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Several incongruous elements clash on this packed poster for Takao Okawara's Godzilla vs. Mothra
A meteor strikes down and awakens Godzilla. But it also carries alien life: A larvae which becomes the giant butterfly Mothra and the dragon moth Battra. Godzilla vs. Mothra is written by Kazuki Ohmori (Shoot (1994)) and directed by Takao Okawara (Chô shôjo Reiko (1991)). A truly odd film, Godzilla vs. Mothra has two cosmos mini-girls that sing of their alien civilization, (see them in the bottom right corner of the poster above.) But mainly it consists of the three kaiju monsters fighting and destroying buildings in long battle scenes that are dreadfully boring. Godzilla vs. Mothra lacks taste, intellect, filmmaking skills (the sound, music, editing and acting is preposterous) and a compelling narrative. Related posts:
Cost: Unknown Box office: 2.2 - 3.7 bil. ¥ (different accounts), approximately between 20 - 35 mil. $ = Uncertain [Godzilla vs. Mothra was released 12 December (Japan) and runs 102 minutes. It is the 19th film in the Godzilla franchise and the 4th in its Heisei period. Revamping Mothra as the central enemy monster was chosen, when a poll showed that it was popular among women. Fantasy and child-friendly elements were also incorporated to excite women and children. 4.2 mil. paid admission to it in Japan, the biggest Godzilla audience there for nearly 3 decades. It was the 2nd highest-grossing film of the year in Japan, following Jurassic Park. Internationally it is only noted that it was released in Portugal in 1992. In North America it was released on home video in 1998. Without a more definite world gross and budget for the film, (its predecessor was made for 12 mil. $), it is impossible to accurately rank the film's theatrical performance, which might be anywhere from 'big flop' to 'box office success.' It won 1 of 3 nominations from the Japanese Academy. Godzilla returned in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993). Okawara returned with Bloody Scary Horror (1992). 3,953 IMDb users have given Godzilla vs. Mothra a 6.2/10 average rating.] What do you think of Godzilla vs. Mothra?
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:
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 handles the three-headed opponent before a nuclear missile launched out of the sea on this awesome poster for Kazuki Ohmori's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Three people arrive from the future to Japan in a time machine but have evil ulterior motives: They want to destroy Japan with the three-headed monster they brought along with them, because the country will become all-powerful in 2207. - But they hadn't counted on Godzilla! Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is written and directed by returning Godzilla filmmaker Kazuki Ohmori (Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)). It is a film that may heighten fear of Asians among Westerners, (the film was in fact controversial for perceived anti-Americanism), and it is certainly ripe with Japanese nationalism to the point where it seems more military parade than motion picture; however, everything explodes! The filmmakers and their characters here may be good-hearted and technical wizards or not, but the grasp of narrative and creativity leaves a lot to be asked of. Suit-wearing men spout lines like; "Emmy, pull the Godzilla handle!" Still this all has a certain charm to it. And the three-headed Ghidorah monster from the future rocks. Related posts:
Watch a TV recording of a trailer for the film with English subtitles here
Cost: 1,500 mil. ¥, approximately 12 mil. $ Box office: Reportedly 11 mil. $ (Japan only) = Some uncertainty but looks like a huge flop (returned in excess of 0.91 times its cost) [Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was released 14 December (Japan) and runs 103 minutes. The film is the 18th in the Godzilla franchise and the 3rd in its Heisei period. It was decided to revive Godzilla's archenemy King Ghidorah, when a poll showed that it was the monster most male audiences would like to see return. A more child-friendly and fantasy-based approach was taken after the lackluster reception of Godzilla vs. Biollante's biotechnology focus. Ohmori thought that time-travel was what the public wanted (following major hit Back to the Future Part II (1989)) and incorporated this in the story. Shooting took place in Japan, including Tokyo. Real octopus blood was used during a bombardment scene. 2.7 mil. $ paid admission in production country Japan, up from 2 mil. for the previous film. - But as Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah budget was more than double in size, it ranks as a bigger flop. The film was also released theatrically in Portugal in 1991 and in Germany and Spain in 1993, though regrettably the gross numbers are unavailable. In North America it was only released on DVD in 1998. Godzilla returned in Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992). Ohmori returned with Mangetsu: Mr. Moonlight (1991). 5,312 IMDb users have given Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah a 6.6/10 average rating.]
The well-known nuclear monster is up against something like a thorny rose monster on this vivid poster for Koji Hashimoto and Kazuki Ohmori's Godzilla vs. Biollante
Some genetical scientists accidentally create a plant monster in their attempt to form an anti-atom Godzilla-weapon, and soon both Godzilla and the new monster rack through Tokyo.
Godzilla vs. Biollante is written by co-writer/co-director Kazuki Ohmori (Shinuniva maniawanai (1969)), with Shinichirô Kobayashi (Betterman, TV-series (1999), producer) contributing story elements, and co-directed with Koji Hashimoto(Bye Bye Jupiter/Sayônara, Jûpetâ (1984)). It is a classic kaiju movie of the 'versus' variety, where the human characters involved are mostly resigned to standing on the sidelines and tremble, while the monstrous rulers collide. Regrettably this film is made with a minimum of aptitude for writing and directing a compelling narrative. Godzilla vs. Biollante is an extremely poor film. It gets its one heart simply for an almost mythical shot of the Biollante monster, the film's alleged Nordic mythology-bound rose monster.
Watch an original Japanese TV spot for the movie here
Cost: 700 mil. ¥, approximately 5 mil. $ - reportedly the highest up to its point in the franchise Box office: 1,040 mil. ¥, approximately 7 mil. $ (Japan only) = Big flop (returned in excess of 1.48 times its cost) [Godzilla vs. Biollante was released 16 December (Japan) and runs 104 minutes. It is the 17th film in the Godzilla franchise and the 2nd in the Heisei period, which started with the financially disappointing The Return of Godzilla (1985). A public story contest resulted in the focus on biotechnology. Main director Ohmori (Hashimoto was uncredited) openly admitted his directing a Godzilla movie was secondary to his great wish to make a James Bond film, (this never happened.) He was given considerably freedom with the film, which Toho staff later reportedly considered a mistake that resulted in a film with a narrow audience. Shooting took place in Japan. Godzilla actor Kenpachiro Satsuma wore the improved Godzilla suit, which now had dorsal light bulbs incorporated, which electrocuted Satsuma the first time used. Biollante's vine tentacles needed 32 wires to be operated, apart from the actor inside the monster's hull. This is the first Godzilla film to use CGI effects, though limited to computer-generated schematics. The film reportedly sold 2 mil. tickets in production country Japan, less than the preceding film's 3.2 mil. and the subsequent film's 2.7 mil.. The film was released in Portugal, Taiwan and South Korea, but gross numbers are regrettably unavailable. Toho sued Miramax over an oral agreement of North-American distribution for 500k $ in 1990 and settled out of court, resulting in an HBO straight-to-video release in the market in 1992 in an English-dubbed version. Godzilla returned in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). Hashimoto returned with that same film; Ohmori with The Reason Why I Became Ill/Boku ga byôki ni natta wake (1990), prior to also co-directing Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. 6,564 Rotten Tomatoes users have given Godzilla vs. Biollante a 3.76/5 average rating.] What do you think of Godzilla vs. Biollante?
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.
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 RaidsAgain/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.]
+ Best Kaiju Movie of the Year + Best Tokyo Movie of the Year
The striking, retro-styled, boosted look of its gargantuan title character adorns this awesome poster for Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi's Shin Godzilla
When a mysterious earthquake occurrence in Tokyo Bay turns out to stem from the resurgence of a prehistoric giant monster, the country's government gets busy trying to come up with an appropriate response and salvage what they can.
Shin Godzilla is written by writer/co-director/co-editor Hideaki Anno (Zaku (1980)) with Sean Whitley (Over Your Dead Body/Kuime (2014)) making English-version contribution, co-directed with Shinji Higuchi (Minimoni ja Movie Okashi na Daibouken!(2002)). It is the 31st film in the long-running Godzilla franchise that began with Godzilla/Gojira (1954) and now spans 35 movies, with more on the way. It is the 29th Toho studio Godzilla movie, the first since Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), effectively rebooting the franchise in Japan, - unrelated to the great American reboot Godzilla (2014). Shin Godzilla is an exciting major motion picture, which gives us a new Godzilla story that feels as no-frills fact-based and realistic as is imaginable now. It stays coolly distanced from anything romantic or family-centered, from emotional or very recognizable characters and instead focuses on the nation's worried top of more or less nerdy men. - As well as a single representative of the fairer sex, in round numbers, who is a babe that pretty incredibly imagines a future for herself as president of the US! Overall the admiring relation to the American super power stand as one of the film's few weak points, - together with the fact that none of the film's characters (probably due to its concept) really stand out. - Except, of course, for Godzilla, who is the whole show in Shin Godzilla: Fantastically designed in a transformed version, a kind of destructive god. The effects are impressive, and the film glistens with boyish military fascination, hardware and mechanics, coupled with an orchestral, terrific, sometimes retro-cool score by Shiro Sagisu (Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance/Evangerion shin gekijôban: Ha (2008)) - Shin Godzilla rocks!
Watch a video from the film's Japanese premiere here
Cost: Reportedly 15 mil. $ Box office: 78 mil. $ = Big hit (returned 5.2 times its cost) [Shin Godzilla premiered 25 July (Tokyo, Japan) and runs 119 minutes. 'Shin' means 'true', 'new' or 'god'. Development began in 2013. Shooting took place from September - October 2015 in Tokyo, Japan. The film opened #19 to a 458k $ first weekend in 34 theaters in North America, its peak in the market, where it grossed 1.9 mil. $ (2.4 % of the total gross). The film's 3 biggest markets were its production country Japan, where it debuted #1, which it held for a total of 3 weeks, spending 8 weeks in the top 5, grossing 75.3 mil. $ (96.5 %), becoming the year's 2nd highest-grossing title at the Japanese box office (behind Your Name). 2nd biggest was North America, and 3rd biggest Thailand with 322k $ (0.4 %). The film was commended in Japan for taking inspiration from recent Japanese nuclear and natural disasters as well as political malaise. It sold more than 675k home video copies in Japan and more than 106k copies in North America, the latter totaling an additional 3.4 mil. $. The film won 1/2 Asian Film award nominations, 7/11 Japanese Academy awards and other honors. Due to Toho's contract with American Legendary Pictures about the Godzilla property, they are unable to release another Japanese Godzilla film until the contract ends in 2020. They have instead made an animated Godzilla trilogy in the meantime (2017-18), while Legendary have released their Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and their coming Godzilla vs. Kong (2020). Anno has returned only with a 2019 short in the Evangelion franchise for which he is making the concluding feature for a tentative 2020 release date. Higuchi has returned with a video game and a TV-series and is set to return to features with Shin Ultraman (2021). Shin Godzilla is certified fresh at 86 % with a 6.74/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Shin Godzilla?
+ Best Kaiju Movie of the Year + Best Screen Couple of the Year (Elizabeth Olsen & Aaron Taylor-Johnson)
Awesome, beautiful poster for Gareth Edwards' Godzilla
Godzilla is back! After an American hiatus since the 1998 movie by Roland Emmerich, Godzilla, which wasn't terrible, but definitely wasn't great either, and the Japanese Toho's (owners of the franchise) Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), which I haven't seen, the giant, ancient creature is back, - and this time in the best Godzilla movie that I as a Godzilla fan have ever seen, (and yes, I have seen several of the classic Japanese entries.) Godzilla begins in 1998, where a worried American nuclear scientist in Japan sees his worst fears realized, as an apparent earthquake causes his nuclear plant to come crashing down and kill his wife. Fifteen years later, the same man is still obsessed with the event and what is really going on. He gets arrested in Japan, and his son, - a Navy lieutenant with his own family now, - goes to get him home. But father's ideas turn out to be not so far-fetched at all ...
Beautiful Elizabeth Olsen is a very welcome feature in Gareth Edwards' Godzilla
First of all, Godzilla bolsters a first class cast, led by one of the most handsome screen couples seen in a long time, Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)), who, however, doesn't have much to work with here, and hunky Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass (2010)). - Even in a mediocre monster movie, these two would have made an important difference.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a strong and handsome bomb defuse expert in Gareth Edwards' Godzilla
They get great back-up from Bryan Cranston (Drive (2011)) in the strong role as the desperate father and Juliette Binoche (Three Colours: Blue (1993)) as the mother, though she is only in the movie very shortly. Ken Watanabe is a scientist that brings a lot of the welcome 'philosophical' material of the original movies into Godzilla, about Godzilla's motivation, goal, and how we should behave towards him. His acting is mostly variations on this look, which does become a bit comical:
Ken Watanabe as flabbergasted scientist in Gareth Edwards' Godzilla
- But it's part of the fun of the movie. Other minor steps that you as an audience had better jump over instead of pause to speculate at include: David Strathairn's Navy admiral, who seems to accept it right away, when his job becomes to chase MUTO's (giant mutated monsters) or rather lure them his way - with nuclear warheads! Another such 'step' is when the first monster breaks out of a huge mine with loads of people around and flees to the ocean, and the official strategy is then to keep that a secret, which I feel would be difficult if not impossible in our age. But this strategy doesn't remain in place for very long, as the MUTO isn't satisfied just scuba-diving oceans and laying low. These objections are very minor and didn't hurt the overall experience, which was one of wild exhilaration! Read on to know exactly why.Godzilla allows its audience, what Emmerich's Godzilla did not; to root for Godzilla, (which will be most audiences biggest joy at a Godzilla movie, and especially what fans of the franchise are looking for.) We form a kind of alliance with Godzilla in the new movie, and He helps us to defeat the nasty MUTO's before the end of the movie, which I won't spoil, but I'll just say that it's PERFECT. Gareth Edwards' Godzilla leaves us uplifted, exhilarated and filled with boyish excitement and faith in the giant creature. - Which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, very appropriately with the release of this new film, which is my personal favorite in the series now. Edwards has impressed a lot of the right people with his low-budget monster adventure Monsters (2010).After the solid story is laid down, the monsters get the right amount of screen-time for themselves, and the MUTO's are very well-made, scary multi-legged mutant-freaks; their sounds are frightening, - they are very fascinating:
Concept image of one of the MUTO's' attack in Gareth Edwards' Godzilla
Godzilla has grown, - he's more than double the size he was in 1954, which makes sense, because our cities have grown. He's HUGE in the new movie, and the coolest thing is that he gets to cast his blue flames (radiation?) out at his enemies. I loved that the people in the universe of the movie also get to see him as their savior and look at him with tremendous respect and fascination, (as we do). Godzilla really becomes God-like in Gareth Edwards' movie, which is just incredible. Also it was nice to see a huge Hollywood picture actually end, as so many these days seem to think they have an off-putting obligation to promote the next entry at the end of the film. It is also a plus for Godzilla that it doesn't go overboard with Taylor-Johnson's heroic character; he never saves everything and becomes unreal; the movie is never that much his. Locations include Japan - with references to the Fujiyama-catstrophe, - beautiful Hawaii, Las Vegas, - a fun few minutes of extreme destruction there, - and San Francisco, where the main fights go down. My favorite scene was on the Golden Gate Bridge involving a school bus full of kids desperately trying to get off the bridge, as the military try to attack a monster there. - Really exciting! Another favorite scene was the one where the special troops parachute down San Francisco, emitting red smoke, as Godzilla and the MUTO's prance around the city, - really beautifully achieved! Online critique that Alexandre Desplat's (The King's Speech (2010)) score is below par for him, - because it isn't as 'sophisticated' as he usually is, - is ridiculous. Desplat's Godzilla-score is bombastic, as it should be, and intelligent, - as so many other decisions about the movie is, - and works perfectly with it. I especially liked the music at Godzilla's triumph at the end, which was just perfect. Go enjoy this rare monster movie, bring your kids if you have any, and they're big enough to see it (age 6/8 depending on the child), enjoy the roars, because it may very well be years before a movie about giant monsters as good as this is released again. (But I am really hoping for Jurassic World (2015)!) I didn't see it in 3D and enjoyed is just as much without it, but if you're a 3D fan, go for it.
Budget: 160 mil. $ Box office: 489.4 mil. $ = Big hit What do you think of Gareth Edwards' Godzilla? Do you agree it is the best Godzilla movie to date?
