#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!!!!!