Ranking the Heisei Films

[Gman2887]

[Giganfan]

None of the Godzilla movies post-Terror of Mechagodzilla have that "Showa charm" lol!

Best

Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla 1985
Godzilla vs. Destroyah
Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla

Favorites

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla 1985
Godzilla vs. Destroyah
Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla

I think I'm actually happy with this round of lists !

[Legion]

Currently, my favorite list is something like...

Godzilla vs Biollante
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla
Godzilla vs Destroyah
Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs Space Godzilla
Godzilla vs Mothra
Godzilla 1985

Yes, I put '85 last. Deal with it.

[Rody]

Here's how they stand for me right now:

Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla/Godzilla 1985
Godzilla vs. Destroyah
......
Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla
Godzilla vs. Mothra: The Battle For Earth

Biollante and King Ghidorah are the only two I consider legitimately good movies - although I haven't the original cut of RoG yet. MGII & RoG are average to me, Destroyah is mediocre, and the last two are utterly bad. Spacegodzilla at least has some energy and some interesting ideas, but BfE feels totally lifeless and redundant to me.
If you had asked me what I thought 8 or 9 years ago, I would have said Battle For Earth and Destroyah were my absolute favorites, alongside Godzilla: Final Wars. I can barely stand them now.

[Russzilla]

Currently, as it stands right now...

Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla 1984
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Godzilla vs. Destroyah
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla

Biollante and G '84 flip flop from time to time.

[DannyBeane]

Godzilla vs KG -Awesome goofy fun film
Godzilla vs Biollante -Awesome spythriller biotech film
G 85-reinvigorated and reinvented the king of the monsters
Godzilla vs MG - Fun film but singing plants and terrible rodan prop knock it down a peg.
Godzilla vs Destroyah - Burning Godzilla and Destroyah are great design if not poorly implemented. Story needs streamlined and has awful spfx
Godzilla vs Mothra - Battra is pretty cool, rest of the film is garbage
Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla - Spacegodzilla had potential as a concept but this movie is awful

[Jared]

[ebirahsmeg1]

Godzilla vs Biollante
Godzilla vs Destroyer
Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla 2
Godzilla 1985
Godzilla vs King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs Mothra
Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla

[Dr Kain]

Now that I have finished the Heisei series (my Destoroyah review will be up in a few hours) here is my updated ranking:

1. Biollante
2. King Ghidorah
3. 84
4. Destoroyah
5. MechaG
6. Mothra
7. SpaceG

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

As someone who can get ironic enjoyment out of things, there are things I "like" slightly better about SpaceGodzilla than DEFINITELY Godzilla vs. Mothra and maybe the other two I don't like. I mean, Godzilla walking through the "forest" of ficuses (ficai?) and the hilarious destruction of scale, the tip of the tail flying off, the utter ineptitude of the asteroid fight scene. I feel like I can laugh AT SpaceGodzilla, while Godzilla vs. Mothra just bores me to tears, and as good as the music sometimes is, I can't STAND how the movie literally stops in its tracks just to give us extra songs (and it does that more than once!)


Destoroyah for me has more saving graces, though critically I find it a really poor effort. The final few minutes leaves me with a more satisfying taste in my mouth than any of the other 3 movies at the bottom of my Heisei list.


And yeah man, I never said (and if I did, I apologize) that a person is right or wrong for not being bothered by the obvious flaws of Destoroyah/Mechagodzilla II, just that they definitely exist, and bug me a lot for a variety of reasons (many of them boiling down to personal taste).

[klen7]

[MekaGojira3k]

[jellydonut25]

[Dr Kain]

My biggest problem is how many times they slam that we suck as a race in our faces, especailly in Mothra. For those that didn't watch my review, I did a counter and they do it 11 times in the entire movie, 7 of them in the first half hour.

[jellydonut25]

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

I tolerate the Millennium films more because while the Heisei films were more ambitious, from a cinematographic level, the Millennium movies LOOK like movies. The lighting, cameras, etc is as good as the stuff seen in The Return of Godzilla and vs Biollante.

[Dr Kain]

I know Jelly doesn't care for Tokyo SOS, but I feel both Kiryu movies are really strong entries as I do think they feel like Showa movies. There are issues with both (such as the stiff looking Godzilla in the first one and the lack of strong characters in SOS), but they have the best looking miniatures in decades (it looks like there is actual furniture and stuff in the buildings), an original idea with the use of Kiryu, and their connections with the Showa era. Godzilla might not have existed after 54, but it brings in the other movies like Mothra and War of the Gargantuans, which none of the other Millennium movies or even the Heisei movies did. Well okay, Final Wars might have, but never actually established it.

Anyway, back to the top of Heisei movies, I gotta say that Biollante is now the only Heisei movie that is in my top 10 list, and even that has dropped several places. Right now I'm not even sure if it breaks #5.

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

Biollante is the only movie in the Heisei era that is in my top 5, and it's actually ranked number 3. I like it a whole lot, though I do not think Kawakita matched Nakano's work in The Return of Godzilla (though it gets really damn close at times). It's consistently enjoyable for me, and heh to me, one of the last enjoyable Hong Kong dubs.

I agree with you Kain. I liked Both Kiryu films, and to me they're a high point in the Millennium era. The stiff Godzilla in the first one, and weak characters in SOS are definitely a problem, but I do like the world building there. The strong point are the sfx in both movies, and it's nice to see Kiryu be distinct in its movements. Showa MG's rickety robot movements are SOMETHING, while Kiryu is quick and more nimble than he looks. Heisei MG is not a bad design.. (the unused designs in the artbooks are much better), but he just stands there.

And you're right, the Miniatures are top notch, as is most of the composite shots. Did you know that the first Kiryu movie utilized stock footage? From Toho disaster film uh... I believe its Conflagration or Submersion of Japan. It was from the 70s, that's for sure.

[Dr Kain]

No I didn't. I never even heard of that movie.

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

It's the shot where the stray missiles hit an industrial building. It's a good looking shot, and probably the oldest and best looking stock footage shot in Toho's library from the Teruyoshi Nakano days. The original context has that industrial building EXPLODE when Tokyo Bay catches fire triggering cascade of explosions. It's been quite a few times. vs King Ghidorah and I believe in vs Mothra.

[kiryugoji04]

Not in vs Mothra but in Final Wars.

[Dr Kain]

[DannyBeane]

The kiryu films had fairly top notch spfx and action sequences but I didn't care much for the stories or the characters. They're middle of the pack films for me in my opinion. I don't hate them but I rarely pop them in the bluray player. Of the heisei and millenium films, G85, biollante, KG, G2k and GMK are the only films that are on constant rotation for me.