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[MechGamera]

To me Godzilla versus Megaguirus is at once a great kaiju movie and a terrible entry in the series. I have to say I do have a soft spot for the film within the Millenium run, It's fun and over the top. Dimension Tide and the whole black hole gun thing is just the good side of bonkers Sci fi to keep it interesting. It was also nice to see Toho pay homage and evolve an existing minor monster, namely the Meganulon taken from Rodan (1956). The story moves a long at a good rate and feels well paced. can't really think of any time when the story wasn't being driven forward by the action on screen. The kaiju battles are fun and the destruction nicely played. Particular favourite sceens are the Meganulon attack of Godzilla on the island and the flooded Shibuya district of Tokyo. The cgi and composite work are head and shoulders above that of Millenium.

But it's also a terrible movie in a few respects. The most glaring for me is the visibale wire work. Unforgivable for people with such talent. Godzilla's frozen face and neck. I love the suit but I always felt the mask like face with no curling lip or moving eyes/eyelids was a step backwards. though Tsutomu Kitagawa as Godzilla does a great job of instilling life into the suit. Megaguirus when not mixed with cgi also looks stiff and lifeless. All of this I can overlook for the shear enjoyment of the story and Megaguiris makes a plesant change of pace from a bi-pedial enemy. The one dimentional characters are also a blight on the film. Much of the Millenium series would suffer from characters with little development beyond their initial introduction. Again the cast do well with what they are given and Misato Tanaka as Kiriko Tsujimori does well as the strong lead character. Much of the lead rolls would go to women in the Millenium series as women were/are the larger cinema going audience in Japan.

In all the film is flawed but fun. It was nice to see Godzilla go up against something a little different and the overall film still looks ok 12 years on.

[Kingoji]

Will be getting in on this again shortly. I've had to lend my copy to my bro as a refresher.
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[Urzu Six]

Right right right... Vs. Megaguirus.

Well

Not impressed with this one. I've watched it twice in close succession, and can think of nothing much to say. It's just there. The male lead does remind me of a Japanese Ted "Theodore" Logan, though so thats good.

I do like the idea that people have become so desperate to kill Godzilla that they've resorted to shooting black holes at him. Which, the end of the film tells us, he can escape from anyway. If I'd scripted this I'dve changed that. See, the bored science guy tells us Meganulon lived about 30, 000, 000 years ago, and one of them came out of a dimensional rip caused by the Dimension Tide. So... why not just say that Godzilla was sent back in time, and is now caught in a time loop? That would've been my ending.

Casting for this film is passable, with the dubbing being a particular comedic highlight. (See Bored Science Guy above) There's no real chemistry between Ted and Driven Military Girl, or any of the cast, really. But. But but but. I hate you small bug collecting child, I really hate you. How many close encounters with face eating monsters can one kid live through? And why see giant face eating monster lay an egg, then decide to a) take it home, and b) take it back to the city and throw it down the drain? And not one person tells him off, or gets angry... even our heroine only chids him for trespassing, and tells him it's not his fault that a giant face eating monster bug is eating people. Well, maybe it isn't, but if he'd gone to G-Clampers (or whatever, it's a stupid name) with the egg, none of this would have happened, and Godzilla might have been hit with a black hole way out on the island with next to no collateral damage.

See, if the film had taken all this undoubted silliness, and played it and bit less straight laced, I think I'dve liked it more. But no, it tries to be a po-faced serous Godzilla film, when it really isn't.

Good stuff, though?

The Gryphon is a much nicer design than any of the Super-X'es or the ship that grabs onto Mecha-G II's back. Godzilla himself looks nice and mean, and I do like the fact that his fins get hot now when he charges up his breath. Nice touch.

Not the worst Gojira filum, just... average.
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[HdE]

I actually really liked the tone of this movie - I think the blend of comedic aspects (such as Godzilla rapidly shaking his head from side to side after taking a beating) and the more serious (for want of a better word) stuff mesh pretty well to create a movie that's just fun to watch for undemanding entertainment.

I particularly like the bit with the female lead planting the tracking beacon on Godzilla out at sea. And thay great moment in the final battle where you think (for all of a fleetign second) that maybe Godzilla's actually copped a fatal wound.

Anyway - you guys ready to move on to the next movie yet, or do we wanna discuss this one some more?
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[Urzu Six]

Yes, the tracking device scene is a particular highpoint. The light-hearted parts don't work for me with the human cast at least, because they don't play them funny, and the cast really hasn't gelled.

Godzilla clearing his head I didn't mind, see. It worked. I do like seeing Godzilla having some pysical effect from these fights. Usually you beat the crap out of him and he just stands up, looks mean and shoots you to death. Giving him some ill-effects to fight through helps make him more believable, and (dare I say it) sympathetic, both as a giant monster and as a character.

I forgot to mention that I thought the mix of model and CGI for the Godzilla vs. Meganulons fight was very well done, although I wasn't clear on whether Godzilla buried himself or whether debris from the black hole explosion did that.
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Okay to print, and all that jazz

[fbwash]

Just watched this yesterday and I agree with the comments about the horrible "wire efx" monster design. My feeling is that we have the technology to make believable looking Kaijus. I'm done with the cheese actings and bad suits...
And so ready for Jurassic Park/ Cloverfield/Monsters level of efx for the Godzilla series.
It's time that they spent some money on a good team that can make this happen and please bring back Akira's music.

Could anyone imagine watching Star Wars without John Williams score- That's how I feel about Godzilla. His theme music is so recognizable around the world, why not use it...
And if you want to include other music. Add it in segments of the movie like a radio playing or something.

I'm just saying it's time.
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[HdE]

I'm gonna punt this thread forward with the next movie. And I have decided that it shall be...

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS!

I shall be very muchly interested to see what you guys think of this one...
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[fbwash]

Love it and really would like to see an updated version of this... And definitely something better than Final War.
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[Void_Master]

Indeed, DAM is great stuff.... except for the ending. I recently bought the new Blu-ray to watch it for the first time in like 9 years. So much better than I remember, especially the final monster battle (such a brutal end for the King of Terror). The destruction of Tokyo by Godzilla and friends was also much better than I recalled (seeing it as a child, DAM always sort of bored me when there where no monsters on screen).

The only flaw with the film is the end with it's spaceship "battle". It's just a tad boring and out of place. Instead of that, I wish they'd have included more story for Monster Land/Island. Aside from that though, I do love this film.
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Okay to print.

[HdE]

Okay fellas, we haven't done this for a while. So I propose that, next, we all have a gander at...

GODZILLA VS BIOLLANTE!
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[Rhuen]

I Like Godzilla vs Biollante, mainly Biollante. the story is kind of...iffy...

As a sequal to 1985 it feels weird given how dark and serious that movie was, and as the lead in to the more well known 90's movies it actually feels too dark. So I guess makes it the perfect seque between them.

We see the genetics of Godzilla come in as a major story element, that would continue as a theme through out the 90's, as well as the psychic programs.

Now the problems I had with the movie mainly come from the human spy story going on. On one side, we have an American company whose spies are supposed to be stealing corporate secrets from the Japanese civil defense force. But they are anything but subtle, in fact at one point they plant bombs around the volcano Godzilla is in, and openly threaten the Japanese government.

and the Japanese government gives in....

Okay...now even when I was younger first watching that I knew it made no sense; if that happened the government would only need to contact the American embassy or general on one of the bases in Japan, who would then contact the company and likely pressure them or threaten to shut them down for use of terrorist means to obtain this.
(now yes there is the conspiracy aspect where the company was going to use G-cells to build weapons for the American government; but this conspiracy aspect tends to prefer to be (shadowy) about such things; so an open threat with bombs against the Japanese government would force them for the sake of keeping their activities in the dark to turn on this one corporation: even if meaning they'd then have to use their own undercover agents to retrieve the cells through more subtle means).

[Void_Master]

Ah, how I wish I owned this film still... However, I can remember it being one of my favorite G-films of all time, namely due to the introduction of Biollante and the breath-taking new look of Godzilla himself.

Biollante is just such a cool monster. First off, she's female, which seems to be an unusual characteristic considering the only other openly noted lady kaiju we see is Mothra (depending on the film, I know). And unlike Mothra, Biollante is a huge threat to Godzilla (in terms of power, not the typical underdog victory of Mothra/ her children) by being so much larger than he is and actually capable of piercing his hide (plus that acid sap effect is so cool!). Seeing how much larger she is than Godzilla was one of the few moments while watching a G-film that I questioned whether he could beat his opponent. I am also a huge fan of her origin. It's just too bad more monsters weren't born of "G-cells". It could have been a great way to add more monsters to the series...

Concerning Godzilla though, I absolutely love this suit. Sure, it's done a bit better in GvKG onward, but it's just such spectacular change. And I know that the Heisei design can get a lot of crap in some circles, but it's still my favorite suit. As I mentioned elsewhere, upon seeing it for the first time I knew that this was what Godzilla should look like. I especially love the double rows of teeth, which is one of the things I'm happy to see in the newest G-comic here from IDW and that I would like to see in the Legendary film to be.

Also, thanks for bringing this thread back HdE. I just hope I have a copy of the next one on the list.
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Okay to print.

[HdE]

No worries, Void Master, I'll not let this thread die so long as I can find time between projects to post.

[Void_Master]

I had heard of a Hong Kong copy before, but I had heard that they may have been stolen from video rental outlets in China and resold, which is why I decided not to pick one up. I am glad to hear that the quality is great and that it's subbed, but I would rather not pick one up if they have been acquired that way. Then again, maybe I'm thinking of the wrong one as the copy I saw was allegedly region free. I'd rather wait for an official release, but I doubt that will happen any time soon. I would love to see Biollante and Godzilla Returns again though...
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Okay to print.

[Rhuen]

There are dubbed Godzilla vs Biollante VHS tapes out there. I own one. Heck I found it in a Goodwill.