GODZILLA VS. SPACEGODZILLA
(Gojira tai Supesugojira)
(Gojira tai Supesugojira)
December 10, 1994
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was originally planned to be the last film in the Heisei series, partly out of respect for the recent passing of the legendary director, Ishiro Honda, and also to avoid competition with the American Godzilla film that was about to enter production. But as the films continued to gain momentum in terms of popularity and ticket sales, Toho took a chance with a new director, mostly new production team and a brand new monster.
As G-Force tries to implement a new strategy to keep Godzilla in check, a terrifying new enemy emerges from the darkness of space and threatens to destroy the planet. This new monster dubbed "SpaceGodzilla" kidnaps Godzilla's son and G-Force is forced to work together with Godzilla to defeat the bigger threat.
The concept of a Godzilla from outer space goes back as far as 1979. The intent was to produce a film based on a short story published in the Japanese edition of Starlog magazine, but it never came to fruition.
In the film, SpaceGodzilla (Ryo Hariya) was the result of Godzilla cells making their way to outer space, being swallowed by a black hole and being exposed to all kinds of explosions of stars and crystal organisms. Confused yet?
All that aside, SpaceGodzilla is an awesome character with a wicked design that gives you no doubt of his pure malicious intent.
With SpaceGodzilla being as powerful as he is, there's no doubt that Godzilla would need a bit of help in dealing with him. Toho once again brought back a character from an older movie, In this case, Moguera (originally from the 1957 Toho film "The Mysterians") was reimagined as MOGUERA (Mobile Operation Godzilla Universal Expert Robot Aero-type), it can be one large Mecha or split up into 2 separate vehicles and is said to be "the ultimate counter-Godzilla weapon."Sure Jan...
I used to have very conflicting opinions towards MOGUERA. On one hand it felt like a downgrade from Mechagodzilla given how much he gets trashed in the movie and depending on your tastes MOGUERA will either look pretty cool or absolutely silly. But, now I've warmed up to the thicc boi Mecha and am waiting for Bandai to make an SH MonsterArts MOGUERA figure that can transform into it's alternate vehicle modes.
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla has a good cast of characters.
Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka) once again has a more prominent role not only with her involvement with Project T, but as the voice of defense against Godzilla.
Jun Hashizume and Zenkichi Yoneyam play a pair of G-Force Lieutenants assisting with Project T and piloting MOGUERA.
The character you'll probably end up remembering the most is Yuki (Akira Emoto), a G-Force Major with a vendetta against Godzilla for killing one of his colleagues.
While the special effects in the movie are still well done, there are a few points where they falter. Some of the space scenes leave a lot to be desired, some blue screen shots are too noticeable and if you look closely during a shot where Godzilla starts to go underwater, you can see a portion of his tail literally begin to snap off.
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is seen as more lighthearted than previous Heisei films, probably because of Baby Godzilla's prominent antics and a very brief focus of a romantic subplot. Honestly, this movie feels the most Showa era like. Not surprising since the director, Kensho Yamashita worked as assistant director on 'Terror of Mechagodzilla.' Also Yamashita's main body of work before this film consisted of teen idol films.
As fate would have it, Akira Ifukube decided not to score this movie as he did not approve of the initial script. His duties were instead handed to Takayuki Hattori, who does an admiral job giving the movie some memorable themes. His opening title is appropriately haunting.
The concept of a Godzilla from outer space goes back as far as 1979. The intent was to produce a film based on a short story published in the Japanese edition of Starlog magazine, but it never came to fruition.
All that aside, SpaceGodzilla is an awesome character with a wicked design that gives you no doubt of his pure malicious intent.
With SpaceGodzilla being as powerful as he is, there's no doubt that Godzilla would need a bit of help in dealing with him. Toho once again brought back a character from an older movie, In this case, Moguera (originally from the 1957 Toho film "The Mysterians") was reimagined as MOGUERA (Mobile Operation Godzilla Universal Expert Robot Aero-type), it can be one large Mecha or split up into 2 separate vehicles and is said to be "the ultimate counter-Godzilla weapon."Sure Jan...
Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka) once again has a more prominent role not only with her involvement with Project T, but as the voice of defense against Godzilla.
Jun Hashizume and Zenkichi Yoneyam play a pair of G-Force Lieutenants assisting with Project T and piloting MOGUERA.
The character you'll probably end up remembering the most is Yuki (Akira Emoto), a G-Force Major with a vendetta against Godzilla for killing one of his colleagues.
While the special effects in the movie are still well done, there are a few points where they falter. Some of the space scenes leave a lot to be desired, some blue screen shots are too noticeable and if you look closely during a shot where Godzilla starts to go underwater, you can see a portion of his tail literally begin to snap off.
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is seen as more lighthearted than previous Heisei films, probably because of Baby Godzilla's prominent antics and a very brief focus of a romantic subplot. Honestly, this movie feels the most Showa era like. Not surprising since the director, Kensho Yamashita worked as assistant director on 'Terror of Mechagodzilla.' Also Yamashita's main body of work before this film consisted of teen idol films.
As fate would have it, Akira Ifukube decided not to score this movie as he did not approve of the initial script. His duties were instead handed to Takayuki Hattori, who does an admiral job giving the movie some memorable themes. His opening title is appropriately haunting.
Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla is often looked at as a misstep in the series with it's occasional overlooked effects, questionably over complicated story and it's more lighthearted tone.
But honestly, this doesn't really bother me. Most of my complaints are superfluous at best and after I watched this movie twice in a row, I had a hard time figuring out whether or not I liked it more than the last movie.
The unique monster designs, good characters, great soundtrack and exciting third act fight are more than enough to make this movie a winner in my book.
But honestly, this doesn't really bother me. Most of my complaints are superfluous at best and after I watched this movie twice in a row, I had a hard time figuring out whether or not I liked it more than the last movie.
The unique monster designs, good characters, great soundtrack and exciting third act fight are more than enough to make this movie a winner in my book.
Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and thank you for joining me here in my lair.
So long...
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