Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (Invasion of Astro-Monster)

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

In the late 1960s, a two-man spacecraft, crewed by a Japanese and American (Fuji and Glenn), approaches Jupiter’s orbit to explore the newly discovered Planet X. The planet maintains a position directly behind Jupiter, leaving its surface in twilight, with just enough light to make it possible to navigate its surface.

After landing and disembarking, one of the astronauts and the ship vanishes, leaving the other to wonder where they have gone. Suddenly, a flat voice comes over the communications link and instructs the lone astronaut down into subterranean corridors to the office of the Controller of Planet X, where he finds his shipmate.

The spacecraft is safe, the controller assures them and indicates that their location is about to be attacked. The astronauts recognize the attacking monster is King Ghidorah, the three-headed space dragon. The astronauts lose contact with the Controller, but afterwards they are assured that Ghidorah, known to the Xians as Monster Zero, is gone.

The Controller asks for Earth’s help: they want to capture Godzilla and Rodan, known to the Xians as Monster Zero-One and Monster Zero-Two. In return, Planet X will gift humanity with a wonder drug that can cure all diseases. The astronauts agree to return home with the proposal. As they lift off, they say on the radio to the Controller, “We’re glad we found friends on Planet X.”

Meanwhile, Fuji’s sister’s boyfriend, Tetsuo, has invented a personal alarm he thinks women could use if they’re attacked. It creates an extremely loud noise that can be heard for a long distance. Tetsuo wonders, though, why no one is interested in buying it. Eventually, a Miss Namikawa makes an offer to buy the alarm as an educational device, though she keeps putting Tetsuo off on completing the deal. In truth, her boss wants the device and the plans destroyed.

Fuji and Glenn tell their superiors about the offer from Planet X. Scientists begin searching for Godzilla and Rodan. The Controller of Planet X suddenly makes an appearance on Earth, and both Glenn, who is dating Miss Namikawa and Fuji both become suspicious of Planet X. The Controller apologizes for his unannounced presence and offers to help locate the two monsters. Two Planet X spacecraft rapidly deploy to capture the two monsters.

Glenn, Fuji and Dr. Sakurai are invited to accompany the Controller back to Planet X, a trip that takes only a few hours; the Controller says that soon they’ll be able to travel at the speed of light. When they reach Planet X, there is an immediate attack by Ghidorah, and the two monsters from Earth are released to battle him. Ghidorah is driven off and the Controller is extremely happy. He presents the astronauts with a box he says contains the formula for the miracle drug. He also gives the three men duplicate of their spaceship so they can fly home.

Back home the box is taken to a special meeting and in it is found a reel-to-reel tape. It is loaded to play, but when the speakers remain silent for a long period, some wonder if the systems are compatible. Finally, after a beep a voice states, “I am the controller of Planet X. To the people of the Earth. I command that you obey the following orders…” It is an ultimatum to surrender to Planet X or be destroyed by all three monsters.

The Xians soon arrive and destroy the gift spacecraft. They also threaten to release King Ghidorah, Godzilla and Rodan. Overly confident, the Xians show the world how they control the monsters through magnetic waves. The Earth scientists know they can exploit this information and work rapidly to find a way to disrupt the waves. Meanwhile, Earth’s armies fight the three monsters with conventional weapons as they destroy much of Japan.

Tetsuo, is unhappy his device is not being used, and he is unable to get Miss Namikawa to tell him what’s happening. He decides to follow her, but is captured by Planet X soldiers. Glenn eventually discovers Miss Namikawa is from Planet X and all their women are virtually identical. Fearing what he knows, the Xians arrest him and put in the same cell as Tetsuo. However, this proves to be their undoing as he and Tetsuo begin to cooperate. Before she is disintegrated by a soldier, Namikawa gives Glenn a letter in which she told him the weakness of the people of Planet X: the sound from Tetsuo’s alarm. Tetsuo, who still has the prototype, sets it off. It paralyzes the Planet X soldiers, enabling Glenn and Tetsuo to escape.

They reach the space center scientists and explain about the alarm. Arrangements are made to broadcast it on all radio and television stations, but only when the magnetic disruption devices are deployed.

The three monsters are no longer under Planet X control, as their spacecraft explode as their crews try to escape the debilitating alarm noise. The invaders withdraw from the Earth. Meanwhile, Godzilla and Rodan attacks Ghidorah, forcing all three to fall into the sea. Ghidorah emerges and retreats to outer space, but Godzilla and Rodan never resurface, leading the humans to wonder whether King Ghidorah defeated them.

Glenn and Fuji are to be sent to Planet X again as ambassadors to seek peaceful relations

REVIEW:

Last week, I was reading somewhere that they had hired a writer to reboot the Godzilla franchise. Why, oh why, is this necessary? Are studios that devoid of ideas that they have to do such nonsense. At this point, it is nothing more than just a case of laziness. *SIGH* Let’s talk about Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, shall we?

What is this about?

Aliens from the mysterious Planet X, which resides on the dark side of Jupiter, come to Earth asking its people to help them save their world from the dreaded King Ghidrah by letting them “borrow” Godzilla and Rodan. The aliens are actually planning to use the three monsters to take over our planet.

What did I like?

Monsters will be monsters. For the most part, Godzilla, Rodan, and Ghidorah all act as monsters. In other films of this franchise, Godzilla was starting to act more and more human. With the exception of a scene where he and Rodan are stranded on Planet X, the big guy is back to his normal destroy everything self, it seems like.

Plot. Believe it or not, there is an actual plot here that isn’t the usual “Godzilla is coming to Tokyo so we have to nuke the hell out of him to save the city”. Instead, we have a race of intelligent beings from Planet X who appear to be having trouble with a being they call Monster Zero, but we know as Ghiorah. I was also a fan of how they pulled the big double cross and tried to enslave the people of Earth. It just seemed to convenient how they knew where Godzilla and Rodan were on out planet, yet couldn’t come up with a way to stop Ghidorah, despite the fact that they are infinitely more advanced that us.

Pacing. Other films in this franchise, whether it be from lack fo real plot development, or my ADHD kicking in because I don’t care to read the subtitles, seem to drag on for much longer than they need to, which is ironic considering that I think this is the longest of the bunch. Enough cannot be said about a good brisk pace. No one is ever going to confuse a Godzilla flick with Citizen Kane. These films are good sci-fi fun, so when they just get to it, that is when they work the best.

What didn’t work?

Humans. I probably sound like a broken record, as I say this with every Godzilla flick, but there were just too many humans. Yes, this one probably had the best acting (if you can call it that) of the bunch, headlines by Nick Adams. You may recognize him as constant compatriot of Dean Martin and Elvis in their films, or perhaps you could know hims from No Time for Sergeants. At any rate, I realize that there needs to be some human element here, but it just seems as if they were being too cheap to focus on the monsters, as well as maintaining their stubbornness/delusion that people care about the humans. I have the same problem with the Transformers movies, if you will recall.

Godzilla Ali. I don’t know if he does it in any of the other films, but this Godzilla had some moves like a boxer. I kid you not, in the final battle with Ghidorah he is literally boxing the three-headed beast. This may come off as cute to some, I wasn’t a fan, especially after he had done some weird kind of dance on Planet X after beating Ghidorah.

Women. In all of the previous films, the women have been nothing more than eye candy. This is no exception but, in a weird turn of events, the females that we have been seeing are in fact from Planet X. I wish I could say more about this, but it just seems to me as if this was a way to give the women something to do, as  they don’t serve much purpose otherwise.

Godzilla vs. Monster Zero should be noted for the fact that it actually has a plot, something that the others didn’t seem be lucky enough to have, with the exception of the Mechagodzilla flicks. Now, does that mean this is a good film? Well, I really want to say yes, I really, really do, but I can’t. This is a film made for its target audience. Everyone else will scoff at it. As a film, it is average at best, which pains me to say, but it is still enjoyable. Check it out sometime! You may have to look under one of the many other titles it is known by, though, such as The Great Monster War, Invasion of Astro-Monster, Monster Zero, etc.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Godzilla’s Revenge

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Ichiro is a highly imaginative but lonely latchkey kid growing up in urban (and at that time, polluted) Tokyo. Every day he comes home to his family’s empty apartment. His only friends are a toymaker named Shinpei Inami and a young girl named Sachiko. Every day after school, Ichiro is tormented by a gang of bullies led by a child named Sancho, whom Ichiro has nicknamed “Gabara.” To escape his loneliness, Ichiro sleeps and dreams about visiting Monster Island. During his visit he witnesses Godzilla battle three Kamacuras and Ebirah, a giant sea monster. Ichiro is then chased by a rouge Kamacuras and falls into a deep cave, but luckily avoids being caught by Kamacuras. Shortly afterwards, Ichiro is rescued from the cave by Godzilla’s Son, Minilla. Ichiro quickly learns that Minilla has bully problems too, as he is bullied by a monstrous ogre known as Gabara.

Ichiro is then awoken by Shinpei who informs him that his mother must work late, again. Down on his luck Ichiro goes out to play, but is then frightened by the bullies and finds and explores an abandoned factory. After finding some souvenirs (tubes, a headset, and a wallet with someone’s license), Ichiro leaves the factory after hearing some sirens close by. After Ichiro leaves, two Bank Robbers who were hiding out in the factory learn that Ichiro has found one of their drivers licenses and follow him in order to kidnap him.

Later, Ichiro dreams again and reunites with Minilla. Together they both watch as Godzilla fights Ebirah, Kumonga, and some invading Jets. Then in the middle of Godzilla’s fights, Gabara appears and Minilla is forced to battle him, and after a short and one-sided battle Minilla runs away in fear. Godzilla returns to train Minilla how to fight and use his own atomic ray. However, Ichiro is woken up this time by the Bank Robbers and is taken hostage by them for taking their stuff and as a means of protection from the authorities.

Out of fear and being watched by the thieves, Ichiro calls for Minilla’s help and falls asleep again where he witnesses Minilla being beaten up by Gabara again. Finally, Ichiro helps Minilla fight back at Gabara and eventually Minilla wins, catapulting the bully through the air by a seesaw-like log. Godzilla, who was in the area watching comes to congratulate his son for his victory, but is ambushed by a vengeful Gabara. Luckily after a short brawl, Godzilla beats down Gabara and sends the bully into retreat, never to bother Minilla again. Now from his experiences in his dreams, Ichiro learns how to face his fears and fight back, gaining the courage to outwit the thieves just in time for the police to arrive and arrest them. The next day, Ichiro stands up to Sancho and his gang and wins, regaining his pride and confidence in the process.

REVIEW:

What in the blue hell have they done to Godzilla?!?

Godzilla’s Revenge is actually a misnomer, or should I say, an American re-titling. The actual Japanese title of this film is All Monster’s Attack. The problem with that title is it really has no bearing on the plot.

What did I like?

Story. Believe it or not, I actually did like the story. How often do you hear the word cute associated with a Godzilla flick? It is my understanding, though, that this is aimed more for kids than the usual sci-fi crowd. Don’t ask me why this is, considering how Godzilla is supposedly such a threat. I mean, there aren’t any kiddie Ghidoroh, Mothra, or King Kong flicks out there. Well, I guess you can make the case that Donkey Kong is a kiddie version of King Kong, but he doesn’t have any movies.

Friendship and imagination. One thing that cannot be said about this flick is that it lacks imagination. How else is it possible for this little boy to not only find himself on Monster Island, but also befriending Minya (Minilla in the Japanese versions), son of Godzilla.

What didn’t I like?

Speech. I realize that they needed to make at least one of the monsters audience accessible, but there was just something unsettling about him talking. On top of that, his voice didn’t work for me. I don’t know if it was that bad in the Japanese version, but the American version could sure use some work.

Epic fail. Godzilla has a big fight near the end with a couple of one-off monsters. It is pretty good, but tame by Godzilla standards. If this is supposedly Godzilla’s revenge, as the title states, shouldn’t be laying some major smackage down? I was highly disappointed in this.

Little boy, go home. I found the little boy endearing at first, but as the film went on, he became a bit of a nuisance, for lack of a better word. I believe this was more to do with how this film was aimed, though.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. As with every other Godzilla film, the dubbing is atrocious, but I guess that comes with the territory of bringing a Japanese film over here to America, right?

Costume design. Holy hell these are some horrible monster costumes, especially Godzilla and Minya. Not only are the costumes horrible, but it seems as if the director forgot how big these monsters actually are. WTF?!? How is it that Godzilla appears to be no bigger than a full size adult male and Minya is barely taller than the little boy, yet in every other flick Godzilla is about 80 ft tall (don’t quote me on that) and his son was about the height of a house!

If you’re in the market for a good Godzilla flick, then this isn’t the one for you. There is no way around that fact. However, if you want a Godzilla flick that you can feel good about watching with your kids, then pop in Godzilla’s Revenge. While I don’t highly recommend this to any sane person, as a Saturday or Sunday afternoon flick, this would probably work out pretty good.

3 out of 5 stars

Terror of Mechagodzilla

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Continuing after the end of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Interpol agents, led by Inspector Kusaka, search for the wreck of Mechagodzilla at the bottom of the Okinawan Sea in the submarine, Akatsuki, to gather information on its builders, the simian alien. But, the Akatsuki is suddenly attacked by a giant aquatic dinosaur called Titanosaurus, and the crew is apparently lost.

In response to the incident, Interpol begins to investigate. With the help of marine biologist Akira Ichinose, they trace the incident and Titanosaurus to a reclusive, mad scientist named Shinzô Mafune, who was forced to leave the institute, and now wants to destroy them as well as all of mankind. When visiting his old house in the seaside forest of Manazuru, they meet Mafune’s lone daughter Katsura, who tells them that not only is her father dead, but she also burned all of his notes on the giant dinosaur (at her father’s request). But unbeknownst to them, Mafune himself is alive and well, visited by his scientist friend Tsuda, who turns out to be an aide to the new simian alien leader Mugal, who is leading the project to quickly rebuild Mechagodzilla. Mugal offers their services to Mafune, so that his Titanosaurus and their Mechagodzilla 2 will be the ultimate weapons. The ultimate goal of this new wave of black hole aliens is to wipe out mankind and rebuild cities around the world as a high-tech dystopia.

But things are complicated for both factions when Ichinose falls in love with Katsura, and unwittingly gives her Interpol’s secret information against Titanosaurus, the new Mechagodzilla, and the aliens. We also find that Katsura is actually a cyborg, and Mugal may have use for her. Meanwhile, Mafune is desperate to unleash Titanosaurus without the aliens’ permission, so he releases it on Yokosuka one night. By then, Interpol discovers Titanosaurus’ weakness: supersonic waves. But when they construct a supersonic wave oscillator, Katsura sabotages the machine, prompting Interpol to hastily repair it; Godzilla arrives to fight off Titanosaurus.

Later, Ichinose goes to visit Katsura, but is captured by the aliens. Tied to a chair, Ichinose can only watch as Mafune and the aliens unleash Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus on Yokosuka, while Interpol struggles to repair their machine and the Japanese armed forces struggle to keep the two monsters at bay. Katsura, whose machine core is being fully manipulated by Mugal, ignores Ichinose and controls both the dinosaur and the robot as they destroy the city.

Godzilla comes to the rescue, though he is outmatched by the two titans. While Interpol distracts Titanosaurus with the supersonic wave oscillator, Godzilla is able to focus on attacking Mechagodzilla. Interpol agents infiltrate the aliens’ hideout, rescue Ichinose, and then kill Mafune and much of the aliens. The remaining aliens attempt to escape, but Godzilla shoots them down. Katsura, while being embraced by Ichinose, shoots herself to destroy Mechagodzilla. Godzilla, with the help of the oscillator, kills Titanosaurus and heads off back to sea

REVIEW:

I must apologize for the briefness of this review, but I need have a couple of things that need to be done here in a few minutes.

If you’ve seen any of the Godzilla films, excluding the 1998 version, then you know what to expect…bad English dubbing, some sort of plot that no one cares about, giant monsters that appear early on and then aren’t seen again until the end, and of course the final conflict. Yes, these films are very formulaic, but this one does have the added plot of the rebuilding Mechagodzilla and this alien race. Still, it isn’t enough to make you want to see anything about this flick other than the conflict between Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, and Titanosaurus.

The creatures still aren’t convincing. They look like guys in suits, but that’s part of the charm these films have. When you go and try to make then look real, it just ruins everything, at least in my opinion.

As far as films in this franchise go, this isn’t necessarily one of the strongest or weakest, nor does it have anything to make it memorable. It is just one of those that you watch to complete the collection. I can’t really recommend it, but at the same time, it is far from being one of the flicks that is horrible. It is just average.

3 out of 5 stars

Godzilla Raids Again

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Pilots Shoichi Tsukioka and Koji Kobayashi are hunting for schools of fish for a tuna cannery company in Osaka. Kobayashi’s plane malfunctions and is forced to land near Iwato Island, an uninhabited strip of rocks formed by volcanic eruptions. Tsukioka then looks for Kobayashi and finds him safe, with only a wrist sprain. While talking, the two men hear strange sounds and find two kaiju fighting. Tsukioka immediately recognizes one of the monsters to be Godzilla. The two monsters then fall off a cliff, into the ocean.

Tsukioka and Kobayashi report to the authorities in Osaka, and find out that the other monster Godzilla was fighting is Anguirus. A group of scientists with the two pilots research Anguirus in a book written by a Polish scientist. Godzilla and Anguirus lived around the same time millions of years ago. Anguirus hated Godzilla, which explains the intense rivalry between the two monsters.

Dr. Kyohei Yamane, who experienced Godzilla’s attack in 1954, was also present at the meeting, and shows a film of Godzilla attacking Tokyo. Yamane states that there is no way to kill Godzilla, and that Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, the inventor of the Oxygen Destroyer, had died and burned the formula. Yamane, though, suggests that the military should use flares on Godzilla to attract the monster away from the shore. Godzilla becomes angry when he sees lights because the hydrogen bomb’s bright explosion had awakened and mutated him.

One day, Godzilla appears on shore of Osaka. Jets are sent to shoot flares from their planes to lead Godzilla away from the shore. Godzilla sees the flames, and starts to walk away.

Meanwhile, a prison truck transports dangerous criminals to another part of the country. All of the criminals, using body language, decided that this would be a great opportunity to escape from prison. The prisoners beat up the two policemen guarding the back door of the truck, and run away. A few of them use a gasoline truck. The truck crashes into an industrial building and starts a massive fire.

The fire attracts Godzilla to the shore of Osaka again. A few minutes later, Anguirus swims to shore and attacks Godzilla. The two monsters fight an intense battle, while destroying several buildings, including the tuna cannery that Tsukioka and Kobayashi work for. Godzilla bites Anguirus’s neck, and throws him on a moat near Osaka Castle. Godzilla then fires his atomic breath and burns Anguirus to death. While this saves Japan from Anguirus it also lights a large amount of structures on fire.

Tsukioka and Kobayashi are transferred to a Hokkaido plant. During a company party, the two are notified that Godzilla destroyed one of the company fishing boats. The military, and Tsukioka begin a massive search for Godzilla. Tsukioka spots Godzilla swimming to the shore of a small icy island. He notifies the cannery, and Kobayashi takes off in his plane to switch shifts with Tsukioka.

Kobayashi dives his plane towards Godzilla to distract him from walking back into the ocean. Tsukioka then transferred to the air force, travels on a jet with an old college friend. They drop bombs on Godzilla but are unsuccessful. Godzilla then wades towards shore. Kobayashi dies when he swoops down towards Godzilla, but Godzilla counterattacks with his ray, knocking Kobayashi off course and crashlanding on an icy mountain.

Tsukioka grieves but then notices that the military can shoot missiles at the mountain, and bury Godzilla in an avalanche. The jets fire the missiles, and bury Godzilla in snow to his waist.

The jets return to base to reload, and Tsukioka is authorized to fly in his own jet. The jets return to the icy island, and shoot missiles at the mountain, burying Godzilla to his neck. Tsukioka then shoots his missiles and defeats Godzilla by burying the monster completely

REVIEW:

As a fan of the Godzilla franchise, I have always been fascinated with all of the films. As with many series’, there are those that are better than others. This is the case with Godzilla Raids Again.

The biggest problem I have with this film is the low quality of the film. I’m not talking about the bad English dubbing, that’s just as much a part of these movies as Godzilla’s atomic breath, but instead the look of the film is very cheap, even for this era, and was more of a distraction than the subpar plot.

Now, I will say that the scenes with Godzilla were pretty good. They were on par with other films in this series, and the battle with Anguirus was entertaining, but once again, they focused way too much on the humans, who we don’t really care about. On top of that, somehow the film shifted to colder climates. I may have missed something there, but it just seemed a bit too random…even for my taste.

I’m not going to say I didn’t like this film, because I did, but it wasn’t the best entry into the proud Godzilla franchise. There are better films than this and there are worse ones. Should you see it? Well, it wouldn’t hurt, just don’t expect too much.

3 out of 5 stars

Gojira

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

When a Japanese fishing boat is attacked by a flash of light near Odo Island, two rescue boats are sent, but they too are destroyed, with only a few surviving. On Odo Island, a village elder blames their poor fishing on Godzilla and recalls that in earlier times native girls were sacrificed to appease the giant sea monster. Word gets out and a helicopter arrives on the island with curious, but skeptical, reporters. Frightened natives perform a nighttime ceremony to keep the monster away. However, that night, while the natives sleep, a storm arrives and Godzilla comes with it. Death and destruction ensue.

The next day, witnesses arrive in Tokyo. Archeologist Dr. Kyohei Yamane (Takashi Shimura) suggests that investigators be sent to the island. On arrival, Yamane finds giant radioactive footprints, and a trilobite. When an alarm sounds, the villagers arm themselves with sticks and run to the hills, only to find Godzilla is more than they can fight. After a quick skirmish, the villagers run for safety and Godzilla heads to the ocean.

Dr. Yamane returns to Tokyo to present his findings and concludes that Godzilla was created by a nuclear explosion. Some want to conceal that fact, fearing international repercussions. Others say the truth must be revealed. They prevail and Godzilla’s origins are announced to the public. Ships are sent with depth charges to kill the monster. When they fail, Godzilla appears again, causing nationwide panic. Officials appeal to Dr. Yamane for some way to kill the monster, but Yamane wants him kept alive and studied.

Meanwhile, Emiko, Yamane’s daughter, decides to break off her engagement to Yamane’s colleague, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata), because of her love for Hideto Ogata (Akira Takarada), a salvage ship captain. Before she can do that, Serizawa tells her about his invention, the Oxygen Destroyer, which can kill all life in the sea. He gives a small demonstration, using a fish tank in the lab. She is sworn to secrecy and never gets a chance to break off the engagement.

That night Godzilla climbs from Tokyo Bay and attacks the city. Though the attack is over quickly, there is much death and destruction.

The next morning the army constructs a line of 40-meter electrical towers along the coast of Tokyo that will send 50,000 volts of electricity through Godzilla, should he appear again. Civilians are evacuated from the city and put into bomb shelters.

That night Godzilla does indeed attack again. He easily breaks through the electric fence, melting the wires with his atomic breath. A bombardment of shells from the army tanks has no effect. Godzilla continues his rampage until much of the city is destroyed and thousands of civilians are dead or wounded. Godzilla descends unscathed into Tokyo Bay, despite a squadron of fighter jets’ last-ditch attack.

The next morning finds Tokyo in ruins. Hospitals overflow with victims, including some with radiation poisoning. Emiko witnesses the devastation and tells Ogata about Serizawa’s secret Oxygen Destroyer. She hopes together they can persuade Serizawa to use it to stop Godzilla. When Serizawa refuses, Ogata and Serizawa fight and Ogata receives a minor head wound. As Emiko treats Ogata’s wound, Serizawa apologizes, but he refuses to use the weapon on Godzilla, citing the public bedlam his weapon could cause. Then a newscast shows the devastation Godzilla has caused. Choirs of children are shown singing a hymn. Moved, Serizawa decides he will use the weapon only one time and then its secret must be destroyed for the good of humanity. He then burns all his papers and research. Emiko breaks down and cries when she sees this, as she understands that Serizawa is sacrificing his life’s work to stop Godzilla.

A navy ship takes Ogata and Serizawa to plant the device in Tokyo Bay. They don diving gear and descend into the water, where they find Godzilla at rest. Ogata returns to the surface as Serizawa activates the device. Serizawa watches as Godzilla dies then cuts his own oxygen cord, sacrificing himself so his knowledge of the device cannot be used to harm mankind. A dying Godzilla surfaces, lets out a final roar, and sinks to the bottom, disintegrating.

Although the monster is gone, those aboard ship are still grim. They don’t know if the death of Godzilla is the end or the beginning of an apocalyptic era. Godzilla’s death has come at a terrible price and Dr. Yamane believes that if mankind continues to develop weapons of mass destruction, Godzilla may return

REVIEW:

No, this isn’t some random foreign film that you’ve never heard of. Gojira, in case you couldn’t tell, is actually the way Godzilla is said in Japanese.

When I first read the synopsis of this film, I thought it seemed similar to a Godzilla flick I had watched not too long ago. It turns out that I was right.

American audiences were treated to a slightly edited version of this exact film when Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released over here in 1956. Having said that, let it be known that Gojira is the film that introduced the world to Godzilla.

If you’ve seen one Godzilla film, then you pretty much know the basic plot. Godzilla suddenly appears/awakes in the harbor and heads toward Tokyo. The military and scientists all struggle to figure out a way to stop him, or at least slow him down. There’s the pretty girl, usually the daughter of the compassionate scientist who is eye candy, of course. The film climaxes with a showdown between Godzilla and the military.

There really isn’t anything spectacular about this particular entry into the Godzilla franchise, but then again, it is the first one, so it set the bar for many films that followed. Sure the effects are cheesy, but this is 1954, after all.

Godzilla himself, actually looks more real than he does in later films. It isn’t so obvious that he’s a guy in a suit. So, what happened after this one that caused them to make the King of Monsters look so fake, I wonder.

I have to take issue with the way the military seems to trigger happy to destroy Godzilla, rather than even bother to spare his life. Of course, this is something that is prevalent in all the films, so I should be used to it by now, one would think.

As a stand alone film, Gojira is ok, but nothing to write home about. However, when you factor in that this is the start of one of cinemas great franchises, then it makes it seem alot better than it actually is. My honest opinion of this film, though, is that it is good, but not great. Should you see this film, though? Sure! I mean, this is the original Godzilla!!! Why wouldn’t you?

3 out of 5 stars

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

In 1996, after the death of SpaceGodzilla, Birth Island is found destroyed. Godzilla’s adopted son, Little Godzilla, is presumed dead at first but later reveals himself as a larger and more powerful sub-adult due to the excess radiation and is re-named Godzilla Junior. Godzilla, covered in glowing lava-like rashes, enters Hong Kong and destroys most of the city. G-Force representatives hire college student Kenichi Yamane, the grandson of Dr. Kyohei Yamane, to come work at the center in an attempt to unravel the mystery of Godzilla’s condition.

Yamane suspects that Godzilla has absorbed too much atomic energy and is having a nuclear heart attack. His death would result in triggering an atmospheric chain reaction which will take Japan, and the entire Earth with him. G-Force deploys a flying combat vehicle outfitted with anti-nuclear cold weapons to forestall this; the Super X III. Strange life forms appear where the original Godzilla died, and a host of deadly creatures called Destoroyah begin wreaking havoc. Soil samples reveal that Destoroyah is connected to the Oxygen Destroyer used against the first Godzilla in 1954, which mutated Precambrian era life forms. After several deadly skirmishes with the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Destoroyah evolve beyond the J.S.D.F.’s containment abilities and psychic Miki Saegusa must use her failing powers to lure Junior to the area in an attempt to combat Destoroyah in Tokyo. Godzilla, who is searching for his son, follows Junior, but complications arise. Due to his encounter with the Super X III, Godzilla will meltdown once his body reaches 1,200 degrees Celsius and the Earth will be destroyed.

During Junior’s first battle, he is wounded. Godzilla and Junior meet in Narita, but Destoroyah returns in his final form. Destoroyah knocks down Godzilla and kidnaps Junior, dropping him from an extreme altitude that brings the child monster close to death. Godzilla, enraged, attacks Destoroyah and a battle ensues that destroys Tokyo. Born from the only weapon to ever kill a Godzilla, Destoroyah shows an advantage, but Godzilla’s radioactivity has increased his own power. Destoroyah’s body decomposes into many smaller Destoroyah which attempt to swarm Godzilla from all sides, but Godzilla uses his nuclear pulse to incinerate the miniature Destoroyahs.

Alone at last Godzilla tries to revive Junior but, he fails. Overcome by grief, Godzilla’s heart continues to fail. Suddenly, Destoroyah returns for one last attack. Godzilla’s demise begins, resulting in his power increasing once again significantly. In a fury of rage, Godzilla begins reigniting Destoroyah with his powerful atomic rays, severely burning and injuring the beast. Destoroyah then attempts to escape, but the military shoots and blows off his wings. Destoroyah falls out of the air but Godzilla doesn’t move. When Destoroyah hits the ground, because of the extreme change in temeperatures from the ice rays and Godzilla superheating the ground, Destoroyah explodes. As Godzilla reaches meltdown, and begins to die, the Super X III freezes him with ice beams to stop him from the destroying the planet and are successful. Godzilla’s final moments of life are long, and strenuous as he is overcome with immense pain, with his flesh and body slowly melting away. The King of the Monsters gives one last faint roar before he becomes nothing more than a pile of melted flesh and ashes. But in his final moments, he transfers his last supply of energy over to the fallen Junior.

The victory is a costly one however, for the radiation has made Tokyo an uninhabitable city. Suddenly, radiation levels begin to drop, and from within the thinning smoke, is a revived and full grown Godzilla Junior, the new King of the Monsters.

REVIEW:

 Like many movie fans out there, I knew there were a ton of Godzilla movies, but had only seen a handful, most recently Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. Usually, on Saturday afternoons, in case you hadn’t noticed, I watch westerns, but I decided to go the sci-fi giant monster route today, and what better classic giant movie monster is there than Godzilla?

Now, this is one of those Godzilla films that reverts him back to his primitive ways, which is fine, but in doing so, they also seem to be trying to get across some sort of preachy message. I wouldn’t have a problem with this if it wasn’t done so in-your-face.

Let’s face it, Godzilla is a monster who was created as a result of nuclear testing, so we can’t rightly expect them to skirt around the nuclear aspect of him, but there is such a thing as beating a dead horse, which is exactly what they seem to be doing.

Now, if you’re familiar with Godzilla movies, you know they almost all involve the giant lizard suddenly appearing in the ocean outside of Tokyo and the rest of the film is spent watching the bad English dubbing over the Japanese acting as they try to figure out how to stop him before he reaches the city.

Well, that is sort of the same plot here, but we throw in the fact that Godzilla looks like some sot of special edition version of himself. Think of He-Man, then there was Thunder Punch He-Man, Battle Armor He-Man, etc. Well, Godzilla looked like he had just been painted red and yellow. Apparently, this all has to do with the face that he’s about to have a nuclear heart attack. Yeah, don’t ask me, it makes no sense other than to let them have a reason to kill off Godzilla and bring in Junior.

Believe it or not, that, nor the preachy tone of the film are my biggest issues with it, but rather the way the military doesn’t seem to care and just adopts a willy-nilly “shoot first, ask questions later” attitude. Who do they think they are, the Americans?

Seriously, though, they came off as so cold and uncaring, except for the two ladies who were mind linked, or whatever, to Junior.

Lost amongst all this seems to be the film’s antagonist, Destoroyah, who seems to be another inadvertent creation of the government and military. The oxygen destroyer that was used in the original Godzilla film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, apparently did something to the soil, and these creatures mutated out of it. Somehow, though, with the exception of the climatic fight with both Godzillas and the attack on the city, the military just seems to ignore these things because they’re more obsessed with killing Godzilla. How one-track minded can you get?

This was made in the mid-late 90s, so one would expect them to take advantage of the technology available, but for some reason, they sets are very reminiscent of the early Godzilla pictures, where they look like they were taken from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. I don’t have a problem with that. I actually, prefer the toy look, but given that Godzilla no longer looks like a man in a suit, they should have upgraded.

When all the dust settles, is Godzilla vs. Destoroyah a decent entry into the Godzilla legend? Well, I won’t go that far, but it is superior to that 1998 blasphemous attempt. This film has its moments, but it just seems like it is trying too hard to pay homage to the original film and at the same time create something new, failing at both tasks. I think that without the monsters, this would have been an unwatchable film. Your best bet is to stay away from this, unless you’re a Godzilla fan and want to see all of his movies.

3 out of 5 stars

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II

PLOT:

The Japan Self Defense Forces lift the remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah from the ocean. Using the armor and robotic technology that the Futurians gave them, they create Mechagodzilla, a super weapon that they hope will finally kill Godzilla.

On a mission to an island in the Pacific, a Japanese team comes across a dinosaur egg. They take the egg and attract Godzilla and Rodan after stopping the fight that they are engaged in. The egg is taken back to Japan where it hatches into BabyGodzilla. Godzilla appears in Kyoto to rescue the infant Godzillasaur, but Mechagodzilla battles Godzilla, defeating him. However, Godzilla uses his nuclear pulse, shutting down Mechagodzilla. Godzilla shoves Mechagodzilla and continues searching for BabyGodzilla, though he is hidden by G-Force scientists in a room that blocks off his psychic mind waves. Godzilla gives up and returns to his ocean home, but not before destroying the island.

Tests on BabyGodzilla reveal that he has a second brain in his hips that control his legs and tail. The JSDF assume that the same goes for Godzilla, since Godzilla and BabyGodzilla are both Godzillasaurs. They decide to use BabyGodzilla to bait Godzilla to them and use the G-Crusher, a system designed to destroy Godzilla’s second brain, on the mutant dinosaur. Instead Rodan, now transformed into Fire Rodan, is attracted to the bait as well and fights the JSDF attack aircraft Garuda and defeats it. He turns his attention to Mechagodzilla and attacks, losing horribly, being no match to the super weapon though he does disable Mechagodzilla’s right eye laser cannon. Godzilla then shows up and starts to battle Mechagodzilla. Mechagodzilla combines with Garuda and turns into Super Mechagodzilla and uses the G-Crusher on Godzilla. Godzilla is killed, but is revived when Fire Rodan sacrifices himself and transfers his remaining life energy to Godzilla. Godzilla is enraged by Rodan’s death and uses his newly acquired spiral atomic ray to destroy Super Mechagodzilla as revenge.

Godzilla then adopts BabyGodzilla as his son and they both swim off into the ocean to find a new home.

REVIEW:

 Just to be clear, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II is not really a sequel to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Mechagodzilla is mentioned, but for the most part, this film seems to separate itself from the earlier film. I think the fact that this was made in the early 90s, when there was renewed interest in making Godzilla films, may have had something to do with that, though.

When to comes down to it, let’s face the facts, Godzilla flicks aren’t know for being the greatest in terms of storytelling. 99.9% of people who go to see a Godzilla picture, go to see the giant lizard, and could care less about the humans, not to mention what passes fr story.

Unfortunately, filmmakers seem to think that we actually care about the people in these flicks. How delusional can they get?

Different from other Godzilla films, this one doesn’t quite make the big, green lizard seems so much like a bad costume. He, along with the baby, looks like bad rubber balloon versions.

The special effects are what you would expect from this franchise. This is a bit of a letdown, though, when you consider that the first film came out back in the 60s and this was released in 1993. There should be some obvious upgrades there, but that isn’t the case.

For those of us out there that are fans of Godzilla, this is more of a smack in the face, as are all the Godzilla films that were released in the 90s. For the rest of you, this is not the Godzilla film to see. Go check out the REAL films that were released in the 60s and 70s. Those are the ones that showcase Godzilla.

2 out of 5 stars

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

PLOT:

Police Detective Shindo (Yosuke Natsuki) is assigned to guard Princess Selina Salno of Selgina (Akiko Wakabayashi) during the Princess’ visit to Japan, due to a suspected assassination plot. Although Shindo is smitten with Selina’s photograph, her plane never makes it to Japan, as it is destroyed by a bomb en route. At exactly the same time a meteorite shower draws the attention of Professor Murai (Hiroshi Koizumi), who along with his team of scientists strikes out into the wilderness to examine the largest of the meteors, which has strange magnetic properties.

To Shindo’s surprise, the supposedly deceased Selina turns up in Japan, without her royal garb (including the golden bracelet which proves she is heir to the throne of Selgina), claiming to be from the planet Mars, and preaching to skeptical crowds of forthcoming disaster. To their surprise however, her prophecies begin coming true. First she predicts Rodan, thought dead in the eruption of Mt. Aso, will emerge from Aso’s crater. Subsequently, none other than Godzilla will arise from the sea and destroy a ship. Both of these events transpire.

In the meantime, Selina’s uncle (Shin Otomo), who was behind the assassination attempt, learns of her survival and sends his best assassin Malness (Hisaya Ito) to Japan to dispatch the Princess and steal the golden bracelet. Malness and his henchmen are stopped by Shindo, who was warned of their attempt by the Shobijin (Emi and Yumi Ito), who were in Japan appearing on a television show. The Shobijin had been scheduled to return to Infant Island aboard the ship sunk by Godzilla, but opted not to go after overhearing Selina’s prophecy. A further attempt by the assassins is thwarted when both Godzilla and Rodan attack the city and engage in battle, forcing everyone to flee.

Convinced that Selina is insane, Shindo takes the Princess to see a renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Tsukamoto (Takashi Shimura), in the hopes of curing her. However Tsukamoto can find nothing wrong with her, mentally or physically. He concludes she must therefore truly be possessed by a Venusian as she claims. As if emboldened by the doctor’s diagnosis, Selina reveals her final prophecy—that Venus’ once thriving civilization was destroyed by an evil, golden three-headed dragon named King Ghidorah, and furthermore that Ghidorah himself has already arrived on Earth. No sooner has she revealed this than Professor Murai and his colleagues at the meteor crash site receive a nasty surprise—the “meteor” is actually an egg, which hatches into the fearsome King Ghidorah. Ghidorah begins razing the countryside.

To combat the combined threats of the three monsters, the Japanese government enlists the aide of the Shobijin to summon Mothra. Upon arriving on the Japanese mainland, Mothra attempts to persuade the quarreling Godzilla and Rodan to team up against the evil alien (which is translated to the humans by the shobijin) but both refuse, with Godzilla stating they have no reason to save mankind as both he and Rodan “have always had trouble with men and men hate them” which Rodan agrees to. Despite Mothra stating that Earth belongs to them as well and that it is their duty to defend it, Godzilla and Rodan still refuse (with Godzilla apparently swearing at Mothra) and the pair refuse to forgive each other, wanting to continue their fight. Unable to convince them and despite being vastly overpowered, Mothra calls the pair of them “bullheaded” and resolves to fight Ghidorah by herself. Mothra engages Ghidorah and is continually blasted by his gravity beams. Luckily for Mothra, Godzilla and Rodan; impressed by her courage and selflessness; arrive to help and a titanic battle against Ghidorah begins. Meanwhile, Shindo and Dr. Tsukamoto are forced to protect Princess Selina as Malmess and his men converge on Tsukamoto’s clinic; they fend the killers off and escape into the mountains as the dueling monsters draw closer, so they can watch the battle from a safe distance.

The assassins attempt to follow, but a stray blast from Ghidorah buries their car in an avalanche. Only Malness remains uninjured enough to continue. He attempts to snipe the Princess from an elevated position, but only injures her. In her pain she regains her memory and is no longer possessed by the Venusian. Before Malness can take another shot, another stray blast from Ghidorah buries the assassin under a second avalanche. With the heroes thus saved from the human menace, they gather at a safe distance to watch the battle between earth’s monsters and Ghidorah. After not gaining a clear advantage over Ghidorah, the three monsters co-ordinate their attack; Godzilla grabs hold of Ghidorah’s tails while Mothra (riding on Rodan’s back) sprays the three headed dragon with her silk. Finally Godzilla throws the alien beast off the cliff and the battered dragon flies off, back into outer space.

As Mothra and the Shobijin return to Infant Island while Godzilla and Rodan go their separate ways. Selina, having retained the memories of her time with Shindo, bids farewell to her guardian as she meets her bodyguards at the airport to return home.

REVIEW:

 This film introduces us to Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. Ghidorah will go on to challenge Godzilla on many occasion, with new powers each time. With the help of Rodan and Mothra, we are privy to an epic monster battle that really makes this film.

As with any entry into the Godzilla franchise, the film moves along at a snail-like pace, with more unnecessary human plot that, no matter how much they want to deny it, no one cares about it. Seriously, if you’re going to watch a film like this or say, Transformers, are you really concerned about the humans, or would you just rather hurry and get to that which the film is named for (and you paid your money to see)?

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is the next entry in the Godzilla franchise, following Godzilla vs. Mothra. I can say that this film offers more action, it still is too bogged down with useless human stuff. These films would be awesome, if not for the humans. They are only good for getting squashed, if you ask me.

The special effects are on par with the norm for this era. Godzilla and Rodan still seem like they are guys in sits, especially in the scene where they are “talking”. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, Rodan reminded me of those old Chuck E. Cheese animatronics( that they don’t have anymore.)

Other than some minor issues, this is one of the best entries into this franchise. I look forward to watching it again, as well as seeing the sequels, and suggest you do the same.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

PLOT:

According to an Okinawa legend, when a black mountain appears in the sky above the clouds, a monster will arrive and attempt to destroy the world. However, if this divination comes true, a red moon will set, two suns will arise (one being an optical illusion rising from the west), and two monsters will fight off evil to rescue the world. In a cave near the city, an engineer and an archaeologist uncover a statue of the protector of Okinawa, known as King Caesar. He is believed to be one of the monsters to fight for humankind in the prophecy.

Later, a black mountain (a black cloud) does appear in the sky. Godzilla then rises from Mount Fuji and starts on a rampage. Many people, however, do not believe Godzilla will be the monster to destroy Earth. That reflection is reinforced when Godzilla attacks Anguirus and nearly kills him (by ripping his jaw apart).

In a surprising turn of events, the real Godzilla sets forth, only to discover that the rampant Godzilla is an impostor. Later revealed as Mechagodzilla, a cyborg of titanic proportions that was designed and created by ape-like aliens of the Third Planet from the Black Hole to destroy the real Godzilla. After Godzilla is nearly killed, he comes back, super charged with electricity, gathered from a lightning storm. With the help of the newly summoned King Caesar, Godzilla destroys Mechagodzilla (by twisting his head off) and returns back to the sea.

REVIEW:

I’m a little agitated about this film right now. Not because of anything to do with how it unfolded, but rather because I watched the entire picture in Japanese when I could have turned the language to English. I imagine that it would have made the experience much better.

All that aside, I can say that Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla will go down as one of my favorite films of the franchise. My reason for this is that the previous films I’ve seen seem to be more about the actors, but this one seems to be more about Godzilla and the other monsters.

I’m not a fan of flicks that spend 95% of the runtime mindlessly filling time until they can get to the climax. Thankfully, this one doesn’t do that as much its predecessors, though it does have a bit too much time wasted on the worthless humans. This is a complaint I have with any film that deals with giant aliens or whatever,and that is that people aren’t watching to see the humans run (that includes Megan Fox), but rather the giant creatures, organisms, etc. So, the more of them we can get, the better.

In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, we get about the same amount of Godzilla as we’ve gotten in the previous films, but there is more screentime for Mechagodzilla than there is for other monsters that have appeared with Godzilla, except for maybe Mothra.

The climactic battle between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla does not disappoint, though I did feel like King Caesar got in the way more than he “helped”.  I honestly don’t get what he was supposed to be doing there, other than being the defender of the island, but he still was just a nuisance. This should have been a showdown between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla, especially after their earlier encounter which left them both the worse for wear.

There really is no reason to mention the humans in this, other than to say one of the females has a semi catchy song that she uses to awaken King Caesar.

As I said, this is one of the best and most exciting Godzilla films I’ve seen. With lots of action and sci-fi camp, there is no surprise that this is such a cult classic. For those of you into classic sci-fi, this is not one to miss, so check it out. Chances are you won’t be disappointed!

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Godzilla vs. Mothra

PLOT:

News reporter Ichiro Sakai and photographer Junko Nakanishi take pictures of the wreckage caused by a typhoon. Later on that day a giant egg is discovered on the shore. The local villagers salvage it, and scientists come to study the egg.

While Sakai and Junko try to ask Professor Miura questions about the egg, an entrepreneur of Happy Enterprises named Kumayama scurries the scientists off and explains that he bought the egg from the local villagers. Instead of letting scientists study the egg, Kumayama wants to make it into a large tourist attraction. Sakai, Junko, and Professor Miura are disgusted and believe that Kumayama has no right to keep the egg.

While the three are discussing the egg at a hotel, they discover Kumayama checking in. Sakai wonders aloud if somebody else may be working with Kumayama and investigates the matter. Kumayama walks into Jiro Torahata’s room, the head of Happy Enterprises. As the two are discussing the billion-dollar tourist attraction, two tiny twin girls, known as the Shobijin, interrupt them. The Shobijin explain that they are from Infant Island and that the egg belongs to their god Mothra who lives there. Torahata and Kumayama ignore the girls’ pleas and try to capture them.

The Shobijin escape the room and meet with Sakai, Junko, and Professor Miura outside the hotel. The girls beg them to bring the egg back too and the three promise to try as hard as they can to bring the egg back to Infant Island. The girls explain that if the egg is not returned, a larva will hatch and will cause no mercy and destruction to its surroundings as it searches for food. Sakai tries to write editorials but they fail.

The girls soon leave and even though they could not get the egg back, they thanked Sakai, Junko, and Miura for their kindness. While the three are testing for radioactivity in an industrial area, the mutant dinosaur Godzilla suddenly emerges out of Kurada Beach, where he had been blown ashore by the storm and buried under mud, and begins to attack Nagoya.

The editor of Sakai’s newspaper believes that the military cannot do anything against Godzilla and discusses it with Sakai and Junko. Jiro, another reporter who loves to eat eggs, walks in and suggests that Mothra might be able to defeat Godzilla. Sakai and Junko are skeptical that the Shobijin would not agree because atomic testing had destroyed most of their island, and they had failed to return the egg to them.

The two go to Infant Island anyway with Professor Miura. They are captured by the local villagers and are brought to the tribe’s chief. The three ask for assistance but, as expected, are turned down because of the atomic testing, and Japan’s failure to return the egg.

The Shobijin are heard singing and everyone walks towards them. Sakai, Junko, and Miura ask the Shobijin for Mothra’s assistance but they are also turned down. Junko then pleads to all the villagers that not everyone from Japan should be blamed for what happened to their island. Godzilla is killing everyone and refusing their country assistance Sakai then adds that “we’re all human” and that everyone is connected and must help each other. Mothra’s screech is soon heard and the Shobijin ask everyone to follow them. They convince Mothra to help Japan and the people that live in it, but the monstrous insect is weak. Even if Mothra defeats Godzilla, she will have no power left to return to Infant Island.

The next day, Kumayama barges into Torahata’s room and demands Torahata to give him his money back that Torahata had recently swindled from Kumayama. They fight and eventually, Torahata is defeated. Kumayama crawls into Torahata’s money cabinet and begins to steal the money from it. Torahata wakes up and sees Godzilla approaching the hotel. He then grabs a gun and shoots Kumayama in the head, killing him. Torahata is killed while escaping with his money when Godzilla destroys the hotel.

Godzilla walks towards the egg and tries to destroy it until Mothra shows up. The two fight a tough battle where Mothra seems to have the upper hand. While on the ground, Godzilla fires his atomic ray into Mothra’s face and mortally injures her. Mothra dies with her wing resting on top of her egg. Godzilla walks away. The Shobijin then explain to Sakai, Junko, and Miura that the egg can be hatched today. The tiny twins soon begin to sing.

Meanwhile, the military tries to fight Godzilla by electrocuting him with “artificial lighting” but fail. Godzilla then melts the tanks with his atomic ray. The Shobijin continue singing and Mothra’s egg finally hatches with not one, but two Mothra larvae. The larvae follow Godzilla to Iwa Island and use their cocoon spray on Godzilla to trap him, sending him into the sea. The Mothra larvae and the Shobijin celebrate and return to Infant Island.

REVIEW:

When I first heard about this film, I was confused as to how a giant moth could hold its own against the “King of the Monsters”, Godzilla. Seriously, if you put a moth and a lizard in a cage of some sort, chances are the moth won’t last long.

This is part of the beauty of the Godzilla films. You have to suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the films for what they are, something people don’t seem to be able to do anymore.

This film is actually called Mothra vs. Godzilla, but when it was released in the states, Mothra wasn’t a bankable monster yer (still isn’t, I belive), so Godzilla got top billing.

As with all the other Godzilla films, the first 30 min or so are nothing more than the Japanese press and military running around freaking out about Godzilla showing up. This time they have the added “bonus” of a giant moth egg to take care of (and protect) from Godzilla.

Once you get past the boring part, we meet the twins who are able to communicate with Mothra and notice some very bad blue screen effects, but hey, it’s the 60s, we’ll allow it. On their island, Infant Island, the natives have become very distrusting because what was once a lush, green paradise is now a barren wasteland. I can’t say I blame them, but when it comes down to it, if given the chance to send some help in order to stop somewhere else from suffering the same fate, I wouldn’t have hesitated to send Mothra, but that may be the bleeding heart in me talking.

The effects here aren’t the best, even for their time, but one can overlook them because its always fun to see how far effects have come from then to now. However, I can’t sidestep the look of Godzilla. There was something about his mouth that struck me as odd. It was sort of like some kind of floppy dog’s mouth or something. On top fo that, he had “ceiling eyes” (picture Audrina Partidge), that is eyes that are constantly looking up.For some reason, these irked me as well.

Once you get past the fact that this isn’t a true Godzilla flick, but rather a Mothra film, then the experience becomes that much more enjoyable., but if you go into this expecting to see Godzilla terrorizing Japan for 90 minutes, you’ll be mostly disappointed. Sure Godzilla does some terrorizing, but for the most part, Mothra is the star here, until it dies, the focus goes to the two larvae that hatch from the egg. I do wish they would’ve made up their mind what they wanted to call it, Mothra or The Thing. It got a bit confusing. Why not check out this true sci-fi classic that many hail as one of the best in the Godzilla franchise?

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

PLOT:

The revised story begins at a hastily-established emergency hospital in an evidently devastated Tokyo, to which is brought American reporter Steve Martin (Raymond Burr), one of the wounded. In flashback, Martin tells of his stopover in Tokyo on a routine assignment to Cairo for United World News, where he finds himself confronted by the emergence of an inexplicable menace to navigation in the Sea of Japan. Something is causing ships to be destroyed without warning and sink with no time for escape. When a dying seaman finally washes up on an inhabited island, Martin flies there for the story with Tomo Iwanaga a representative of the Japanese security forces (Frank Iwanaga, also part of the American cast) and learns of the island inhabitants’ belief in a monster god which lives beneath the sea, which they believe is causing the disasters (a claim which appears to have been borne out by the crewman before he died). Martin phones his editor at United World News, George Lawrence (Mikel Conrad, part of the American cast) and is given permission to stay and cover the story.

Martin’s involvement in the unfolding events broadens when Dr. Yamane (Takashi Shimura, of the original film), a paleontologist is consulted and, returning to the island with his daughter Emiko (Momoko Kouchi) and her young naval-officer boyfriend Ogata (Akira Takarada) to investigate, sees the monster when it attacks the island village. Returning to Tokyo with clear evidence of the monster’s existence and power, Yamane becomes a leading consultant to Japan in mounting a defense, as it becomes apparent the monster is going to attack Tokyo.

The Japanese navy is unable to faze the monster with depth charges. In the dark of night, the monster attacks Tokyo, and proves invulnerable to conventional military weaponry no matter how concentrated. Martin is one of millions injured in the attack, and here the flashback ends: Godzilla (a giant mutant dinosaur) has returned to the sea, but it is certain this is only for the moment.

Emiko reveals she may know a solution to the monster’s apparent indestructibility. She loves the young naval officer, but had until recently been engaged to a young scientist Dr. Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata), who was also Steve Martin’s friend in college. She has lost interest in him because he has become almost a recluse, to her and others. After her breaking up with him, he revealed to her the reason for his reclusiveness—he has developed a formula capable of destroying all oxygen in water, in the process of which any animal coming in contact with the “oxygen destroyer” is stripped clean of all flesh and organs, reduced to a skeleton. His anguish over what to do with this discovery has become a constant preoccupation. She had agreed to keep her knowledge of this a secret. But with Godzilla loose, she realizes this may be the only thing capable of stopping the monster, and informs her boyfriend and father.

The scientist is only reluctantly persuaded to use his remaining sample of the oxygen destroyer to try to kill Godzilla, provided he accompanies the young officer, in diving suit, to the sea bottom to place and release the formula more or less at the monster’s feet. After concluding this agreement, the scientist destroys all his notes and papers and formula and, once on the bottom of the sea, sends the young officer back up to the boat, releases the destroyer, and cuts his own oxygen hose and lifeline, thus destroying the last source of knowledge of his horrid formula. The young officer joins Dr. Yamane, Emiko and Steve Martin on the ship to watch as the oxygen destroyer does its work, reducing Godzilla to a skeleton. Afterwards, Martin’s last words were, “The menace was gone, so was a great man. But the whole world could wake up and live again.”

REVIEW:

As a fan of Godzilla films, it floored me to find out that I had yet to watch the one that started it all, Godzilla: King of the Monsters. If you’ve ever seen any of these monster films from this era, you will know that they normally don’t have the most serious of tones, especially the American versions, but this one seems to be an exception as it has an oddly dark tone.

I’m not really a fan of films with dark tones. They just aren’t my cup of tea, but this one doesn’t get too terribly dark, which allows me to keep interest.

One of the things that I despise about this picture more than anything is how the American version is a bit of a documentary, whereas the Japanese version is a pure film. Why the change? It really doesn’t work, but then again, I’m not a fan of documentaries, so I may be biased in that opinion.

This is a low-budget film from the late 50s, so effects are going to be pretty shotty. There is a scene on the island where you can really see the cheapness. While Godzilla is terrorizing the populace, the camera pans to the Sea of Japan and the helicopter, which is obviously a toy.

Godzilla, himself, looks totally different in later incarnations. Obviously, they learned and improved. As a matter of fact, except for his major rampage scene, you don’t even see all the monster, but rather, just his head.

One of the things that I hate about all monster movies from this era, especially the Godzilla films, is how they spend 3/4 of the film just talking and plotting to do whatever, then in the last 15 minutes or so, we get a rampage from the monster only for them to die. It is so formulaic, but my issue is with their lack of screentime, but I chalk that up more to the era than to writing and whatnot.

I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I do not like this film, because I do. There are a few good things to be said, and the negative things that I have mentioned are all minor. This by no means a bad film, but it is obviously the first. Compare this to one of Godzilla’s other films, such as Godzilla vs. Mothra, and you can see the difference. Still, it is a good start to one of the most iconic monsters in all cinema. I wouldn’t put this on your must see before you die list, but it is a good monster flick to see if you’re into the good old movies like I am.

3 out of 5 stars

King Kong vs. Godzilla

PLOT:

Mr. Tako, head of Pacific Pharmaceuticals, is frustrated with the television shows his company is sponsoring and wants something to boost his ratings. When a doctor tells Tako about a giant monster he discovered on the small Faro Island, Tako believes that it would be a brilliant idea “…with a punch” to use the monster to gain publicity. Tako immediately sends two men, Sakurai and Kinsaburo, to find and bring back the monster from Faro.

Meanwhile, the American submarine Seahawkgets caught in an iceberg. Unfortunately, this is the same iceberg that Godzilla was trapped in by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces back in 1955, and the submarine is destroyed by the monster. As an American rescue helicopter circles the iceberg, Godzilla breaks out and heads towards a nearby Soviet Arctic base. The base alarm sounds as they deploy everything they have against him. Tanks were sent to stop Godzilla’s advance, but to no avail. Godzilla advances, now closer to the base. 12 rapid-firing four-turreted artillery cannons, despite their firepower and firing rate, had no effect either. Godzilla, now at the coastline of the base, fires his atomic ray at the tanks’ defensive line, melting them instantly. The rest of the tanks retreat, now leaving the bases defenses to deal with him. The base itself, of course is ineffective against Godzilla. He continues moving inland, razing the base to the ground, and sends the tank armory up in flames. Godzilla’s appearance is all over the press, making Tako furious.

Meanwhile on Faro Island, a Giant Octopus attacks the native village. The mysterious Faro monster is then revealed to be the giant gorilla King Kong and he arrives and defeats the tentacled menace. Kong then drinks some red berry juice, gets drunk, and then falls asleep. Sakurai and Kinsaburo place Kong on a large raft and begin to transport him back to Japan. Back at Pacific Pharmaceuticals, Tako is finally glad because Kong is now all over the press instead of Godzilla. Mr. Tako arrives on the ship transporting Kong, but a JSDF ship stops them and orders them to return Kong to Faro Island. Godzilla had just come ashore in Japan and destroyed a train, and the JSDF doesn’t want another monster entering Japan. Unfortunately, during all this, Kong wakes up from his drunken state and breaks free from the raft. Reaching the mainland, Kong meets up with Godzilla in a valley and Tako, Sakurai, and Kinsaburo have difficulty avoiding the JSDF to watch the fight. Eventually they find a spot. Kong throws some large rocks at Godzilla, but Godzilla shoots his ray at Kong’s chest, forcing the giant ape to retreat.

The JSDF desperately tries everything to stop Godzilla from entering Tokyo. In a fielded area outside the city, they dig a large pit laden with explosives and try to lure Godzilla into it. They succeed and set off the explosives, but Godzilla is unharmed and crawls out of the pit. They next string up a barrier of power lines around the city filled with a 1,000,000 volts of electricity (300,000 volts had been tried in the first film, but failed to turn the monster back). The electricity is too much for Godzilla, who then moves away from the city towards the Mt. Fuji area. Later at night, Kong approaches Tokyo. He tears through the power lines, feeding off the electricity which seems to make him stronger. Kong then attacks Tokyo and holds a woman from a train, named Fumiko, hostage. The JSDF explode capsules full of the berry juice from Faro Island and knock out Kong. Tako approved of this plan because he “…didn’t want anything bad to happen to Kong.” The JSDF then decide to transport Kong via balloons to Godzilla, in hope that they will fight each other to their deaths.

The next morning, King Kong is dumbo-dropped onto the summit of Mt. Fuji from the balloon air-lift, meets up with Godzilla and the two begin to fight. Godzilla has the advantage at first, eventually knocking Kong down with a vicious drop kick, and battering the monstrous ape unconscious with powerful tail attacks to his forehead. When Godzilla tries to kill Kong with his ray, an electrical storm arrives and revives Kong, giving him the power of an electric grasp. The two begin to fight again, with the revitalized Kong swinging Godzilla around by his tail, shoving a tree into Godzilla’s mouth, and judo tossing him over his shoulder. The brawl between the two monsters continues all the way down to the coastline. Eventually the monsters tear through Atami Castle and Kong drags Godzilla into the Pacific Ocean. After an underwater battle, only King Kong emerges from the water and begins to slowly swim back home to Faro Island. As Kong swims home, onlookers aren’t sure if Godzilla survived the underwater battle, but speculate that it was possible.

REVIEW:

Before I begin, let me say that I’m a fan of Godzilla, and don’t waste my time with King Kong, especially that atrocious remake that was made a few years back. Now, having said that, this film wasn’t half bad.

Godzilla was in rare form in this film as he made his way to Tokyo has left a trail of destruction that only he could do. I really liked the way that the Japanese had an evacuation plan specifically for Godzilla. As far the Godzilla suit goes, given the fact that this is a film from the 60s, it looked pretty good, but by today’s standards it seems pretty lame. My issue, though, it that the eyes don’t move and at times make him look rather cross-eyed.

From what I know about King Kong, he’s supposed to have been a big black gorilla, not a reddish-brown orangutan, as h appears to be in this motion picture. It was quite comical that he got drunk of berry juice, which, if you think about it, is nothing but wine. Kong gains strength from electricity. WTF?!? What does electricity have to do with a giant ape?

I wasn’t too crazy about the scenes with the UN reporter, Eric Carter. They seemeds to be rather forced in, however they did offer good insight and facts aboit both Godzilla and King Kong. As it turns out, these were scenes done by the American producer, and not in the original film. Not to belittle anything American, but it shows.

The giant octopus scene was ok, not great. Again, I know this was filmed in the 60s, but when they threw things at the octopus you could see the shadows on the screen.  While I’m on the subject of issues, many of the trains were obvious toy models. I have to let all this slide because of the time, but I find it hard to believe they didn’t have more advanced film techniques.

The main event between Godzilla and Kong didn’t disappoint, depending on who you root for. I would have liked for there to have been a little bit more carnage in the city as these two fought, but that’s my personal preference.

As a fan of Godzilla, I have to say this was very enjoyable. I wish it would have ended different, though. Any fan of classic monster movies will enjoy this, and for those of us that are fans of Godzilla and/or King Kong, it’s a must see. Why don’t you watch it and tell me what you think?

4 out of 5 stars

Son of Godzilla

 

PLOT:

A team of scientists stationed on Sollgell Island attempts to perfect a weather control system. Their efforts are hampered by the presence of giant praying mantises and by the arrival of a nosy reporter. The first test of the weather control system goes awry when the remote control for a radioactive balloon is jammed by an unexplained signal coming from the center of the island. The balloon detonates prematurely, creating a radioactive storm that causes the giant mantises to grow to enormous sizes. Investigating the mantises, now called Kamacuras, the scientists find the creatures digging an egg out from under a pile of earth. The egg hatches, revealing a baby Godzilla. The scientists realize that the baby’s cries for help were the cause of the interference that ruined their experiment. Soon Godzilla himself arrives on the island, incidentally stomping the scientist’s base as he rushes to defend his son. Godzilla kills two Kamacuras during the battle, while one manages to fly away to safety.

The baby, named Minilla, quickly grows to about half the size of his father, and Godzilla instructs the child on the important monster skills of roaring and using his atomic breath. At first, the baby has difficulty producing anything more than atomic smoke rings, and Godzilla threatens his own son that he will punch him. But Godzilla discovers that stressful conditions, such as stomping on the baby’s tail, produce a true radioactive blast. The baby comes to the aid of Riko when she is attacked by a Kamacuras, but inadvertently awakens Kumonga, a giant spider. The spider attacks the caves where the scientists are hiding, and Minilla stumbles into the fray.

Kumonga traps Minilla and the final Kamacuras with his webbing, but as Kumonga begins to feed on the deceased Kamacuras, Godzilla arrives to save the day. Godzilla saves his son and they both defeat Kumonga by using their atomic breaths on the giant spider. The scientists finally use their perfected weather altering device on the island and the once tropical island turns into an Arctic wasteland. Godzilla and Minilla begin to hibernate as they wait for the island to become tropical again. This act of love really shows that Godzilla cares for his son. The scientists are then saved by a submarine.

REVIEW:

I’ve always loved the Godzilla films (not counting the later “modern versions”). I had always heard about this one, but never actually had the chance to see it until today.

While there are no major stars to speak of in this film, the creatures more than make up for that. Besides, they’re the real attraction anyway. The Gimantis(Kamacuras) seemed to be cool at first, until they were shown beating up a defenseless baby Godzilla (Minilla). I was glad when Godzilla came and burned them and the final one was webbed and killed by Spiga(Kumonga).

This being a Godzillafilm, you knew there was going to be a big face off at the end, either with the scientist and some kind of military or another monster. Once Reiko and the professor brought up the Spiga, it was obvious who it would be, even more so when it took him a good long while to climb out of his pit. The Spiga reminded me of Aragaog from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, only he wasn’t trained. There was a moment there I was wondering if he was going to win out, but father and son teamed up and overcame the giant spider which was very touching.

The baby Godzilla was a cute little guy, made even more so by the music that was going on during his scenes. It was quite obvious the actor in the suit watched some babies playing.

What can I say about Godzilla? This film brings out a softer side of him, but he’s still the Godzilla we all know, even if his suit looked a little odder than normal. The ending scene where he embraces the baby while the snow is falling is a touching, heart-warming, moment.

This is not your typical Godzilla film, so don’t expect a lot of destruction. However, you can expect a good film, if you can get past the dubbed English. Watch and enjoy!

4 out of 5 stars