film in the Heisei Series below, all the rest of the Big G films from this series were all released direct to video in America and never saw a big screen release this side of the Pacific, and all of these direct to video films were released in America several years after the Japanese release date.
(1984 / US: 1985) dir: Koji Hashimoto (US stuff: R. J. Kizer); w/ Raymond Burr, Keiju Kobayashi, Ken Tanaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi. · · · Godzilla is back! He's big, he's mean, he kills people, and he's got a way bigger budget. The original title of the American release was to be Return of Godzilla, and by this they meant the return of the original Godzilla. This flick was made as a direct sequel to the 1954 original, ignoring all the films that came in between. Although Godzilla is back to being mean & scary, he's not necessarily cast as the villain. In his new incarnation, he is portrayed as a terrible force of nature, but not truly evil. We can try to divert or even contain him, but cannot ever hope to destroy him. The final scene when Godzilla is sealed inside a raging volcano is almost poignant -- and the survivors are left humbled rather than triumphant. To tell the truth, I was really starting to dig this flick; it was turning into a real monster movie. But then they spoiled it a bit for me by trotting out that sci-fi super-tank to battle Godzilla. That made it all cartoony again. Still, it's way better than having chubby kids sing Godzilla's praises. Long live the King of the Monsters.
Some might disagree, but I like the inclusion of Raymond Burr, reprising his role from the original. The American bits were spliced in more smoothly this time, but at the expense of not really becoming a part of the plot; they were just observers. The American translation also seemed to gloss over the spiritual angle in the Japanese original. The translation made it appear that this was just the same old Godzilla. But the Japanese cast kept saying that Godzilla was something like an immortal demigod, a direct consequence of humanity's misuse of nuclear science. They seemed to hint that this Godzilla was some sort of reincarnation, even bigger and stronger than the original.
(1989) writ & dir: Kazuki Omori; w/ Kunihiko Mitamura, Yoshiko Tanaka. · · · Hrmm, let me see if I got this straight.... a grief-stricken scientist believes his dead daughter's spirit resides in a rose plant, so he splices in some Biig G DNA with the rose. (Seems perfectly reasonable to Me.)
Meanwhile, spies and terrorists are shooting each other over the secrets of Big G-gene research, which results in an explosion that frees the REAL Big G. And the only thing that can stop his rampage is a gargantuan mutant rose(?!) Big G appears to defeat the plant, but wait, weird cloning "It's Immortal!" stuff happens and the rose appears later in the film (in another burst of film editiing weirdness) to drive the Big G into the sea.
The script is scatter-brained and mostly focuses on the Big G killer squad's high-tech attempts to halt our hero. On the plus side, the production quality is good; Big G looks tough, and the final battle between Biollante and Big G is surprisingly gory (and the "Godzilla Memorial Lounge" was a cute touch). Weird even by giant-monster standards, it succeeds in being fun and exciting (if you don't get too confused).
4.3/10 on the "B" Scale.
2.3/10 on the "A" Scale.
(1991) writ & dir: Kazuki Omori; w/ Kosuke Toyohara, Anna Nakagawa, Megumi Odaka. · · · We get yet another brand new Godzilla in an elaborate script that just gets more confused as it goes along. People from the future want to save Japan by preventing the creation of Godzilla. Of course, it's all a plot by evil caucasians to let King Ghidorah destroy Japan without interference. But wait, Godzilla is recreated, even bigger & meaner than before. After he makes mincemeat of Ghidorah, our heroes have to do more time traveling to get a cybernetic Ghidorah to save Japan (again) from this fearsome new incarnation. And that's not to mention the psychics, a "Terminator," the "Super Scientific Play-Room," and dozens of "homages" to popular action flicks. Yeesh. On the plus side, the special fx and fight scenes are spectacular as heck. Just don't try to make sense of this, and you'll have a lot of fun.
(1992 - aka Godzilla & Mothra: Battle for the Earth) dir: Takao Okawara; w/ Tetsuya Bessho, Satomi Kobayashi, Takehiro Murata. · · · Mixing bits from both Mothra and the original Godzilla vs Mothra, this gussied-up remake starts out with a blatant ripoff of the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Then a meteorite not only awakens Godzilla but sets off a series of natural disasters -- which, it turns out, is just Mother Earth's way of giving humanity the finger. Then Godzilla and the bad-Mothra grub (Battra) have a brief fight & are swallowed by a volcano. Then it's up to the good-Mothra grub to rescue the Twin Fairies, who in this movie have become immortal spokespersons for Gaia theology and militant environmentalism. Finally, after the good & bad grubs transform into moths, all three assemble at a Yokohama amusement park for a wild, wooly, knock-down, draBig G out battle royale. <whew> Kazuki Omori wrote the script on this one, and like his previous two films, he filled it with New Age philosophies & prophecies. Also, it seems to me that this flick goes back to some of the silliness that marked the older Godzilla films. However, it is at least packed with action & thrills, and never fails to entertain.
(1993) dir: Takao Okawara; w/ Masahiro Takashima, Ryoko Sano, Megumi Odaka. · · · Godzilla has a new suit on this outing -- it gives him a beefy body but sort of a weasel-like face. Although this flick has a sizable budget and impressive sfx, it's really a throwback to the 70's. Scientists discover a giant pteranodon egg (being the 90's version of Rodan), but it turns out to be a Godzillasaurus egg. And the wretchedly adorable baby becomes the focus of way too many awww-aint'-he-cute scenes. Meanwhile, the Counter-Godzilla force uses wreckage from MechaKingGidorah to build the ultimate anti-Godzilla robot. It almost works, too. But then the monster we thought was Godzilla's enemy ends up helping (because, apparently, baby Godzilla whined) and some unexplainable ESP-metaphysical-sparkly crap happens. Then Godzilla revives just in time to take part in a grotesquely maudlin ending. ick.
(1994) dir: Kensho Yamashita; w/ Jun Hashizume, Megumi Odaka, Akira Emoto. · · · A mineralized Godzilla from space arrives to kill Earth-Godzilla, thus leaving the planet open for invasion (from somebody or something, I suppose). The Counter-G force uses its latest anti-Godzilla mecha to help Godzilla defeat the invader. And that's not mentioning Baby Godzilla (aww, such a cutey-pie), mini-Mothra, the telepathic lady with the vibrating earrings, and the Japanese mafia. Yow. Despite the usual scatter-brained script, this one is entertaining -- largely thanks to good music, good photography, and some of the best fx of the series. However, it also completes the transition of Godzilla, once again, into the good guy.
(1995) dir:Takao Okawari; w/ Yoko Ishino, Megumi Odaka, Takuro Tatsumi. · · · The "second generation" of Godzilla films ends with the best flick since the original. Godzilla is raging mad and burning up from the inside thanks to a uranium overdose. Meanwhile, Godzilla Junior is growing up, and the terrible weapon used to kill the original Godzilla forty years ago has caused a new & really scary monster to evolve under Tokyo bay. The Big G Force has to contend not only with the metamorphic Destroyer (son of the "Oxygen Destroyer" weapon), but two Godzillas, one of whom is about to melt down & destroy the planet! The script is by Kazuki Omori, so it has plenty of scatterbrained silly bits, but it's also the first Godzilla script to attempt anything resembling continuity. They hearken back not only to events in the first film, but to characters & issues from the recent films. In the finale, Godzilla, Junior, and Destroyer meet for a truly awesome battle that levels Tokyo and changes Godzilla forever. Long live the King of the Monsters.
(1995 - aka Gamera: Giant Monster Midair Showdown) dir: Shusuke Kaneko; w/ Tsuyoshi Ihara, Akira Onodera, Shinobu Nakayama, Ayako Fujitani. · · · After millennia in hibernation, a giant turtle that spits fireballs wakes up to fight the menace of the terrible Gaos birds, who have a nasty habit of eating people & growing bigger, eating more people & growing even bigger, etc. Since the original Gamera flick is in the running for worst kaiju movie of all time, it feels a bit awkward, but I have to admit that this remake is easily among the best kaiju films ever made. It is blessed with a fun script (it's even coherent!), good fx, good pacing, a dynamite music track, and it even has a decent English dubbing job! This is a "new start" movie and presents Gamera as a genetic construct made by the ancient Atlanteans (too late for themselves) to defend the Earth from the menace of the Gaos-creatures. His link to humanity this time is thankfully not provided by a chubby tyke with a big mouth, but rather by a courageous teen girl who shares both Gamera's strength and his wounds. After years of gagging on the old Gamera flicks, I can now honestly say that I've enjoyed one.
(1996 - Japan) dir: Shusuke Kaneko; w/ Toshiyuki Nagashima, Miki Mizuno. · · · Mysterious meteors bring a plague of spiky bugs from beyond space! They like to build spore pods that explode like nukes -- Gamera gets barbecued! But thanks to the usual unexplained metaphysical mumbo-jumbo, the turtle is back on the job and even has to invent a brand-new hyperatomic trick to best this baddie. Woo -- the second flick in Gamera's new incarnation pulls out all the stops -- a witty and fast-paced script, great effects, and gobs & gobs of monsters and explosions. But don't worry -- we're still smack in the middle of old-fashioned Kaiju territory here, with the requisite stiff-necked army guys, lonBig G suffering female know-it-alls, wussy scientists, and the occasional pouty brat. This thing is a gas. (Damn... I'm singing that freakin' Gamera song again...)
(1996 - aka Mothra) dir: Okihiro Yoneda; w/ Megumi Kobayashi, Sayaka Yamaguchi, Aki Hano. · · · Well, it turns out that the little fairy-twins have a nemesis. She's a leather-clad fairy chick riding a darling little micro-dragon, and she sets loose Desghidorah, a prehistoric menace from space (he was the one that really caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, ya know). Micro-Mothra and the micro-dragon dogfight in somebody's kitchen! Two little munchkins save Mothra! Mothra & her baby-grub kick butt on Desghidorah! And at that point the movie hit a cinematic speed bump. I mean, I've seen movies with "slow spots", but this sucker brought Time to a halt -- the monsters went on vacation, the fairies sang some sleepy songs, and I lost track of what day it was. Eventually there's some more monster-fights and a really long, maudlin finale. The effects on this one seemed low-budget, but still quite spectacular. It's kind of fun, even if it was obviously aimed at the kiddies.
(1997 - aka Mothra 2) dir: Kunio Miyoshi; w/ Megumi Kobayashi, Sayaka Yamaguchi, Aki Hano. · · · The new incarnation of Mothra needs a little help in battling Dagahra, the really cool-looking sea-garbage-monster. So three kids, a fuzzy little toy advertisement, and the twin fairies try to get to the treasure of ancient Mu before the Bad Biker Fairy snatches it. Filled with slapstick humor and moments of syrupy cuteness, this thing is targeted firmly at the four-year-old market. However, the miniatures & effects are much improved from the previous film, and the cinematography is simply gorgeous. Although frequently irritating, it still manages to be fun.
(1998) Filmmakers: Roland Emmerich - DirectorÊ/ Writer (story) (screenplay), Ted Elliott - Writer (story), Terry Rossio - Writer (story), Dean Devlin - Writer (story) (screenplay)Ê/ Producer, Ueli Steiger - Cinematographer, Billie Joe Armstrong - Composer, David Arnold - Composer, Tim Commerford - Composer, Tre Cool - Composer, Zack De La Rocha - Composer, Joey Deluxe - Composer, Mike Dirnt - Composer, Ben Folds - Composer, Ben Gillies - Composer, David Grohl - Composer, Daniel Johns - Composer, Michael Lloyd - Composer, Tom Morello - Composer, Jimmy Page - Composer, Silverchair - Composer, Brad Wilk - Composer, Oliver Scholl - Production Designer, Peter Amundson - Editor, David Siegel - Editor. · · · It's the attack of Jurassiczilla!!! Actually, this is a very good movie. But the name "Godzilla" should have never been attached to it. As a monster flick it is quite good. But this is NOT the Godzilla I love. If you feel the same way, I highly recommend "Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)." Otherwise, if you liked Jurassic Park, any of them, you will love this quality production.
SPOILERS
I'm going to try to be fair here. I LOVE the hokey old campy "Godzilla" monster movies of the 50's and the 60's...the 70's and the 80's even. And the idea of Godzilla being an irradiated iguana is preposterous. That not withstanding, this is still a good production; highly entertaining; and creatively directed, enacted and presented.
Matthew Broderick is wonderful in his role as Dr. Niko "The Worm Guy"Tatopoulos (Project X, Ferris Beuler's Day Off, Election, etc). I've never been much of a fan of his work because I've never been able to identify with his characters. And I thought he REEKED in "Inspector Gadget," but to his credit, that was more the fault of the direction and a really stupid script, than his.
Maria Pitillo (Olivia Honey of Roseanne Barr's "She-Devil") demonstrated her best talents in my opinion; the best of her career. (CLICK HERE For My review of She-Devil.) After a long string of obscure titles, this vehicle gave her a chance to show her true abilities. Her portrayal of Audrey Timmonds is open and appears genuine. She makes you care what happens to her character. That is the start of a good performance. But she never loses that open quality which makes you feel as if you know the character as a person. That is the mark of a great perfromance; such as the one with which she presents to the viewer in this production.
Although the scene in which Dr. Tatopolous finds himself standinginside the footprint of Godzilla was directly ripped off from the '76 remake of "King Kong," the rest of the movie was quite creatively done; written, directed, filmed and presented. I had a lot of fun with this movie, by ignoring the constant references to Godzilla, itself. The "monster" featured in this film is NOT Godzilla, but rather some "Jurassic Park" rip-off of Godzilla.
I can enjoy the movie for what it is, rather than what it is supposedto be. What it is supposed to be is a modernized remake of a classicmonster/horror movie. What it is, is a top quality monster movie whichbears NO resemblance whatsoever to the original.
PLOT: "Godzilla" is a colossal irradiated iguana who has come to NYC. The US Army, Corps of Engineers, and a band of French nationals knowthat "Godzilla" has found a home in the sewers of NYC, but have no ideawhere. After bombing and blowing up several buildings (the ChryslerBuilding, for one..."Negative impact?! That's the Chrysler Building we're talking about here!" Mayor of New York City), they finally decide to listen to their hi-jacked expert, Dr. Nico Tatopoulos, and allow him to bait the monster to lure it out into the open. Well, that works, but not as planned. (Do their plans EVER work right? lol) So now, Dr. Tatopoulos, his ex girlfriend (a would-be reporter), and the leader of the French Secret Service unit sent here to monitor and intervene in the capture of the monster, must go down into the sewers to find this elusive terror. Dr. Tatopoulos determines through scientific methodologies and just good old fashioned horse sense, that the monster is in NYC to find a breeding ground for his/its(?) brood of world-dominating spawn. It seems that it reproduces asexually and therefore needs no mate.
"What's the fun in that?" Audrey Timmonds.
But when they discover that our little "friend" has not only been busy,but very Very busy, in its egBig G laying capacity, no one will listen toNico's insistent pleadings to destroy the building in which the eggsreside, and it is up to our hero to save the day.
Excellent monster movie, if you can just ignore the obvious and constant "Godzilla" references.
Horrid, atrocious, blasphemy of a remake in the field of "Godzilla" movies.
As a Godzilla movie, it rates a 1.2/10. As a monster movie, it rates an 8.9/10.
After a trio of lukewarm but relatively well-received Mothra films, Toho would finally return to crafting movies of its kaiju big gun, Godzilla, just before the onset of the millennium. However, first Tri-Star Pictures would take its eagerly anticipated shot at restoring the Big G to stardom, which resulted in most serious Big G fans crying all the more for the return of the Toho version of the Kaiju King.
Unlike the Big G films in the Showa and Heisei Series, the films that appear in the Millenium Series, as the name suggests, do not follow one consistent timeline, but each movie in the series takes place in an entirely different alternate reality, with a completely different version of Godzilla, whose history, and sometimes even his very nature, is unique and distinct from the Godzilla appearing in every other film in this (or the previous two) series, and the events in one film will have no relation to the events in each subsequent entry.
The only exception to this rule is the first Big G film, Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1954), which was not part of the Showa Series alone, but was the launching point of not only the consistent timelines seen in both the Showa and Heisei Series, but also every single film that appears in the Millennium Series. Thus, in each movie in the current Big G film series, the basic sequence of events seen in the first Big G film, specifically Godzilla's 1954 attack on Tokyo, are part of the official canon of each film in the third series.
However, please keep in mind that certain specific events seen in the first film may not have occurred to the letter in each Big G film in the current series, an example being Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, where Godzilla's 1954 attack on Tokyo did indeed occur precisely as seen in the first Big G film, but his disintegration by the Oxygen Destroyer at the very end of the movie didn't occur in that particular reality, as Godzilla simply disappeared back into the depths of the Pacific Ocean without being temporarily destroyed by Dr. Serizawa's deadly device. However, in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 3 (2002), Godzilla was indeed still nullified by the Oxygen Destroyer.
Nevertheless, it appears that after filming three entirely stand alone movies, Toho intends to continue a consistent timeline between at least some of the films in the current series. For example, Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003) is a direct sequel to the previous year's Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 3. Thus, it remains to be seen precisely how the Millennium Series will ultimately play out in terms of whether or not continuity is maintained or cast aside as the years play forward.
(1999 - aka Godzilla Millenium) dir: Takao Okawara; w/ Takehiro Murata, Naomi Nishida, Mayu Suzuki. · · · Godzilla is back and with more polish & budget than ever before (but the dubbing is still silly). Rumors had said that this would be another "fresh start" movie, but it looks a lot more like a continuation of the 1990's series to me. In fact, the movie reprises a lot of the elements of the previous half dozen films. Don't get me wrong, this is one terrific Godzilla movie, it's just a little unoriginal. Godzilla stomps on a few things, and then saves humanity from yet another alien takeover attempt. There is one bit of originality here -- Godzilla gets to fight a huge cybernetic UFO that uses Tokyo's buildings & structures as a weapon against him. But then the UFO uses Godzilla's DNA to creates a giant mutant space-Godzilla monster so they can have a traditional roar and chomp fight. Assuming that this is, in fact, a continuation of the series, then we're looking at Godzilla Junior here. He has grown up to be a little more reptilian and quite a bit spikier than his forbears, but he looks tough -- and oh my word his breath weapon is a major ass-kicker. He's still portrayed as dangerous (rather than a total good guy), but he seems to know who his friends and enemies are. Perhaps having been raised for a while by humans had something to do with that. On the whole, this is a good looking and exciting flick with minimal stupid bits and a couple of terrific fight scenes; plus it ends with a simply delightful "The End?" cliché (American version). Well worth waiting five years for.
(2000 - Japan) dir:Masaaki Tezuka; w/ Misato Tanaka, Shosuke Tanihara. · · · The Godzilla franchise is redeemed! But not by much.
I don't know about anyone else, as I generally don't read other reviews, but after Godzilla 2000 and Roland Emerick's "Jurassiczilla," I thought the line was succumbing to "sequel sickness." I mean, to be fully honest, I had pretty much accepted that my Godzilla-watching days were over.But that does not seem to be the case, thanks to the redemption of the series by this effort. Herein lies a nice story line, decent effects, good general casting, and a great performance by the young boy who portrayed "Jun." Oddly enough, he doesn't seem to be listed in the credits, but then again, I don't speak Japanese, either so he could be right there and I just don't realize it. *LOL*
This is not THE best, by any means. The performances are campy and a bit silly, as became the norm in the earlier editions of this franchise, but the principle characters actually had some depth! I found it to be wholly redeeming after the disappointment which was Godzilla 2000. However, it was quite enjoyable and far better done than most.
You will also find a nice homage to Rhodan/Rodan, as well. Nice inclusion.It rates an aspiring 7/10 on the "B" scale and a 5.3/10 on the "A" scale.
(2001 - Japan) DirectorÊ/ Writer, Kei'ichi Hasegawa - Writer, Masahiro Yokotani - Writer, Hideyuki Honma - Producer, Kenji Takama - Cinematographer, Akira Ifukube - Composer, K™ ïtani - Composer, Isao Tomita - Editor · · · Wow. What a wonderful experience, to see them update Godzilla yet stay true to form!
I saw this on the rental shelves and thought, "Great. They're remaking everything else, why not Godzilla...again!?" I was not enthused, but we belong to this club at the neighborhood rental place, and we get all the movies we want for $9.99 a month. So. I figured I wasn't out anything, so why not? (That's about all the enthusiasm I could muster, Mister, let me tell ya.)
The first thing I noticed, and I noticed this right away, was that this was not the Godzilla of my childhood. Thankfully, this also was not Roland Emerick's "Jurassiczilla," either. I was stunned and (at first) in denial. This was so much better than the Godzilla of my childhood! It starts out pretty much like any of the older ones. (The DVD, however, comes with two choices. You can get English-speaking voices with English subtitles, or you can choose Japanese-speaking voices with English subtitles. Personally, I prefer to understand what I'm hearing, but it's cool the other way too.) But it quickly becomes something more substantial and much better written, produced, directed, and executed.
All that having been said, what actually impressed me so with this movie is the effects quality and their treatment of the monsters. Considering they only spent 1,200,000,000 Yen (approximately $10,955,902.92 US), the effects were extremely well executed.
I was enthralled with the treatment they gave King Ghidorah. What a spectacular sight! Not at first, but ... later on in the movie.
The story was easily followed, though not so much so as to put you to sleep. The action sequences were not the kung fu styled cheese of the 60's and 70's. They were strategically orchestrated and executed with that certain Godzilla-like panache.
In my opinion, this is by far the best Godzilla movie made (and I love them ALL)!
If you haven't seen this one, I highly recommend it.
(2002 - Japan) Director, Wataru Mimura - Writer (screenplay), Shogo Tomiyama - Producer, Masahiro Kishimoto - Cinematographer, Michiru Oshima - Composer, Shinichi Fushima - Editor, Shinichi Natori - Editor . · · · As a typhoon is tearing its way across Japan, a thunderous roar alerts the people that they are once again being visited by a rampaging monster. The military manages to drive the beast back into the ocean, but another attack looks inevitable. In preparation, the Ministry of Science designs Kiryu, a enormous Godzilla-like robot based on the DNA of Godzilla from almost fifty years earlier. Sure enough, just as the finishing touches are being put on Kiryu, the real Godzilla comes back to settle some old scores. Will the team of crack soldiers at Kiryu's controls have what it takes to keep Tokyo on the globe?
(2003 - aka Also known as (AKA): Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. / Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (International: English title) ) DirectorÊ/ Writer (screenplay), Masahiro Yokotani - Writer (screenplay), Yoshinori Sekiguchi - Cinematographer, Michiru Oshima - Composer. · · · One year after the fight between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla, the two monsters along with Mothra face off in what is supposed to be the conclusive battle royale.
(2004 - aka Gojira: Fainaru u™zu,The Godzilla (Japan) (working title) / Godzilla: Final Wars (International: English title) ) DirectorÊ/ Writer (screenplay), Isao Kiriyama - Writer (screenplay), Wataru Mimura - Writer (story), Shogo Tomiyama - Writer (story), Takumi Furuya - Cinematographer, Fujio Okawa - Cinematographer . · · · THIS MOVIE IS CATEGORIZED AS "IN PROGRESS." CLICK HERE FOR UPDATES AND STATUS OF "GODZILLA: FINAL WARS," 2004
Just for the record, here's a chronological list of all the Godzilla films (not including that weird American Jurassic-zilla thing). The initial American release titles are listed, but the release dates (with the exception of the last 3 or 4) are for the original Japanese premier.
Godzilla (1954)
Gigantis, the Fire Monster (aka Godzilla Raids Again) (1955)
King Kong vs Godzilla (1962)
Godzilla vs the Thing (aka Godzilla vs Mothra) (1964)
Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Godzilla vs Monster Zero (1965)
Godzilla vs the Sea Monster (1966)
Son of Godzilla (1967)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Godzilla's Revenge (1969)
Godzilla vs the Smog Monster (1971)
Godzilla on Monster Island (1972)
Godzilla vs Megalon (1973)
Godzilla vs the Bionic Monster (aka Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla) (1974)
Terror of Godzilla (aka Terror of Mechagodzilla) (1975)
Godzilla 1985 (1984)
Godzilla vs Biollante (1989)
Godzilla vs King Ghidrah/Ghidora (1991)
Godzilla vs Mothra: Battle for the Earth (1992)
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 2 (1993)
Godzilla vs Space Godzilla (1994)
Godzilla vs Destroyah (1995)
Godzilla [US] (1998)
Godzilla 2000 (1999)
Godzilla vs Megaguirus (2000)
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (2002)
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)
Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
