Monster Movie of the Week: Rebirth of Mothra (1996)

Rebirth of Mothra (1996)
Directed by: Okihiro Yoneda
Genre: Kaiju eiga/Family

THE MOVIE

After Godzilla was "killed" in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah to make way for an American movie, Toho decided to produce a few movies focusing on their second most popular kaiju, Mothra (with the also-popular King Ghidorah in a supporting role). While she's best known to audiences for her many appearances in Godzilla's movies, Mothra actually debuted in her own eponymous movie in 1961, before being incorporated into the larger Toho monster universe, so Rebirth of Mothra is not her first time carrying a movie.

Rebirth of Mothra and its two sequels are not particularly well known in the U.S. (the third one has never even been available on DVD) and they might strike Toho fans as a bit kiddish but that shouldn't stop anyone from checking them out. Kaiju-philes will find a lot to love and some very cool monster designs despite the juvenile tone, ham-fisted environmental message, and low budget. It's also nice to see Mothra and Ghidorah get some of the spotlight for themselves.

More than any of the other Toho movies, the Rebirth of the Mothra series gives a central role to the Elias, the ubiquitous twins who have been Mothra's keepers and companions since her very first movie. Here the Elias are joined by a third (and evil) sister, Belvera. While the Elias ride around on a small butterfly, Belvera's mount is a tiny fire-breathing dragon. Throughout the three movies of the Mothra Trilogy, the three sisters battle it out, often using humans and monsters as surrogates, for the fate of the world. It's actually nice to see the Elias doing something more active rather than simply singing or waiting to be rescued.

In the first Rebirth movie, Belvera seeks to unleash an ancient monster, Death Ghidorah, from it's tomb deep within the heart of a mountain. She possesses a young girl to help her, while the girl's brother is enlisted by the Elias to prevent their sister from releasing Ghidorah. Sadly they fail and the monster wreaks havoc. The twins are forced to call upon Mothra who is old and exhausted from having just laid an egg. She is defeated by the monster but her offspring hatches and joins the fight. The battle rages and the mother is defeated but the new larva spins a cocoon and is reborn as Motra Leo, who finally defeats the monster and avenges his mother.


THE MONSTERS/EFFECTS

The Mothras tend to be on the cuddlier side, as they had during the Monster's appearance during the rest of the Heisei movies but I'm happy to say that Mothra Leo is given a slightly more aggressive design than the traditional Mothra. This is perhaps because he is the first explicitly male version of the character that we have seen.


Death Ghidorah is a bit more interesting as he is a substantially different version of the character than we have seen. In fact, he is not really even King Ghidorah but rather a kind of "Ghidroid," who shares a lot of Ghidorah's characteristics-three heads, wings, a nasty attitude-but has a different body layout and coloration. I, for one, like the redesign as the traditional Ghidorah has always seemed a bit topheavy and awkward, stumbling around on two legs. A four-legged Ghidorah makes a bit more sense. As much as I like the classic golden scaled appearance of the original Ghidorah, I like the rough skin texture and dark color scheme on this one. It's a really good alternate look for the character.
This look for Ghidorah is pretty influential as well. The short neck and smaller proportions made an appearance in the great Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack. The quadrupedal body layout also returned in Godzilla: Final Wars as Kaiser Ghidorah, who looks a bit like Rebirth of Mothra's Death Ghidorah.


HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

The first two Rebirth movies are available as a two pack DVD in the same style as most of the Heisei Godzilla movies. They are available as mail rentals from Netflix and all three movies are free to watch on Crackle.


MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

The extended battle sequence at the end is pretty cool and is actually the first time Mothra and Ghidorah have tangled without Godzilla.

TRAILER





Patrick Garone is a writer, director, sketch comedian, and blogger. He is the author of City of the Gods: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. Follow him on Twitter for fun-sized ramblings on nerd culture and politics.

Monster Movie of the Week: Godzilla VS Destoroyah (1996)

GODZILLA VS DESTOROYAH (1996)
Director: Takao Okawara
Genre: Kaiju eiga


THE MOVIE

Ah, the best laid plans of mice and monsters...While Toho was hard at work on their beloved Heisei series of Godzilla movies, they were working behind the scenes to make an American Godzilla movie. In the mid '90's, it became clear that this was finally going to happen and Toho began toying around with plans to kill their Godzilla to make way for a series of movies produced in the US. While they had considered killing Goji off at the claws of his powerful opponents Mecha Godzilla and Spacegodzilla, they ultimately decided to have the big guy finally meet his match in the form a new monster, Destoroyah who was born of the very weapon which killed the original Godzilla in his 1954 movie. Since the filmmakers were treating this as the "final" Godzilla movie there are lots of cool connections and homages to the original film.

The story begins with a catastrophic event on Birth Island, the remote location where Godzilla and Junior make their home in the Heisei movies. Junior is presumed dead and the eruption triggers some sort of nuclear meltdown in Godzilla, with large patches of his body literally red hot. The Japanese defense force predicts that the monster will die in an explosion which will destroy life on Earth. They begin experimenting with various ways of bringing Godzilla's temperature down, including freezing rays.

Meanwhile, another scientist begins working on a similar technology to the Oxygen Destroyer developed by Dr. Serizawa (the scientist who gave his life to stop the monster at the end of Gojira.) He soon discovers that a strange life form has developed at the exact spot where the weapon had been used in 1954 and these small creatures escape the lab and begin to grow and change in the outside world.

They grow into larger car-sized monsters and are dubbed "Destoroyah." The creatures multiply in an industrial location and soldiers are sent in to kill them. While it is a nice change of pace to see creatures of this scale in a Godzilla movie, this sequence is shamelessly derivative of Aliens, complete with motion sensors and double-jawed creatures.

The Destoroyahs are able to combine into a larger aggregate form and begin wreaking havoc on Japan when Godzilla junior resurfaces and attempts to take on the larger monster only to be handily (and viciously) defeated by him. After being dropped from a great height and being bitten and exposed the very same substance that killed the original Goji, Junior is fatally wounded. Godzilla arrives and is really not happy about the scene he finds, plus he is having a crappy day in general, what with being about to explode.

After a great struggle and with assistance from the defense force, Godzilla defeats Destoroyah. In an attempt to contain his impending meltdown, the JDF shoots Godzilla with a freezing ray from their airship, which mitigates his explosion. Instead of destroying the planet, the meltdown only affects Tokyo. It also has the effect of reviving Godzilla junior, who, thanks to the energy absorbed from his adopted parent, is now a fully-grown Godzilla. The movie ends with credits over select clips from the original movie and the other Heisei movies accompanied by Akira Ifukube's Godzilla March, as a kind of eulogy for the character and the series.



MONSTERS/EFFECTS

While he largely features the same suit as in his previous movie, Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla, this version of Godzilla features his iconic "meltdown" look, with illuminated patches of red and orange all over his body. This is a very striking look for the character and one that has not been used in any other media (save for a similar non-character-specific power-up in the Nintendo Wii fighting game, Godzilla Unleashed). Godzilla's biology is not something that had been really explored in other movies, and I'm glad that his appearance in Godzilla vs Destoroyah highlights the fact that Godzilla is, in fact, a dangerously unstable creature. I always liked the idea that beyond the physical damage caused by Goji, there would be a lot of collateral damage caused by fall-out and radiation. Destoroyah takes this idea and runs with it, playing with the idea that Godzilla simply has too much power to be contained in his body


The star creature has the Engrish-sounding (but copyrightable) name of Destoroyah. The idea of Destoroyah is pretty cool and the fact that he is born of the device used to kill the original Godzilla is nicely ironic as he was to serve as the big guy's final opponent. Also cool is his Hedorah-like ability to take on different forms. Sadly, the effects are not up to par when it comes to bringing these forms to life.

His immature, crab-like form is heavily featured in the movie and represents a scale we don't often see in Toho's kaiju movies but the puppets and animatronics are not entirely convincing. They are shot from tricky angles meant to hide their mechanisms and they also don't move in a convincing way. This is particularly true when they attempt to swarm Godzilla later in the movie which compares unfavorably to a scene in Gamera 2: The Attack of Legion released the same year which features a similar but much better-executed effect.

The adult monster Destoroyah comes off a little better but there is something almost Power Ranger-y about his design. He almost has too many cliched monster parts: giant bat wings, a horn, a long tail with a pincer on the end, a dino-like crest. And why does he have feet on his knees? He also does not really look like a creature that is composed of other, smaller creatures, which he supposedly is. He does, however, have tons of malice and even gives Spacegodzilla and Ghidorah a run for their money as some of the most evil kaiju in Toho's stable. His most despicable moment comes late in the film when he actually succeeds in killing Godzilla Junior in a very graphic way.

Speaking of Junior, he has undergone quite a growth spurt and now actually looks like something that is related to Godzilla for once. In fact, he looks much like the adult Godzillasaurus from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. It's nice that he has finally come into his own and that he has an actual character arc of his own. With his resurrection at the end of the movie, he effectively becomes the new Godzilla.



HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

Available on double sided DVD with Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla. Also streaming for free on Crackle.com.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

As Godzilla begins to meld down his trademark spines begin to actually melt from his back. It's at that moment you are like, "Holy crap! This is really goin' down!" The sequence a little bit later on of Godzilla literally melting is actually very cool and it is one of the most unforgettable sequences in the whole series.

SEQUELS

Godzilla vs Destoroyah is the last of the Heisei series and a kind of valedictory round for the monster. While it was originally envisioned as the last of the Japanese movies for the forseeable future, the failure of the American movie and competition from the surprisingly good Gamera movies (which started in 1995) forced Toho to amend their plans and Godzilla was back in Japanese theaters three years later with Godzilla 2000.

While G2K was a new Godzilla movie, it was not necessarily a sequel to anything but the original Godzilla movie (although some people see it as featuring Godzilla Jr, though the events of the Heisei series are not referred to in any of the Millenium movies, which are almost all set in their own continuities).

Destoroyah is not featured in any other Godzilla movies, although he does appear in various video games such as the Atari fighters, Godzilla Save The Earth and Godzilla Unleashed.

TRAILER






Patrick Garone
Follow Me On Twitter
Author of City of the Gods: The Return of Quetzalcoatl

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
Follow Me On Twitter
Author of City of the Gods: The Return of Quetzalcoatl

Monster Movie of the Week: Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla II (1993)

GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA II
Director: Tokao Okawara
Genre: Kaiju eiga


The Heisei series marches on with Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II, which is in no way a sequel to Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla. As part of their then-plan to reinvent their classic kaiju, Toho brings back the popular Mechagodzilla, who was introduced at the end of the Showa movies. Also returning is Rodan, a popular monster both from his own movie and numerous appearances in Godzilla's 1960's movies. Toho even sort of brings back Minya in the form of Baby Godzilla.

One of the cool things about the Heisei series is that it features a rather tight continuity and events from previous movies have an impact on later films. In GVMII, scientists salvage the remains of Mecha King Ghidorah (who was created by the Futurians as a Godzilla deterrent but defeated at the end of Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah) and use his remains to construct a new mechanical Godzilla-like mecha as the ultimate weapon to defeat the King of the Monsters.

Meanwhile, explorers on a remote island discover what appears to be a giant dinosaur egg. They attempt to remove the egg but are attacked by Rodan and then Godzilla. Both monsters battle until Rodan is defeated. During the fight, the egg is removed and taken to Tokyo for study. The egg hatches revealing an infant Godzillasaurus (the remnant dinosaur species that became Godzilla when exposed to nuclear testing in the 1940's).

Mechagodzilla then engages Godzilla for the first time and is able to give Godzilla a run for his money for a while, but Goji ultimately prevails against his metal doppleganger. In preparing for their next attack on Godzilla, scientist discover that Baby Godzilla has a second brain near his tail that handles lower body functions. The scientists plan to use this weakness to disable Godzilla so that their new mecha can finish him off once and for all.



The Defense Force decides to use Baby Godzilla as bait to lure the adult, but instead they attract Rodan, who had developed a protective bond with the egg. Rodan engages the giant robot but is defeated. Godzilla finally arrives and the plan works when Mechagodzilla manages to injure Goji''s second brain, paralyzing him. Rodan comes to Godzilla's rescue and with his last strength manages to transfer his energy to Godzilla, repairing his damage and allowing him to defeat Mechagodzilla, rescue BabyGodzilla and swim off to safety.

Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II is a decent entry to the series but actually poses more questions than it answers. What's up with there being a second Godzillasaurus? If Godzilla has a such an accessible weak spot why is it never mentioned again? The presence of Rodan is never really explained, he's just sort of found hanging around the Godzillasaurus egg. While it's great to see him, the movie could have done a better job introducing him and offering some sort of explanation for his presence.


THE MONSTERS/EFFECTS

While Godzilla is little changed from he previous 1990's outings, the film does offer three re-invented kaiju to marvel at. The best of the three is the redesigned Mechagodzilla, who trades his primitive bolts-and-plates look for a sleek and curvy redesign. This Mechagodzilla looks like more of a sports car than a tank. But don't let his make-over deceive you, like his predecessor, Mechagodzilla is one of the most powerful kaiju of his time, with some very impressive weaponry, including a pair of shock cables, numerous missiles and laser cannons, a shock beam in his mouth, and a chest-mounted plasma grenade launcher. On top of all that, he is able to combine with the battle ship Garuda, which connects to his back and gives him additional firepower and booster rockets.



Rodan also gets a bit of a makeover in GVMII, for the first time being portrayed wholly by a puppet as opposed to a suitmation actor. Without the actor inside, Rodan is able to be portrayed a little more pterodactyl-like than previous version. Also, his head has been redesigned to accommodate a longer beak and he is given a third horn. Overall, the puppet has been given a more realistic color scheme and detailing, such as the appearance of veins in Rodan's wings.

This version has been dubbed Fire Rodan because of his uranium beam, and he is one of the more powerful versions of the character. Sadly, Fire Rodan still suffers from the limits of the technology used at the time and the flying sequences are less than convincing. Kaiju moves wouldn't get the flying effect right for another six years in Gamera III. Rodan's presence in the movie seems like a bit of an after thought and I have a feeling that his role might have been written for Mothra.

The other creature is Baby Godzilla who manages to be slightly more appealing than his hated Showa predecessor. It's actually kind of interesting that this movie was released the same year as Jurassic Park, in which the way dinosaurs were portrayed on screen would be forever changed. Baby Godzilla is realized with a man in a pretty awful dinosaur suit. Designwise, Baby G is meant to look "cute" and, like Minya, he is barely recognizable as being from the same species as Godzilla. Luckily, by the time we get to the end of the Heisei movies, he starts to look more like his adopted father. It may be heresy to say, but the American Godzilla did actually surpass the Japanese movies in the way it handled the baby Godzillas. They were mean little bastards as soon as they came out of those eggs.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

Both battles with Mechagodzilla are quite good. This version of the character really gives Godzilla a good fight.


HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

Available in a bare-bones DVD.

TRAILER






Patrick Garone
Follow Me On Twitter
Author of City of the Gods: The Return of Quetzalcoatl

Monster Movie of the Week: Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth

GODZILLA AND MOTHRA: THE BATTLE FOR EARTH
Director: Tokao Okawara
Genre: Kaiju eiga

THE MOVIE

After the ho-hum reception to Godzilla Vs. Biollante Toho decided that they were going to bring back some of the popular monsters from their vast pool of characters. After Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah, Toho decided to bring back the very popular Mothra for the third Heisei Godzilla movie and the result is Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle For Earth. While not a total remake of Godzilla Vs. Mothra, G&M revisits a lot of elements of the earlier Toho classic, which is widely considered one of the better movies in the series. Like the previous movie, there is a remote island, a mysterious egg, a pair of fairy-like twins, an environmental theme, and an evil corporation out to exploit Mothra. The 1992 movie does add a new character in the form of Battra, Mothra's dark doppleganger and ancient opponent.

Godzilla shows off the prize he won from cashing in his tickets at Dave & Busters.

A meteorite crashes into the Pacific and awakens Godzilla and also begins causing climatic disruptions. The meteorite also awakens a giant horned worm, which had apparently be slumbering beneath the sea as well. This new monster is aggressive and begins wreaking havoc.

Meanwhile, the storms reveal a giant egg on a remote island in the Pacific. A Japanese corporation sends in a crew to investigate, including a very Indiana Jones-like treasure hunter and his estranged wife. After discovering ancient cave paintings of battling insect monsters, they are contacted by the Cosmos, the miniature twins who speak for Mothra, an ancient Earth Guardian and that in the distant past she battled and defeated Battra, another guardian who had gone rogue. Battra-or at least another Battra-was sealed away beneath the sea until 1999 when he would rise again to intercept an asteroid headed for Earth.

When the company attempts the take the egg back to Japan, their ship is attacked by Godzilla, who is then attacked himself by the worm creature, now revealed to be Battra's larva. The egg then hatches revealing the Mothra larva. Battra battles Godzilla on the sea floor until both are trapped in a volcanic trench, leaving Mothra to swim away.

Later, Mothra spins her cocoon and hatches as the adult butterfly form of Mothra. Godzilla soon reappears as does the now adult Battra. The three battle until the two guardians join forces (after they apparently talk out their differences) to overcome Godzilla. The giant is defeated but Battra is killed, leaving Mothra to fulfill his task of intercepting the giant asteroid on a collision for Earth.

Can you blame him for being cranky?

All-in-all, Godzilla and Mothra is a decent entry to the Heisei series of Godzilla movies and a fun update of Godzilla Vs. Mothra. Battra is a pretty cool addition to the Toho pantheon. It's interesting to have a darker spin on the Mothra design, however his actions toward the end of the movie aren't adequately explained. Also unexplained is why the ancients would use him to thwart the asteroid if he was so dangerously unstable in the first place.

This movie adds the "Earth Protector" mythos to the Mothra story and gives her a role in ancient human history. This plot point is utilized even in the later Millennium movies and is pretty much the standard back story at this point as opposed to the primitive "island goddess" backstory that she used to have.

How'd you like to find that crawling around in your backyard?

THE MONSTERS/EFFECTS

Between Godzilla and the various Mothra and Battra forms, G&M has quite a bit of monster variety going on. Goji himself is largely unchanged from his look in Ghidorah. He retains the characteristic mammalian Heisei head and muscular upper body. One thing that has always struck me as weird about this version of Godzilla is that the upper half of his body is buff, yet he has enormous thunder thighs and cankles. He really needs to spread that work out around.

This version of Mothra was her first real appearance since 1968 and her re-introduction was only moderately successful. While the familiar larva design is actually pretty well done in G&M, the actual adult imago form leaves a lot to be desired. Often Mothra has suffered in Toho's movies from looking a bit like a plush toy and that is certainly the case here, where she looks like something you would pull out of a claw game. She's a bit too cuddly looking and it appears the puppet is totally flocked, even the wings. Needless to say, the flying is less than convincing, which is a problem that was not really solved until Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah in 2001.

Perhaps a giant can of Raid would be useful?

Battra, however, is quite a cool design in both the larva and flying form. The designers took the basic Mothra larva form and made it a lot meaner and more aggressive-looking, with some bold colors, sharp scales and a giant horn, from which it shoots energy beams. The adult form is pretty cool as well and a lot less butterfly-like than Mothra. Battra has a kind of crown of horns and a more powerful-looking body with more robust legs than his counterpart. Interestingly, Battra does not need to spin a cocoon and simply transforms into his adult body. Also, Battra is able to fire lightning out of every orifice.

This is Battra's sole movie appearance but he does make an appearance in the Xbox game Godzilla Save The Earth as a summonable character. In the Playstation 2 version of Godzilla Unleashed he is a playable character, although he is just a clone of Mothra. He does make an appearance in the recent IDW comic series Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

The end battle sequence is pretty cool and takes place at an amusement park. Battra sustains some pretty nasty injuries from Godzilla as the two Earth Guardians fly him out to sea.


SEQUELS

Followed by Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II.

HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

On a double sided DVD with Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah.

TRAILER





Patrick Garone
www.patrickgarone.com
facebook.com/cityofthegodsnovel
Follow Me On Twitter

Monster Movie of the Week: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH
Director: Kazuki Omori
Genre: Kaiju eiga

THE MOVIE

It's strange that after all of King Ghidorah's appearances in the Showa movies, it wasn't until 1991 that there was a movie released called Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. But that certainly isn't all that's notable about this movie. GVK remains one of the least seen of the series and wasn't even released on home video until 1998, when most of the Godzilla catalogue was put out on DVD in anticipation of the American remake. GVK also features a truly loopy time travel plot and is the only movie to date to give Godzilla a real origin story (even King Ghidorah is given one, in a departure from his usual space monster origin). If that wasn't enough going on, it also is the sole appearance of Mecha King Ghidorah.


The Heisei Godzilla movies feature a relatively tight continuity, and GVK serves as a sequel to Godzilla VS Biollante. Godzilla recuperates from his brush with the giant plant monster and the anti-radioactive bacteria used against him when a strange craft appears over Japan. It turns out the craft is from the Earth's future and its occupants (two Westerners, a Japanese woman and an android) offer to help Japan eliminate Godzilla because, they warn, in the future, Japan is a desolate nuclear wasteland due to the monster's attacks. They offer to travel back to Godzilla's origins in World War II, to prevent the beast from ever being created.

These Futurians, a Japanese author, and psychic Miki Saegusa (introduced in Biollante and a mainstay of the 1990's movies) travel back to 1944 during the Pacific campaign of World War II, in which a Japanese platoon is attacked by American soldiers but rescued by a rampaging dinosaur relic, a "Godzillasaurus" and the creature that will become the King of the Monsters after being exposed to American nuclear testing. The Futurians abduct the wounded dinosaur and bring it back to the present, thus insuring that it will not become Godzilla. However, they do leave behind three golden chirping creatures in its place...

It turns out that the Futurians wanted to remove Godzilla from the equation so that their own monster, now formed into King Ghidorah could take its place and destroy Japan. In their future, Japan is the dominant country on Earth even more powerful than the U.S., China and Russia and this mission is to prevent Japan's ascendancy. Now, I'm not sure why the Japanese woman wanted to go along with it, but whatever.

However, the Godzillasaurus is mutated by a Russian nuclear sub, resulting in the creation of Godzilla, who battles and defeats both Ghidorah and the UFO. The Japanese Futurian returns from the future with a cyborg version of King Ghidorah, with which to defend Japan from Godzilla. Although, Mecha King Ghidorah fails to defeat Godzilla, it does lead him into the sea and away from Japan.

So, you can see that still-complicated summary that Godzilla VS King Ghidorah has a pretty weird and convoluted plot, which is one of the reasons that it is one of my favorite Godzilla movies. I like to think of it as the Back to the Future II of the Godzilla series. It has the best story out any movie of the series, although it is not necessarily executed very well.

GVK is also the most controversial Godzilla movie, due to the sequence that is set in World War II and features the Godzillasaurus violently attacking American troops. It is a discordant reminder that despite the often cozy post war relationship between the two countries, the US and Japan were bitter enemies at one point. It is also a little distasteful to juxtapose a fantasy monster sequence with the human loss and suffering of WWII. For this reason, it took quite a long time to release the movie in the US. However, GVK does solidify Godzilla's relationship to the war which culminates in the great 2003 movie Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack in which Godzilla is literally an embodiment of the war dead

Godzilla has always had a complicated relationship to World War II. In the original 1954 movie, his rampage is an obvious allegory for the destruction visited upon Japan by the two atomic bombs which ended the war. And while the monster's creation is almost always caused by US atomic testing, over and over again, Godzilla terrorizes Japan in a kind of cinematic self flagellation. He doesn't destroy Los Angeles or San Francisco, he makes it his mission to punish the Japanese. Going from an a brutal military power that is deeply despised in the region to a nation that was humiliatingly defeated in a rain of atomic Hellfire, to a largely peaceful prosperous people is a dizzying journey to take in a lifetime and, in their own way, the Godzilla movies document and comment on that journey.



Godzilla VS King Ghidorah came at a time of relative tension between the U.S. and Japan as it was the height of Japan's economic surge. People in the States were wary of the country's power (much the way that they are now with the growth of China). In the movies, this discomfort manifested itself with subtle and not subtle barbs toward the Japanese. In popular culture in the 1980's and 1990's the Japanese were usually depicted as drone-like businessmen working for monolithic corporations with a laser-like focus for buying everything in sight and speaking in sinister Engrish ("Whay-ah is Rutenent Liprey?). More often than not, they served as stern bosses to American characters.

Godzilla VS King Ghidorah feels like part of the other side of that conversation, with the movie's entire plot revolving around jealous foreigners attempting to thwart Japan's glorious future. The scenes in which Japanese soldiers honor the giant dinosaur that saved them from the Americans, is particularly interesting since Godzilla is a such an icon of Japanese popular culture. In a very superficial way, it is as though the Japanese were able redeem a bit of their wartime past using one of their most potent post-war symbols.


THE MONSTERS/EFFECTS

We get one of the better Godzilla suits in this movie and it is a slight evolution of the Biollante version of the character. The Heisei version of the character is beloved by fans and this is one of his better looks. The Godzillasaurus, however, leaves a lot to be desired and is rather awkward. Remember, this was a few years before Jurassic Park when dinosaurs were usually realized as puppets or anamatronics.

This movie features the first appearance by Ghidorah since the 1970's and for the most part, the King looks pretty good, although the flying sequences are pretty weak. Mecha-King Ghidorah is a pretty cool creation (his whole middle neck and head are mechanical) and in the Heisei continuity, he serves as the basis for that version of Mechagodzilla.

While the monster effects in the movie are quite good, anything else is pretty awful. The android character tries really hard to be be Terminator but both the acting is awful and he is the center piece of some truly terrible special effects.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

I really like the WWII scenes for their cultural subtext and for making the connection between Godzilla and the war more explicit than it had ever been.

HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

As part of a two pack DVD with Godzilla VS Mothra: The Battle For Earth.

TRAILER




Patrick Garone
www.patrickgarone.com
twitter.com/patrickgarone
facebook.com/cityofthegodsnovel

Monster Movie of the Week: Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)

GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE (1989)

Director: Kazuki Omori

Genre: Daikaiju eiga

Country: Japan

After the Showa series ran its course with 1975’s Terror of Mechagodzilla, the Godzilla franchise went on a long hiatus until 1984’s relaunch, Godzilla (known here as Godzilla 1985). The movie was praised for its return to the darker themes of the early films but was criticized for its often ponderous tone and its lack of a monster opponent for the Big G. It would be another five years before the new Heisei, or versus series, would resume in earnest with Godzilla vs. Biollante, a movie that is notable for its remarkably unique and imaginative creature design, introduction of new “hard” science fiction elements, and often bizarre plot.

Biollante begins in the aftermath of the previous movie, as scientists are sifting through the rubble of Godzilla’s most recent attack on Tokyo and pulling out bits of the monster’s biological material from the debris. Godzilla vs. Biollante introduces a element into the series through its biotech subplot. In the Showa movies, Godzilla’s biology had not been given much attention, but in the 1990’s and 2000’s it is a recurring theme. In the 1980’s, the use and ethics of biotechnology and genetics was a huge issue. Biollante was actually released the same year as Michael Crichton’s landmark sci-fi novel, Jurassic Park, which also featured the application of biotech as one of its main themes.

Much of the human activity in the movie concerns the quest to obtain and use the Godzilla cell samples by different factions. This is actually kind of a cool idea, and if there had been a Godzilla attack, you can bet that lots of people would like to get their hands on his samples to use for their own ends. Researcher Dr. Shiragami, mourns the loss of his young daughter in a terrorist attack and spends much of his time looking into psychic phenomena, especially the psychic properties of roses (Um, whaaa?). One of his students is Miki Saegusa, a psychic who develops a bond with Godzilla. Miki becomes a fixture in the later Heisei movies, which feature a fairly tight continuity.

Meanwhile, Dr. Shiragami has come into possession of some Godzilla cells and has been tasked with using them to create a weapon to be used against Godzilla. Unbeknownst to his employers, Shiragami has been combining them with both the DNA of one of his psychic roses and that of his dead daughter (WTF?!), needless to say this does not end up well, and the resulting creature, Biollante, escapes into a nearby lake and grows to an enormous size. Biollante is a genetic relative of Godzilla and begins calling him to her. When the King of the Monsters arrives, the two have a skirmish, and Biollante is apparently defeated.

Godzilla then makes his way to the nearest nuclear power plant (as is his wont) he faces an all out attack from the humans, who unsuccessfully attempt to use Shiragami’s weapon against him. A fully-grown Biollante also appears, and battles Godzilla, nearly destroying him, before he triumphs and heads to sea. Biollante releases spores which briefly form into an image of Shiragami’s daughter and then head out into space(!?).

THE MONSTER/EFFECTS

First, Biollante features a new look for Godzilla and one that stayed fairly consistent throughout the 1990’s. The Biollante suit remains an iconic look for the character and one that is beloved by many fans. Strangely, it adds features that are actually less reptilian, such as a set of mammalian specialized teeth instead of the fangs or jagged teeth of past suits, an almost feline face, topped with what look like cornrows, and small, intelligent eyes. Apparently, this Goji has been doing push-ups, because he has a more muscular upper body, with pronounced pectorals and deltoids (the lower body is still flabby though).

The real star, however, is Biollante herself, who is totally unique in the history Godzilla monsters. This is the rare instance of Toho forgoing the usual man-in-suit technique and opting for a different approach to bring its monster to life. Biollante, in her final form, looks like a giant Audrey 2 from Hell and actually dwarfs Godzilla in comparison. She is a genuinely horrible monster and not at all goofy-looking, as many other Toho monsters are. Her “body” is sort of bulbous with a luminescent potbelly, crisscrossed with sinewy vines . She moves on a bed of tentacle-like vines, many of which end in toothy jaws. On her back are mossy scales. Half of her body is taken up by an absolutely huge and croc-like mouth, which is full of teeth, even on the base and roof of the mouth, and from which she sprays a radioactive sap. She is definitely one of the most original and compelling monsters to have appeared in a Toho movie.

As a Toho monster, Biollante is part of a long line Godzilla clones, demi-Godzillas, usurpers, and wanna-bes that include, the original Mechagodzilla, Spacegodzilla, and Orga (from Godzilla 2000). Even the American Godzilla has been worked into the mythos as a pretender with his reference in Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah and finally his appearance in Godzilla Final Wars. In GMK, poor Baragon, is temporarily confused with Godzilla and it doesn’t end well for him. If there is a real theme to the Godzilla franchise, is that there can only ever be one Godzilla, and you’d better not even try to replace him.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

The battle at the end is quite good, and represents a rare moment where Goji is truly outmatched by an opponent.

SEQUELS

Followed by the also interesting, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.

Sadly, this is Biollante’s sole appearance in a Godzilla movie. She does appear in the recent Wii game, Godzilla Unleashed as a playable character. And Shiragami appears in the cutscenes as well.

HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

In the DVD and Bluray age, Godzilla vs. Biollante has been pretty much unavailable in the USA. With no official DVD release, it is necessary to order it as an import or wait for the movie’s eventual release on Bluray. As of yet, only the very first Godzilla has been released on Bluray and the 1998 remake. If Toho and Columbia follow suit with what they did last time, you can expect most of the catalog to be released on Bluray with the new American movie in 2012.

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Patrick Garone
www.patrickgarone.com
twitter.com/patrickgarone
facebook.com/cityofthegodsnovel

Monster Movie of the Week: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA (1974)
Director: Ichiro Honda
Genre: Kaiju eiga
Country: Japan

THE MOVIE

By the mid-1970’s, the Godzilla series was beginning to fizzle out with increasingly silly and cheaply made entries into the franchise. Movies like Godzilla’s Revenge and Godzilla vs. Megalon represent an all time low for the series. These movies introduced us to characters like Jet Jaguar, an Ultraman wannabe who can change his size at will, an army of short shorts wearing Kennys and the most horrifying incarnation of Godzilla’s spawn, Minya, who is a spiritual forefather to both Jar Jar Binks and the Ewoks.

If his father is Godzilla, then who's his mother? Carol Channing?

While 1974’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is a step above those entries, it is also fairly representative of this fairly miserable period in Godzilla’s history. It features the hated “Muppet” Godzilla suit with its googly eyes and throw pillow dorsal spines as well as a cheesy plot involving yet another group of aliens trying to take over the earth. What’s more telling is the movie’s plot, in which aliens attempt to frame Godzilla by building a mechanical doppelganger. Think about that for a second. At this point in Godzilla’s career he has lost so much street cred that he can actually be framed for destroying a city. When a monster is prophesied to destroy the earth, one of the characters states, “I never thought it would be Godzilla.” Um, what? At some point between 1954 and 1974 Godzilla went from nuclear hell beast to Cookie Monster.

Cooookies!

That being said, the movie does introduce us to one Godzilla’s most popular antagonists, Mechagodzilla, who was one the few monsters from the late Showa movies to actually be carried over into the later Heisei and Shinsei series of movies. Mechagodzilla is, of course, a mechanical version of Godzilla.

In these later Showa movies, Godzilla and his opponents always manage to meet up in strangely deserted rural areas.

In his original two Showa appearances he is an evil robot created by aliens to fight Godzilla. In this movie he even sports a fake skin so that he can impersonate the big guy, sort of a kaiju version of the Terminator. The Showa Mechagodzilla has remained a popular character due to his unique powers and retro design. There doesn't seem to be any part of his body that does not shoot lasers or missles and he even features finger and toes projectiles. The classic Mechagodziila is more portly and less svelte than his later versions and is made from “Space Titanium” with a boilerplate aesthetic that is almost steampunk by today’s standards.

This movie also popularized the "mecha" concept in the Godzilla series, although it was previously introduced in the Toho-verse in King Kong Escapes, which featured Mechanikong. In addition to the other two Mechagodzillas, there was also a cyborg version of King Ghidorah in 1991's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. In the cartoon series based off of the American Godzilla movie, the mechanically resurrected version of that monster was known as Cyber Godzilla.

INFLUENCES/RIPOFFS

I love Godzilla movies but they are pretty shameless in their, um, homages to other movies. This movie features some dreadful gorilla aliens that can only have been inspired by the then popular Planet of the Apes movies and an Interpol subplot seemingly rejected from a James Bond movie.

"This is another fine mess you've gotten us into Cornelius."

MONSTERS/EFFECTS

This movie also features an appearance from Anguirus who looses a surprisingly bloody fight to Mechagodzilla that ends with a neat visual reference to King Kong. King Seesar makes his first (and until 2004, his only) appearance. Seesar is an monster visually inspired by various Asian mythological creatures, although his little statue actually looks a lot cooler than he does. He can only be described as a dragon/bunny/monkey man who has reflective eye powers and no other abilities to speak of.

King Seesar's day job consists of sitting in front of a Chinese restaurant.

DVD AVAILABILITY

Available in various versions. The movie was re-released back in the late 1990’s in time for the American Godzilla movie.

SEQUELS

Mechagodzilla, shooting his LSD ray.

Okay, this movie was directly followed by Terror of Mechagodzilla the next year marking the creature’s second appearance and the end of the Showa series of Godzilla movies.

Mechagodzilla also appeared (as a human creation based on technology recovered from Mecha King Ghidorah) in 1993’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II which was NOT a sequel to this movie.

In the Millenium series, came a pair of movies (the only interconnected movies in that series), Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and its sequel Tokyo SOS which again featured Mechagodzilla as a human creation designed to battle Godzilla and in this case a cyborg made from the bones of the ’54 Godzilla.

Anguirus and King Seesar would both not appear again until 2004’s Godzilla Final Wars. Anguirus would become a mainstay of Atari’s Godzilla fighting games starting with 2001’s Destroy All Monsters Melee and Seesar would make his first fighting game appearance in Godzilla Unleashed for the Wii, which also features all three Mechagodzillas as playable characters.

TRAILER