#2- "Godzilla vs Destroyah" (1995)

Godzilla vs Destroyah. What was imagined as the final Godzilla movie and the conclusion of the 90's Heisei era also harkened back to the original Godzilla movie more than any other. Of course, the idea of wrapping the entire Godzilla series was short lived as soon as the Americans decided to slap the trademark name on a giant lizard movie in 1998, and the combined disapproval of G fans the world around is what brought back the Japanese Godzilla in 1999. However, when watching Godzilla vs Destroyah it is easy to see that this was intended to be it: Godzilla's final march. But why? And how? Well all good things must come to an end someday my friends, and if you look closely at the above photo Godzilla not only dukes it out with the incredibly powerful Destroyah, but he is dying. Yes, his body can no longer control the massive amounts of radiation inside, and Godzilla begins heating up. His skin turns orange and glows in places, and his atomic beam is crimson orange. Steam flows from his body constantly and throughout the movie it appears the King of the Monsters is in agony as his body slowly breaks down. In a way, it is sad to watch, even for myself after countless times. But as sad as Godzilla vs Destroyah is, it is just as brilliant. It is epic. It is deserving of the number two entry and consideration for the best overall.

Miki Saegusa flies out to Birth Island to check on Godzilla and Little Godzilla, but finds only destruction as the island is a smoking pile of ash. The monsters are no where to be seen. A burning Godzilla then makes landfall in Hong Kong and destroys the city as the opening credits role. He appears on fire. The JSDF hires a young man Kenichi Yamane, a self employed Godzilla enthusiast. His grandfather was Dr. Yamane, who studied the first Godzilla in 1954. Kenichi theorizes that once Godzilla's internal temperature reaches 1200 degrees Celsius he will explode more violently than all the world's nuclear weapons. The survival of the human race is in jeopardy. Meanwhile a scientist, Dr. Kensaku Ijuin, creates what he calls "micro-oxygen." It is based on the same track of research that Dr. Serizawa used to create the Oxygen Destroyer, the weapon that killed the first Godzilla. While testing the micro oxygen on some soil samples, ancient micro organisms in the samples are exposed to the new science and mutated into something more significant. Whatever it is escapes from one of the samples and multiples in an aquarium by killing all the fish inside, just like the original oxygen destroyer. The creatures progress from small crab like organisms that are barely conceivable to the naked eye to human sized crawlers with multiple legs and bad attitudes. The JSDF does battle with several of these beasts and fends them off with flame throwers, however the creatures are not defeated. They have become destroyers and grow in size again. Meanwhile, Godzilla attempts to destroy a coastal nuclear plant but is frozen in the ocean by the JSDF's secret weapon, the Super X-3, which is designed to handle nuclear plant hazards. Using cadmium missiles and freeze rays, it successfully lowers Godzilla's rising temperature and sends him back into the ocean for the time being. Godzilla Junior appears near a beach as the worried Miki and her psychic counterpart Meru look on. The former little Godzilla has been mutated further by the radioactivity at Birth Island into a semi adolescent Godzilla. Godzilla begins following Godzilla Junior, although they are dozens of miles apart. The destroyers back in Tokyo fuse together to form a massive beast after the military engages them all at once. A plan is hatched to lead Godzilla to Tokyo and the new monster "Destroyah" by having Miki and Meru psychically convince Godzilla Junior to head towards Tokyo. The plan works and Godzilla Junior meets Destroyah in battle.

Destroyah seemingly kills Godzilla Junior, but the little guy has some fight in him and turns the tide of battle, sending Destroyah into a burning explosion with his Atomic Ray. Godzilla arrives in Tokyo and goes to meet Godzilla Junior near an airport. He is reaching a critical level temperature wise and instead of exploding, it is now calculated that he will meltdown. His corpse will sink into the Earth and destroy it. The outlook is still bleak for humanity. Suddenly Destroyah returns in his final form, a truly immense monster far larger than Godzilla. The creature quickly disposes of Godzilla Junior, dropping him from high in the air onto a building. Godzilla is enraged and a titanic battle with Destroyah ensues. The JSDF stands guard for Godzilla's meltdown. The plan is to freeze him with everything possible as he melts. Even with the power of micro oxygen, Destroyah is no match for the maddened Godzilla, whose radioactivity flies off the charts as he blasts Destroyah with super charged Atomic beams. Destroyah's form reverts to smaller more mobile Destroyers that crawl all over Godzilla in a attempt to smother him, but they are pests at most. Godzilla marches over to his son, who is nearly dead, and tries to breath radiation into Juniors soul, but it is too late. The loss of his son drives Godzilla over the edge, as he begins to meltdown. Destroyah reforms one last time and attempts to kill Godzilla but in Godzilla's last moments, his power is unreal.

Just being nearby Godzilla burns Destroyah's skin, let alone the massively powerful atomic beams he now possesses. Destroyah attempts to flee, but the JSDF and Super X-3 shoot him down while Godzilla finishes him off. With Destroyah out of the way, all eyes turn to Godzilla, whose spines begin to melt. The JSDF begins unloading everything they possibly have at Godzilla, turning the air around him white with cold, but it is not enough. Pure radioactivity floods out of his body as he roars one last time. His massive body shrinks, and his skeleton soon becomes exposed in places as he groans out his final breath and melts down. The world looks on as the invincible Godzilla dies. Doomsday has seemingly arrived, but suddenly the radioactivity levels plummet. Godzilla has vanished, his body completely lost into the wind. Through the fog of the massive event, a figure slowly rises, a familiar figure. Godzilla Junior. Absorbing the massive levels of radiation, the Son of Godzilla now fully grown rises to take his fathers place. Godzilla is reborn.

This is the kind of the Godzilla movie that stands out because it is more than just matching Godzilla up with a new monster like most Godzilla movies. The premise of this one is not "Let's watch Godzilla somehow defeat this new monster," it is "Godzilla dies." That is a striking contrast. From the get go this movie was set up for greatness and it doesn't disappoint. And what is more, Godzilla vs Destroyah has so much more emotion than other G movies. There is so much at stake for humanity and the characters are so invested in that fate. Godzilla's death is heart wrenching. As Destroyah wedges himself between Godzilla and his son and tragically takes Junior from Godzilla, you will feel enraged and saddened at the same time. It is the rollercoaster of emotions in regards to Godzilla movies and it pays homage to the original better than any other, mainly because the events of the first movie are key to the happenings of this one.

Look at the tremendous scale of this picture. It's marvelous.

And this one.

 

Godzilla vs Destroyah is a monumental G movie and pretty much rates perfect in my opinion in all regards, acting, effects, plot, everything. This Godzilla movie is nearly flawless. So how can any Godzilla movie possibly be better? At long last, we have reached the coveted number one spot in the Glog's Godzilla movie countdown.

#3- "Godzilla vs Biollante" (1989)

Starting off the top three of the Glog's Godzilla Countdown, Godzilla vs Biollante from 1989 is an incredible Godzilla movie for any viewer, although surprisingly it does not have a wealth of Godzilla footage in comparison to other G movies. One could even make an argument that the actual scenes featuring Godzilla are somewhat bland or lacking in a way, and I would agree with this notion. You might think a Godzilla movie without awe inspiring scenes of monster carnage would be ranked lower, and Godzilla vs Biollante would be, if not for what is likely the strongest plot and story arc in the entire Godzilla series. Even as a true hardcore Godzilla fan, I can still admit some Godzilla movies are lacking in pacing and overall character development and plot, although this Godzilla movie is the opposite. I think it is incredibly intriguing during the scenes away from Godzilla, and that is one reason why it has been ranked as the third best Godzilla movie by the Glog.

As the direct sequel to 1984's "The Return of Godzilla", Biollante picks up almost immediately afterwards in the ruins of Tokyo, as soldiers and scientists comb the rubble in search of Godzilla cells. Some are recovered but the Japanese forces are soon after attacked by a small militant group and a shoot out with the Japanese military ensues. The militant group escapes with the cells before being assassinated by a lone mercenary, who collects the cells and returns to his homeland, the imaginary desert country of Saradia, an oil nation similar to Saudi Arabia. The Godzilla cells are brought to a lab where the hope is that scientists can use the regenerative qualities of the G cells to genetically enhance their crops to grow throughout the vast deserts of Saradia to take over the world's agricultural trade. A Japanese scientist Dr. Shiragami and his daughter Erika are employed by the Saradian institute, but as Dr. Shiragami discusses the biological experiment outside, the lab containing the G cells is destroyed by a terrorist bombing. His daughter Erika is tragically killed. Shiragami returns to Japan and over the five year period between Erika's death and the present day of the movie, he works on his own project to instill the soul of Erika into a Rose garden, by combining her cells with those of the flowers. Meanwhile, the Japanese forces are using the rest of the collected G cells to create a new biological weapon to use against the imprisoned Godzilla (if he ever were to escape his volcanic confines). They call it "Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria, basically an organism that feeds off of radiation and harvests the poison. The Japanese Defense Forces want Shiragami's help, but he is very reluctant and declines.  The character Miki Saegusa is first introduced, the psychic girl who studies Godzilla and becomes fond of him throughout the coming five Heisei era movies. An explosion at Mt. Mihara (where Godzilla fell in 1984) triggers a worldwide panic as easily as its tremors knock over the Rose Garden containing Erika's soul. Helpless to the chance of his daughter dying again, Shiragami decides to join the Japanese Anti nuclear energy bacteria program. They provide him special access to G cells, and alone on a dark and stormy night he combines a G cell to that of his daughter's rose cell. A new organism is born. Two factions after the G cells attack Shiragami's home, which include the lone agent from the movie's beginning. After a shootout, large vines shoot through the house and kill one of the shooters. The Saradian agent escapes bewildered. The other shooter, representing an organization called Bio-major, reveals he has placed explosives around Mt. Mihara and threatens to release Godzilla on Japan if he does not receive the Godzilla cells his company desires.

After a frantic race to deliver the G cells to the bio major agent, the Saradian Agent interferes from a far away vantage point with a sniper rifle, prompting my favorite line of dialog in the entire Godzilla series. The two parties exchanging the cells duck in cover, and the Bio Major agent spots the Saradian agent, "Sonofabitch, its that Saradian agent again!" The dubbing here could not be better. The Bio Major agent attempts to escape with the cells but the Saradian agent kills him, and the other party of Japanese cannot disable the explosives in time. Godzilla triumphantly marches out of the destroyed volcano as the world trembles in fear. Biollante appears in the lake by Dr. Shiragami's house, a massive rose like creature, which begins calling Godzilla towards it. Godzilla heads towards Biollante and meets the creature in the lake, where after a short duel Godzilla easily destroys Biollante with his radioactive beam. A massive fire engulfs the lake and Biollante fades into a golden dust, which floats away into the atmosphere. Godzilla then sets his sights on a nearby power plant, but Miki changes his direction with her psychic powers, allowing Japanese forces armed with Anti Nuclear bacteria rockets to attack The Big G in Osaka, but their attack has little effect. It is hypothesized that raising Godzilla's core temperature will allow the bacteria to spread more easily, so the Japanese forces set up an array of microwave plates that attract lightening. Godzilla steps on these plates and the Japanese detonate the plates heat charges, only slightly affecting the monster. Suddenly, a massive, menacing reincarnation of Biollante forms from the sky, a hulking behemoth of a monster that looks like a crocodile. It charges Godzilla and wraps him in vines whilst barfing a barrage of pure anti nuclear energy sludge on the King of the Monsters. The battle is somewhat brief as Biollante bites down on Godzilla's entire head at once, before Godzilla blasts Biollante's mouth with his Atomic beam. He stumbles away from Biollante as the sludge from the monster takes effect, and Biollante disintegrates once more, this time for good. Dr. Shiragami looks on in awe as the golden spores of Biollante form and image of his daughter Erika before fading from view. Suddenly a bullet pierces his chest and he falls to the ground dead. The Saradian agent flees while one of the movies protagonists Kirishima chases after him. The agent corners Kirishima after a scuffle and holds him at gunpoint, but a misplaced step places him on one of the microwave plates and he is vaporized. Suddenly Godzilla awakens after Biollante's biological attack wears off, and he stumbles back into the ocean in a weakened state as the remaining characters look on.

 

The G suit featured in Biollante was very similar (if not the same suit) to the one seen in 1991's Godzilla vs King Ghidorah, and it is every bit as bad ass. Godzilla looks phenomenal, as you can see above, and some slight alterations to some of his roars and his heavy footfalls present a more than imposing monster. Godzilla is the menace again in this movie and it becomes apparent from the get-go. The whole world seems to be in fear of his activity within Mt. Mihara. Some fast facts here, Biollante's final form, the crocodile like beast pictured above, ranks in as the largest foe Godzilla ever faced in any of the movies in this countdown. While projections of the beasts' size are purely fanciful, it is estimated Biollante "crouched" at around 400 feet tall, much taller than Godzilla's 289 foot frame in this movie, and weighed in at over 220,000 tons. Also, Biollante and the general idea for the plot of the movie were both dreamed up by a dentist, who submitted his ideas to Toho after the company asked Japan to submit ideas for the next Godzilla move. A small idea became a big time movie, and number three on the Glog's countdown. Thematically, where do I even begin with this one? The themes of anti nuclear energy are present once more, this time literally in the name of the biological weapon which brings up a negative theme towards biological and chemical weapons as well. The mentioning of such conflicts as the weaning off of oil by the world's nations and importance of agriculture are constant themes in everyday politics, as well as the continuing under the table struggle between factions of each country over the resources in play. Company and country play a big role in this movie, in both realistically depicting an arms race and setting up an awesome conflict throughout the plot of Godzilla vs Biollante. At times, the focus is not on Godzilla, he is just the force waiting to break free due to the actions of the people. He is the reaper, the ultimate consequence of each nation and corporation not cooperating for peace. He ascends from the jaws of hell to punish those guilty, and what we have to realize as we watch this is Godzilla doesn't seek out those who have done wrong individually, such as the Saradian agent, he punishes us all because we all make up mankind, the good and the bad. Even at an individual level, you can make an impact in the world and it is up to us to stop the arms races of the future that could destroy our beloved planet. Everyone can do something positive with even the slightest amount of effort. Consequences at a global scale affect everyone, not just those involved.

#4- "Godzilla 2000" (1999)

Enter Godzilla 2000, the last Japanese Godzilla movie to be released in American Theaters and the number four Godzilla movie ever. This is a rock solid G movie that really doesn't stand out in too many regards, but is strong in each category. I saw Godzilla 2000 in theaters as a youngster with my Dad and was spellbound. It was such a treat to witness a brand new G movie on the big screen, especially at seven years old, and that was something I did not experience again until this past May when Godzilla 2014 was released. Godzilla 2000 was Toho's response to the worst film in the series, Godzilla 1998, the first and worst entry in my countdown . It came out shortly after the 1998 film, and even though it grossed only a fraction of the earnings that the 1998 film did, it is by far a superior Godzilla movie. In my opinion, Godzilla 2000 has one of the top two or three best opening sequences of a Godzilla movie ever. Within the first 10 minutes, Godzilla is quickly revealed and shown marching across Japan, destroying everything in his path in several awesome scenes of scale. The damage and destruction, and especially the audio to go with the explosions and carnage are all fantastic. On top of this all is the radical new design to Godzilla, which thinned him down slightly from his monstrous Heisei series form, while making him much more gnarly and "sharp" looking, especially in the design of his dorsal spines and teeth.

Godzilla arrives in Japan and a special Godzilla research unit led by Yuri Shinoda and his daughter Io track him down. Along with them comes reporter/photographer Yuki, who is attempting to get some close shots of Godzilla for her paper. Yuki does just that when the group comes unknowingly too close to Godzilla. Yuki snaps some shots of the monster up close and they barely escape alive. They continue following Godzilla across Japan as the monster makes his way to a power plant and destroys it. Meanwhile, another research team led by a devious man named Katagiri (who opposes Yuri) discovers a strange rock deep in the ocean, and they bring it to the surface, although it seems to rise on its own. Yuki joins the CGI with Yuri and Io, and Godzilla soon surfaces again although this time the military is prepared to meet him with tanks, underwater mines, and some new special armor piercing missiles, although little can slow Godzilla's advance. The large rock begins tipping upwards, following the path of the sun, and soon takes off, much to the surprise of Katagiri and his right hand man Shiro. The rock flies towards Godzilla and blasts him with a powerful energy beam, after using xray vision to check Godzilla's cells out. Godzilla releases his atomic ray, now a full time orange beam, and melts the rocky outer shell off the rock, exposing a silver metallic form underneath.

By now it is apparent the rock is a UFO. Godzilla is blasted back into the ocean and the UFO crashes into a nearby bay as clouds roll in, blocking out the sun. Yuki notices her laptop has been hacked and all the information concerning Godzilla has been stolen. Yuri collects some Godzilla cells and studies them with Shiro, who acts as a sort of middle man between Yuri and Katagiri (who used to work together before Yuri left Katagiri's team). Together, they discover the regenerative properties of Godzilla's cells, allowing him to heal at an incredible rate. They name their discovery Regenerator G-1. The UFO awakens and flies to Yuki's news building, resting atop the skyscraper as bystanders gather to watch. It is discovered that the UFO has extended some tentacles into the building to absorb all of its information. Yuki tries to find out what exactly the UFO is after before Yuri tells her to escape the building, since Katagiri is planning to destroy it to stop the flow of data. This theme was likely inspired by the Y2K scare of the time. Katagiri destroys the building before Yuri can escape, but somehow he survives and finds that the UFO is after information pertaining to Godzilla's regenerative capabilities. Godzilla arrives and battles the UFO before it drops a skyscraper on him. Momentarily subdued, the UFO steals some Godzilla DNA and creates a monster to battle him, named Orga. Godzilla destroys the UFO and begins battling Orga, which is massive grey beast that appears clumsy and inept in battle. It can however suck energy from Godzilla by biting him, and eventually Godzilla-esque spines begin to form on the beast. It is trying to make itself a clone of Godzilla, the perfect being. Godzilla's atomic ray is too powerful and severely injures Orga, who then attempts to eat Godzilla whole by expanding its mouth like a snake.

Godzilla dives into Orga's exposed throat and heats up his body to a glowing orange level, burning Orga from inside before blasting the alien monster with his atomic ray, destroying it for good. The cast of characters look on in awe as Godzilla releases his victory roar, but the King isn't done. He approaches them all, and Katagiri for whatever reason doesn't run. Godzilla kills him and spares the rest of the characters. Katagiri (and his English dubbed voice actor) by now is one of the top five worst actors in the Godzilla series, so it's not a terribly emotional loss, considering his evil intentions towards the King of the Monsters. Godzilla then destroys some of Tokyo before the credits role. This is also one of the greatest ending sequences of any G movie, as an angelic voice sadly hums a tune as Godzilla silently marches through Tokyo in a brilliant display of power. The final line of dialog: "Godzilla is in each one of us."

Godzilla 2000 was one of the more successful films of the franchise, taking in over twenty five million dollars between Japan and the United States, although its success didn't continue into the next movie Godzilla vs Megaguirus (2000), the #26 G movie. The excellent design of Godzilla featured in those two movies was abandoned after that, not that the following designs were bad. One thing that sticks out in in my mind is the dialog of Godzilla 2000, or atleast the dubbing that has been done in the version that I watch. There are purposefully corny lines throughout the movie, such as when the military officer is talking up the new armor piercing missiles, "Like crap through a Goose!" or when the UFO barely misses hitting a passenger train as three men (one wearing what appears to be a snorkel) exclaim in unison "Holy Crap!" with Australian accents. I personally do not mind dialog such as this as you will see in my next entry my favorite line of dialog ever in a Godzilla movie, however I can understand how something like this would turn off some viewers. Godzilla 2000 overall is a serious movie especially considering the theme of Y2K and computers throughout the plot line. I think the correlation of the quote Godzilla being inside each one of us and Y2K is relevant because Godzilla made short work of the aliens and their plans and I think this was meant to be a sort of confidence booster in a way, that we should not be afraid. If you ever want to kick back and enjoy a Godzilla movie, without having to skim through a ton of filler material or subliminal messages, this is one of the most rock solid G movies to do so with. A simple story, lots of Godzilla action, great effects, its simply put, a masterpiece of Godzilla Cinema.

#5- "Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack" (2001)

Opening the top five is the tongue twister of a G movie, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, otherwise known as GMK. The first time I watched this movie I was very surprised to say the least. Coming off the weak entry of Megaguirus, GMK tried to add a new twist to the Godzilla series in a very different plot from movies before, and let me tell you, it is quite interesting. To sum it up, GMK acts as the sequel to the original Godzilla movie, cancelling out all the other movies happenings. Godzilla returns after almost fifty years, and he is a changed beast from the one we have grown to be so fond of, in that he is completely evil and the antagonist of the film. His eyes are rolled back white in rage and in a very interesting addition, The Big G has become possessed by the lost souls of the Pacific conflict during World War II and is enraged with humanity, seeking to destroy all of Japan. The Guardian Monsters must be awakened to do battle against Godzilla, and these monsters include Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah, all of which have severely limited power in the face of Godzilla's. The plot has a fresh sort of feeling to it in comparison to other G movies, and the action is intense. By the end of the movie, you have that feeling of just concluding an epic film because so much goes into climaxing it. It is a different kind of Godzilla movie, and it is also one of the best.

A nuclear submarine goes missing in the Pacific and the JSDF prepares for what may be the second coming of Godzilla. A biker gang is killed in an underground tunnel collapse, caused by the burrowing of the monster Baragon, which is the first Guardian Monster to awaken and prepare for Godzilla's advance. The main character of the film is Yuri, a female reporter who is filming a documentary about crytid happenings when an earthquake caused by Baragon disrupts the shoot. Yuri witnesses an old man appear in the forest nearby before vanishing. Along with her sidekick Takeda, Yuri attempts to track down the mystery of the Guardian Monsters and the strange man that she has seen. A larval Mothra kills some partying teenagers at an inland lake. Godzilla attacks an island community and decimates it. Soon after, Yuri finds the old man has been arrested and detained for defacing a shrine and meets him in jail, where he explains to her she must free King Ghidorah, and provides some background information. Somehow the old man is prophetic in nature, and everything he has claimed is backed up in a book provided to Yuri by Takeda. Godzilla is attacking because the Japanese are forgetting what happened to their ancestors who've died in battle; all the trials and tribulations they suffered through. Godzilla is their horrible reminder. Baragon arrives and seemingly destroys the prison the old man is held in, freeing him on purpose. The old man goes to free King Ghidorah as Godzilla comes ashore and begins marching across Japan destroying everything and everyone in his path. Other darker Godzilla movies might imply Godzilla has taken someone's life, but GMK makes it evident that Godzilla is a killer, especially when he looks at a crowd of running bystanders and charges up his atomic ray. The scene cuts to a school room full of children preparing to evacuate when a white flash covers the room and a shockwave knocks them down. They slowly stand up and peer out of the window to see a mushroom cloud over the city, the teacher whispering to herself, "Atom Bomb." It is grizzly scenes such as this one that puts GMK in a different class of Godzilla movie.

Baragon finally confronts Godzilla but the first guardian monster is much smaller and much weaker. The King makes short work of Baragon, eventually toasting the beast with his Atomic ray (pictured above). Baragon's soul drifts away in a massive inferno caused by Godzilla's beam. Mothra's cocoon is found in the lake and hatches into an adult Mothra as King Ghidorah rises out of his icy confines. Takeda tries to get medical attention for Yuri, who refuses and takes off after Godzilla to document the coming battles. She captures Godzilla destroying some jets in a valley before he makes his way into the city and fights Mothra, who is soon joined by King Ghidorah. The duo of guardian monsters can do little to stop Godzilla, who makes short work of the golden dragon. Mothra sacrifices herself to deflect a killing atomic ray from Godzilla, allowing her released guardian monster soul to revive and invigorate King Ghidorah. Godzilla destroys the nearby military forces before King Ghidorah rises into the night sky and unleashes a massive energy ball at Godzilla, throwing him back into Tokyo bay and opening a small wound near his shoulder. Yuri's father Taizo, who is the leader of the JSDF, attempts a daring mission in a small personal submarine to target this new weakspot on Godzilla, who battles King Ghidorah underwater and subdues the dragon once more. However in the process, the monsters destroy a nearby bridge that Yuri and Takeda reside on trying to get a better view. Takeda holds onto Yuri, and drops a small magic rock he picked up from one of the Guardian monster shrines, which falls into the deep water and revives Ghidorah once more. Yuri and Takeda fall into the water and witness Godzilla destroy Ghidorah for good with another atomic ray. The souls of the guardian monsters are released from Ghidorah, and they dissolve themselves into Godzilla, sinking him underwater again where Taizo takes his chance. However, instead of shooting Godzilla's wound, his submarine is swallowed hole by Godzilla. Taizo plummets through Godzilla's guts as the King of the Monsters rises to the surface and bears down on Yuri and Takeda. The characters appear to be spent as Godzilla charges his atomic ray, when suddenly a drill bit missile grinds its way out of Godzilla's open wound. The Big G fires his ray and it sprays out of his shoulder, much to the surprise of Yuri and Takeda. A second attempt at releasing the beam causes Godzilla to fall back underwater in pain. Taizo's submarine escapes out of the wound, and Godzilla relentlessly tries once more to kill Taizo with his beam, causing a massive explosion. Godzilla vanishes and Taizo makes it to the surface alive and well. Everyone celebrates the victory over the King of the Monsters but before the credits role, GMK has one last card up its sleeve, and it's one of my favorites ever. The camera pans down into the black depths of Tokyo Bay, nearby the wreckage of the collapsed bridge. It slowly pans forward towards a school of fish, and a sudden massive heartbeat echoes in the deep. The Godzilla theme blares, massive horns sounding the arrival of the beast once more, and the fish scatter, revealing a massive still-beating heart. Godzilla lives.

GMK is a fantastic Godzilla film for several reasons. Godzilla is the focus of the film. He is all powerful and he is the main problem. Everything revolves around him. There are important themes throughout the film that need to be considered daily, especially the theme of remembering the dead and their sacrifices for the living. There is a somewhat controversial scene where a business man tries to hang himself in a forest, an obvious reference to the Aokigahara Forest ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aokigahara_forest ), known by many as the suicide forest. A poster shown briefly in one scene depicts the Lucky Dragon no.5, the fishing boat that was exposed to American nuclear tests and inspired the Eiko Maru vessel in the original Godzilla movie. Nuclear energy is again on the table here, since Godzilla's beam attack produced an actual mushroom cloud that was mistaken for a nuclear bomb. And Godzilla has never been depicted more ruthlessly violent towards humans. There is even a scene where Mothra flies over two identical twin teenagers, who watch without fleeing, a reference to the tiny shobjin twins that appear with Mothra in every other movie. GMK has several fantastic scenes of scale, incredible destruction, some decent use of CGI, and a very engrossing plot. Taizo, or rather the actor who portrays Taizo, is probably one of the most badass guys ever, and should easily be the Japanese version of the Dos Equis Most Interesting Man, should there ever be one. His storyline of seeking vengeance on Godzilla for the slaughtering of his parents and homeland in 1954 is also a theme to consider. My one slight on the movie is the second half is somewhat extended and monotonous, as Godzilla is nearly untouchable and the Guardian Monsters pose no threat to him. This nit-pick aside, GMK will always be one of the top five Godzilla movies in my mind, as it is so evidently awesome at portraying an entertaining storyline with meaningful messages while injecting life back into a widely regarded and appreciated franchise.

#6- "Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II" (1993)

 

 

1993's Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II is a classic depiction of nature triumphing technology. It might be the signature film of the entire Godzilla series in this regard. The theme of Godzilla as an organic force against humanity's latest robot weapon is prevalent throughout the film, with an added paternal battle over a new monster character introduced into the series, Baby Godzilla. The special effects are as good as they get, and there are some absolutely stunning scenes of scale as Godzilla marches through Japan or crashes into a mountain side. Mechagodzilla was reimagined for the movie, both in size and appearance as he was given the height advantage over Godzilla and a sleeker more weapon like look. Speaking of weapons, Mechagodzilla has just that. An arsenal of lasers, beams, missiles, and electrocuting cables cover the mechanical beasts diamond armored skin, which is resistant to Godzilla's atomic ray. In comparison to its predecessor from the Showa series and the Kiryu model from the millennium series, this Mechagodzilla is far more machine than character.

  

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II begins by introducing main character Kazuma, who continues his work on an abandoned weapon called Garuda, a flying machine that was outdated by the newest Japanese weapon Mechagodzilla, which was assembled by using technology from the recovered remains of Mecha King Ghidorah. Kazuma is a "pteranadon enthusiast" and when he sees a group of scientists have discovered a living egg from a nest on a radioactive island, he investigates. The scientists took the egg from its nest and then encountered Rodan, who destroyed their camp in search of the egg before Godzilla arrived for the same reason. A titanic battle for the egg ensued, with Godzilla seemingly killing his once ally Rodan. Back in Kyoto, the egg hatches and a "Baby Godzilla" appears. It is human sized and attaches itself to a female scientist. Godzilla appears again, marching towards Kyoto likely in search of the Baby Godzilla. Mechagodzilla confronts Godzilla in the countryside and seemingly over powers The Big G, knocking him down and blasting him with lasers and paralyzing missiles. It is only when they shoot cables into Godzilla to shock him from the inside that they are defeated, as Godzilla sends a wave of his own energy back up the cables and severely damages the robot. Godzilla continues towards Kyoto past the remains of Japan's huge defense weapon. The scientists hide Baby Godzilla in the buildings basement, and Godzilla leaves frustrated. Studies on Baby Godzilla reveal it has a second brain in its lower back, and that Godzilla likely has the same brain. A weapon is created to destroy this second brain and kill Godzilla. Baby Godzilla is relocated as Kazuma hatches a plan to beef up Mechagodzilla with his old Garuda weapon. Some psychic girls led by Miki Saegusa sing to Baby Godzilla, and their combined telepathic energy revives Rodan on the island it was defeated on. Even more powerful than before, Fire Rodan flies towards Kyoto.

 

 

 

Baby Godzilla is relocated again, this time in a plot to lure Godzilla to some remote islands (The Ogasawara Islands), however, the plot is foiled by Fire Rodan, who hijacks the cargo container with Baby Godzilla and the female scientist inside. This causes the Japanese Defense Force General to exclaim, "God Damnit!" It must be hell having to deal with these monsters all the time. Mechagodzilla and the Garuda are launched to combat Fire Rodan, who the JSDF continually call Radon, like the element. Fire Rodan dispatches Garuda and knocks out one of Mechagodzilla's eyes before being mortally wounded by the robots plasma cannon at close range. Godzilla arrives on cue and engages Mechagodzilla in combat. The two lock beams and a massive explosion knocks over Godzilla, and fries Mechagodzilla's coolant system and some of its diamond armor. Godzilla closes the distance and we get to witness possibly his strongest display of strength ever, as he picks Mechagodzilla off the ground by the neck and throws the robot, before pummeling it with his tail. Garuda, piloted by Kazuma, distracts Godzilla and gives Mecha G some time to recover, before the machines combine together to make a super weapon, Super Mechagodzilla. The added firepower knocks Godzilla out quickly and Mechagodzilla commences finding Godzilla's second brain as the monster lays helpless on the ground. For whatever reason, they make Miki fire the cables even though she is the biggest Godzilla advocate out there and wants to study the beast rather than kill it. The cables, code named "G Crusher," successfully destroy Godzilla's second brain, paralyzing Godzilla and effectively killing him. It's quite a shocking moment. It appears Godzilla has finally been defeated.

 

  

 

Rodan has other plans though, when he flies over and lands on Godzilla's body, sacrificing his energy to The King of the Monsters to revive him. Godzilla's second brain is healed and Rodan's power infuses Godzilla with a massive amount of energy. The Big G gets up, and takes it to Mecha Godzilla, his power so out of control that the heat around Godzilla melts the diamond armor plating off Mechagodzilla. Then Godzilla releases his new red heat beam, which Mechagodzilla attempts to block by locking beams again in the above picture, however Mechagodzilla is thrown back and utterly destroyed by Godzilla and his incredible new power. Nature perseveres over technology once again in climatic fashion. All the pilots survive as their machines tell them no one has made it through the onslaught of Godzilla. Then Godzilla goes towards Baby Godzilla and the female scientist, who have just been released from the cargo container. Miki telepathically tells Godzilla to look after Baby Godzilla, and the two depart into the ocean. 



The origin of the Baby Godzilla is never explained, but it is the same creature that grows into Little Godzilla in 1994 and Godzilla Junior in 1995, setting the stage for a parenting theme in the generally darker and more destructive Heisei era movies. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II had a very large budget of almost 10 million dollars, and this budget is evident in the films grand special effects. If you want to watch a Godzilla movie with a lot of extended destruction and action, this is the one for you. It is fantastic. The acting and dialog leave a bit to be desired, however it doesn't take away from the spectacle of destruction that is Godzilla and his perseverance in the face of a superior weapon. I think if you were to introduce someone to Godzilla, this might be the film to do it with, as it is perfectly paced and has a plethora of action and color to its scenes. Let's begin the top five without further adieu!!!!!

 

#7- "All Monsters Attack" or "Godzilla's Revenge" (1969)

Those with knowledge of the Godzilla series will gasp at this ranking, so before you forever lose trust in the Glog, please let me explain how wonderful All Monsters Attack actually is. For many Godzilla rankings, AMA ranks near the bottom of the list, if not thee bottom, due to its childish plot and heavy use of stock footage (The film is almost a compilation of Godzilla battles from previous movies, with only 1 or 2 truly new Godzilla scenes within). I've ranked it so high because this is my most beloved Godzilla movie. As a child, it may very well have been the first Godzilla movie I ever saw, and definitely within the top three, and because it targets a younger audience so heavily, it hooked me to Godzilla forever. It literally is the perfect Godzilla movie to introduce a youngster too. It has such a nostalgic feel to it that I can watch it over and over and never get tired of it. Everything is so memorable about this film. It takes me back to another age of my life and not many things can do that nowadays, and I will forever cherish  Godzilla's Revenge because of that simple fact.

The film introduces a young boy protagonist, Ichiro, (seen in the above picture) who deals with some neighborhood bullies on his way to and from school. The main bullies name is Gabara. Ichiro is sort of an outcast and his parents are always working, so when he does get home, he is watched by his neighbor Shinpei, who designs toys and lets Ichiro test all his new creations. It is seemingly an ideal place for a child to grow up, but Ichiro doesn't understand why his parents must be away so much. Ichiro has a dream device with antennas that he uses to signal monster island with before he sleeps, allowing him to dream of the island where all his monster heroes reside. All the monster sequences in this movie are dreams of Ichiro's. On the island, he watches Godzilla fight some Kamacuras (stock footage from Son of Godzilla), before being chased through the jungle by one of the huge praying mantises. Ichiro falls in a deep hole and escapes. Struggling to get out, a rope is tossed to him and he is pulled to the surface by a friendly face: Minilla, the Son of Godzilla, who is the same size as Ichiro. Together, they find out about each others bully problems, as Minilla explains a large monster picks on him on the island, calling him Gabara, just like Ichiro's real life bully. Shinpei awakens Ichiro though, and serves him some delectable looking noodles and beef for dinner. It makes my mouth water. Shinpei is warned by investigators to keep an eye out for two bank robbers rumored to be hiding out in the area, which features many abandoned industrial buildings that the kids like to play in. Ichiro goes playing in one building and finds a liscense that happens the be one of the robber's, who are hiding from Ichiro in the same building. They go after Ichiro to get the license back. Ichiro goes back to sleep at home and meets up with Minilla again. The duo watch as Godzilla beats up Ebirah (more stock footage) a giant condor, and Kumonga the giant spider, before the monster Gabara confronts Minilla. Ichiro coaches Minilla on as the little monster shape shifts to a larger size to fight the beast. Minilla is no match though and Gabara eventually loses interest. Godzilla then fights some fighter jets before teaching Minilla how to use his atomic ray beam, which the little can only shoot as innocent blue bubbles, much to Ichiro's amusement. Godzilla stomps on Minilla's tail and the son of Godzilla finally releases his ray beam in full.

 Ichiro is suddenly awakened by the robbers, who steal him from his house as Shinpei is gone. They also steal Shinpei's car, which is for sale. Ichiro prepares a booby trap for the robbers, while explaining to one of them about his inspiration Minilla on Monster Island. He falls asleep and dreams of Minilla trying to valiantly fight off Gabara, who has electrical powers now. Ichiro helps to get Minilla to use his ray beam. Godzilla comes to watch the fray. Minilla jumps off a cliff onto a teeter totter log, launching Gabara into the air. The monster appears stunned before it attacks Godzilla who is busy congratulating his son. Godzilla then commences kicking Gabara's ass himself. The robber's awaken Ichiro, who attempts to escape, using the lessons he learned on monster island from Minilla as his inspiration, he eludes the robber's attempts to apprehend him in similar fashion to a "Home Alone" movie, namely a fire extinguisher. Shinpei, who is looking for his stolen car, finds it and a money bag inside and phones the police as the robber's chase Ichiro through the abandoned building. Once they come back outside, the police arrest them and save Ichiro. With his newfound courage, Ichiro is able to confront his Gabara bully soon after, fighting him off before delivering the entire Godzilla series best dialog line ever, "All bullies are alike, ya can't take it!" Gabara and his bullies seem to appreciate Ichiro now, especially after Ichiro knocks a man painting a billboard off his ladder, spilling paint over his face. Ichiro's father intervenes and apologizes, and the gang all walk off to school together as friends.

Some of you may be wondering why this movie has been titled Godzilla's Revenge, and rightfully so, because Godzilla doesn't avenge anything in this movie. I think this was just the cheap American title for the film. Of the several Godzilla movies geared towards children, this is the ultimate. It doesn't get any better than this. Looking beyond the cheap stock footage use and emphasis towards children, I think everyone can appreciate the spirit and heartwarming nature of this Godzilla movie, because it is the best at exhibiting these qualities and should be celebrated instead of laughed off and criticized. We all have a little Ichiro in us, and we can all learn something from a movie like this.

#8- "The Return of Godzilla" or "Godzilla 1985" (1984)

Coming in at number eight in the countdown, The Return of Godzilla is a superb and masterfully crafted movie. This was the first Godzilla movie released after nearly a decade, and it brought Godzilla back to his roots. Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) was the last movie to be made, and the last of the Showa series, which featured Godzilla mainly as a protagonist and hero unlike the original film in which Godzilla was the antagonist. The Return of Godzilla brings back that evil persona the King of the Monsters first played, and let me tell you, it is actually scary. This movie was meant to be the direct sequel to the original 1954 film, and thus it omits all the happenings of the rest of the Showa series, making this the first movie of the Heisei series. I think the most important thing viewers can notice about The Return of Godzilla (Godzilla 1985 in American theaters and dvds) is how it delivers an anti-nuclear message through a strong plot featuring the cold war tensions of the time. You have to look back and realize that Japan geographically was right in the middle of Russia and the United States, and had a nuclear exchange actually occurred, they likely would've suffered just as much as any other nation. The fears of such an event are effectively channeled into the movie and create a very disturbing sense of mass catastrophe just around the corner, brought to light by the sudden reappearance of Godzilla as he lurks around unseen in Japanese waters.

The story begins with a Japanese vessel in rough waters during a massive storm. They appear to be running aground near a small island and are radioing for help when the island explodes and a massive roar is heard. The news reports later of a missing vessel off the Japanese coast and by chance, reporter Goro Maki stumbles upon an apparently abandoned vessel while sailing by himself. He investigates and finds several bodies, along with one unconscious man. Suddenly, Goro is attacked by a massive insect, resembling an over grown cockroach (Toho officially lists it as a Shockirus or Giant sea louse). Goro appears outmatched before the unconscious man, Hiroshi, awakens and kills the louse. Hiroshi had captured pictures of the beast that killed the rest of his crew and he along with Goro realize it was Godzilla. Thought to be dead for the last 30 years, Goro tries to break the story at his job, but he is prevented by his boss, who has orders to keep Godzilla covered up so the public doesn't panic. The cover up doesn't last long because suddenly a Soviet submarine goes down in the pacific and Cold War tensions hit a boiling point. Russia assumes the U.S. took down their sub, and the U.S. tries to figure out what could have possibly happened. It appears war is on the horizon until the Japanese Prime Minister reveals the cause of the crash: Godzilla. This is what's great about this movie, because there is sudden worldwide panic. Japan is in uproar over the news and people begin preparing. Russia and the U.S. decide nuclear weapons must be used to prevent Godzilla from destroying everything, but Japan has a strict nuclear policy, and they refuse to allow other nations to use their WMD's against Godzilla should he step foot on Japanese soil. Goro, who was initially instructed to cover up Godzilla, takes his evidence of the beast to a professor, Makoto Hayashida, who verifies it is Godzilla. Suddenly, Godzilla arrives on shore, and attacks a nuclear power plant for it's energy (seen in the above picture). Goro and Hayashida observe a flock of chirping sea birds flying by Godzilla as he feeds, and the monster is distracted by them and follows the birds back to sea. Hayashida assumes Godzilla is attracted to the frequency they chirp at. He attempts to create a machine that can duplicate that frequency, to use as defense if Godzilla attacks a city. Soon enough, Godzilla is sighted swimming into Tokyo Bay, and the city is evacuated. This sequence is the most extensive evacuation scene in Godzilla history I think. It really gets the point across that everyone is in fear. Godzilla meets the Japanese Army at shore and quickly destroys them with his atomic ray, and the waves from his arrival smash a nearby docked freighter into a seawall. However, the freighter is actually a disguised Soviet ship, placed there purposely to defend against a Godzilla attack, and the impact with the seawall triggers a Soviet satellite missile launch, aimed directly for Tokyo. Godzilla marches into the heart of the city, destroying buildings and even picking up a train full of pedestrians. Professor Hayashida tests his frequency device and lures Godzilla to his penthouse laboratory, and before Godzilla can finish him and Goro off, some Japanese Maser tanks and the special weapon, the Super X, a sort of flying tank, attacks Godzilla. The Super X succeeds in firing Cadmium missiles down Godzilla's throat, knocking him out for a period of time. Hayashida is airlifted by the military to Mt. Mihara, a volcanic Island off the coast of Japan, where he intends to lure Godzilla into the erupting caldera.

The Americans fire an intercept missile that successfully impacts the soviet nuke far above Tokyo, but the resulting blast lets out an EMP, which downs the Super X and revives Godzilla. After a short battle, Godzilla pushes a sky scraper over onto the crashed Super X, destroying it. He then returns towards the building with Hayashida's lab, searching for the noise as Goro and Naoko (Hayashida's assistant and Hiroshi's sister) try to escape on foot. A looting mad man is trampled by Godzilla before Hayashida triggers his device on Mt. Mihara, luring Godzilla away from Goro and Naoko just in time. Godzilla arrives on Mt. Mihara and walks to the edge of the erupting volcano. Suddenly the cliff face gives way underneath him and tumbles down the side of the caldera to a lower level. Once inside, the Japanese forces detonate some explosives that drop Godzilla into the heart of the eruption, hopefully sealing the monster away forever. It is a heart wrenching scene as Godzilla falls into the abyss, his trademark roar being morphed into an almost child-like wail of despair, and while watching the incredible scene unfold, you might notice that even the victimized Japanese forces appear sad as Godzilla falls towards his doom. They realize the power of nature and nuclear energy, and that they don't stand a chance against such forces.


The plot is excellent and is a perfect example of a Godzilla movie bringing to light the current events of the world in movie format. This has been done more than several times in the Godzilla series, but this time is probably the most effective. As I stated earlier, this movie is actually scary, being that Godzilla has returned to his antagonistic ways. His footsteps are massive and signify his advance well before he is seen. He appears to kill people when he picks up the train and holds the people helplessly two hundred feet in the air. The whole of Japan and the world for that matter is afraid of his coming and take drastic measures to escape his wake. The music is chilling, and gives you the sense something out there is lurking, waiting to come to the light, and once he's there, all hell will break loose. This truly is the sequel to the original Godzilla. Several shots of Godzilla marching across the city are fantastic, and truly bring the monster to a believable scale nearby the massive modern skyscrapers of Tokyo. For this movie, the production team created a 20 foot tall head puppet and foot, which they used sparingly although it brought a new dimension to the several ways with which to depict Godzilla destroying things. Also, for the American release of The Return of Godzilla, an American actor, Raymond Burr, was spliced into the footage, to provide a character for the American audience. Raymond Burr played reporter Steve Martin in the original Godzilla movie, and he was the only American to witness Godzilla's first rampage, so in the American version of TRoG, he reprised this Steve Martin character to provide the American military with intel on the creature and his weaknesses. Its an interesting addition to the film, but one that I think works well, and also respectfully pays homage to the original movie. The Return of Godzilla is one of the greatest of the series and very strong plot-wise, not just for a seasoned Godzilla viewer, but for anyone. It is engrossing, horrifying, entertaining, and eye-opening, and it is one Godzilla movie that I think is fit for anyone.

Godzilla tumbles into Mt. Mihara in what is one of the G series saddest moments.

#9- "Destroy All Monsters" (1968)

 

If I had to select a movie to represent the entirety of the early goings of the Godzilla series (Showa Series), Destroy All Monsters would be my final choice. This is a legendary Toho production and for good reason. It features eleven, count that, eleven monsters! These eleven beasts, led by Godzilla, are all contained on "Monster Land," a fanciful place where all the monsters live, near the Ogasawara Islands. This is not Monster Island, infact Monster land and Monster Island are two different entities. They're basically the same thing, but Monster Land exists in the future in 1999, (well the past now, but you get the idea) while Monster Island exists in the present day of the Godzilla Movies it is in. Destroy All Monsters is the best though at showing Earth's monsters in their natural settings of Monster Land. The eleven monsters from left to right in the above picture: Larval Mothra, Gorosaurus, Rodan (flying), Kumonga the spider, Anguirus, King Ghidorah (flying), Varan (Flying in background), Godzilla, Manda (the snake creature), Baragon, and Godzilla's Son, Minilla. No movie up until Final Wars ever depicted eleven monsters all at once, making Destroy All Monsters a revolutionary Monster movie.

The story begins by outlining the monsters of Monster land and the futuristic technology of the world that has developed by 1999, including space ships regularly traveling to the several established moon bases. The monsters are contained on the island, but suddenly break out by unknown means. Godzilla attacks New York and destroys the United Nations Headquarters, Rodan destroys Moscow,  and Gorosaurus tunnels into Paris. Mothra destroys Beijing and Manda slithers around in London. Meanwhile, Captain Katsuo, pilot of the space rocket "Moonlight SY-3", is sent to discover why the monsters have rebelled. He, along with his crew of cornily dressed yellow space men, discover an alien race, known as the Kilaacks, has taken mind control over the scientists of Monster Land, as well as the Monsters, releasing them to take over the world. Moonlight SY-3 goes on a daring mission to the moon to destroy the Kilaacks communication base there before returning to Earth as the Monsters wreak havoc in Tokyo together. With their strange communications down, the Kilaacks lose control of the monsters, who become friendly again and converge together by Mt. Fuji. This prompts the Kilaacks to send down their ultimate monster, King Ghidorah,  (again), who takes on seven of the ten Earth Monsters at once (Varan, Baragon, and Manda all sit the bench but are present). The Earth Monsters, led by Godzilla, appear to kill King Ghidorah, and even little Minilla gets to dole out some pain. Then, Godzilla destroys the hidden Kilaack base on Earth as they release a flying flaming monster into the air. Moonlight SY-3 and its crew of weak actors goes after it, and they successfully destroy the flaming apparition which ends up being a flaming flying saucer. Godzilla and his posse of monsters return to Monster Land to live happily ever after.

Gorosaurus and his memorable "Kangaroo Kick" which knocks Ghidorah down for good.
 

For 1968, Destroy All Monsters was clearly intended to be ahead of its time. It has such an ambitious plot and so much action, that it's easily one of the most memorable Godzilla movies. As a kid, all the monster mayhem in this movie was a dream come true, but watching it nowadays from an analytical perspective breathes a slightly different story: Destroy All Monsters may fall short in the pacing category. Some of the scenes without monsters are quite boring, and as I mentioned above, the actor's skills do little to keep the somewhat slow pace of the movie engrossing. Captain Katsuo may as well be Captain Obvious, almost narrating to the viewer what is going on on-screen. There is a prevalent female theme here, although I do not think it accomplishes much in the end despite its deemed relevance. These short comings aside, the shots of various monsters in various cities around the world are incredible, especially when Gorosaurus enters Paris. I've read that Destroy All Monsters was intended to be the final Godzilla movie before, and I think this bears significance because DaM was clearly channeled into the last "final" Godzilla movie, Final Wars, in which an alien race takes over the monsters for world domination, culminating in releasing King Ghidorah on the Earth. You could make a serious argument that Final Wars is the remake of Destroy All Monsters, but despite the new age production, Destroy All Monsters still does it better. This was the 9th movie in the Godzilla series and I've unintentionally ranked it 9th overall on the countdown. Not only has this movie gone down as one of the most memorable Godzilla movies, but I think it has a strong case for one of the best Monster Movies of all time. A monster cast as strong as this one will never be witnessed again. It's nostalgic. It's legendary. It's old school Godzilla at its best.

#10- "Godzilla vs King Ghidorah" (1991)

Starting off the top ten, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah features the Heisei era reintroduction of Godzilla's most infamous rival, along with an elaborate origin story of the King of the Monsters himself, along with a time traveling theme. The movie starts with the discovery of a UFO, which turns out to be a time machine carrying travelers from the year 2204. They hail from Japan, and come to warn the present day Japanese that Godzilla has completely destroyed the entire country by the 23rd century. Their mission is to go back in time to the 1940's during World War II to find the original Godzillasaurus, a dinosaur that survived somehow on Lagos Island in the Pacific and saved a troop of Japanese soldiers, led by the older character Yasuaki, from an American attack. Main character Terasawa, a writer, believes Yasuaki knows something, although Yasuaki denies the dinosaur ever existed. His hypothesis confirmed, the time travelers, known as the Futurians, allow Terasawa to accompany them, along with psychic Miki Saegusa. The group witnesses first hand as the Godzillasaurus destroys the American land forces before being mortally wounded by the nearby US destroyers out at sea. After a younger version of Yasuaki thanks the Godzillasaurus and bids it farewell, the Futurians transport the wounded Dinosaur away from the island, so that it may never come in contact with the nuclear tests that morphed it into Godzilla. They deposit the creature deep in the Bering Sea and return to present day Japan, although not before one of the Futarians, a homegrown Japanese girl named Emmy, releases 3 futuristic pets onto the island, little golden winged bats named Dorats. Back in 1991, the group learns that Godzilla has vanished, but now in his place there is King Ghidorah, a monstrous Golden three headed Dragon, the creation of the Dorats being exposed to those same nuclear tests that formed Godzilla. The Futurians control the beast to destroy Japan. The tides turned, Emmy suddenly feels resentful for what she has done and tells Terasawa what actually is up. Japan becomes the worlds leading superpower in the future and the Futurians mission is actually to destroy Japan before that ever comes to fruition. The Futurians send their android M-11 (who looks just like Michael Fassbender) to retrieve Emmy in a ridiculous and entirely cheesy car chase with Terasawa. The scene is all to similar to a Terminator spoof. At this same time, Yasuaki sends  a secret Japanese Nuclear sub to revive the Godzillasaurus corpse in the Bering sea in an attempt to bring back Godzilla to combat the rampaging King Ghidorah, but a Russian sub goes down in the area and soon after, the Japanese sub is attacked. Godzilla has returned, and is alive and well. He returns to Japan, a monstrous hulking form larger than ever after absorbing the two submarines nuclear payloads. He is now 100 meters tall, nearly twice that of the original Godzilla. He looks incredible too; the G suit for this movie was largely unchanged from the previous Biollante movie. The Futurians send King Ghidorah to destroy Godzilla, and the golden dragon gains the upper hand quickly. Back at the Time Machine, Emmy secretly changes M-11's hard drive to be on her side, because the Futurians don't lock her up for her betrayal, and with Terasawa's help, the group manages to cause King Ghidorah to go haywire as it combats Godzilla in the countryside. Without anyone controlling it, Ghidorah loses its advantage over Godzilla, who picks up the three headed monster and slams it against the Earth, then blasts its middle head off with an Atomic Beam.

Emmy teleports the Futurians space ship to Godzilla's feet before they can escape, and Godzilla finishes them off. Japan still has Godzilla to deal with now, and Emmy thinks she can help. She returns to her futuristic home to reconstruct King Ghidorah, as Godzilla in the present day destroys Tokyo. Yasuaki remains in his penthouse office, awaiting the beast. He shares a tear with Godzilla as they look each other eye to eye, as if remembering each other from that day long ago on Lagos island. Suddenly, Godzilla destroys Yasuaki and his building, before marching right into the heart of Tokyo. Surrounded by 1000 foot skyscrapers, Godzilla is somewhat small looking, especially when Emmy returns from the future just in time with a monstrous cyborg creation, Mecha King Ghidorah. She pilots the cyborg as it begins attacking Godzilla, sending the monster toppling into a skyscraper.

 

Godzilla's advance is ceaseless though, and he quickly gains the upper hand in knocking Mecha King Ghidorah's wings out of commission as the cyborg attempts an aerial assault. However, in a less than spectacular ending to an awesome idea, Emmy uses the cyborgs G cables to capture Godzilla's limbs and waist in large metal grips. She then flies out over the ocean before Godzilla blasts Mecha King Ghidorah's wings for a final time, plunging the two monsters deep into the ocean. Terasawa and his group wait anxiously for Emmy before she surfaces and waves goodbye, returning to the future. Godzilla awakens at the ocean's floor, next to a lifeless Mecha King Ghidorah carcass. It's a rather ambitious plot, but I think with the exception of the final battle between Godzilla and Mecha Ghidorah, its well put together. The origin of Godzilla is finally laid out in film, and this is a welcomed treat to any G fan. The special effects are awesome, especially in Godzilla's first countryside battle with Ghidorah, and during his scenes where he marches into Japan. However, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah was met with heavy criticism during its release for being anti-western in a way. The American forces on Lagos Island appear inept at combating a forty foot tall Dinosaur (who wouldn't?) and are utterly destroyed by the beast that clearly favors the Japanese. The Futurians, with the exception of Emmy, all appear American. On top of this all is a bizarre scene as two naval officers observe Lagos island the night before their attack, and witness the Futurian time machine fly past them like a comet. One officer says it's nothing, and that it would make a good story for the other officers children one day, calling the younger officer "Major Spielberg." Now Steven Spielberg, the famed director, was born in 1946, after World War II was officially over, so he himself could never have participated although after some digging, I found that his father Arnold Spielberg, who was born in 1917, participated in a war himself, and it was likely World War II. Now I have no idea what Toho was trying to get at with this gag in allowing Steven Spielberg's father to be mentioned in this movie, but it likely relates to something along the lines of two of Spielberg's most famous movies "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" or "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial" and confusing the Futurian ship with a UFO. And this is the 2nd time I've mentioned E.T. in this countdown which scares me. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah is a great movie though, very entertaining and action packed, with some hilariously cheesy moments to boot. These positive moments in mind, GvKG is clearly the worst of the top 10 though.

#11- "Godzilla" (2014)

What!? Godzilla 2014 is only 11th? How can this be! Yes, it is true, while I have been following the production of this latest Godzilla movie for around 5 years, I cannot say the end product fit with what I had been imagining for years now. I mean, big screen, bigger budget, biggest ambitions for a Godzilla movie in years, that sounds like a recipe for success to me, and Godzilla 2014 is. To date, it has taken in nearly 400 million worldwide, far exceeding its 150 million dollar budget and also likely cementing a possible sequel or two in the years to come. However, as excited as I was for Godzilla, I cannot say I was blown away in theaters. I left with a sort of empty feeling, like the ride was over and it wasn't as good as people said it was. I was happy I rode that ride, but I wanted to go back and ride the other ones that I liked before. So you might be thinking that this is insane, that a Godzilla fanatic like Gabe should've been crying tears of joy during the credits and returning to the ticket booth to buy another ticket. Well, I wasn't disappointed, nor was I swept off my feet, and this neutral ground might be worse than being disappointed. You see, Roland Emmerich fucked up when he made his lizard movie, and that was disappointing to me, but it spawned six new Japanese Godzilla movies (all of which better) to cover up the terribleness of that 1998 movie. This time around, I think that Godzilla 2014 deserves a sequel or two because it harkens back towards the original Godzilla far better than 1998 did, but it also might be good enough that Toho doesn't have to make more G movies. Certainly I don't want a large production like this to go to waste so we can have more suit-mation from Japan; I think every G fan ever has dreamed of seeing Godzilla at a CGI level like the one we've just been treated to. But I just can't shake the hope that this new movie, good or bad, might've spawned a new series of original Japanese movies. What I'm trying to say is I thought Godzilla would've been better, but it's also just good enough to accomplish what it set out to do, and prevent a possible new series from Japan (which is an entirely hypothetical situation based on the last American "Godzilla" production and no movie plots or production ideas have ever been confirmed factually).

Godzilla shines in it's monster battle moments, and the scale of destruction is brilliant and on a level we haven't witnessed before, although my slight on this is that Godzilla's invincible nature is toned down a notch. He actually appears to be beaten at one point in the movie, if not for the quick actions of Ford Brody. He collapses in exhaustion at the end and appears sluggish at times. He is persistent though, and that in itself is accurate I think, but we really don't get a huge sampling of this Godzilla's personality, which is my biggest problem with the new release. In all the past movies, Godzilla is more a character than a monster at times, even when he is big and bad, you know as an experienced viewer what his behavior is and how his character will diagnose and solve the problem. This Godzilla is more of an enigma to me. His motives are unclear (They say he needs to restore balance, but to what?) and his screen time is reduced, so you lose out on that characterizing aspect that the Japanese originals do so well. There is far more screen time given to the Muto monsters and how they move so unorthodoxly and the characters as they observe everything. As a film student, I understand and appreciate the "Jaws" effect in slowly revealing something to the audience, but to me it just takes away from the spectacle of being able to gawk at Godzilla's glory. The scene above where Godzilla steps into the shot is great, but the scene 5 minutes before it where we finally see Godzilla's towering spines cutting through the water towards the aircraft carrier gave me chills. Had the original Godzilla score been laced into that scene, I likely would've screamed like a little girl and cried.

This picture above I think perfectly illustrates what Godzilla was in the movie. More enigma than character, more of a force than an actual living creature, and far more good than bad (The picture has a heavenly glow to it. Godzilla never intentionally knocks over a building or attacks a navy destroyer, for example). He is portrayed as a morally perfect being almost (exclude the tsunami drowning scene), far more so than other films where even if he is good, he'll take a hack at a building or two. It just all comes down to me wanting more. I wanted to see Godzilla more, and see him in clear light rather than dark shadows. I wanted to see his facial reactions to events to better understand him as the main character of the movie. We know what the observing cast members are thinking, but we never get that "here's what Godzilla is thinking" perspective that is prevalent in the original Japanese series. I wanted to witness how destructive he could be, rather than skirt around buildings despite his increase in size. I wanted to know where he went in between the nuclear attack on him in the 1950's and the present day, and how the government covered him up. I wanted Bryan Cranston's character more, and was confused why he died so soon. Ford Brody's wife, Elle, serves no purpose to the film, she's just in the city while the monsters come. They never show her in danger ever; there's no emotional attachment to her. Godzilla's majestic atomic ray was once again reduced to a fiery blaze, and although it kept its trademark blue color, fire is not as cool or powerful as a ray beam. Godzilla can aim the beam from afar to shoot down small jets or do a ranged battle with another monster. This fiery version is only good up close. After Godzilla collapses and the nuke explodes off shore, a perfect segue to a great ending was temporarily available and I was waiting for it, but it was not taken advantage of. The nuke, far too close to the city, would've destroyed and irradiated everything, so what if Godzilla absorbed the radiation and was revived, literally saving the city and surrounding area again, minus the force of the blast knocking everything over. Maybe they decided this was too much like Godzilla vs Destroyah, but oh well, it would've been perfect, and I was turned off by this mishap in the plot. Despite all this nit-picking I've done, Godzilla ranks in at 11th because of its large budget and big screen image. It is a far better reimagining of Godzilla than before, and overall I would say it was quite worth the wait since the last Godzilla movie in 2004, Final Wars. I hope that they start a possible sequel soon to capitalize on this new era of monster movies that is beginning to rise in popularity, movies such as Pacific Rim and Cloverfield. However, there are 10 other Godzilla movies out there that truly exhibit what Godzilla is that I would rather watch than 2014, and I cannot wait to Glog about them, especially if you think Godzilla 2014 was incredible.

I wore my Godzilla slippers and favorite shirt to the theater.