Godzilla-tober Mechagodzilla Halloween Double Feature Finale Extravaganza!
Because how I can top the double feature from last year? A TRIPLE FEATURE! Yay….
Anyways, let’s goooo:
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II (1993):
Honestly prefer this to the 1974 film.
I like that MechaGodzilla is directly a human invention in this one (as opposed to an alien one in the 1974 and 1975 films), and how there is a specific plan to be utilized with regards to Godzilla.
(I was amused said plan involved a long debunked myth that dinosaurs had two brains, but it works in the context of the film.)
I really enjoyed the effects in this film. The film came out in 1993, the same year another big dinosaur film came out. You may have heard of it.
Like the last few films, you do feel the influence of the latest American science fiction movies, and there is a big Steven Spielberg influence on this film (ironic, given Spielberg was a Godzilla fan and cited it as an influence on Jaws and…. Jurassic Park).
The film is inspired by Jurassic Park, especially its use of stark shadows during darker scenes (especially the climax fight of the film) and the whimsy and wonder during its portrayal of “Little Godzilla”
Apparently, this character is distinct from “Minilla”, but was inspired by him. Honestly, I prefer little Godzilla, the design is cuter, and I like that it acts a little more mature and has more agency than Minilla. I also liked that it had a central role in the plot, actually helping resolve it, and getting Godzilla to show some empathy, humanizing the character without removing the sense of danger from him.
Having something to do with the plot is also more than I can say than for Rodan, who could be completely cut from the film, and basically have no impact whatsoever. Apparently, his role came from the fact this was actually meant as a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla. His only role was reviving Godzilla at the end to make the climax longer.
I was amused that there was a character (Kazuma Aoki played by Masahiro Takashima) who is obsessed with pterosaurs, despite being a pilot.
There’s also a tacked on moral about how the machines of man couldn’t defeat Godzilla, which feels like it doesn’t match what actually happened.
Still, the climax fight is actually very good, with some of the best effects (the MechaGodzilla suit is especially impressive), sets, and action scenes of this particular version of Godzilla.
The plot is also relatively easy to follow, despite having some subplots, but they all feel like they connect, and they never feel superfluous.
Probably my third favorite of the Heisei period so far.
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Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
I remember when I saw the Legendary Godzilla from 2014 (Good god, I’m going to have to cover that series eventually, aren’t I), one of my complaints about it was that Godzilla didn’t appear a lot in it.
Having now seen most of the films in the Showa and Heisei periods, I now understand that choice, and the films where he doesn’t appear that much actually work a lot better because it makes the scenes in which he appears more impactful and have a lot more significance to the viewer.
Godzilla does appear a lot in this, and it just doesn’t work. It didn’t have the same impact as in other films.
I like the design of SpaceGodzilla (especially the Doomsday like crystals protruding from his body), but he also appears a lot in the film, and it makes the devastation he causes in the film feel small.
A larger problem is how many plotlines end up clogging up the film. There’s the appearance of SpaceGodzilla, some guy on an island trying to kill Godzilla (not kidding, the entire first act of the film is dedicated to this guy trying to kill Godzilla with landmines), the new anti-Godzilla mech MOGUERA (which apparently originated from the 1957 Toho film The Mysterians), the return of Mothra, the yakuza kidnapping recurring character, psychic Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka). It becomes too much to really sink your teeth into.
It doesn’t help that, while the effects remain impressive, the fight scenes are too long and too confusing. SpaceGodzilla is too overpowered, and while this puts Godzilla at a disadvantage, it also requires them to extend it in order to make SpaceGodzilla more of a threat.
Worst yet, they imprison Little Godzilla early in the film, and he doesn’t come back until the very end. Even though they gave him a way cuter design. Come on.
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Godzilla vs. Destroyah (or Destroyer) (1995)
The final film of the Heisei era, and it really feels like it.
First, this would be the last Godzilla film scored by Akira Ifukube before his death in 2006 (or at least having a new score by him), and the grand brass and epic scope of his previous scores is replaced with a more dour take, a lot more lowbeat and dramatic. Even the iconic Godzilla theme has a sense of lingering melancholy to it, a sense of impending doom.
Ifukube would say that this was his most difficult assignment, and that it would be appropriate for him, having been present at Godzilla’s birth, to be present at his death.
That idea of Godzilla’s impending death is the entire premise of the film. After Godzilla consumed uranium and caused the island where he and Little G were staying (Baas Island, apparently) to be destroyed, he’s now basically a walking meltdown, with the potential to destroy all life on Earth and enact a more extreme form of the China Syndrome , which gives the plot a larger sense of urgency.
If that weren’t enough, tiny Precambrian microorganisms are slowly mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer used by Dr. Serizawa to destroy Godzilla in the original 1954 film, to become the titular “Destroyer”, which is one of the best designs of any kaiju in this series. Extremely menacing, with a kind of amalgamation that makes it “appealingly disgusting”, if that makes sense. Reminds me a lot of Hedorah, my personal favorite kaiju of the Showa era. Destroyer is also a great villain, being extremely cold, powerful, and destructive.
In one emotional scene, Little Godzilla (now dubbed Godzilla Junior, because he is much, much bigger now) attempts to fight off Destroyer, and is brutalized by Destroyer. Luckily, Godzilla Senior is able to fend him off, but just as they are reunited, Destroyer comes in, crashes Godzilla Junior into a stadium, and hits him with an Oxygen Destroyer beam, killing him. The death scene is honestly emotional, I almost cried during it. Especially in how Godzilla, normally stoic and angry, becomes fully sadden and angry at the loss of his young companion. The scene of Godzilla trying to revive GJ is probably the most human Godzilla has been portrayed as so far.
The film owes a lot to the 1954 film. The two leads (Yukari and Kenichi Yamane, played by Yōko Ishino and Yasufumi Hayashi, respectively) are descendants of Dr. Yamane (played by Takashi Shimura in the original Godzilla. The Oxygen Destroyer, as mentioned above, plays a big role. In probably my favorite allusion, Momoko Kochi reprises her role as Emiko Yamane 40 years after she played it in the original Godzilla, giving grave warnings as to the power of the Oxygen Destroyer. The tone, with its darker atmosphere and more foreboding tone, is much closer to the 1954 film than even Return was. Even the big kaiju fight scenes are more subdued, more angry, than they’ve been previously, with a lot more downer moments.
The effects and costumes are great, especially the effect of Godzilla’s back scales (Fins?) melting off in the final scenes, and the devastating final battle between Godzilla and Destroyer, which is done in great shadows, only to end in bright colors.
Godzilla’s death is also awe-inspiring, but also heartbreaking. Ironically reminding me of the death of the Rhedosaur in The Beast from 20000 Fathoms, the film that inspired him in the first place.
The film is dark, but there is something vaguely comforting about how it ends on a more optimistic note, with Godzilla dead, having not destroyed the world, but lives on in the resurrected Godzilla Junior.
Ishiro Honda died in 1993, two years before the release of this film, but I have a feeling he might’ve appreciated this entry had he lived to see it. Then again, we’ll never know.
Another Godzilla-tober in the bag! Not looking forward to covering Roland Emmerich’s version, but I have a whole year before I have to do that.
I originally thought these might lean more into environmentalism, but instead, they seemed to deal more with Japan’s ascendance as a economic powerhouse during the 80’s and 90’s, and explores the ambivalence towards that newfound power, and especially how it could potentially enable it to sow the seeds of its destruction. There’s also strong themes about both the destructive potential of new technology (especially genetic engineering and nuclear energy) but also the power of technology to solve these issues and advance humanity. I think that theme is very poignant nowadays.
Alright, ranking. Only six films, so easy, worst to best:
Worst: Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Mecha Godzilla
Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla vs. Destroyer
The Return of Godzilla
Alright, as always, thank you for reading, and I hope to see you soon!
Happy Halloween and a merry All Saints Day to all.