Godzilla vs. Destoroyah/ゴジラvsデストロイア (Gojira tai Destoroyah) (1995) - The king battles crab monster in effects-primed entertainer

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The frightening Destoroyah monster chomps out of a Tokyo with a burning Godzilla and Godzilla Junior already under attack on this fiery, action-promising poster for Takao Okawara's Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

Once again reckless science produces a catastrophe, as micro-oxygen research fails, causing a veritable army of crab-like monsters to develop. These beasts melt together into one giant Destoroyah monster, who fights a red-glowing, meltdown-nearing Godzilla.

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is written by Kazuki Ohmori (Totto Channel (1987)) and directed by Takao Okawara (Chô shôjo Reiko (1991)), with clips used from previous franchise entries directed by Ishirô Honda (Godzilla/Gojira (1954)), Koji Hashimoto (The Return of Godzilla/Gojira (1984)), Kazuki Ohmori (Godzilla vs. Biollante/Gojira vs. Biorante (1989)) and Kenshô Yamashita (Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla/Gojira vs. Supesugojira (1994)).
SPOILER Advertised in Japan as the film in which 'Godzilla dies!', Godzilla vs. Destoroyah also has a 'heart-rending' prolonged scene in which Godzilla loses his adopted son Godzilla Junior.
The films' major popularity in Japan is really felt in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, where a whole lot of money is obviously spent on the film's great wealth of special effects. It is furthermore interesting to see the economic transformation in the country since the 1954 original, which is very evident.
The Destoroyah monsters are highly reminiscent of alien creatures, but the general storytelling recipe used here is pretty familiar, and the result with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is great entertainment, for example for a lovely Sunday afternoon time on the couch.

Related posts:

Godzilla franchise:  Shin Godzilla/シン・ゴジラ (Shin Gojira) (2016) - A sensational Japanese comeback
Godzilla (2014) - The best US Godzilla  
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah/ゴジラvsキングギドラ (Gojira tai Kingu Gidora) (1991) - A future-sent monster needs defeating in bombastic entry
Godzilla vs. Biollante/ゴジラvsビオランテ (Gojira tai Biorante) (1989) - The king battles rose monster in franchise low
Godzilla/ゴジラ (Gojira) (1954) - A Japanese king is born ...

Watch an explosive trailer for the film here

Cost: 1 bil. ¥, approximately 10 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 3.4 bil. ¥; accounts differ and rank from 18 mil. $ to 42 mil. $ (the first probably a domestic figure and the latter a worldwide total)
= Box office success; some uncertainty - could be a big hit
[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah was released 9 December (Japan) and runs 102 minutes. The 22nd film in the franchise, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is also the 7th and last in its Heisei period. Toho wanted to beat the preceding two theatrically disappointing entries and marketed the film as Godzilla's last, in which he would die. This successfully boosted publicity, and Toho soothed upset fans by saying that they were planning to reboot Godzilla again in 2005. Ohmori's initial idea to have Godzilla go up against a ghost Godzilla was scrapped. Godzilla actor Kenpachiro Satsuma reportedly nearly suffocated six times due to the carbonic acid gasses emitted by the heavy suit. Original Godzilla composer Akira Ifukube returned and scored the film as his last in the franchise, saying he approached writing the theme to Godzilla's death as if he was writing a theme for his own death. 4 mil. paid admission in Japan; the film was also released in Portugal in 1995, and in Finland, France and Hong Kong in 1996. In North America the film was released straight-to-DVD in 1999. It was nominated for 2 awards from the Japanese Academy. Godzilla returned in the first Hollywood film Godzilla (1998) and then in Toho's much sooner than announced reboot Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999), beginning the franchise's 1999-2004 Millennium period. Okawara returned with Yukai (1997). 5,118 IMDb users have given Godzilla vs. Destoroyah a 7.0/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah?

Godzilla/ゴジラ (Gojira) (1954) - A Japanese king is born ...

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An original, text-heavy poster for Ishirô Honda's Godzilla

Two battleships mysteriously sink, and soon after the 'superstitious' are proven to be right: An ancient monster named Gojira has been reawoken to life by nuclear bombs after two million years of hibernation, and he is ready to trash Tokyo!

Godzilla is written by Takeo Murata (A Man in the Storm/Arashi no naka no otoko (1957)) and co-writer/director Ishirô Honda (Aoi shinju (1951)), with Shigeru Kayama (Half Human (1958)) contributing story elements.
The acting is sometimes overdone in a silent film kind of way, but it has charm just like the rest of the film. And because Godzilla comes out of the Japanese seas, where the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attacks wrought previously unimaginable death, destruction and havoc, which helped end WWII just under a decade prior the film's release, the film's coupling of the timely theme of weapons of mass destruction with the metaphoric title monster never rings false.
The effects are many and exciting, and the iconic theme by Akira Ifukube (Yôsô (1963)) is effective. Godzilla is a classic of profound meaning and a film that I can't wait to rediscover again some day.

Related posts:

Godzilla franchise:  Shin Godzilla/シン・ゴジラ (Shin Gojira) (2016) - A sensational Japanese comeback
Godzilla (2014) - The best US Godzilla

Watch a trailer for the 2014 re-release of the film here

Cost: 60 mil. ¥, approximately 165k $
Box office: In excess of 4.1 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned at least 24.84 times its cost)
[Godzilla was released 3 November (Japan) and runs 96 minutes. About the monster Honda 
said that he "took the characteristics of an atomic bomb and applied them to Godzilla." The 
original Japanese name for the monster, Gojira, comes from welding together gorira [gorilla] 
and kujira [whale]. Honda asked 30 crew members prior to production to read the script and 
decide if they believed in it or not, as he only wanted to work with those with confidence in the
film. A stop motion approach as utilized in King Kong (1933) was scrapped in favor of 
suitmation, as the alternative would have been too time-consuming. The first version of the 
Godzilla suit weighed 100 kg (220 pounds). The main Godzilla actor Haruo Nakajima could 
spend only 3 minutes inside the suit before passing out, and he lost 20 pounds during filming. 
Still Nakajima went on to portray Godzilla and other monsters until his retirement in 1972. 
The monster's roar was created with instruments; a leather glove and a contrabass, altering 
the pitch and speed of the noise created. Principal photography took place in Japan, including
Tokyo, lasting 51 days. Honda would usually work shirtless in hard weather and suffered 
sunburns that left permanent scars on his back. Special effects photography took 71 days. 
The film  sold 9.6 mil. tickets in Japan, grossing 1.6 mil. $ there as the year's 8th highest-
grossing film in Japan. It sold 835k tickets in France in 1957,  probably in the same trimmed 
and cut Americanized version with US actor Raymond Burr, which was released in North 
America in 1957 as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, and which grossed 2 mil. $ in North America. It 
has made another 562k $ in North America  in 2004 and 2014, as the original version was 
reportedly shown for the first time in the West. Roger Ebert gave the film just 1.5/4 stars, 
translating to three notches lower than this review. Godzilla started the longest-running 
franchise in movie history, spanning to date 36 movies, 32 of them from Japanese Toho and 
4 from Hollywood. Godzilla returned in Godzilla Raids Again/Gojira no gyakushū (1955).  
Honda returned with Koi-gesho (1955). Godzilla is certified fresh at 93 % with a 7.67/10 
critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Godzilla?