Monster Movie of the Week: Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla (1994)

GODZILLA VS. SPACEGODZILLA
Director: Kensho Yamashita
Genre: Kaiju eiga

THE MOVIE

After a trio of 1990's movies that brought in some classic monsters like Ghidorah, Mothra, Mecha-Godzilla and Rodan, Toho decided to (sort of) create a brand new kaiju to face off against Goji in 1994's entry to the series. Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla is the penultimate movie in the Heisei series and is widely considered to be a low-point due to it's derivative monster (another Godzilla clone), uninteresting human story (even for a Godzilla movie) and the presence of MOGUERA, a mecha who is only in the movie because of its weakness. But despite its flaws, Spacegodzilla offers some good action, and, Goji wannabe aside, Spacegodzilla is quite a fearsome opponent and one with a unique set of powers.

Godzilla taunts Spacegodzilla's lack of shoulder movement.

In Japan, competing Defense Force projects arise to deal with Godzilla. Psychic Miki Saegusa heads a plan to implant a device that will allow her to control Godzilla enough to steer him away from inhabited areas. Others have built a new robot from the remains of Mecha Godzilla, dubbed MOGUERA, with which they hope to destroy the mutant dinosaur once and for all. Meanwhile, Mothra is still in space but sends warning of a space monster that is heading for earth and which seeks to destroy Godzilla and conquer the planet.

The monster lands on Birth Island and attacks Baby Godzilla, encasing him in a crystal pit. When Godzilla arrives and attempts to rescue the the infant, the space monster dispatches him with ease. Scientists surmise that this creature evolved from Godzilla cells sent into space by Biollante and which evolved in a crystalline environment. They dub this new monster Spacegodzilla.

After a side plot about the Yakuza attempting to capture Miki, Spacegodzilla arrives in Fukuoka and starts turning it into his own Fortress of Solitude, creating giant crystal towers from which he conducts power into his massive shoulder crystals. It takes the combined might of Godzilla and MOGUERA (well, mostly Godzilla) to destroy the crystals and take down Spacegodzilla. In the end, Miki psychically pops off the control device and Godzilla and Baby Godzilla make their way back to Birth Island.

At robot parties, MOGUERA is taunted by Go-Bots.

THE MONSTERS/EFFECTS

The star villain is, of course, Spacegodzilla who is basically a larger Godzilla with many crystal embellishments to the design, most noticeably the large crystals on his shoulders, which give him a very unique appearance but also somewhat hinder the motion of his arms. It would have almost have been cool to have given Spacegodzilla smaller T-Rex arms, since that's about the range of motion anyway. His immobile shoulders give him a bit of an awkward appearance.

The basic design of Spacegodzilla is drawn from an old Super Nintendo game, Super Godzilla, which featured a "powered-up" version of the King of the Monsters with a similar v-shaped silhouette, but here crystals are incorporated into the design. Instead of the rows of dorsal spines, Spacegodzilla has a row of spiky crystals on his back and his tail ends in a glassy club. He is somewhat larger than Godzilla and he also seems a good deal fatter, with remarkably obese-looking legs.

Spacegodzilla features a toothy and very mean-looking head. There seems to be some Biollante inspiration in the form of the tusk-like teeth in the corners of his mouth. On the top of his forehead is a tiara-like gem giving him a regal appearance. Spacegodzilla also has the ability to wrap himself in a kind of diamond cocoon which he uses to travel through space and even on earth.

Spacegodzilla has a distinctive set of abilities that are pretty unique among Toho's kaiju. Many of his "cosmic" powers are based on telekinesis, such as his ability to levitate and grab and throw his enemies. He also uses his crystal towers offensively to shoot beams and fire projectiles. In addition he is able to shoot a "corona beam" from his mouth. He is really one of the more powerful kaiju that Godzilla has confronted.

On top of his many abilities, Spacegodzilla has the distinction of being one of the more evil monsters in the Godzilla series. This is particularly evident on his arrival on Birth Island when the confused Baby Godzilla attempts to greet him only to have Spacegodzilla viciously attack him. Spacegodzilla stands among King Ghidorah and Desotroyah as the most malevolent of Godzilla's opponents. It would have been interesting to have been able to get into his head a little more. He was said to have been attracted to earth to kill Godzilla but we never find out why.

Not even scaffolding and dramatic lighting can make MOGUERA look cool.

MOGUERA, on the other hand, is about as threatening as Johnny 5. Rumor has it that the part was originally written to feature Mecha-Godzilla again but that the filmmakers thought that it would be too uneven to have both Godzilla and Mecha-Godzilla teaming up against Spacegodzilla. And also too many Godzilla-derived creatures. So Toho resurrected their old robot Moguera who had been seen in The Mysterians and gave him a '90's makeover, but he still manages to be incredibly awkward, with his beaky face and huge child-bearing hips.

Spacegodzilla is also a trendsetter, it turns out.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

Spacegodzilla's unprovoked attack on Baby Godzilla stands out as the ultimate dick move in any Godzilla movie.

SEQUELS

This movie is immediately followed by Godzilla vs. Desotroyah, which closed out the Heisei series and "killed" Godzilla to make way for the American version of the character.

This is the only movie to-date to feature Spacegodzilla, although he appeared in the video games Godzilla Save The Earth and Godzilla Unleashed as a playable character. His crystal and psychic attacks make him one of the more fun and unique characters in both games. He is also set to appear in the new Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters comic series.

MOGUERA also appears in both of the above games as a playable character. Instead of having a signature roar, MOGUERA has the ability to say his own name. Yeah...

HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

Available on a double feature DVD with Godzilla vs. Desotroyah and also viewable for free on Crackle.com.

TRAILER






Patrick Garone
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Author of City of the Gods: The Return of Quetzalcoatl