UserWiki:SuperZillaRealms: Difference between revisions

From Wikizilla, the kaiju encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search
Line 361: Line 361:


Overall, Godzilla vs. Biollante has a great story and message on the warnings of genetic engineering, unfortunately the tone of the movie was executed poorly especially when it was trying to be serious. Both monster designs were gorgeous and loved the tooth and claw fight scenes they had, unfortunately we wouldn’t be seeing this throughout the rest of the Heisei series because of the suit limitations for each suit. 3.3/5
Overall, Godzilla vs. Biollante has a great story and message on the warnings of genetic engineering, unfortunately the tone of the movie was executed poorly especially when it was trying to be serious. Both monster designs were gorgeous and loved the tooth and claw fight scenes they had, unfortunately we wouldn’t be seeing this throughout the rest of the Heisei series because of the suit limitations for each suit. 3.3/5
====''[[Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah]]''====
[[File:Gvskg01.jpg|thumb|Right|100px]]
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is another film that introduced the franchise into more sci-fi elements such as time travel. Anyways a group of people travel back to 1992 to warn Japan of Godzilla’s return. They travel back to the year 1944 to prevent a dinosaur called the Godzillasaurus from turning into Godzilla. However by doing this, they accidentally created the Heisei Godzilla that attacked Japan two films prior. So if they hadn’t gone back in time, there wouldn’t be a Heisei Godzilla. I don’t know, time travel is confusing in general especially on what Avengers Endgame did with it. Turns out everything was a scam and in Godzilla’s place, they replaced him with Dorats which then merged into King Ghidorah because of the radiation.
I’m not a big fan of this origin, it takes his extraterrestrial origins away and turns him into a genetic experiment gone amok. As mentioned before neither Godzillas were erased from history, and only need to expose him to more radiation in order for him to fight King Ghidorah. To their surprised Godzilla is still alive and sinks a nuclear sub that was sent to revitalize him, because of this the ANEB is gone and Godzilla increases in height. Godzilla does triump over King Ghidorah but unfortunately Godzilla’s back and goes on another rampage, so they decided to travel back to the 30th century and bring King Ghidorah back to fight Godzilla, however this time he’s cybernized and is now Mecha-King Ghidorah.
He has a vast amount of weaponry and the fight is honestly pretty awesome despite both monsters spamming the beam button. Mecha-King Ghidorah then grabs Godzilla with theses giant claws made to restrain him and flys off, but Godzilla lands one final attack in the air and both plummet into the ocean.
Overall, Godzilla vs, King Ghidorah is a very fun movie, it has really good fight scenes despite most of it being beam spams. And despite the time travel plot, it fits nicely in the Heisei timeline. If I only have one complaint is that I didn’t like King Ghidorahs new origin, however in an early script, the Dorats were created from the remains of King Ghidorah found on Jupiter, a sequel titled “The Return of King Ghidorah” was planned but never saw the light. Mecha-King Ghidorah would have a role in creating another monster in 1993 but for now I’m just going to leave it at that. 3.9/5

Revision as of 02:32, 22 November 2019

SuperZillaRealms trademark icon
SuperZillaRealms
SuperZillaRealms
Alternate names KaijuOfTheElements, Shin, SuperZilla1975
Species Human
Allies AlphaRper
Enemies Stupid People (Most Customers)

Who Am I?

My Life As A Godzilla Fan

2005

At a young age most kids are first introduced into the world of Superhumans from the likes of Marvel and DC comics. I however was not one of them, instead of me being introduced to a world full of Superheroes, I was introduced into a world of Titans. And what sparked that interest was the 1993 film we all know and love, Jurassic Park. I loved how massive and realistic these creatures were. This also introduced me into Mythical creatures from the likes of dragons, cryptids like Bigfoot or the Chupacabra and cheap monster movies. One I do remember watching was Dinocroc.

2006

I don’t really remember that much from that day (as it was over 13 years ago). My mom came home with 4 specific movies which introduced me into the world of Godzilla. These movies were the following, Mothra Vs Godzilla, Godzilla 2000, GODZILLA (1998) and my all time favourite, Terror Of Mechagodzilla. She assumed I would like them because the covers included a giant dinosaur of some sort. As you can tell I loved them all, but my opinion on some of these films have changed.

2007

Since then, Blockbuster (R.I.P BlockBuster) became my favourite store to visit as they provided many Godzilla films many of which were from the Millennium series (Godzilla Mothra and King Ghidorah Giant Monsters All Out Attack, Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. and Godzilla Final Wars) and some were from the Showa series (Godzilla Vs The Sea Monster, Godzilla Vs Hedorah, Godzilla Vs Gigan and Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla). I would use these little dinosaurs to act as the monster while playing, I specifically remember using a green Compsognathus to act as Godzilla. One day on Christmas, I received a gift from my aunt, I was honestly surprised when I found out it was a Godzilla figure (Bandai Creations Godzilla 1954 Wave 1 in case your wondering). It was the happiest moment in my life as I had an actual figurine of my favourite hero but that didn’t last long.

2008

In less of a year, I lost the figure. And the thing is, I don’t know where I left it. I was incredibly sad about this but luckily that didn’t last long as my mom got me another Godzilla figure (Bandai Creations Godzilla 2001). I would take that thing in the bathtub with me but the downside of it was that water would get in the figure, so I would have to remove the tail to drain it. It was a pain in the ass to get it back on. But unfortunately I lost it but it didn’t bother me this time. On Christmas Eve my brother got me another Godzilla figure (Bandai Creations Godzilla 2004) and promised myself not to lose it (Funfact: Its still on my shelf to this day but in bad condition).


2009-2010

Of course being a Godzilla fan, it did leave me a few options in terms of friends with the same interests, at least where I was. My mom applied me for a camp called “Camp Cheerful” and that is where I met my best friend AlphaRper who also had an interest in Godzilla. We spent the whole summer together and we even kept in touch by giving me his moms phone number. We would schedule get togethers from time to time, and my mom became good friends with his mom so my mom got her email address. I even went back next summer however there was sudden rift between us and I don’t even know what caused that. That rift caused us to lose contact with one another for 5 years. This rift also changed my interests entirely, I suddenly wasn’t interested in Godzilla anymore and that gap was slowly filled up with LEGO.

2012-2015

One day, my mom called me down and showed me a trailer and was shocked to see that it for an upcoming American reboot of Godzilla. That reignited my love for Godzilla and that caused me to look for my Godzilla 2004 figure for the next hour and I slowly got into collecting figures eventually getting into the SH Monsterarts line in 2015. Anyways May 16, came around and I came out of the theatre smiling like an idiot. My mom informed me that she had AphaRpers mom’s email address and I could talk to AlphaRper again. We both got Skype and kept in contact ever since.

2017-2018

It wasn’t long before I would see AlphaRper in person again as we both planned to go to Chicago for G-Fext XXIV and it was an amazing time. We both met one of the Directors (Shinji Higuchi) of Shin Godzilla and got my Shin Godzilla figures tag signed by him. And Alpha did the same. I even went back next year for G-Fests 25th anniversary and got my Hedorah figure signed by Kenpachiro Satsuma but this time Alpha couldn’t make it.

2019

Since then, I have a great collection of figures, own almost all the movies and even got into the Ultraman and Gamera series. Personal favourite Gamera film would include Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, as for Ultraman its Ultraman Geed. I’ve been watching so many monster films so much (including the ones you see on SyFy) that I’ve understood and accepted each film despite its flaws, no movie is perfect. Love or hate these films but one thing that we agree on is that giant monsters are f*cking awesome, nothing is going to change that. The G-community is a bit derisive when it comes to “which Godzilla movie is the best” or “which is the strongest incarnation”, honestly I don’t care about that stuff. I have my opinions and they have theirs, so we should respect that.

Quotes

The Bigger They Are, The Harder I Fight
Shut Up, Otherwise I'll Beat The Skreeonk Out Of You
Fusion Rise, Legendary Godzilla! Shin Godzilla! Primal Godzilla!

My Collection

Figures

Video/Board Games

Movies

Posters

Books/Comics

Medalions

My Favourite Godzilla Films

Reviews

Godzilla Series

Godzilla (1954)

Gojira 1954 Japanese poster.jpg

Godzilla is one of the great granddaddies of most giant monster films, it gave birth to “Tokusatsu” which would involve miniature sets and rubber suits and is still used to this day in most Japanese media including Ultraman. This movie was made by people who witnessed and lived through the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and it shows, it reflects the horrors of what occurred after the bombings and its sad to watch. This isn’t really about a giant monster knocking over buildings, this shows that it was meant to be a disaster movie.

It’s important to note that I never saw the original until I was 16, it was probably for the best as it is really dark tone wise and depressing as in it should be Rated R. Whenever someone gets trampled or passes away its very sad, there is one scene that I’ll never forget and that is when a little girl cries after sees her mom pass away when Godzilla attacked Tokyo. The characterization was really good, I enjoyed the love triangle between Serizawa, Emiko and Ogata, but it doesn’t really go into much depth. The soundtrack was done by Akira Ifukube, one of my favourite themes is “Prayers For Peace” and of course the classic Godzilla theme (which started as a military march).

Just like King Kong before hand, the monsters are meant to be sympathetic as it was mankind’s recklessness that gave birth to Godzilla, it makes you question who the real monsters are. When both monsters are killed there isn’t any celebrations, cheering or anything like that, its meant to be sad despite Godzilla being a symbol for the destruction of nuclear weapons. I recently saw the American cut of the film and it most of it was cut down and new scenes were filmed, not only that, its message about nuclear weapons was watered down. Needless to say I prefer the original (1954) compared to the American re-cut (1956).

Overall, Godzilla (1954) is a cinematic masterpiece that takes inspiration from previous films like the original King Kong movie and has a fantastic message on the horrors of nuclear weapons. I would highly recommend seeing this film for a mature audience, but as for younger viewers I would stay away at least until they’re older. 4.3/5

Godzilla Raids Again

Godzilla Raids Again Poster A.png

When I first saw this film it really isn’t great, unfortunately that hasn’t changed. Within a few short minutes, it lost its dark tone that the original had. Godzilla this time doesn’t destroy Tokyo, he destroys Osaka. He isn’t alone this time, a new monster is discovered in the form of Anguirus a giant ankylosaur-like monster and Godzilla fighting another monster became one of the many staples in the series. In the movie, it is said that both species of monsters have been rivals for a long time. The pacing in this movie is off by tenfold, and when Godzilla and Anguirus fight, the footage is speed up which ruins the illusion of these monsters being gigantic. The fight itself is decent but I wished that the footage was slowed down as It looked like a kid was bashing two dinosaur toys together.

It felt like this film had less of a budget due to the fight in Osaka and the avalanche scene. What I mean is that there is this neat aerial shot of Godzilla from a helicopter but isn’t moving. The movie ends with a very neat scene where fighter jets fire at a glacier to seal Godzilla in ice but one complaint is that it was a bit anti-climatic, there was no proper buildup and nothing was played over it. Ironically Godzilla would be hibernating for the next 7 years as Toho would be making more monster movies from the likes of Mothra, Varan and the Mysterians.

Overall, Godzilla Raids Again losts its dark tone in favour of giant monster battle. While it still has heart but not as much as the original did. I do consider it to be one of the worst but not THE worst Godzilla movie. Anguirus was a really neat add in and was utilized well but falls to easily. 2.9/5

King Kong vs. Godzilla

King Kong vs. Godzilla Poster A.png

King Kong vs. Godzilla is one of the greatest matchups of all time. It was East Vs West, the American monster vs the Japanese monster. Well by comparing Kong to Godzilla, Kong is an ant so they did have to increase Kong’s height in order for him to face Godzilla and since Godzilla has the atomic breath, Kong has electric based powers to balance things out. Originally it was going to be Frankenstein but was scrapped which would explain Kong’s electric powers but an electric monkey looks unrealistic but then again giant monsters aren’t realistic in the first place.

The characters mostly stand by and watch the whole thing, only getting between the monsters when transporting Kong to face Godzilla but that’s probably a wise choice given the fact both monsters can kill you. The fight itself is entertaining but sometimes its get a bit goofy, in fact, Kong is pounded into the ground very easily until Kong turns the tides after getting struck by lightning. The fights mostly happen in the mountains and the forests only one building gets destroyed. When pitting two of the most iconic movie monsters of all time, I do expect them to fight in a city but that doesn’t happen. The aftermath of the fight doesn’t give us a clear winner but it was confirmed by Toho that Kong won.

There is also another monster called the Giant Octopus played by an actual octopus which was grilled later on (R.I.P Octopus) but loses easily. In fact the Giant Octopus was the inspiration for Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Overall, King Kong vs. Godzilla is a fun movie with an entertaining battle. But the human characters do take a back seat when it comes to the monster action only interfering when relocating Kong or rescuing someone from Kong’s grasp. The story itself is good but most parts do drag, I would like to see a modern interpretation of the movie but luckily, 2020 is around the corner. 3.9/5

Mothra vs. Godzilla

Mothra vs. Godzilla Poster A.png

Another crossover, Mothra originally came from a novel of the same name and was adopted in the film which was successful. The film has a great message on greed which only upset not one but two giant monsters. A giant egg washed up on shore and a bunch of greedy businessmen buy it from the village and plan to use it as a tourist attraction. To be honest these are probably the dumbest characters in the series, it seemed that it didn’t come to mind that whatever layed that egg, it wants it back. It gets worse, radiation levels were detected at a beach and of course greedy businessmen step in and accidentally wake up Godzilla.

The movie does lose track sometimes focusing more on its message on greed then anything else. Anyways Godzilla is very clumsy in this film, he’s gets his tail stuck and falls into a ditch, that happens because the suit actor was located in the neck of the suit and couldn’t see anything. The fight between Godzilla and Mothra is decent but all that happens is that Mothra is beating her wings and drags Godzilla around but unfortunately dies. The egg hatches and reveal two larvae who in case Godzilla in a cocoon and fall into the ocean.

Overall, it has a great message on greed but focuses too much on it. There was once scene where part of Infant island is practically dead due to nuclear weapons, so there’s a bit of a message of nuclear weapons as well but wasn’t focused on as greed was the main message of the story. The casting of Mothra vs. Godzilla was excellent but some parts do drag. I wouldn’t mind seeing this cast agin in the future. 3.4/5

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

Ghidorah1-1.jpg

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster was a huge game changer in the Godzilla series. From a symbol of nuclear destruction to a protector of the Earth, all it took was the introduction of a three-headed golden dragon called Ghidorah. The plot itself is strange as it involves the spirit of an alien from Venus who warns the Earth of multiple things such as Godzilla returning, Rodan erupting from the volcano and worse of all, an alien dragon called King Ghidorah is coming to Earth to destroy it. there are assassins that are trying to kill the princess but fail each time, it builds up neat action scenes when the monsters aren’t around.

Eventually Godzilla does indeed return and Rodan erupting from a volcano. Both monsters fight but gets halted by one of Mothra’s larvae. Ghidorah then appears and just starts destroying everything in his way but eventually all three monsters drive him off. The human again were taking a back seat when it came to the monsters but we did get one silly scene when the Shobijin were translating what the monsters were saying “Oh Godzilla what terrible language”. That always cracked me up.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable movie. It introduces on of Godzilla’s greatest villains and even became his ultimate nemesis. The inclusion of Mothra and Rodan also made this enjoyable, while the human plot was a little bit strange it was still fun and interesting. 4.4/5

Invasion of Astro-Monster

Invasion of Astro-Monster Poster A.png

Despite the last film giving introduction to alien life (Ghidorah), Invasion of Astro-Monster was the film that introduced the series in the space genre. Its starts out with the discovery of a new planet behind Jupiter called Planet X that is inhabited by an alien race called the Xiliens. There planet has been threatened by an extraterrestrial monster called Monster Zero who turns out to be Ghidorah. With Earth’s permission, the Xiliens took Godzilla and Rodan to fight Ghidorah as they were the ones who drove off Ghidorah (what about Mothra though) and in return the Xiliens will give humanity the cure for cancer which turns out to be a scam. Ghidorah was under the Xiliens control this entire time and their leader is some sort of computer.

Now Godzilla and Rodan are under mind control and put under stationary, and if the Earth doesn’t surrender in 24 hours, the monsters will destroy the world. Turns out the Xiliens weakness is some sort of noise that also freed the monsters from mind control. The Xiliens were destroyed, Ghidorah was drove off once more and Godzilla and Rodan plummeted in the ocean below.

Overall, Invasion of Astro-Monster is a fun film with its own goofy and serious moments. Ghidorah makes a return which I am happy about (favourite villain). The human story was really good and getting involved around the monsters especially when they freed them from mins control. But unfortunately I still like Ghidorah, the Three-Headed monster more. 4.3/5

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

Godzilla vs sea monster poster 01.jpg

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep also known as Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster was meant to be a King Kong movie as Toho still had the rights to the character during that time. The movie takes place on an island which is home to a terrorist group called the Red Bamboo that manufactures nuclear weapons and in doing so created the Giant Condor and a giant lobster named Ebirah. Red Bamboo has also been kidnapping the inhabitants of Infant Island as slaves to produce a yellow liquid that comes from the fruits of the island that keeps Ebirah away. Unknown to them, Godzilla is sleeping in a cave under the island.

Throughout the movie, its mostly the Red Bamboo chasing a group of three men throughout the island, those scenes are fun but it gets old rather quickly. There is a spy-like tone in the film as there is a lot of sneaking around. When Godzilla and Ebirah fight, they basically play volleyball with a rock. Mothra is included in the film but only gets a minor role and only appears in the third act. One thing I absolutely loved the movie was that Godzilla ripped both of Ebirah’s claws off during their final confrontation.

Overall, I liked the island setting for this film, its a nice location to make some fun chase scenes with a fun soundtrack that plays over it. The monsters didn’t blow me away as much like Ghidorah did, but it was fun to have them around. Except for the Giant Condor which could possibly the worst fight I’ve ever seen in a Godzilla film. As mentioned before, this was originally going to star King Kong but was scrapped for Godzilla. This is shown that there are many of Kong’s traits that doesn’t fit Godzilla. Its a very weak entry in the series with lazy script changes but to fun to watch. 2.9/5

Son of Godzilla

434px-Son of Godzilla 1967.jpg

Son of Godzilla yet again takes place on an island, however instead of it being home to a terrorist group. Its home to a group of scientists that are testing out a new device that controls the weather. A news reporter find out about this an comes to the island uninvited. He acts like a little kid when he doesn’t get what he wants, he basically wants a juicy story like all news reporters in real life. The island is infested with giant praying mantises, a giant spider named Kumonga and Godzilla’s non-biological son Minilla whose name is never mentioned in the film.

The film basically focuses on both the human story and the monster story evenly. Unfortunately it was poorly executed. While it does have an interesting human story the monster story sucks. Godzilla first doesn’t acknowledge Minilla but eventually comes back for him. At first Godzilla is a bad parent by threatening to hit Minilla for not using his atomic breath. Eventually we learn that Godzilla does care for is son as they both embrace each other when the humans weather device works and creates a snowstorm.

Overall, it does have a good human story, the monster story not so much. Minilla is one of my least favourite monsters and I was dying to get back to the human story and normally that doesn’t happen with me when watching these films. One thing I did like in this movie was the use of a fully scaled model of Kumonga’s leg. One of my least favourites but its still a fun movie nonetheless. 2.6/5

Destroy All Monsters

Destroy all monsters.jpg

Destroy All Monsters was meant to be the last Godzilla film, but it did so well sequels were, some bad and some good. Anyways the movie takes place in the future and all of Earth’s monsters are contained on Monsterland. Every monster that has appear in a Godzilla movie is there, well except for Ebirah, Kamacuras and of course King Kong. Anyways despite the film having the title “Destroy All Monsters” there is actually less monsters in the movie with some of them basically getting cameos.

Despite this, its a amazing movie with a really good story. Aliens have invaded the Earth and are now using monsters to destroy the world and have brainwashed a few people. This creates a specific heaviness that reminds me of Pacific Rim’s tone. This creates a good human story, one I can get behind on. To make things better, King Ghidorah returns and faces all the monsters and even dies. Unfortunately there is a flaming space craft called the Fire Dragon and to be honest this felt like the movie was trying to add more action before the move ends, it was anti-climatic and personally the movie would be better without it.

Overall, Destroy All Monsters is an excellent film with a good human story and great monster scenes. Unfortunately its last few minutes doesn’t leave an impact as rest of the movie did. I was also upset that monsters like Varan and Manda were only in for cameos and didn’t join the final battle at Mt.Fuji. Despite these flaws this is one of the best Showa movies Ive ever seen. 4.3/5

All Monsters Attack

Godzilla's Revenge 1969.jpg

All Monsters Attack also known as Godzilla’s Revenge was a movie that completely took the franchise off of its tracks. Part of the Showa series was aimed towards children to get a bigger audience. Some work well but this isn’t one of them, the film has a message on bullying and the movie is centred around it. I own the English dubbing of the film and I’m not sure if it has the English subbing on it as well.

I saw the dubbing and it was GOD AWFUL, I know that the companies distributing the film is responsible for the dubbing and the subbing and not Toho’s. Anyways the movie mostly consists of a kid dreaming of him being on Monster Island and he made friends with a talking Minilla. The other part is when he is kidnapped by a group of bandits. The scenes constantly drag and each fight that Godzilla has, is recycled from previous films, the only fight that’s original is the fight between Godzilla and Gabara.

Overall, while the message was good it was poorly executed. The human scenes constantly dragged, I had to pause the movie multiple times and had to convince myself to finish watching. The first and second acts were extremely bad, however the third act was better but it wasn’t enough to redeem the movie. I saw this movie when I was much older, so do get that this was made for a younger audience. I would have enjoyed this when I was younger but right now.....not so much. 1.4/5

Godzilla vs. Hedorah

Godzilla vs Hedorah 1971.jpg

Godzilla vs. Hedorah is one of the many Godzilla films I saw as a child, I can describe this movie as weird, entertaining and scary. What I meant by weird was there were sometimes these short animations between scenes that doesn’t really do anything with the plot this would also include the infamous Godzilla flies scene. It is entertaining with its monster fights but Hedorah last long at least until the final fight. I even said that this movie was scary because of Hedorah, when he flies over you, people melt leaving nothing but bones and this always scared me this combined with its mostly creepy soundtrack and you get one very terrified child.

This movie carries a strong message of pollution with its monster Hedorah, an alien life form merged with all the pollution of Japan and Godzilla is the only creature able to stop it. Hedorah does prove to be a match for Godzilla and it took the combined efforts of humanity and Godzilla to finally kill Hedorah. The cast of the movie isn’t that great, its a step up from All Monsters Attack but it could have been better. The director wanted a sequel to the film where Godzilla faces another Hedorah in Brazil, but that didn’t happen. The 2014 film was originally going to be a short film featuring Godzilla facing a giant monster named Deathla.

Overall, Godzilla vs. Hedorah is a fun, weird and scary film. It introduces Hedorah who is one of my favourite monsters because he is the only monster that scared me as a child, heck not even the Xenomorph pulled that off. it introduced a really good message about pollution. It had some decent characters but Ill take them any day over the last films characters. I would like to see Hedorah return someday in a big role, not just a small cameo in Final Wars. 3.8/5

Godzilla vs. Gigan

Godzilla vs Gigan 1972.jpg

Godzilla vs Gigan is another strange film but not as strange as Godzilla vs Hedorah. I cant really say what the tone of the film really is because it constantly shifts throughout the movie. Not only that the pacing of the movie was slow and the story isn’t that special. It has the same premises as some Godzilla movies, aliens have a legion of monsters and try to use them to take over Earth. Unfortunately they didn’t give an explanation why they need Earth specifically. Oh and the aliens are cockroaches (basically unkillable aliens). Their base is located in Godzilla Tower an amusement parks landmark.

The story reintroduces King Ghidorah who previously died in Destroy All Monsters but the extended Showa series from Godzilla vs Hedorah to Terror Of Mechagodzilla are prequels to Destroy All Monsters. It also reintroduces Anguirus who hasn’t been seen chronologically since 1955, and it also introduces a new monster named Gigan who has blades for hands and a buzzsaw on his chest he is mostly famous for being the first monster to cause Godzilla to bleed. Anyways Godzilla and Anguirus somehow learned to talk and it sounds like a scratched record player, the tag team between the monsters is really good but the story itself wasn’t that good.

Overall, while this movie introduces and reintroduces other monsters it didn’t really make up for the inconsistent tone and the constant fast and slow pacing, it really throws you off. The movie also uses stock footage and unfortunately future movies have the same problem. The characters weren’t that memorable but they at least did something that moved the plot forward. The villains weren’t good and when watching a movie we do need to feel some sympathy for the villains to understand why they did this. 3/5

Godzilla vs. Megalon

Megalon-big.jpg

Godzilla vs Megalon despite it starring Godzilla, the main focus is a size changing robot named Jet Jaguar. The story is somewhat different from Godzilla vs Gigan actually, there are some elements that were from the last film, inconsistent tone, overuse of stock footage and another tag team battle in the third act. Despite the movie having the same flaws as the last one did, I did find this film much more enjoyable. I did understand the Seatopians motives were primary because of fear because of what happened to their capital, they even called the Space Hunter aliens to borrow Gigan to help their own monster Megalon, a giant beetle with drills for hands who is also worshipped as a deity.

Like previous films, the main characters take a back seat whenever the monsters are involved. The only time the humans really do anything is when two of our protagonists gets kidnapped and regain control of Jet Jaguar. Megalon is not a smart monster, he needed Jet Jaguar just to figure out where he’s going and when he’s gone he just goes on a confusing rampage, whenever Megalon battles the military stock footage from Godzilla vs Gigan is used, I get it that this is used to reduce the budget but I’m not used to seeing Gigans claw when Megalon is destroying the jets. Speaking of Gigan, he comes back to assist Megalon while Jet Jaguar teams up with Godzilla. But just like the last film Gigan flees leaving his teammate to deal with both monsters, Godzilla does this drop kick and is funny to watch, he does this a few more times before Megalon finally retreats. The movie does end on Jet Jaguar and plays this pretty dope song.

Overall, while retaining the flaws that Godzilla vs Gigan had, I found this film to be a bit more enjoyable. Godzilla isn’t really the main monster in the story despite being in the title, that honour goes to Jet Jaguar, actually Godzilla only appears in a major role in the third act. I don’t know that this was meant to be build up for the final battle but it didn’t feel like it. I did like the inclusion of two old and two new monsters, but some scenes like Megalon vs the military could have been better as it was mostly Megalon swinging his drills around and cutting to Gigans blade destroying the jet instead. 3.1/5

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 1974.jpg

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla did bring Godzilla back on track while appealing to younger audiences, the movie brings in a small plot twist along with a pretty good story. The story involves a prophecy about a giant monster destroying civilization and trampling anyone that gets in its path, the only hope against this threat is a guardian named King Caesar. I should note I saw this film when I was little about 7-8 years old but I recently found a DVD release by TriStar in awesome condition for a great price on eBay for $20 despite the DVD’s rarity. The movie goes beyond just a prophecy about a giant monster destroying the planet, it involves a bit a spirituality while introducing sci-fi elements with the discovery of a new metal called Space Titanium.

It is believed that Godzilla is the monster that will destroy humanity but this is quickly proven wrong when Anguirus attacks Godzilla, knowing that he wouldn’t attack his friend and Godzilla doesn’t have metal under his skin. There is this really great fight between two Godzillas, one of them revealed to be a robotic doppelgänger dubbed Mechagodzilla that was built by a dying race of aliens that look like they came from Planet of the Apes, it’s explained that their home is about to be destroyed by a black hole that is slowly approaching their planet causing them to search for a new home, this introduces strong sympathy for the aliens which is something we don’t see that often, with their home literally on the brink of collapse they’ve become desperate to find a habitable planet in order to wipe it clean to make it a new home to themselves. The third act finally introduces King Caesar who was sleeping in a mountain this whole time, Godzilla soon returns to have a rematch with Mechagodzilla, even with their combined forces they are no match for Mechagodzilla, Mechagodzilla has an entire arsenal of weapons that causes Godzilla to bleed from finger missiles to laser beams. Mechagodzilla is soon destroyed when Godzilla turned himself into a giant magnet and twists Mechagodzilla’s head off.

Overall, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla is a movie that got Godzilla back on track while appealing to a more modern/younger audience. The plot is great, with strong villains and great monster action. The movie is colourful with a jazz-like soundtrack, however the only complaint I do have is that sometimes the pacing is off and some of special effects don’t look good (about 5%) while 95% of the effects are really good. 4/5

Terror of Mechagodzilla

Terror of MechaGodzilla 1975.jpg

First off Terror Of Mechagodzilla is the very film that got me into the Godzilla franchise, it has a darker tone than the last film, and while all the monster action happens in the third act, it is actually really good build up for the final battle. I wasn’t able to see Terror Of Mechagodzilla for at least over 10 years since 2006, mainly because the disc got scratched, but eventually I found a Toho Master Collection of the DVD and I still loved every second of it despite me maturing during that time. It also introduces a new monster named Titanosaurus who is under the control of the Black Hole Aliens from the last film along with Dr.Mafune who was kicked out of the science institution because of his colleagues mocking him about the existence of Titanosaurus and wants revenge.


However one thing I cant get over is that there is this plot hole where he said “they came 15 years to late”, so assuming that he was kicked out in the year 1960, before that time, Godzilla appeared in 1954 and another one returned in 1955 along with Anguirus then giant insects along with Rodan a giant pteranodon appeared in 1956. So they saw giant radioactive monsters wreaking havoc upon Japan but somehow don’t believe that a giant aquatic dinosaur lives on the ocean floor. Anyways the aliens were using Titanosaurus to scavenge the remains of Mechagodzilla in order for it to be rebuilt but this time more powerful and more destructive, Godzilla doesn’t appear until halfway through the second act but I expected that as it is a common occurrence in the series and this time he faces two monsters with no backup this time, this makes really good and fun fight scenes in the movie. The special effects are as good as the previous films however somehow Titanosaurus is bigger than a mountain but its something minor and not a big deal over.

Overall, Terror Of Mechagodzilla is a really good film and from what I’ve seen its a fan favourite despite it doing poorly in the box office. While the plot hole in the film does uncover a major flaw in universe, it doesn’t ruin the movie. It has memorable characters such as Dr.Mafune and Katsura, Titanosaurus was also sympathetic as he was forced to do the aliens bidding. While it does start off a bit slow but it is totally worth it 4.7/5

The Return of Godzilla

The Return of Godzilla Poster Japan 1.png

The Return of Godzilla is a soft reboot of the series basically ignoring the entire Showa series except the original and brought Godzilla back his roots, a force of nuclear destruction. About 30 years have passed since the first Godzilla attacked Tokyo in 1954 and being killed by the Oxygen Destroyer, its also important to note that this takes place during the Cold War as this is the movies message. It all starts with a boat being attack by mutated sea lice and the survivor claiming he saw a giant creature which is later revealed as another Godzilla which is kept under wraps by the government to prevent a panic, this new Godzilla has been sinking nuclear submarines from Russia and blame it on the Americans. To prevent another war, the government had to come clean about another Godzilla, and both nations pressurize Japan’s government for the permission of nuclear weapons but refused even if Godzilla attacks Japan’s mainland.

The first time we see Godzilla is when he attacks a nuclear power plant as a source of food, Godzilla is terrifying in this film which was something I was happy to see. Anyways it is later discovered that Godzilla follows the Earth’s magnetic field (a little nod that birds are close relatives to dinosaurs) similar to birds and a plan is set into motion to lure Godzilla to a volcano and trap him in with a controlled eruption. There is a new weapon introduced into the movie called the Super X that was built in secret to prepare for another attack, its main weapons are cadmium missiles which are used to control nuclear reactors and does take down Godzilla but is only revitalized after the Russians accidentally launch a nuclear missile towards the heart of the city only to be intercepted by a missile that the Americans fired. Godzilla is eventually lured with a magnetic transmitter and falls into the volcano, however he lets out a blood curdling scream before falling in and is incredibly sad basically telling us who the real monsters are.

Overall, The Return of Godzilla had a great message of the Cold War which is a slight adaptation of the dangers of nuclear weapons from the first film. One moment I did like was when Prime Minister was under the pressure of the Russians and Americans about the usage of nuclear weapons but goes with his convictions, if I was him I would’ve broke very easily. Godzilla is terrifying but some closeups on him do look dumb on certain camera angles, he acts more animal-like in this movie but still has the impression of a giant monster but also being sympathetic in some ways. It is a good movie but it doesn’t live up to the original film despite it carrying a similar tone and message. 4.2/5

Godzilla vs. Biollante

Godzilla vs. Biollante Poster Japan 2.png

Godzilla vs. Biollante takes place 5 years after the second Godzilla’s attack in 1984, the plot centres around a terrorist group, a Sandarian agent, a dead girl and Godzilla’s cells. The terrorist group is called Bio-Major and what they want with the G-cells is unclear as it was never mentioned, while a Sandarian agent wants them as an attempt to create a tropical plant that can withstand the desert heat as they only sold oil. Unfortunately the lab was bombed by Bio Major, the cells were destroyed and the scientists daughter died, to keep her “alive” he spliced her daughters DNA with that of a rose bush and after an earthquake that almost killed the roses, he joined the ANEB project and combined Godzilla cells with the rose and as we all learned from these types of movies, this was a bad idea. The rose mutates and grows into a giant monster named Biollante, during this time Godzilla is stirring inside of the volcano and the terrorist group threatens to release Godzilla if they don’t hand over the G-cells. But after a gun fight between SSS9, Bio Major and others, Godzilla is released once more.

I should point out that this movie does drag a bit for things to get interesting, despite the story being really good it drags in the first act but it does improve in the next two acts mainly because now all the drama is centred around Godzilla and Biollante, After resurfacing in Osaka, Godzilla attacks Biollante and evaporates into spores. The ANEB is recovered but unfortunately it has no effect on Godzilla as it is only activated to high temperatures, the military is sent to raise Godzilla’s body temperature for the ANEB to take full effect, a newly modled Super X II is sent but unlike the first one, it loses. Biollante returns in her beast form and looks gorgeous, the fight between the two behemoths evolves a lot of tooth, claw and vine but embrace it while we can because for the next 5 movies it will be mainly beam spams. Because of Biollante’s acid spray, the ANEB finally takes effect and takes Godzilla down, Biollante evaporates into spores and flies into space while Godzilla walks back into the ocean and isn’t seen for the next 2 years.

Overall, Godzilla vs. Biollante has a great story and message on the warnings of genetic engineering, unfortunately the tone of the movie was executed poorly especially when it was trying to be serious. Both monster designs were gorgeous and loved the tooth and claw fight scenes they had, unfortunately we wouldn’t be seeing this throughout the rest of the Heisei series because of the suit limitations for each suit. 3.3/5

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

Right

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is another film that introduced the franchise into more sci-fi elements such as time travel. Anyways a group of people travel back to 1992 to warn Japan of Godzilla’s return. They travel back to the year 1944 to prevent a dinosaur called the Godzillasaurus from turning into Godzilla. However by doing this, they accidentally created the Heisei Godzilla that attacked Japan two films prior. So if they hadn’t gone back in time, there wouldn’t be a Heisei Godzilla. I don’t know, time travel is confusing in general especially on what Avengers Endgame did with it. Turns out everything was a scam and in Godzilla’s place, they replaced him with Dorats which then merged into King Ghidorah because of the radiation.

I’m not a big fan of this origin, it takes his extraterrestrial origins away and turns him into a genetic experiment gone amok. As mentioned before neither Godzillas were erased from history, and only need to expose him to more radiation in order for him to fight King Ghidorah. To their surprised Godzilla is still alive and sinks a nuclear sub that was sent to revitalize him, because of this the ANEB is gone and Godzilla increases in height. Godzilla does triump over King Ghidorah but unfortunately Godzilla’s back and goes on another rampage, so they decided to travel back to the 30th century and bring King Ghidorah back to fight Godzilla, however this time he’s cybernized and is now Mecha-King Ghidorah.

He has a vast amount of weaponry and the fight is honestly pretty awesome despite both monsters spamming the beam button. Mecha-King Ghidorah then grabs Godzilla with theses giant claws made to restrain him and flys off, but Godzilla lands one final attack in the air and both plummet into the ocean.

Overall, Godzilla vs, King Ghidorah is a very fun movie, it has really good fight scenes despite most of it being beam spams. And despite the time travel plot, it fits nicely in the Heisei timeline. If I only have one complaint is that I didn’t like King Ghidorahs new origin, however in an early script, the Dorats were created from the remains of King Ghidorah found on Jupiter, a sequel titled “The Return of King Ghidorah” was planned but never saw the light. Mecha-King Ghidorah would have a role in creating another monster in 1993 but for now I’m just going to leave it at that. 3.9/5