ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

kaiju

Monster Mondays: Godzilla (1998)

by Leave a Comment

By Ben Dower

Nuclear weapons testing by France in the French Polynesia mutates a lizard into a giant fish-eating dinosaur-like monster, which migrates to New York City.  Biologist Nick Tatopoulos (Matthew Broderick) is tasked with helping the U.S. military eradicate the creature.  While in New York, he reconnects with his ex-girlfriend Audrey Timmonds (Maria Pitillo), who has been unsuccessful in her attempt to make it as a reporter, in part due to a horrible boss in news anchor Charles Caiman (Harry Shearer).  

When Audrey steals classified information from Nick to try to boost her career, he is fired from his role with the military and abducted by French secret agent Philippe Roaché (Jean Reno).  Nick, Philippe, Audrey, and cameraman Victor “Animal” Palotti (Hank Azaria) eventually find the creature’s nest in Madison Square Garden, where around 200 eggs are starting to hatch…

Though attempts to adapt Godzilla for the big screen in America had initially begun in the early 1980s, Godzilla had already been adapted for the small screen in the United States.  Hanna-Barbera, the animation studio behind The Flintstones (1960-1966) and Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (1969-1970) also produced Godzilla (1978-1979), a two-season animated series.  The creature in the series differs a lot from Toho’s creation, and can be called by the crew of the ship called Calico whenever he is needed to save them.

In 1983, Steve Miner managed to get Toho’s approval to produce an American Godzilla film.  With a script by Fred Dekker and art by William Stout, Miner pitched his vision of a big budget 3D Godzilla film around Hollywood, but unfortunately he was not able to get funding for his film.

TriStar Picture’s acquisition of the rights to Godzilla was announced in October 1992, but like Miner, the studio struggled to get their big budget American Godzilla movie off the ground.  Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott were hired by the studio to write the new Godzilla film, and then Jan de Bont was hired to direct in 1994.  Jan de Bont left the project later that year when the studio got concerned their big budget Godzilla film was becoming a little too big budget.

In 1996, the alien-invasion film Independence Day hit screens and was a huge success.  Director Roland Emmerich and writer Dean Devlin had proved themselves capable of creating a successful large-scale scifi disaster epic, and that was exactly what TriStar Pictures wanted from their future Godzilla film.  Emmerich and Devlin agreed to make the film, but demanded a wide latitude when it came to creative freedom. 

Amid a huge marketing campaign, the film was released on May 20th, 1998 for the Memorial Day weekend and was met with instant rejection from Godzilla fans and negative reviews by critics.  So where did Emmerich and Devlin’s Godzilla go wrong?

To be honest, the first portion of the film is pretty good.  The movie opens with stock footage of real nuclear tests, and then turns into a bit of a mystery as the characters try to piece together the cause of a series of unusual events.  Finally, the creature arrives in New York City, but the audience is denied a good look at it, instead catching glimpses from the point of view of the people on the ground and in the buildings.  All great suspense-building sequences and totally expected in a giant monster movie.

After Godzilla’s arrival in New York, however, it quickly becomes obvious that the creature on screen is not much like the Toho Godzilla fans know and love.  The character has been heavily redesigned to match more up-to-date reconstructions of therapod dinosaurs, despite only being a mutated lizard, and looks almost nothing like the original Godzilla.  Behaviourally, it is capable of running fast, cowardly flees when attacked, tends to burrow underground, lays hundreds of eggs, and lacks the ability to breath atomic fire – all huge departures from Toho’s Godzilla.  

But arguably worse than all that, though, is how the film handles Godzilla’s metaphor.  Godzilla was birthed out of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the Castle Bravo H-bomb test on Bikini Atoll that caused radioactive fallout to land on the Japanese fishing vessel Daigo Fukuryū Maru.  He is a criticism of our wreckless harnessing of nuclear power as a weapon, and in particular the United States’ use of those weapons in both combat and peace time.  Starting in the 1960s, France conducted nuclear tests in the French Polynesia.  These tests continued into the 1990s, and finally ceased in 1996 amid international controversy.  While Emmerich and Devlin tie Godzilla’s origin to then current nuclear testing, they don’t make any substatial comment on the issue.  Also, by focusing on France’s nuclear testing, they are able to avoid any uncomfortable discussion about how the United States has handled nuclear weapons.  In this reimaging of Godzilla, he is a wimpy, fast-running, fish-eating giant lizard that can be killed by American military might – a mere animal – and not a giant immortal god that is the product of our own hubris.

There are still a few things to like about the movie.  As I mentioned earlier, the first act is pretty good, and Patrick Tatopoulos’ design for the creature does look really cool, even if it doesn’t resemble its namesake all that much.  There is also no denying the movie has some great set pieces, in particular Godzilla’s initial landing in New York, his battle with United States Navy submarines in the Hudson River, and the taxi chase on the Brooklyn Bridge.  

Another thing that deserves praise is David Arnold’s score.  Though more John Williams than Akira Ifukube, Arnold’s score compliments the movie well, with a great wonder-invoking theme for the monster.  The score is best experienced in isolation, as the film’s sound mix does overwhelm it in places.  Unfortunately, when Godzilla was released in 1998 a tie-in album containing songs by popular artists and only two tracks of Arnold’s score was released instead of a proper soundtrack CD.  It wasn’t until nearly a decade later that Arnold’s soundtrack got a limited CD release by La-La Land Records, followed by a second limited edition CD release in 2012 from BUYSOUNDTRAX Records.  Sadly, the soundtrack is out of print on CD and is not even available to buy on iTunes, at least here in Canada.

Godzilla is available on DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray.

Monster Mondays: Gamera 3 – Revenge of Iris (1999)

by Leave a Comment

In 1995, while Gamera battled the Gyaos, he pushed his way through an apartment building, killing the parents and cat of Ayana Hirasaka (Ai Maeda) while she looked on from the car.  In the years since, Ayana’s hatred for Gamera has festered.

Ayana now lives in Minami-Asuka, Nara, with her aunt, uncle, cousin, and brother Satoru (Takahiro Ito).  Satoru is being bullied, so Ayana agrees to break into a shrine on a dare from the bullies on the condition that they leave him alone.  In the shrine, Ayana discovers a giant egg and magatama.

Meanwhile, Gyaos have begun appearing all over the world.  Gamera, his connection to humanity severed when the magatama shattered during the events of Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996), has been frantically racing around the planet, trying to swat the Gyaos down before they can reproduce out of control.  Eventually he catches up to some Gyaos over Shibuya, Tokyo, during a busy Friday evening, and the ensuing battle leads to billions in property damage and thousands dead.

The egg Ayana found hatches, and inside is a tentacled monster.  Ayana is linked to the monster through the magatama she found, and learns that it hates Gamera like she does.  She names the monster Iris, after her cat that was killed by Gamera.  Iris grows, but like Ayana’s hatred, the monster begins to take control of her, and soon Iris is on a mission to kill Gamera, threatening the whole world.

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris is my favourite film.  It is easily among the best of the Japanese giant monster genre, and is an incredible special effects achievement for its time.  The human and monster drama is woven together tightly, and unlike most other giant monster films where the humans get out of the way for the final monster battle, our main characters are right next to the dueling monsters, and their actions can impact the fight.

Our lead this time is actress Ai Maeda who, despite her young age, turns in a very believable performance of a teen who has grown extremely bitter at the cause of her parents’ deaths.  Having once lived in Tokyo, she now lives in the small village of Minami-Asuka with her aunt, uncle, and cousin who are pressuring her to change her last name to theirs, something she doesn’t want to do because its one of her last connections to her parents.

Newcomer to the series Senri Yamazaki plays goverment fortune teller Mito Asakura, and believes she is the rightful human priestess for Iris.  Using her position in the government, she eventually has Ayana kidnapped and taken to a shrine, where she seemingly tries to get some control over Iris.

Another newcomer to the series is Toru Tezuka, who plays the eccentric programmer and government agent Shinya Kurata.  Kurata is an associate of Asakura, with detailed theories about the relationship between Gamera, Gyaos, Iris, and humanity.  Tezuka is a prolific actor, often playing odd characters, and has worked multiple times with directors Hideaki Anno and Sion Sono.

Shinobu Nakayama returns to the Gamera series, reprising her role as ornithologist Dr. Mayumi Nagamine from Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995).  She reunites with Tsutomu Osako, played once again by Yukijiro Hotaro, who is now living homeless on the streets of Tokyo due to the trauma from his past encounters with monsters.  

Also returning is Ayako Fujitani in the role of Asagi Kusanagi.  In the previous film, however, the magatama that linked her to Gamera was shattered, severing her connection to the monster.  Still, she trusts Gamera to do what’s right, even when his actions cause others to doubt him.

Gamera undergoes another redesign, this time looking much meaner than in the previous two films.  His head is smaller, and gone are the large cute eyes.  His shell is also much more jagged than before, and the crest on his head is enlarged.  This is easily the best design the monster has ever had, but it is a far departure from the Showa’s Gamera series’ friend of children look.

Iris is a very alien looking monster, with no clear eyes or mouth.  It has long tentacles flowing from its back, and its arms end in large pointed spear-like tips.  Iris emits a whale-like song rather than a traditional monster roar, and it is bioluminescent, which looks gorgeous during the night scenes in Kyoto.  When just a hatchling, Iris almost looks like a Pokemon, and despite its seemingly harmless appearance, it quickly reveals how dangerous it can be when it pierces a can of cat food with a tentacle and sucks the contents out of it.

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris is a special effects showcase and there are several jaw-dropping sequences in this film.  Gamera’s battle with Gyaos in Shibuya is an early highlight, in which Gamera shoots fireballs around the ward trying to blast the fast-flying Gyaos out of the air. The fireballs slam into the ground and landmarks in rapid succession, sending debris and human carnage flying.  Another highlight is when Gamera and Iris crash through Kyoto Station, our core cast in the foreground as the monsters push through the wall.  Iris then tosses an injured Gamera out the otherside of the station, which is built largely of glass, causing the monster and debris to rain down on the bus terminal outside.  Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris also uses more CGI special effects than any other Japanese giant monster film up to that point. Fortunately the CGI is greatly improved over the little bit used in Gamera: Guardian of the Universe and Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, and while it looks a bit dated now, it still does the job well.  

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris is currently available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video in the box-set titled Gamera: The Heisei Era.  It contains the Japanese version and the American English dub.

Monster Mondays – Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996)

by Leave a Comment

By Ben Dower

During a meteor shower, something lands in Hokkaido.  The JSDF head out to the impact site, but instead of finding a meteorite, they find a strange trackway, as if whatever struck the Earth was slowing down as it hit the ground.  

Midori Honami (Miki Mizuno), a Sapporo Science Centre employee, is called upon to help investigate a mysterious set of scientific phenomenon in the area, which seem to be moving in the direction of Sapporo.  Before long, a Sapporo subway train is attacked by human-sized insect-like creatures.  While the police are trying to extract survivors from the train, a gigantic flower bursts out of the ground.  It is soon learned that the monsters have a symbiotic relationship with the flower, and the flower will explode with the power of a nuclear detonation to launch a seed into space and spread the creatures to another planet.

Gamera emerges from the Pacific Ocean and flies to Sapporo.  It quickly destroys the flower before it can explode, but is then attacked by the creatures, which swarm over him.  As Gamera struggles with the smaller monsters, Colonel Waterase (Toshiyuki Nagashima) names the monsters Legion, after the demons described in the Biblical passage of Mark 5:9.  Gamera manages to get away, but after he leaves, the gigantic Queen Legion bursts out of the ground and flies away.

Soon a second flower is threatening to blow up Sendai.  Asagi Kusanagi (Ayako Fujitani) is among the evacuees at Kasuminome Airfield when Gamera arrives to try to stop the flower.  Gamera is confronted by the Queen Legion, who is desperate to stall long enough for the flower to launch its seed.  Eventually the Queen Legion ducks underground, and Gamera is free to make his way to the flower.  

Gamera arrives at the flower, but he is too late.  He throws himself on it just as it explodes, stopping the seed from launching, but is seemingly killed in the explosion.  With Gamera now out of action and Legion heading toward Tokyo, things are looking bleak for Japan.

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) was a hit with audiences and critics, so Daiei Film brought the crew back together to make a sequel.  Shusuke Kaneko, Kazunori Ito, Shinji Higuchi, and composer Kow Otani all return behind the scenes.  Actor Yukijiro Hotaru also returns, reprising his role as Tsutomu Osako, though this time he is a security guard at a Kirin beer factory, having left the Nagasaki police after his experience with the Gyaos.  Actress Ayako Fujitani also reprises her role from the first movie, once again playing Asagi Kusanagi, the girl linked to Gamera through the magatama amulet.

Gamera 2: Attack of Legion maintains the mature tone of the previous film.  The Soldier Legion’s attack on the subway train in Sapporo is suprisingly gory.  As with Gyaos in the last movie, Legion poses a real danger to mankind, and that danger builds as the film progresses.  The Legion’s flowers are essentially ticking time bombs, and thus our human characters and Gamera have only a short window in which to destroy them before they take out an entire city.  When Gamera fails to stop one from detonating in Sendai, not only is the city destroyed, but it helps to increase the stakes tremendously, especially with Legion moving in the direction of Tokyo.

The Queen Legion is a truly unique monster and a wonder of suitmation.  With Legion being an arthropod rather than a tetrapod, the special effects crew had to get very creative when it came to getting a human operator inside the suit, and they pull it off flawlessly.  Legion’s two front appendages are operated by the actor’s legs, but the back limbs, which are much more crab-like, function automatically as the actor walks, providing for very realistic looking arthropod locomotion.

Gamera gets a bit of a redesign, making him a little less cute than in the previous film.  It’s an improvement over his design in the last movie, with a more angular face.  Also, the crew made the wise decision to have his arms morph into flippers when he flies, giving him a much more plane-like appearance and helping to better sell the idea of a flying turtle.

Our two main cast members this time around are Miki Mizuno as Midori Honami, a Sapporo Science Centre employee, and Toshiyuki Nagashima as Colonel Waterase.  Both do a great job, with Nagashima in particular being very believable as a military leader facing a seemingly insurmountable crisis with dignity.

Kow Otani’s soundtrack is really good, with his main title piece helping set the unsettled tone early while also mixing in the Heisei Gamera theme.  The return of his Gamera theme helps link this film to its predecessor musically, and boosts the feeling of cohesion between the two.  Kow Otani would also return for Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999), and team up with Kaneko again for a film starring a bunch of other famous giant monsters: Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001).

Gamera 2: Attack of Legion is one of those rare sequels in that it is better than its predecessor, and considering how good Gamera: Guardian of the Universe was, that’s an incredible achievement.  The story is tight, with an increasing sense of urgency, and the enemy monster more interesting, with multiple forms and unique biology.  Shinji Higuchi has clearly learned a lot from his experience on Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, as his special effects work on Gamera 2: Attack of Legion shows clear improvement over that film.

Gamera 2: Attack of Legion is currently available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video in the box-set titled Gamera: The Heisei Era.  It contains the Japanese version, American English dub, and the “Lake Texarkana” comedy dub.

Monster Mondays: Gamera, Guardian of the Universe (1995)

by Leave a Comment

By Ben Dower

When three giant flying bat-like monsters named Gyaos hatch and begin feeding on people on Himegami Island, ornithologist Dr. Mayumi Nagamine (Shinobu Nakayama) and Nagasaki police inspector Tsutomu Osako (Yukijiro Hotaru) hatch a plan to trap them in Fukuoka Dome.

Meanwhile, a mysterious floating atoll is found in the Pacific Ocean.  A research team, including Naoya Kusanagi (Akira Onedera) and Yoshinari Yonemori (Tsuyoshi Ohara), head to the atoll and find the surface is dotted with magatama.  The atoll is soon discovered to contain the giant monster Gamera, and it is heading toward Fukuoka.

Gamera surfaces in Fukuoka Harbour just as the operation to trap the Gyaos is wrapping up.  Gamera kills one of the Gyaos as it flees the Fukuoka Dome, but the other two manage to escape.  To the surprise of Dr. Nagamine and Mr. Yonemori, Gamera also takes flight to pursue the Gyaos.

Mr. Yonemori gives one of the magatama to Naoya Kusanagi’s daughter, Asagi (Ayako Fujitani).  She soon finds the magatama has linked her to the monster, to the point where she can read his thoughts and his injuries show up on her body.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nagamine discovers the Gyaos can reproduce asexually and very quickly.  With the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, it is up to Gamera, with the help of Asagi, to kill the Gyaos before their numbers get out of control.

Seeing Toho’s success with giant monster pictures in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Daiei Film decided to create their own giant monster movie.  Their first attempt came in 1964 with Giant Horde Beast Nezura, a film about giant rats.  Real rats were brought in for the film, and things just went down hill from there.  The production was eventually shut down and the film never completed.

Though Giant Horde Beast Nezura was not to be, Daiei Film wasn’t ready to give up on the genre just yet.  In 1965 they released Gamera, the Giant Monster, about a giant flying fire-breathing turtle thawed out by a nuclear explosion in the Arctic that ends up going on a rampage through Tokyo.  The movie was a success, and sequels soon followed.  By the third film, the Gamera series had shifted to targeting children as its primary audience, with Gamera acting as a giant monster hero battling off dangerous monsters.  Tight budgets and juvenile plotlines became the norm as the series continued into the early 1970s until Gamera vs. Zigra (1971), after which Daiei went bankrupt in 1971.  As Daiei Film was trying to rebuild itself, the studio released Super Monster Gamera (1980), but it wasn’t much of a resurrection for the giant turtle.

In the 1990s, Toho was seeing success with the Heisei Godzilla series.  Now that Daiei Film was in much better shape, the studio decided to revive Gamera once again, hiring Shusuke Kaneko to direct the new movie.  Kaneko had got his start at Nikkatsu in the 1970s, working on several of their Roman Porno films.  In the late 1980s, as Nikkatsu headed toward bankruptcy, Kaneko left Nikkatsu to work with other studios, at one point even asking Producer Shogo Tomiyama if he could direct Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992).

Screenwriter Kazunori Ito was hired to write the new Gamera movie.  Ito is perhaps best known in the West for writing the anime film Ghost in the Shell (1995).  For Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Ito completely reinvents both Gamera and Gyaos for a new generation.  The story is tight and coherant, sticking to genre conventions just enough to keep things feeling familiar for fans while also putting an original spin on old cliches.

To handle the special effects, Shinji Higuchi was brought onboard the production.  Higuchi had previously worked on The Return of Godzilla (1984) and Mikadroid: Robokill Beneath Discoclub Layla (1991), as well as been involved in several anime productions.  His special effects work for Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is incredible, and he would improve his craft with each successive entry in the Heisei Gamera trilogy. 

The film has a large cast, but there are two that really stand out.  The first is Yukijiro Hotaro, who plays Nagasaki police inspector Tsutomu Osako.  Hotaro is a prolific actor who got his start in the early 1980s in the pink film industry.  He is a very familiar face for fans of Japanese special effects productions, having been in many such films and shows over the last few decades.  Hotaru would return in both sequels to Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, as well as the fan-made Gamera 4: Truth (2003).

The second major star of the film is Ayako Fujitani in the role of Asagi Kusanagi.  Fujitani is the real-life daughter of actor Steven Seagal, and Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is her first acting role.  Like Hotaru, Fujitani would return for the following two Gamera films and Kaneko’s Cross Fire (2000), as well as star in Hideaki Anno’s Ritual (2000), which was based on a novella she wrote.

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is an incredible rebirth for Gamera, a monster that was largely regarded as a child-oriented, inferior knock-off of Godzilla. The film manages to take the rather silly concept of a heroic fire-breathing flying turtle and make the viewers totally buy into it.  Gamera: Guardian of the Universe easily tops every Heisei Godzilla series film, and is one of the best Japanese giant monster movies ever made.  As the Heisei Gamera trilogy continued into the late 1990s, each successive film got better and better.

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is currently available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video in the box-set titled Gamera: The Heisei Era.  It contains the Japanese version, American English dub, and the British English dub, which also weaves techno music throughout the film, creating a really wild viewing experience.

Monster Mondays: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

by Leave a Comment

By Ben Dower

An angry Godzilla, glowing red and spewing steam, attacks Hong Kong and Taiwan.  Little Godzilla is nowhere to be found.  Kenichi Yamane (Yasufumi Hayashi), the son of Shinkichi, who was adopted by Dr. Kyohei Yamane after his family was killed on Odo Island by Godzilla in 1954, concludes that Godzilla’s internal reactor will likely explode.

Reporter Yukari Yamane (Yoko Ishino), Kenichi’s sister, interviews Dr. Ijuin (Takuro Tatsumi) who seems to have rediscovered the Oxygen Destroyer.  The UNGCC plans to use the Oxygen Destroyer to kill Godzilla, but Emiko Yamane (Momoko Kochi, reprising her role from Godzilla (1954)) pleads with Kenichi not to use it.  The Super X III uses freezer weapons and cadmium bombs on Godzilla, but his internal reactor is still having trouble, meaning the monster will undergo a nuclear meltdown.

Meanwhile, some prehistoric crustaceans mutated by the use of the Oxygen Destroyer in 1954 have been causing havoc at a construction site.  The crustacean creatures merge into a giant monster Dr. Ijuin names Destoroyah.  Little Godzilla, now grown into Godzilla Junior, resurfaces off Japan.  He is lured to Destoroyah in the hopes Godzilla will follow and be killed by Destoroyah before he melts down.

Destoroyah kills Junior and attacks Godzilla.  As the battle goes on, Godzilla’s meltdown begins.  The Super X III and JSDF use freezer weapons to kill a wounded Destoroyah, and then turn their guns on the melting Godzilla in an attempt to contain the damage.  Suddenly the radiation levels drop.  Godzilla Junior, having absorbed the energy released by his father, is alive once again and now a full-grown Godzilla.

With ticket sales dropping on Godzilla film releases since Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) and an American Godzilla film potentially on the horizon, Toho made the decision to end the series and kill off their monster star.  Still, there was one problem Toho had left to solve: how to fittingly end the series.

Takao Okawara was brought back to direct the movie, and Kazuki Omori was again given the job of screenwriter.  One early idea tossed around for the film was to have Godzilla fight the ghost of the original 1954 Godzilla, but this concept was scrapped.  Instead the team behind the film cleverly came up with a way to tie the film back to Godzilla (1954) and the Oxygen Destroyer.

Destoroyah is an interesting monster that goes through many forms in its growth.  Early on it is a tiny crustacean that disolves fish, evoking the imagery of the Oxygen Destroyer.  It soon grows to human-sized orange crab-like creatures that spit a highly damaging ray weapon from a secondary mouth, likely inspired by the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise.  These crab-like forms soon fuse into a giant crab-like creature, that can switch to a flying form, which then later grows into a towering bipedal monster.

Godzilla undergoes his most substatial change since Godzilla vs Biollante (1989), and while his general design is still the same, portions of his body now glow orange and steam pours out of fissures in his body.  This is a very ill Godzilla that is clearly suffering from his malfunctioning internal systems.  Achieving these effects practically was truly an impressive feat by Special Effects Director Koichi Kawakita and his crew.

Godzilla Junior also looks very good, and thankfully Godzilla’s son has undergone a massive redesign from his look in Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla (1994).  Though the audience goes into the film expecting Godzilla to die, Junior’s storyline comes as a surprise.  The movie constantly puts his survival in doubt, playing with the audience’s emotions, right up until the end credits roll.  It’s a very clever move by Omori and Okawara, helping to replace some of the suspense lost by announcing Godzilla’s death to the world to generate publicity for the film.

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah also carries a lot of thematic weight with it.  Godzilla’s death, whether it is by explosion or nuclear meltdown, poses a threat to the entire world, repeating the theme of Godzilla (1954) that our dangerous use of nuclear power could very well lead to our extinction.  The moral debate around the use of the Oxygen Destroyer is also brought back to the series, and the stakes are raised when it is discovered Dr. Serizawa’s use of the weapon in 1954 to kill Godzilla led to the creation of another terrible monster.

Not only did Godzilla vs. Destoroyah mark the end of the Heisei Godzilla series, but it was also the last film for two of Godzilla’s creators.  Tomoyuki Tanaka had been either a producer or executive producer on all the Godzilla films up to this point, and passed away in 1997 at the age of 86.  Likewise, Akira Ifukube, the man who had been the primary music composer for eleven of the previous twenty-one Godzilla movies, as well as a number of Toho’s other major giant monster pictures, wrote his twelfth and last score for a Godzilla film for Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.  Ifukube’s music continues to be used in Godzilla movies, most recently in the American film Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).  Akira Ifukube died in 2006 at the age of 91.

Toho had Godzilla vs. Destoroyah dubbed into English in Hong Kong and the film was released to VHS in North America in 1999 by Columbia TriStar Home Video.  This release was an English dubbed full screen version of the film that cut off the end credits, which featured a montage of footage from Godzilla (1954) and the Heisei Godzilla Series films.  The movie was released on DVD in 2000 in widescreen with English dubbing as the only audio option, again with the end credit montage largely cut off.  Unfortunately, the DVD is a double-sided disc with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994), making it difficult to handle and easy to get dirty or damaged. 

In 2014, Godzilla vs Destoroyah was released to Blu-ray in a double-feature set with Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000) by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Both films get their own disc, and are presented in widescreen with the original Japanese audio and English dub as audio options.  The full end credits are also preserved this time, though translated into English.  The subtitles appear to be a reasonable translation of the Japanese dialogue, rather than just based on the dubbing.  The Blu-ray release seems to still be available.

Monster Mondays: Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)

by Leave a Comment

By Ben Dower

The United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Centre has built another giant robot, named Moguera, to defend Japan against Godzilla.  They have also devised a plan to place a psychic controller on Godzilla.  Meanwhile, Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka) receives a vision from the Cosmos, via Fairy Mothra, that warn her a space monster is on the way to Earth.

Lieutenant Koji Shinjo (Jun Hashizume) and Lieutenant Kiyoshi Sato (Zenkichi Yoneyama) are dispatched to Baas Island, where Godzilla lives with Little Godzilla, and meet with Major Akira Yuki (Akira Emoto).  Major Yuki has a grudge against Godzilla for killing one of his friends during the events of Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) and is working on his own plan to use blood coagulant to kill Godzilla.  They are later joined on the island by Dr. Susumu Okubo (Yosuke Saito), Professor Chinatsu Gondo (Towako Yoshikawa), and Miki Saegusa.

SpaceGodzilla is detected heading for Earth and Moguera is dispatched to confront it in the asteroid belt.  Moguera and the monster clash, but Moguera is defeated and has to return to Earth.

The psychic controller is planted on Godzilla and Miki is able to control the monster for a while before the device shorts out.  Lieutenant Shinjo and Lieutenant Sato join Major Yuki in his plan to kill Godzilla, but they are interrupted by the arrival of SpaceGodzilla.  SpaceGodzilla traps Little Godzilla in a crystaline cage and defeats Godzilla before flying away.

Miki is kidnapped from Baas Island.  It turns out Dr. Okubo is part of the Yakuza and he wants to use her to control Godzilla, but she is soon rescued by Major Yuki, Lieutenant Shinjo, and Lieutenant Sato.

SpaceGodzilla lands beside Fukuoka Tower and causes giant crystals to grow out of the ground.  Meanwhile, Godzilla comes ashore in Kagoshima and begins heading to Fukuoka as well.  Major Yuki, Lieutenant Shinjo, and Lieutenant Sato are sent in Moguera to fight SpaceGodzilla.  Godzilla arrives in Fukuoka and joins with Moguera to battle SpaceGodzilla.  Moguera is destroyed in the battle, but with SpaceGodzilla weakened, Godzilla is able to overpower it and kill it.

Miki uses her telekinesis to remove the psychic controller from Godzilla.  Major Yuki has also found a new respect for Godzilla and lets go of his grudge against the monster.  On Baas Island, the crystaline cage that held Little Godzilla has disappeared, and the baby monster is learning to breath atomic fire like his dad.   

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla was released in Japanese theatres on December 10th, 1994.  Kensho Yamashita was given the directorial duties and Hiroshi Kashiwabara wrote the screenplay.  Akira Ifukube did not return to score this movie, so Takayuki Hattori wrote the soundtrack instead.

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is largely considered one of the weaker entries in the Heisei Godzilla series.  Though Major Yuki’s quest for revenge against Godzilla is one of the stronger subplots of the film, his plan to use a bullet filled with coagulant to do it feels rather ridiculous considering Godzilla just destroyed a multi-billion yen robot in the previous film.  There is also a really awkard romance that blooms between Lieutenant Shinjo and Miki Saegusa, despite the fact the two of them spend a lot of time arguing about Godzilla.

The theory proposed for SpaceGodzilla’s creation by Professor Gondo is that some Godzilla cells were carried into space, either by Mothra or Biollante, sucked into a black hole, pushed out from a white hole, merged with crystal organisms, and then exposed to energy from stars until it mutated into SpaceGodzilla.  It is really silly and feels somewhat adhoc, even for a Godzilla movie.  Still, SpaceGodzilla looks wonderfully imposing and his supernatural powers add a little diversity to the monster battles.  One thing that is really great about SpaceGodzilla are the little details that seem to indicate the Godzilla cells responsible for his creation come from Biollante, like the spikes at the side of his mouth and the golden spores rising into the air when he dies.

While SpaceGodzilla does look cool, Little Godzilla isn’t so fortunate.  Baby Godzilla from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II(1993) has grown a bit, but instead of sticking with the naturalistic looking dinosaur style of the last film, this movie features a really cute stubby tailed monster.  It does not feel like the natural next stage of the creature from the previous movie.  Fortunately the more naturalistic look would return in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) with Godzilla Junior, but Little Godzilla is a really strong diversion from what was established in the previous film.

Moguera is also a huge come down from Mechagodzilla in the last movie.  While Mechagodzilla’s design was smooth, and he walked with power and purpose, Moguera is angular and stiff.  Instead of inspiring a sense of awe like Mechagodzilla, you find yourself questioning how G-Force would ever expect Moguera to be able to go up against Godzilla.  Moguera also has the ability to separate into two smaller battle vehicles, Star Falcon and Land Moguera. Moguera is actually a returning monster based on a giant robot from the Toho alien invasion film The Mysterians (1957). 

Toho had Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla dubbed into English in Hong Kong and the film was released to VHS in North America in 1999 by Columbia TriStar Home Video.  This release was an English dubbed full screen version of the film that cut off the end credits, which featured video of Fairy Mothra flying in space.  The film was released on DVD in 2000 in widescreen with English dubbing as the only audio option.  Unfortunately, the DVD is a double-sided disc with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995), making it difficult to handle and easy to get dirty or damaged. 

In 2014, Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla was released to Blu-ray in a double-feature set with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II(1993) by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Both films get their own disc, and are presented in widescreen with the original Japanese audio and English dub as audio options.  The full end credits are also preserved this time, though translated into English.  The subtitles appear to be largely, though not totally, based off the dub.  The Blu-ray release seem to still be available.

Monster Mondays: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)

by Leave a Comment

By Ben Dower

The United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Centre’s G-Force unit has built two new battle machines using the futuristic technology found in Mecha-King Ghidorah.  One is an aerial combat vehicle called Garuda, and the second is Mechagodzilla.

On Adonoa Island in the Bering Sea, an unfossilized Pteranodon egg is discovered.  As the research team is preparing to take the egg back to Japan, they are attacked by Rodan.  Suddenly Godzilla emerges from the sea and battles Rodan, killing it.  While the monsters are distracted by their fight, the team flees the island with the egg.

Back in Kyoto, scientist Azusa Gojo (Ryoko Sano) is studying the egg.  Mechagodzilla pilot Kazuma Aoki (Masahiro Takashima), who loves Pteranodons, skips out of work to see the egg.  The egg soon hatches, but instead of a Pteranodon, a Baby Godzilla emerges.

Godzilla appears at Yokkaichi and Mechagodzilla is dispatched.  A replacement pilot has to be found last minute for Kazuma, much to the frustration of his co-pilots.  Mechagodzilla battles Godzilla, but is defeated.  Godzilla heads to the Kyoto facility where Baby Godzilla is being kept.  Unable to get to the infant in the basement of the facility, Godzilla heads out to sea.

Psychic Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka) has found that some prehistoric ferns on Baby Godzilla’s egg shell contained some sort of psychic song.  She has a group of girls from an ESP centre sing the song for Baby Godzilla, but it seems to only agitate him.  On Adonoa Island, however, the song has revived Rodan.

A plan is made to use Baby Godzilla to lure Godzilla to a remote island where he can be killed by Mechagodzilla.  As part of the plan, Miki will be needed on Mechagodzilla to locate Godzilla’s secondary brain in his spine.  Miki and Azusa object to the plan, but are overruled.

Azusa gets clearance to travel in the container with Baby Godzilla by helicopter, but the helicopter is suddenly attacked by Rodan.  The container is taken to Chiba by the monster, who then tries to break it open to get Baby Godzilla out.  Mechagodzilla and Garuda are sent, and Rodan is seriously injured.  Before Azusa and Baby Godzilla can be freed from the container, however, Godzilla emerges.

Despite feeling uncomfortable with the plan, Miki helps Mechagodzilla kill Godzilla.  Hearing Godzilla’s cries, Baby Godzilla calls out.  Rodan awakens and sacrifices himself, transferring his remaining energy into Godzilla.  Godzilla revives, super-charged, and destroys Mechagodzilla.  He then collects Baby Godzilla and the two monsters head out to sea.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II is arguably one of the best Godzilla movies of the Heisei series, packed with likable characters, a fun story, great special effects, and a lot of monster action.  It also brings back three classic Toho monsters: Mechagodzilla, Rodan and Minya, here reimagined as the much more grounded Baby Godzilla.

Takao Okawara was given the director’s chair once again, and Wataru Mimura was given the writing duties.  Mimura’s story is fun and engaging, keeping a great balance between the human characters and their monster co-stars, something helped by the inclusion of Baby Godzilla within those more human-oriented scenes.

Akira Ifukube also returns to score his third Heisei Godzilla movie, and he delivers a fatastic soundtrack.  Not only are his classic Godzilla and Rodan themes back, but he also writes brand new themes for Baby Godzilla and Mechagodzilla.  His theme for Mechagodzilla is particularly good, balancing the sense of power and weight of the robot with the wonder such a device should inspire.  Another standout piece is the music for Godzilla’s battle with Rodan on Adonoa island, which alternates beautifully between Godzilla’s theme and Rodan’s theme as the monsters clash.

Mechagodzilla is a truly fantastic update of the character.  Rather than being built by alien invaders this time around, the film takes the more rational route and has Mechagodzilla produced on Earth as an anti-Godzilla weapon.  The idea of using the technology found in Mecha-King Ghidorah is a really good one as it helps explain how this high-tech super-weapon was able to be built in 1994.  Mechagodzilla is less angular than his 1970s counterpart in this film, and moves a lot slower and more robotic, giving a real impression of weight and strength.

Thematically, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II isn’t all that deep.  Though the theme of the film is stated outright by one of the characters rather awkwardly as “life against artificial life”, the movie really seems to be addressing the value of life.  When it is decided that Baby Godzilla will be used as an “asset” to lure Godzilla, Azusa remarks that he is not just an asset, but a living being.  Miki also has reservations about the plan to kill Godzilla, and though she ultimately does what her superiors command, it’s clear she feels great guilt for her role in it.

Toho had Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II dubbed into English in Hong Kong and the film was released to VHS in North America in 1999 by Columbia TriStar Home Video.  This release was an English dubbed full screen version of the film that cut off the end credits, which featured video of Godzilla and Baby Godzilla swimming out to sea.  The film was later released on DVD in 2005 in widescreen with both the English dubbed audio track and the Japanese audio, though the English subtitles provided on the disc are based on the dubbing rather than a proper translation of the Japanese dialogue.  There appears to have been another English dub produced for the film as well, though it doesn’t seem to have been released.

In 2014, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II was released to Blu-ray in a double-feature set with Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla(1994) by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Both films get their own disc, and are presented in widescreen with the original Japanese audio and English dub as audio options.  The full end credits are also preserved this time, though translated into English.  Unfortunately the subtitles are largely based off the dub again.  The DVD and Blu-ray releases appear to still be available.

Monster Mondays: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

by Leave a Comment

By Ben Dower

A meteor slams into the Pacific Ocean, awakening Godzilla and creating a typhoon.  The typhoon hits Infant Island and uncovers a giant object that had been buried there. Takuya Fujita (Tetsuya Bessho) is arrested in Thailand for stealing ancient artifacts from a temple.  A Japanese government official (Shoji Kobayashi), his ex-wife Masako Tezuka (Satomi Kobayashi), and Marutomo company representative Kenji Ando (Takehiro Murata) offer to get Takuya out of jail if he will help explore Infant Island, where the Marutomo company has plans for development.

Takuya, Masako, and Kenji go to Infant Island and find Mothra’s egg and two tiny women, who call themselves the Cosmos (Keiko Imamura, Sayaka Osawa).  They say that not only has Mothra been awoken, but Battra, the Black Mothra, may also be awake again.  Marutomo decides to bring the egg back to Japan and use it as an attraction.  The Battra larva is soon sighted at sea.  It lands in Japan and burrows underground, emerging in Nagoya and causing a lot of destruction, before disappearing back underground.

As the egg is being towed back to Japan, Godzilla emerges from the depths and attacks.  The egg hatches into a Mothra larva.  Godzilla and Mothra fight, but are interrupted by Battra.  In the end, Battra and Godzilla disappear into an undersea volcano and Mothra swims back to Infant Island.

Wanting to save his repuation at the company, Kenji steals the Cosmos and presents them to his boss as a replacement for the egg.  Takuya steals the Cosmos back, but tries to sell them to an American buyer.  Mothra comes to Japan to reclaim the Cosmos, and Takuya realizes his mistake.  Confident that the Cosmos are safe, Mothra cocoons itself on the National Diet Building.

Mount Fuji erupts, releasing Godzilla.  Godzilla heads toward Yokohama and is confronted by the JSDF, but easily smashes his way through them.  Battra also reappears, bursting out of a fissure under the sea and transforming into his adult form.

Mothra hatches from her coccoon and confronts Battra over Yokohama.  Battra manages to pin Mothra down at Minato Mirai 21, but before he can finish her off, Godzilla also arrives.  Mothra and Battra join forces against Godzilla, but as they carry him out to sea, Godzilla delivers a fatal bite to Battra.  Mothra drops Godzilla and the dead Battra in the ocean and puts a magic seal over them.  Mothra then heads into space to stop a meteor that will hit Earth in 1999.

Toho had found a lot of success in bringing back a popular Godzilla foe in Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991), and so decided to try again, this time bringing back Mothra.  Though Kazuki Omori was brought back to write the film, Takao Okawara was hired to direct this time.  Koichi Kawakita remained on special effects.

Akira Ifukube once again wrote the soundtrack, weaving updated versions of his classic Godzilla and Mothra themes in with some wonderful new pieces, such as Battra’s theme.  Three classic Mothra songs return: Song of Mothra, originally written by Yūji Koseki for Mothra (1961), as well as Mahara Mosura and Sacred Springs, which Ifukube had originally composed for Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964).

Mothra is the star of the show this time around, with Godzilla and Battra largely in supporting roles.  Both Battra and Godzilla disappear into a volcano shortly after their first skirmish and don’t re-emerge until the plot requires them to set up the final confrontation.  Also, because Battra is sidelined for so long, the monster ends up having to skip its pupal stage, going directly from caterpillar to moth.  Still, Mothra is a strong enough character to hold the audience’s attention, so this doesn’t really hurt the film.

Where Godzilla vs Mothra is weakest is perhaps the plot.  The movie’s storyline feels a little winding at times, and it just doesn’t seem to come together into a cohesive whole as well as it should.  For example, there is a lot of handwringing about what humanity has done to the Earth and how the Earth will get its revenge, but then that’s mostly ignored once Godzilla comes out of Mount Fuji.  It would have worked much better if the film ended in a way that brought that message home. Still, the movie remains engaging and fun throughout, and contains a lot of great practical effects work to bring its three giant stars to life.

Godzilla vs. Mothra is sprinkled with homages to earlier films.  Mothra coming to Tokyo and cocooning on the National Diet Building is a call-back to Mothra (1961), when she came to Tokyo to save the Shobijin and cocooned on Tokyo Tower.  Her battle at sea with the Japanese navy also recalls a similar scene in that film.  Battra’s attack on Nagoya is a clear homage to Godzilla’s attack on the same city in Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) as well.

Godzilla vs. Mothra has a lot to say about our destruction of the evironment and the consequences that could arise from it.  Unfortunately, much of this messaging is handled in a preachy manner.  Despite this lack of subtlety, the thirty years following Godzilla vs Mothra’s release on December 12, 1992 have shown how right the film was about the impact of our disregard for the environment.

Toho had Godzilla vs. Mothra dubbed into English in Hong Kong and the film was released to VHS and DVD in North America in 1998 by Columbia TriStar Home Video as Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth.  Both the VHS and DVD offer an English dubbed full screen version of the film that cuts off the end credits, which featured video of the stars after Mothra had flown into space.  To make matters worse, the DVD is a double-sided disc with Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), making it difficult to handle and easy to get dirty or damaged. 

In 2014, Godzilla vs. Mothra was released to Blu-ray in a double-feature set with Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991) by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, again under the title Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth.  Fortunately, both films get separate discs this time around, and are presented in widescreen with the original Japanese audio and English dub as audio options, though the end credit video is still truncated.   All North American releases of Godzilla vs Mothra are currently out of print.

Monster Mondays: Godzilla vs. King Ghidora (1991)

by Leave a Comment

By Ben Dower

In 1992, writer Kenichiro Teresawa (Kōsuke Toyohara) is working on a book called The Birth of Godzilla, which details his theory that a dinosaur on Lagos Island that saved a Japanese unit during WWII was irradiated by H-bomb tests and turned into Godzilla.

A time machine from the 23rd century appears in Japan and onboard are Wilson (Chuck Wilson), Glenchiko (Richard Berger), and Emi Kanno (Anna Nakagawa), as well as several androids, including one called M-11 (Robert Scottfield).  The Futurians warn that Godzilla will soon destroy Japan and offer to go back in time to prevent the monster’s creation.

Emi and M-11 go back to 1944, taking with them Teresawa, Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka), and Professor Masaaki (Katsuhiko Sasaki), and witness the dinosaur battle U.S. forces on Lagos Island, saving the Japanese unit on the island.  The unit, led by Yasuaki Shindo (Yoshio Tsuchiya), pays their respects to the injured dinosaur and leaves the island.  M-11 teleports the dinosaur away from the island and Emi secretly release three small creatures called Dorats there.  Upon their return to the present, Wilson and Glenchiko inform them that Godzilla is gone, but a new monster has appeared: King Ghidorah.

King Ghidorah attacks Fukuoka, devastating the city and nearly killing Yasuaki Shindo, who is now a very successful businessman.  It turns out Wilson and Glenchiko are controlling King Ghidorah, which was once the three Dorats, and want to use him to prevent Japan from ascending to economic world dominance.  Emi, not realizing the full extant of Wilson and Glenchiko’s plan, reprograms M-11 in a mission to stop them.

Teresawa does some investigating and finds out a nuclear submarine sunk in the area they had teleported the dinosaur too, creating Godzilla anyways.  Godzilla emerges in Hokkaido and the Futurians send King Ghidorah to attack him.  Emi, M-11, and Teresawa destroy the computer being used to control King Ghidorah, giving Godzilla the upperhand.  They then teleport the time machine to Godzilla, who destroys it, killing Wilson and Glenchiko.  Godzilla blasts King Ghidorah with his atomic breath, sending the dragon plummeting into the ocean, and then attacks Sapporo.  

Emi goes back to the 23rd century and turns the remains of King Ghidorah into a giant cyborg called Mecha-King Ghidorah.  She brings Mecha-King Ghidorah back to 1992 and confronts Godzilla in Shinjuku, Tokyo, eventually carrying the monster out to sea.  She ditches Godzilla and Mecha-King Ghidorah in the ocean and heads back to 23rd century.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is a fascinating if somewhat muddled movie.  While The Return of Godzilla (1984) and Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) had been rather serious scifi films, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah injects much of the classic 1960s-style fun back into the series, and brings back arguably Godzilla’s most popular foe in the process.  The movie also maintains Godzilla’s core anti-nuclear themes while addressing Japan’s incredible post-war economic rise.

Composer Akira Ifukube returns to score his first Heisei Godzilla series film.  Ifukube had scored around half of the Showa Godzilla series films, including Godzilla (1954), as well as a lot of Toho’s other monster films.  His familiar musical cues for the monsters really add to the classic feel of this movie.

For his return to the big screen for the first time since the 1970s, King Ghidorah was given a makeover and all-new origin.  The new look is a rather simple but nice update of the Showa design, with horns replacing the hair behind each of the heads and spikes added to the two ends of the tail.  The new origin, in which King Ghidorah is the result of three small genetically engineered creatures mutating and fusing after exposure to an H-bomb test, is much more complicated than in the Showa series, and quite frankly just doesn’t work as well.

Godzilla also gets a revised origin, albeit a little less so than King Ghidorah.  In 1954, the big concern was nuclear weapons, but by the 1990s, nuclear energy was being used for all sorts of things and there had been a handful of nuclear accidents.  In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Godzilla being recreated after his removal from history through an accident involving a nuclear submarine is not just a warning against nuclear weapons, but also a warning against our increasing use of nuclear energy in our everyday lives.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah looks at Japan’s economic growth in the years since the war, particularly through the character of Yasuaki Shindo.  When the war ended in 1945, Japan was completely devastated.  By the mid-1980s, just four decades later, Japan was an economic powerhouse, with the Nikkei hitting its peak in late 1989.  By the time Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah hit theatres on December 14, 1991, the Japanese bubble economy had begun to burst.  Yasuaki Shindo is a World War II soldier turned businessman who helped rebuild Japan to prosperity in the decades after the war, only to live long enough to see Godzilla, the same creature who had saved him in 1944, begin to destroy everything he had worked for.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah sparked controversy in the United States upon its release in Japan due to its portrayal of Westerners trying to sabatoge Japan’s success and Godzillasaurus slaughtering U.S. soldiers on Lagos Island.  Tensions were high between Japan and the United States at the time due to Japan’s economic strength and some American news outlets ran stories about the film.

Toho had Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah dubbed into English in Hong Kong and the film was released to VHS and DVD in North America in 1998 by Columbia TriStar Home Video.  Both the VHS and DVD offer an English dubbed full screen version of the film that cuts off the end credits, which featured video of Godzilla under the sea.  To make matters worse, the DVD is a double-sided disc with Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), making it difficult to handle and easy to get dirty or damaged. 

In 2014, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was released to Blu-ray in a double-feature set with Godzilla vs Mothra (1992) by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.  Fortunately, both films get separate discs this time around, and are presented in widescreen with the original Japanese audio and English dub as audio options, though the end credits are still truncated.  All North American releases of Godzilla vs King Ghidorah are currently out of print.

Monster Mondays: Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)

by Leave a Comment

In 1984, some of Godzilla’s cells are discovered in the wreckage of Tokyo and stolen by terrorist SSS9 (Manjot Bedi) from the Middle Eastern nation of Saradia.  With the help of Dr. Genichiro Shiragami (Kōji Takahashi), the Saradian government tries to develop desert-hardy crops, but Dr. Shiragami’s lab is destroyed in a terrorist attack, killing his daugter, Erika (Yasuko Sawaguchi).

Five years later, Dr. Shiragami has returned to Japan.  In an attempt to keep Erika alive, he has put her DNA into a rose.  The Japanese government requests Dr. Shiragami’s help to use Godzilla DNA to develop Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria (ANEB), bacteria which can consume radioactive material.  Dr. Shiragami does so, but also puts Godzilla’s DNA into the rose containing Erika’s DNA to try to make her immortal.  The end result, however, is a giant though peaceful rose-like monster growing in Lake Ashino, which Dr. Shiragami names Biollante.

American company Bio-Major plants explosives on Mount Mihara and threatens to release Godzilla if the Japanese government doesn’t hand over the ANEB.  During the handover, SSS9 kills the Bio-Major operative and steals the ANEB, resulting in Godzilla being released from Mount Mihara.

The JSDF sends the Super X2 to battle Godzilla at sea, but Godzilla badly damages the craft.  Godzilla lands in Japan and heads straight to Biollante.  The two engage in a short battle in which Biollante is struck by Godzilla’s atomic breath and dissolves into spores that float away.

The Japanese government manages to track down and retrieve the ANEB.  The JSDF infects Godzilla with the ANEB in Osaka, but sacrifice the Super X2 in the process.  Despite that, Godzilla shows no symptoms of infection, even after several hours.  It is thought maybe Godzilla’s body temperature is too low for the bacteria to work effectively, so the military launches an attack on the monster to raise his temperature. 

Suddenly spores descend from the sky and Biollante appears, more hideous and mutated than before.  The two monsters battle, but Godzilla soon has to back out due to the effects of the ANEB.  Godzilla collapses into the sea, and Biollante dissolves into spores again, releasing Erika’s trapped soul.  SSS9 fatally shoots Dr. Shiragami, but is also killed as he tries to escape.  The cold water of the ocean cools Godzilla, who regains his strength, and the monster swims out to sea.

On January 7, 1989, Emperor Hirohito passed away, bringing the Showa era of Japanese history to an end.  His son, Akihito, acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne, launching the Heisei era on January 8, 1989.  Though The Return of Godzilla (1984) is often considered the first film in the Heisei Godzilla series due to its tight connection with the rest of the films in that continuity, Godzilla vs. Biollante is actually the first Godzilla film released in the Heisei era, hitting Japanese theatres on December 16, 1989.

Kazuki Omori was chosen to direct Godzilla vs. Biollante and Koichi Kawakita took over as special effects director.  Omori would have a hand in directing and/or writing several of the Heisei Godzilla series films, and Kawakita would remain as special effects director on every one of them going forward, as well as Rebirth of Mothra (1996) and Rebirth of Mothra II (1997).

Actress Megumi Odaka also joined the Godzilla series for the first time with Godzilla vs Biollante, playing the role of psychic Miki Saegusa.  Miki Saegusa is able to use her psychic powers to detect and even communicate with the monsters, allowing for greater interaction between the human characters and their giant co-stars.  Megumi Odaka would reprise the role in every subsequent film in the Heisei Godzilla series.

Godzilla was given a makeover, with a more mammalian face and two rows of teeth instead of just one.  Though it would be slightly tweaked over the next few years, Toho would not stray far from this design until Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999).  Inside the Godzilla suit was Kenpachiro Satsuma, who had played Godzilla in the previous movie, and he would portray Godzilla for the rest of the Heisei series.

Like Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) before it, Godzilla vs. Biollante’s story is the result of a contest held by Toho.  The winner was Shinichiro Kobayashi, a dentist and screenwriter, and though many of his ideas made it into the final film, Omori heavily revised the initial story submitted by Kobayashi before filming began.

Thematically, Godzilla vs. Biollante addresses fears around the expanding capabilities of biotechnology.  During the 1980s, it was clear biotechnology was rapidly developing and offered the power to alter, design, or clone living things.  While there was optimism about the potential future uses of biotechnology, there was also a lot of anxiety.  This anxiety is where Godzilla vs. Biollante focuses most of its attention, with Biollante being the unintended result of fusing the DNA of Erika, a rose, and Godzilla.  

The Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria is another way concerns about biotechnology are addressed in the film.  At one point in the movie, a character suggests such a bacteria could make nuclear weapons less dangerous and change the world order should it fall into the wrong hands.  The message of the movie seems to be that our use of biotechnology could have negative unintended consequences, a message echoed in Michael Crichton’s novel Jurassic Park, which was released the year after Godzilla vs. Biollante and adapted to film by Steven Spielberg in 1993.

Toho had Godzilla vs. Biollante dubbed into English in Hong Kong.  Miramax aquired the North American distribution rights and the film was released on VHS in 1992.  This release was Toho’s English dubbed international version, in widescreen and completely uncut with the on-screen titles changed to English.  The film was also later released on Laser Disc.

As the VHS era came to a close, Godzilla vs. Biollante disappeared from store shelves in North America.  In 2012, Miramax finally released the film on DVD and Blu-ray in North America for the first time through Echo Bridge Home Entertainment.  In 2014, Miramax again released the film on DVD and Blu-ray through Lionsgate.  All North American Godzilla vs. Biollante releases are currently out of print.