Canon-Strike XIII: Godzilla

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 19 - Godzilla vs Mothra
Intended to be a solo film for Mothra, the film was retooled to include Godzilla and to make a film that steered the franchise more towards families like earlier entries had. Mothra is set to face her male equivalent Battra until Godzilla is awoken and the two pair up to battle the giant. The film received a reasonable response largely through being a bit more back to basics.




Did you feel like GvM continued a path of improvement?

[briareos_kerensky]

These two are solid entries, and between the two I prefer Mothra. Ghidora has some very questionable special effects, even for the time, and the whole time-travel plot is a decent idea but not particularly well executed. Most actors aren't that convincing as well.
It's a shame Battra was never used again in any other movie, including Mothra's own trilogy.

[QualityChimp]

Going to take a moment to point out that the Heisei and Millennium eras of Godzilla movies have some of the best posters ever, by the irreplaceable Noriyoshi Ohrai, who passed away in 2015.

Godzilla 1984

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Biollante

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Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah

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Godzilla Vs. Mothra

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Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla II

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Godzilla Vs Space Godzilla

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Godzilla Vs Destroyah

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Godzilla Vs Megaguirus

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Godzilla: Final Wars

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 20 - Godzilla vs Mechgodzilla II
Despite its name, the film is a not a sequel to the previous entry however it does have Godzilla, the mech version and Baby Godzilla as the Hensei films drifted closer to the weirder content of the prior era. The film was created to bring the Hensei era to an end, a completed saga clearing the way for the American saga that was being planned at the time. The film was a hit though, both at the box office and with merchandising leading the studio to squeeze in one more film into the saga.




Would it have been a fitting end to the Hensei Era?

[QualityChimp]

Sorry, catching up.

I bought Godzilla vs King Ghidorah when it came out on Manga's "live action" releases.



I really liked this! It was cool to see an updated Godzilla with more modern effects than the 70s ones I was used to.
I thought the time-travel idea was great and love it when aliens rock up and cause a rumpus.
I also remember the robot guy being pretty ace and loved this bit:


Fave bit was the pre-mutation Godzillasaurus stomping on some American GIs:


On the strength of GvKG, I picked up Mothra, but was a tad underwhelmed, if I'm honest.
I've always thought a giant moth was a lame kaiju and this has two!
Tokyo should have built a giant light bulb or something.



I've forgotten more than I remember. There was a whole section like Indiana Jones at the start and it was the time when people started getting interested in the environment more (see Captain Planet).
There's a mint sequence where caterpillar Battra is just mashing up Tokyo:


Godzilla's introduction is great, with Akira Ifukube back on scoring duty:


I think my favourite bit was when they mash up the ferris wheel!

[QualityChimp]

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[QualityChimp]

I get a bit confused with the Mechagodzillas around this time, but basically the Showa films are:
Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla
Terror of Mechagodzilla

This film, Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II is nothing to do with the previous films!
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla was the reboot during the Millennium series.

I'll be honest, I prefer my giant robotic kaiju to be bad guys controlled by evil aliens, so human-built ones don't appeal as much.

This is one I've not seen.

I've made a list and I'm going to try and see some of the gaps I have in the series, so thanks again for the thread, Neon.

We could do with a Heisei and Millennium boxset to complement the Showa one...