Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Better Late Then Never

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Godzilla emerges from his own ashes with the intent of attacking Tokyo once again. However, this time Godzilla is on borrowed time due to his heart being on the verge of exploding. Matters are further complicated by the appearance of fearsome beast Destroyah. Director Takao Okawara, working from a compact and thoughtful script by Kazuki Omori, relates the absorbing story at a brisk pace, delivers plenty of exciting mass scale mondo destructo mayhem, maintains a dark somber tone throughout, stages the beast bashes with rip-snorting gusto, and, most importantly, installs not only a true sense of majestic awe concerning Godzilla, but also an unexpectedly potent feeling of heartbreaking tragedy. Moreover, it's neat to see a grown-up version of Godzilla Junior. The way this film nicely ties in with the original gives it extra substance, resonance, and even poignancy, with The Big Go receiving an appropriately epic and touching send off at the devastating conclusion. The solid acting by the capable cast keeps things humming, with especially praiseworthy contributions from Takuro Tatsumi as the dedicated Dr. Kensaku Ijuin, Yasufumi Hayashi as the eager Kenichi Yamane, and Meguma Odaka as compassionate psychic Miki. The special effects are well above average. Akira Ifukube's masterful score rates as another significant asset. A strong and impressive addition to the series.

Deciding on what they should do for Godzilla's closing movie, Toho had several ideas. Borrowed from the original proposed Mothra vs Bagan (1990) movie, Godzilla vs Bagan was thrown around for a while before Toho decided to explore other options, wanting something that paid homage to the original 1954 film. One of the better known story lines was Godzilla vs Ghost Godzilla, wherein the dead 1954 original Godzilla would come back and fight the Heisei Godzilla, eventually killing it. This was pleasing in the sense that Godzilla wouldn't be defeated by another monster, as Godzilla vs Godzilla leaves the victor as none other than Godzilla. But the super-fantasy theme was ultimately deemed to be overkill (how much worse could the time travel and androids from King Ghidorah in 1991 be?), and it was deemed to be one too many consecutive Godzilla-like title opponents (1993's Mechagodzilla, 1994's Spacegodzilla, and what would've been 1995's Ghost Godzilla). As such, they set their sights on creating something around the one thing to kill Godzilla in a film: the oxygen destroyer. Godzilla vs Destroyah (1995) was born.First off, the music is simply a knockout. It's just great, particularly the opening theme (you can YouTube it if you're interested in that). The plot is not especially realistic. Oxygen destroyer? Freezer weapons to combat nuclear disasters? However, the movie handles itself well without major qualms, unlike some of the Heiseis that came before it. In terms of characters and acting, the characters still are nothing to write home about, but the action and important content in the movie is fluid and manages to keep you from caring too much (because yet again we have a lame couple of lovebirds baked in here). Emotions run much higher and the mood is much darker than what we've seen since Godzilla vs Biollante (1989). Pacing throughout the movie is far better than last year's Spacegodzilla and has no real problems.The effects and monsters are a bit questionable at times, but end on a positive note. Burning Godzilla looks dazzling and awesome, and his now-constant spiral atomic ray's power is daunting. Destroyah's crab-like human sized forms look good, but their movements give away their fake-ness. His slightly altered giant form (called Aggregate Form) improves a bit. His flying form LOOKS good, but his wings never flap, which again take some of the life out of him. Speaking of his flying form, why do things just randomly explode as he flies over the city at speeds that don't appear to be all that high? Destroyah is best characterized by his final form, and this form has the beastly look you'd expect. Godzilla Junior is much improved over last year's attempts at making him look cute.With the great looking Burning Godzilla and Destroyah in final form, I was hoping for an awesome battle. I think Godzilla Junior got more action. The close combat between Godzilla and Destroyah was fairly limited, although better than last year's Spacegodzilla (again). It was an improvement, but I was hoping for a little more.Despite its faults of still not making the viewer care much about the characters or the iffy effects, this has proved to be a great improvement over a Heisei series that was quickly declining in quality. It was a great way to nod towards the 1954 original and end the Heisei series on a good note. It's a good 7/10 for me.

It was 1995, the big G died. I did not know that until 1998 when there was a lot of hoopla over the GODZILLA remake. I discovered this on the book THE Official GODZILLA COMPENDIUM and found out that this film was the one where he dies. I wanted to see this movie since it came out on video at the end of the 1990's. My chance came when it stomped on FearNet on Demand. I taped it. And now here is my review. The big G gets a nuclear meltdown. And the JSDF must find a way to stop it. Meanwhile an experiment with the Oxygen Destroyer released a terrible monster called Destroyah. But in the English dub he was referred to as Destroyer. Also in the film there is Godzilla Jr. He is not silly, cute and cuddly like Minya from the 60's or Little Godzilla from GODZILLA VS SPACEGODZILLA. He looks like a teenage Godzilla in my opinion. He is carrying characteristics of his father. Destroyah is an homage to Battra, Hedorah and Ebirah. I mean he can fly, he can change into many forms and he is part-crustacean. Speaking of homage, there are a lot of scenes that pay homage to the original 1954 GODZILLA. Such as the Oxygen Destroyer, the stegosaurus skeleton. It was kind of sad to see the Godzilla Jr. (or Teenzilla as I call him) this film was dark and serious and for the first time ever, has CGI effects. You heard me CGI, where can you see it, only at the part where Godzilla melts. Also there is stop-motion in this films where the animation is the standards of those monsters in one of those movies by Full Moon Entertainment, but no where close to Ray Harryhausen's. It at the part where the Destroyer crabs are walking in the foreground. The animation is pretty jerky. OK now pay attention to the ending. After Godzilla dies, the smoke comes. Then it clears up, and lo and behold, another Godzilla!! And you thought he was dead. Well if you pay attention, Godzilla gave his energy to Teenzilla so he can grow up to be like his father. So Godzilla is dead, but his spirit remains in the form of a fully grown Teenzilla. Confused? Watch the movie. Now originally they wanted to let Godzilla fight the Ghost of the 1954 version in the film GODZILLA VS. GHOSTGODZILLA, but it never got made because in the previous two Godzilla films GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA 2 (read my review) and GODZILLA VS SPACE GODZILLA, the two monsters were Godzilla-looking characters or may I say "Godzillesque". So he can't fight another monster that looks like him, so the cooked up an new one that looks like a monster from hell or some heavy metal poster named Destroyah. If you watch the credits, you see a montage of G-movies starting from the old 1954 version to the Heisei series. Now about the music it is not only Godzilla's theme from the 1954 film but it sounds like a mixture between the theme from MAJIN (Daiei's monster movie about a giant stone idol) mixed with the opening credits from DESTROY ALL MONSTERS and if you listen to the closing credits you hear the theme from 1962's KING KONG VS GODZILLA. So here are some facts before I go on talking about the bottom line and rating. This was the last film of Momoko Kochi who played Emiko Yamane in the 1954 film. It was Koichi Kawakita's idea to kill him off because people were getting tired of him. It ranked number 6 of the box-office grossing Godzilla films in Japan. KING KONG VS GODZILLA ranked number 1 followed by the original. Also at that year, another monster returned. This one from another studio: Gamera in GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE. Bottom line: A must for die-hard fans. This could give you a feeling of Godzilla films in the 1990's. Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, monster violence, peril, some language and gore. Not for the entire family.

On the surface, "Godzilla vs. Destroyer" may look like it's just your average 90s Godzilla flick, offering you nothing more than what you would see in "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah" or "Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla". Mediocre special effects, men in rubber suits, members of the cast who don't really know how to act, and an okay basic storyline. But once you actually sit down and look at the film and go deeper, you realize that it really is one of the better Godzilla films there is out there. And it's the second-best of the Heisei Godzilla movies. Not only does it offer great action sequences, but it also presents heart-breaking dramatic moments and you can feel part of you dying with the great monster himself."Godzilla vs. Destroyer" has this feeling to it that I really appreciate and find attractive. It has an atmosphere that really makes you think about the monsters and treat them as more than just men in rubber suits, which they are. But you almost see them as real characters. Godzilla's new enemy, and one of his most formidable, Destroyer, is a very creative and original design of monster and he is given development and traits that make him seem like a real, destructive and killer monster. A beast that destroys for the sheer enjoyment of killing. And he reflects the fears of Dr. Serizawa, who is indirectly responsible for Destroyer's creation. Dr. Serizawa feared that his weapon, the Oxygen Destroyer, would be used in reckless destruction and lead to the end of the world. And Destroyer seems to bring his fears to life. And Godzilla himself, while still an anti-hero, seems like he is really putting his life on the line to both save the world and destroy it. Even though he is on the verge of meeting his end.As many people know, "Godzilla vs. Destroyer" is the first film in over forty years in which Godzilla is killed off. And to be honest, the death scene of the monster is one of the most moving and dramatic cinema deaths ever to grace the screen. About the last twenty minutes of the film is full of great drama and in the meantime, Godzilla is slowly losing his life. And you feel part of you dying with him, as you had seen and fallen in love with this monster in his previous movies. Even though he always had been an anti-hero and was a killer, you feel incredible sympathy for Godzilla and when he's at last gone forever, you're in tears. And as the monster dies, there is no celebration. There is very little response from the characters, who can only stand and watch in silence. Even the characters who for years had been wanting to see Godzilla dead, stand and look with expressions that clearly read "did it have to end this way?" Akira Ifukube's wonderful and somber music in the background really sets the theme. Ifukube had always been a masterful score composer and "Godzilla vs. Destroyer" features one of his best scores in years.The special effects in "Godzilla vs. Destroyer" are also pretty good, maybe even a bit better than some of the other Heisei films. Of course, there are still some scenes where Godzilla and the others are more than obviously made of rubber, but the pyrotechnics, the blood used for the battles, and the colorful and creative death-rays are truly a treat.There is one problem though and that revolves around the juvenile forms of Destroyer. These numerous creatures and their battle with the SWAT team was more than obviously ripped off from the classic science-fiction film "Aliens". Destroyer's second jaw, and the SWAT team's trackers and guns were definitely inspired from the Alien films. But I can get around that and just sit back and enjoy the movie, for it doesn't rip off anything else. Everything else is entirely original.Performances by the cast were overall pretty good, although the actor who played Dr. Ijuin didn't seem to put enough effort behind his performance, mostly in the final death scene. But everybody else was fairly good, especially Megumi Odaka, who was always keen at her role as Miki Saegusa. The actors playing Kenichi Yamane and Dr. Fukuzawa were also favorable in their roles. The only thing wrong is that a lot of the cast don't get the development they need, unlike the monsters. But that's nothing unexpected in a Godzilla film.Bottom line, "Godzilla vs. Destroyer" is one of the better Godzilla films in years and still remains to this day, twelve years later, as one of the best. It is one of the most moving, visually spectacular, and compelling entries in the Godzilla series. It's an action movie with soul-killing drama that can make you cry.