Review: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Jim_...@transarc.com
revisionist Godzilla films. This film is quite a step up from the
first two (Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla vs. Biolante). Unlike the case
in Godzilla vs. Biolante, for example, the battle scenes are well
done. The monsters are threatening. And, unlike the previous two
films, after the first twenty minutes or so the film does not drag.
The soundtrack is good, and the plot is not awful.
The basic plot of the film is that travellers from the future come to
Japan and warn Japan that it will be destroyed by Godzilla. But they
give them a way out: travel into the past and stop the creation of
Godzilla. It turns out that Godzilla is a dinosaur that was still
alive in 1944 on a Pacific Island. A 1954 H-Bomb test mutates the
dinosaur into Godzilla. So, back we go, to 1944, where the time
travellers move Godzilla to another island. Unfortunately, they really
want to destroy Japan (which had, in the early 21st century, become
an evven bigger economic power). So they leave behind three little
muppets that mutate into Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster.
In one of the silliest "alternate timeline" scenerios yet, Godzilla is
no longer part of our timeline, yet everyone remembers him and notes
this fact. People walk around saying "Ah, yes, Godzilla no longer
exists. Too bad. Maybe he could have handled this King Ghidorah
monster."
However, Godzilla does exist. The dinosaur has been exposed to other
radioactivity (a nuclear sub, perhaps), so he appears and trashes King
Ghidorah, then tries to trash Japan. Finally, the good guy contingent
from the future must take Ghidorah back to the future and turn him into
Mecha-Ghidorah, so that he can stop an enraged Godzilla.
Nonsense. Sure. But this is nonsense more in the spirit of the
original Ghidorah or Destroy All Monsters. It's fun to watch, and at
times is a pretty good movie.
It's still a big step down from the two best films in the
series--Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Mothra (the original), both of which
are good movies. And I miss one of my favorite scenes in the whole
series: the birth of the original Ghidorah, from a fireball. But this
is certainly the best film in the series in a long time, at least
since Destroy All Monsters (one of my favorite "guilty pleasures") and
probably since the original Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster.
One final note. When this film was first releasedd, there was a bit of
a controversy involving the pro-Japanese, anti-American slant. In
particular, reviewers (including the Wall Street Journal) focused on
how Godzilla saves a group of Japanese troops from the Americans in
World War II. Actually, this scene didn't seem quite as blatant
nationalistic flag-waving as the whole reason behind the folks from
the future wanting to stop Japan. Japan was so great, and became such
an economic power, that it managed to buy most of South America and
Africa. This seemed a bit much, but it was only a minor distraction,
certainly not worth the space given to the articles written about it.
[One final style note: excuse my spelling of "Ghidorah." I've seen it
tranliterated several different ways. Most recent copies use, I
believe, "Ghidorah." The mid-sixties film used "Ghidra." But I tried
to use the same spelling throughout this article.]
******************************************************************
Jim Mann jm...@transarc.com
Transarc Corporation
The Gulf Tower, 707 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (412) 338-4442
WWW Homepage:
file://grand.central.org/afs/transarc.com/public/jmann/html/Home.html
Ted McCoy
>I finally saw Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, the third of the
>revisionist Godzilla films. This film is quite a step up from the
>first two (Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla vs. Biolante).
I'm not sure. The previous two films seemed to be taking themselves more
seriously, which I sort of liked. On the other hand, 1985 and Biolante
were still plenty ridiculous, so I suppose there's something to be said
for a movie like Ghidrah, where the goofiness often seems intentional,
compared to Biolante and 1985, where it often just seemed the result of
incompetence.
>Unlike the case
>in Godzilla vs. Biolante, for example, the battle scenes are well
>done.
Wait a second! The Biolante battles are *awesome* -- with one problem: the
resolution. Or lack of a resolution. Should have had a definitive winner,
instead of just having Godzilla pass out, Biolante flicker off into the sky,
and then Godzilla wander off to wait for the next sequel. The special effects
in the Godzilla vs. Biolante battles are probably the best in the entire
series, especially in the final battle. The first battle (when Biolante still
looked like a rose) was ridiculous but still pretty spectacular.
In Godzilla vs. King Ghidrah, it seemed to me that Ghidrah got beaten a little
too easily, also...
>The monsters are threatening.
Ghidrah rules! Although Biolante's final appearance was pretty threatening
too. Ghidrah and Mechaghidrah seemed a lot less threatening once Godzilla
actually started breathing fire on them.
>And, unlike the previous two
>films, after the first twenty minutes or so the film does not drag.
>The soundtrack is good, and the plot is not awful.
Here I agree! Godzilla 1985 wasted the first third of the movie with goofy
character development...and Godzilla vs. Biolante went through all sorts of
weird plot twists before the monsters finally show up (although some of the
plot twists were unintentionally amusing). Godzilla vs. Ghidrah just goes
straight for the fantasy adventure, the aliens, and the monsters. And
the music was really great!
>It's still a big step down from the two best films in the
>series--Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Mothra (the original), both of which
>are good movies. And I miss one of my favorite scenes in the whole
>series: the birth of the original Ghidorah, from a fireball. But this
>is certainly the best film in the series in a long time, at least
>since Destroy All Monsters (one of my favorite "guilty pleasures") and
>probably since the original Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster.
Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, and the original Godzilla
are definitely my favorites of the series -- followed by the new films,
I think. The new Godzilla vs. Mothra is sort of dumb at spots, and they
sing the Mothra song a few too many times, but it's still a fun adventure
with some surprisingly good fx. Just not as good a movie as the original
Godzilla vs. Mothra. And Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (the new one) is
absolutely spectacular! Some of the best battle sequences of the entire
series. Kind of dumb at spots too, but hey, it's Godzilla.
Ooh watch me be stupid! Here's my ordering of all of the Godzilla movies
(with the rating to the left):
4 Godzilla vs. Mothra
4 Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (the new one)
4 Godzilla vs. Monster Zero
4 Godzilla vs. Biolante
3.5 Godzilla, King of the Monsters
3.5 Godzilla vs. King Ghidrah
3.5 Destroy All Monsters
3.5 Godzilla vs. Mothra (the new one)
3.5 King Kong vs. Godzilla
3.5 Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster
3 Godzilla Raids Again (Gigantis)
3 Son of Godzilla
3 Godzilla vs. Megalon
3 Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster
2.5 Godzilla 1985
2.5 Godzilla vs. Gigan (Monster Island)
2.5 Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster
2 The Terror of Mechagodzilla
1.5 Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster
0.5 Godzilla's Revenge
Ted
Jim_...@transarc.com
mc...@math.ohio-state.edu (Ted McCoy) writes:
> In article <wj70Is2SMUF=4pL...@transarc.com>, <Jim_...@transarc.com> wrote:
> >Unlike the case
> >in Godzilla vs. Biolante, for example, the battle scenes are well
> >done.
>
> Wait a second! The Biolante battles are *awesome* -- with one problem: the
> resolution. Or lack of a resolution.
I found the Biolante battle scenes confused and rather boring. It was
often hard to tell what was going on, and the direction was pretty poor.
> In Godzilla vs. King Ghidrah, it seemed to me that Ghidrah got beaten a little
> too easily, also...
Perhaps the battle was a tad short, but it was nicely done, and well
directed.
> Ooh watch me be stupid! Here's my ordering of all of the Godzilla movies
> (with the rating to the left):
>
>
> 4 Godzilla vs. Mothra
I'd rank this as one of the top 2. I remembered seeing this in the
theatre as a kid (back when it was called Godzilla vs. the Thing, and
we got a whole week of buildup, with newspaper ads saying that the
"Thing was too horrible to show"). I had fond memories of it, and
looked for it on video for a long time. When I finally found it a
couple of years ago, I was pleased to see how well it held up.
> 4 Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (the new one)
Haven't seen this one yet.
> 4 Godzilla vs. Monster Zero
I thought this one was fun, but not above a few of the others you list
below.
> 4 Godzilla vs. Biolante
Eh. I rank this on the level of Godzilla vs. Megalon.
> 3.5 Godzilla, King of the Monsters
My favorite in the series.
> 3.5 Godzilla vs. King Ghidrah
You already saw my review of this one.
> 3.5 Destroy All Monsters
Very silly, but a lot of fun.
> 3.5 Godzilla vs. Mothra (the new one)
I haven't seen this one.
> 3.5 King Kong vs. Godzilla
A few OK scenes, but a poor soundtrack and some real silliness hurt
this one.
> 3.5 Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster
Blah. It doesn't even seem to fit the rest of the series. Real MST3K
stuff.
> 3 Godzilla Raids Again (Gigantis)
This one really isn't that bad. It has some nice moments. It's down a
notch from the really good ones in the series, but I like it better
than the two previous ones you listed.
> 3 Son of Godzilla
> 3 Godzilla vs. Megalon
Both pretty silly.
> 3 Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster
I like Ghidrah. It holds together pretty well, and the birth of
Ghidrah is one of the best moments in the series.
> 2.5 Godzilla 1985
This was a real disapointment. It's better than some of the later
first-series movies, but it really was a let down after all the hype.
> 2.5 Godzilla vs. Gigan (Monster Island)
> 2.5 Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster
> 2 The Terror of Mechagodzilla
More silliness.
> 1.5 Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster
I really hate this one. Part of this is undoubtedly due to my first
viewing. I had scene King Kong vs. Godzilla, Godzilla vs. the Thing,
Ghidrah, and Destroy All Monsters in the theatre. Thus, when the local
theatre listed a new Godzilla flick as coming up, I was enthused. But
this is the first film in which Godzilla is just a super hero. (It
works out that way in Destroy All Monsters, but in that film he's
still more a monster that gets pulled into a fight with an alien
monster.)
> 0.5 Godzilla's Revenge
>
Yep, pretty bad.
Mungra DA
of Godzilla. Does anyone has news on that ?
--
## Dinesh A. Mungra ##
##### Nijenburg 88 #####
# 1081 GG Amsterdam. #
Chris Vargas
> Jan de Bont (Speed) is working on a new version (yet another)
> of Godzilla. Does anyone has news on that ?
Actually, he left the project, because he wanted a budget of $120 mil or
so. Studio wanted to keep it at only (!!!) $100 mil. So right now it's on
hold. Good review of the situation two Entertainment Weeklies ago.
--cv--
bha...@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
: You need to see Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 1993! This is by far (and
: others agree on this) the BEST of the new Godzilla movies so far. And
: just so you know. Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla was just released in
: Japan on December 10, 1994. Godzilla 7 will be out December 9, 1995.
: Russ
: U of PA
>Is Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla avail. on video?-haven't seen any mention
of it up here in alberta: :
******************************************************************