GODZILLA Movie Thread

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mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#46 Post by mkaroly »

TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975) - 2.5/10. Obviously the well was running dry at this point. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA which puts me at a disadvantage. In TERROR aliens (again) have put Mechagodzilla back together while a mad scientist attempts to take revenge against all who doubted him by controlling Titanosaurus. The mad scientist works for the aliens because they saved his daughter (now a cyborg), and the aliens use the mad scientist and his daughter in order to take over the world. Godzilla and his human allies, though, will not go down without a fight.

This movie is all over the map. The sets were cheap; the story jumped from location to location and never found any flow; the love story between the cyborg daughter (played by another smoking hot Japanese actress) and the goofy hero was less than believable. Godzilla's appearance to battle Titanosaurus was well done - the silhouette of his head followed by the reveal is effective. But the series seems by this point to have exhausted its ideas; Titanosaurus' power mimics Rodan's power, which is boring. The acting is pretty bad as well; the American version showed a "greatest hits" compilation of Godzilla's battles with previous monsters to lengthen the running time...what a mess. The last shot of Godzilla turning his back to the screen and walking away into the ocean at the end of the film was very appropriate. The series desperately needed a break.

Eric Paddon
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#47 Post by Eric Paddon »

I have to admit, "Terror Of Mechogodzilla" is for me better than many of the other 70s Godzilla films, and one thing that helps is the return of Akira Ifukube on the music bringing back the original 1954 theme no less . This is also the first Godzilla film to have some really big city destruction scenes in a long time. That opening sequence of clips from earlier Godzilla films (all of them the ones that Henry Saperstein had US distribution control over, just as he did with this film. Though amusingly the montage uses the footprints and roar from "Godzilla King Of The Monsters" initially!) was a bit silly.

For years I had no idea that hidden under that very bad Colonel Sanders like makeup as the mad scientist was Akihiko Hirata who played the doomed Dr. Serizawa in the first Godzilla film, so in many respects this was a coming full-circle in more ways than one!

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#48 Post by mkaroly »

THE RETURN OF GODZILLA (1984) - 5.5/10. This movie was something of a shock to the system for me when I began watching it; after having watched all those Godzilla films from the 50s - 70s the style, look, and feel of the film was unexpected. There were things I did appreciate about the movie, which takes place thirty years after the end of the 1954 Godzilla film. For one, I loved the nods to the original film - there were moments when the filmmakers seemed to have been very purposeful in making Godzilla's movements match up perfectly with movements from the original film (the most noticeable for me was the sequence on Tokyo Bay). I also enjoyed the nod to the train scene from the original film. I thought some of the acting in the film was decent for a Godzilla film - the actor who played the Prime Minister did a fantastic and convincing job. I respect that the filmmakers returned to the theme of nuclear weapons and their destructive potential; that theme made great sense in the 80s during the Cold War. At times the film reminded me of other nuclear war films such as DR. STRANGELOVE and FAIL SAFE. Godzilla does in some ways look more ominous and threatening, and much larger than in previous films. Although the ending did not have the impact that '54 GODZILLA did, I did appreciate that Godzilla was not portrayed as a totally bad creature; I was somewhat moved, just not as much as in the original.

I also had some nitpicks about the movie. For one, I did not like how mechanical Godzilla looked and moved. I also did not care for his lower register voice. I get that Godzilla is supposed to be this ominous weapon of destruction in and of himself, but he just moved too slowly without much animation (though kudos for attempts to improve his facial expressions). When Godzilla attacks the nuclear power plant he looks stoned out of his mind. Lol...not what they were going for I think. The film score was in desperate need of Ifukube's themes - I do not think the Godzilla theme played once in the entire movie (though I have only sat through one viewing - maybe I missed it). I thought the scenes between the Prime Minister and the ambassadors for the Soviet Union and America were a little too cartoonish (with an attempt by the director to be a little too "artistic" in in the angles he used to film that sequence...seemed out of place). The battles were okay, and despite the unbelieveability of the science it was still entertaining.

I did not see the Americanized version with Raymond Burr; I do not have access tot hat copy. I did read though that they changed one scene that would have really bothered me - the Soviet Colonel, rather than trying to stop the launch of the nuclear weapon before he dies (Japanese version), chooses instead to launch it before his death (American version). Uncalled for. At any rate, I struggled to put a "grade" on THE RETURN OF GODZILLA and finally settled on 5.5/10 - not quite a 6/10 but better than a 5/10. One thing viewing the film made me realize was just how much I like an animated and hyper Godzilla. I totally get that his character was not supposed to be that for this film, but I still missed "classic" Godzilla.

Eric Paddon
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#49 Post by Eric Paddon »

The Burr Americanized version may in fact now be a "lost" film because supposedly the elements have disappeared. Thus, the old VHS releases may be the only way to see it. The worst thing about it was how they insisted on having a goofy major in the control room always spout comedy dialogue ("boy they've got one hell of an urban renewal project" he comments as they see scenes of destruction). Burr did little more than make a few ponderous speeches observing things.

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#50 Post by mkaroly »

GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE (1989) - 3/10. I think the idea of introducing biological weaponry in this movie was good and had potential: scientists get their hands on some of Godzilla's cells after the events of THE RETURN OF GODZILLA in the hope of using it for some good, but then of course others want to use the cells for "bad" things, like a weapon to defeat Godzilla. And then there's the scientist who wants to use Godzilla's cells merged with a rose plant to preserve his daughter's soul after she is killed in a terrorist act, eventually resulting in the monster Biollante. I honestly found this movie very frustrating in its back and forth with language: the Japanese dude speaks English early on; the bio-terrorists speak English and Japanese at various times in the movie. The bio-terrorist assassin was also laughable; this movie was definitely a product of the late 80s and does not date very well at all. I was unimpressed by Biollante as well - not a great monster adversary for Godzilla (though it did "transform" into a different form later that was kind of an interesting concept).

The score is an improvement over the previous score in that Ifukube's Godzilla themes are used; it was so refreshing to hear them! There is also a goofy side plot concerning ESP/psychic powers that made me think of CE3K at one point. There is one really good scene in it that I thought was well done with its scale - the scene where the psychic girl makes contact with Godzilla out on an oil drill thing in the water - very eerie and ominous (with a JAWS-inspired camera moment to boost!), but overall I found the film a bit too serious. Godzilla still moves too slowly and lacks personality; again, the idea was good but the execution was not-so-good.

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#51 Post by mkaroly »

Concerning THE RETURN OF GODZILLA, I have to give the score more props than I did in the review above. There are a few very good themes in it, including the final musical sequnce which plays underneath Godzilla's burial. I have been listening to it today - it took listening to the score apart from the movie to make me appreciate Reijiro Koroku's contributions more. It would have been nice to hear a nod to Ifukube's Godzilla themes, but the score is not as bad as I thought. Just different.

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#52 Post by mkaroly »

GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH (1991) - 3/10. Although this film has its moments of humor and some cool fighting bits, I have to give to a low grade because the foundation of the story (time travel) is all jacked up. GvKG is kind of a remake of INVASION OF ASTRO MONSTER, though there are enough differences to make it its own film. The plot of the film involves "aliens" who travel from the 23rd century to 1992 Japan in order to enlist the aid of a few Japanese folks (including the author of a future best-seller The Birth of Godzilla) to go further back in time to 1944 to prevent the dinosaur who becomes Godzilla (after H Bomb tests) from becoming Godzilla. Their plot involves the ol' switcheroo - change out the dinosaur for a genetically engineered creature that would become King Ghidorah when the H bomb testing took place. King Ghidorah would then, under the control of the "aliens", wreck Japan who, in the future, had become a dominant nation which in turn prevented these "aliens" from establishing their New World Order...or something like that...lol...

This was a way, I think, for the filmmakers to make Godzilla more "mean." the Godzillasaurus ends up being teleported to an area deep in the ocean which, unfortunately, has a great amount of nuclear waste in it (much more than it did in 1944). When Godzilla collides with a Japanese nuclear sub, he becomes even stronger, bigger, and more fierce. There is a very touching moment in the film when the leader of the Japanese forces on Lagos Island (named Shindo) thanks the dying dinosaur for keeping he and his forces safe against American attacks. Later in the film there is a moment when Shindo and the new Godzilla meet up to a different end. There is humor in the film, though the American actors on the battleship act really poorly (on purpose?) to less than a B-movie acting grade (the "Major Spielberg" line is hilarious). One of the Japanese heroes in the film (the writer) utters one of Clint's most memorable lines ("Make my day!") before blowing up an alien computer that was kind of funny. There is also an android in the film (the M-11) who is part Terminator and part goofball in his movements. All that is fun; but the time travel foundation of the story just makes no sense - so many plot holes, and such poor story execution. The 'roided up Godzilla looks and acts menacing (and his first encounter with KG is great), but I miss the quicker movements and fighting styles of the 60s Godzilla films.

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#53 Post by mkaroly »

GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA: THE BATTLE FOR EARTH (1992) - 7/10. This film is basically a remake of MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA from 1964, albeit with several differences. Taking place after the events of Godzilla's battle with King Ghidorah in the previous film, a meteorite crashes to earth and uncovers Mothra's egg while at the same time awakening Godzilla (who is the bad guy in this movie) and Battra, an ancient foe of Mothra's. The film is rooted deeply to a strong environmental message (there is a greedy Japanese corporation which exploits the environment), and it is extremely entertaining and funny. The director gives a wink and a very strong nod to the INDIANA JONES films in the opening sequences as one of the film's heroes is a Jones-type of archaeologist/explorer, a deadbeat bad and divorcee who cannot keep up with his alimony payments. He is forced to work with his ex-wife, thereby setting up a kind of Spielbergian male protagonist journey from immaturity to maturity throughout the film. I laughed really hard at some of the opening exploration sequences.

The makers of this film spared no expense with the special effects - Godzilla has never breathed out so much radioactivity. His battle with Battra in the ocean is amazing; his epic showdown with Battra and Mothra at the amusement park is fantastic. The destruction inflicted on cities by all these creatures is just epic. I love the color palettes in the film, and Ifukube plays with several of his themes from previous movies in this one. Godzilla is a bit stiff, something that I have been critical of concerning all the films post-1984 up to this point. To its detriment, the story jumps around too much; I felt as if a lot of film hit the cutting room floor which would have made some transitions between sequences more fluid. Although Godzilla is still an enemy and a darker character in these newer films, he has an ominousness that helps to create a sense of foreboding and fear (I am not sure I like seeing those pointed ears on him though...lol...just looks weird to me). The film seemed to be directed more toward a wider audience, including kids. Of all the "reboot" Godzilla films I have seen up to this point, GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA really stands out as a solid entry into the series as a whole.

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#54 Post by mkaroly »

GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II (1993) - 5/10. This film revolves around humanity's attempts to rid itself of Godzilla (who, up to this point in the newer films is humanity's enemy) by creating MechaGodzilla, an almost indestructible monster with advanced weaponry (MG was made by studying the remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah from two films ago). Meanwhile, an egg is found on Adona Island that scientists believe to be a pteranodon egg (which, of course, they take back to Japan's mainland even though Rodan attempts to stop them). Little do they know that the egg contains a Baby Godzilla - when he hatches from the egg both Godzilla and Rodan seek him out. All leads to a final epic confrontation between Godzilla, Rodan, and MechaGodzilla. There is a lot more to the plot than this (I am totally not doing it justice), but that is basically it.

One of the strengths of this film is, once again, the special effects. There are more explosions and crashing buildings than the previous films, and there are some absolutely cool monster battles (Rodan gets knocked backwards into a tall building by MG's plasma ray that is just jaw dropping). On the negative side of the battles, I was admittedly uncomfortable when Rodan and Godzilla (both "bad guys" in the film to the humans) were abused by the weaponry of MG. It was very savage in a way, and Godzilla gets the worst of it. The battle sequences do get very violent, much more so than previous films. I am not a big fan of that. Miki returns from GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE due to some of the plot line that involves psychic stuff. The Baby Godzilla (named "Baby" in the movie) reminded me of Jurassic Park and films like that, but while the character/animatronic could have gotten really sappy and dumb, I think the filmmakers did well with its use of it; "Baby" truly draws an emotional response from the viewer by the end of the film without insincerely pulling too hard on the heart strings. Akira Ifukube's score has some great moments as well, and the ending of the film as a whole (including someone's self-sacrifice) is very moving and, I would argue, is the one of the strongest endings ever in a Godzilla film.

I did not like the use of both English and Japanese in the film; I really hate when these films do that. It is very awkward, although I totally get that the organization that tries to stop Godzilla (the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center (UNGCC)) is a multi-national organization, I would rather the film be in one language instead of two or more. I also did not like how Rodan destroyed things - in the older films his wing-flapping caused destruction. In this film he merely flies over things and all of a sudden stuff explodes - it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. All in all not a bad film.

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#55 Post by mkaroly »

GODZILLA VS. SPACEGODZILLA (1994) - 2.5/10. Unfortunately GvSG is not an improvement over the previous film. Instead it seems like a rehash of it in some ways - instead of having a MechaGodzilla the humans have a MOGUERA weapon (looks the same as MG except for an improved head). They are still trying to kill Godzilla, but another team of scientists is trying out some tech in order to attempt to control Godzilla's mind. In the process of these plans the UNGCC (United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center) discovers that there is a SpaceGodzilla making its way to earth to destroy it (supposedly some G-cells from Biollante and Mothra made their way into space where they passed through a black hole and...well, SpaceGodzilla came to be). A soldier who lost his brother to Godzilla's destructive rampage tries everything he can to eliminate the monster, only to have to make a choice between killing SG or G in the critical moment.

One of the highlights of the film for me was once again seeing Megumi Odaka reprise her role as Miki, the telekinesis/psychic expert. She has been in several of the films, first appearing in GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE. She has shown up in each of the next films, and she has a charm and cuteness about her that is great in these films. The older Godzilla films had several plot lines in which aliens tried to control Godzilla's mind; this time it is a team of human scientists. The fight sequences are still really good, especially the final battle between Godzilla and SpaceGodzilla. Baby Godzilla shows up and gets harassed by SpaceGodzilla, though the Baby is not overused. All in all I found this film to be too much like its predecessor in style, sets, and movement which is why I am giving it a lower grade. The score is okay and done by a different composer than Ifukube (though he did retain Ifukube's Godzilla theme). The end titles reminded me of a Bond film...lol...it has its charms but, at least for me, this movie falls pretty flat after GvMG II.

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AndyDursin
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#56 Post by AndyDursin »

You're doing so much better than me Michael! I was bored with most of the 90s Godzilla movies and had a hard time getting through the bulk of them (several of them I never finished).

GODZILLA 2000 was decent though -- and that's because Sony did the dubbing themselves and gave it a US theatrical release. If you see that, watch it with the English dubbing, it's tongue in cheek and greatly enhances the film, which was pretty fun and easily one of the best of the "later Toho cycle" Godzilla films, which too often are dull and serious.

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#57 Post by mkaroly »

I have the BR of GODZILLA 2000 and it has both cuts on it. I definitely plan on watching both!

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#58 Post by mkaroly »

GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH (1995) - 6/10. This was the last film in the Heisei series of Godzilla films, and it looks back to GODZILLA 1954 for its story (as well as takes some "inspiration" from James Cameron's ALIENS as well as the PREDATOR films). The island on which Godzilla and Godzilla Junior were on has been destroyed by a volcanic eruption which released a great amount of uranium. This results in Godzilla's heart, which acts as a nuclear reactor, to start to overheat. Thus Godzilla approaches a meltdown (which could destroy the whole planet). The military, who wants to get rid of Godzilla, has to change tactics and work with scientists (including Dr. Yamane's grandson Kenkichi) to help him cool down and prevent him from having a meltdown (mostly by firing freeze weapons at him). Meanwhile, while Miki is trying to find Godzilla Junior, Dr. Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer has reactivated at the site where Godzilla '54 died, causing an Precambrian organism to come alive. The organism grows bigger, multiplies, and becomes Destoroyah, a horrible creature with immense destructive power. It leads to an epic battle between Destoroyah, Godzilla, and Godzilla Junior.

This movie kind of comes full circle by using GODZILLA '54 as an inspiration for the film. The ending is extremely moving even when one can see it coming from a mile away. The homages to ALIENS are really, really goofy, though the Destoroyah monsters are kind of creepy looking. When the organisms combine to make themselves into Super Destoroyah, you become really invested in whether or not Godzilla will outlast him (and not go into meltdown). There is a sense of foreboding that the film brings out really well I felt. The story is a bit more engaging than the previous film, though the narrative is very choppy (as usual). The Heisei series of Godzilla films certainly embraced Godzilla as a more fearsome and scary monster than the other films from the 60s and 70s; I still find that I prefer the spirit of the Godzilla films from the 60s and 70s (though aside from GODZILLA '54, I like the 60s film offerings more than the 70s film offerings or what Heisei put out). The strengths of the Heisei films lay in the special effects and the battle scenes. The Japanese actresses in the films are really hot too...lol...anyway, looking forward to moving on to the New Millennium Godzilla films next.

Edit: I should mention that Ifukube's music is a solid effort. He once again delivers with the music for the climax of the film.

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AndyDursin
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#59 Post by AndyDursin »

Thanks for these write-ups Michael. I'll probably be tapping into these films with Theo in a few years as I've been stockpiling them for a revisit when he's old enough (and it won't be long, he keeps asking to see "The Dinosaur Movie," and he means JURASSIC WORLD, not Barney!).

mkaroly
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Re: GODZILLA Movie Thread

#60 Post by mkaroly »

Thanks Andy! I have never seen all the Godzilla films before; I was most familiar with the 60s films coming into the project. One thing I will say is that the 90s films tended to have more "brutal" violence than the films from the 50s - 70s (generally speaking of course). The 90s violence was a bit more bothersome than some of the violence in the other films so far. There is just something about the "classic" Godzilla films that is so entertaining and, for lack of a better way of putting it, endearing.

I think I am going to get the 2nd edition of David Kalat's book on the Godzilla franchise as I am hungry to read about all these films in more depth. Then when Criterion releases its Godzilla film box set (?) I can go through them again with that additional knowledge. Looking forward to completing the series of films this summer (hopefully).

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