Ranking the Millenium Films

[Irish Gfan]

I have a few problems with the Millenium films. First of all, I think they brought Godzilla back way too soon. After his glorious finale in Godzilla vs. Destroyah, they only waited 4 years to bring the series back. I know they wanted to make up for the much hated American Version, and that's why they did it, but they really didn't give us a chance to truly miss Godzilla. Because of that, most of the films in the series kin dof had a "Been there, done that" feel to it.

I also hated the lack of continuity. After the Heisei series gave us such a close running storyline, each individual film here had its own storyline (except Tokyo SOS) and I'm sure it confused audiences after a while.

That said, I can honestly say I enjoyed all six of the Millenium films, and they each have their own merits and great entertainment value.

From Worst to Best:

6) Godzilla X Mechagodzilla - I've come to like this one more with the release of Tokyo SOS. I almost see them as two parts of the same movie. In this one, I felt like there was no payoff to Mecha-G going berserk, but in Tokyo SOS they cleared it up. This movie was fun, but nothing special. Action scenes are good, and I liked the way they protrayed Mecha-G with a interesting manner of creating him & actually acknowledging that his power source is limited, which is probably the most realistic thing ever done with the character. Its the weakest of all the Mechagodzilla films, but its still worth a look, and I highly recommend it because it sets the stage for the much better Tokyo SOS.

5) Godzilla: Final Wars - Not quite what I was expecting. Its a really fun movie with a large monster cast, but I don't understand why they spent so much time on the human action. A highway scene, air battles, sword fights, Matrix rip off fight scenes. It just seemed unncessary, especially since this is a Giant Monster Movie, and thats what the people want to see. However, the Giant Monster action we did get was pretty damn cool. I actually liked Godzilla going around and just monkey stomping everyone, which eventually led to the awesome battle at the end. Had they severely shortened the non monster action, I think the movie would have been much better. I'll give them credit for trying to do something different though.

4) Godzilla X Megaguiras - This one was a lot of fun. The method of eliminating Godzilla is probably the wackiest yet: The Dimension Tide. Love it! Megaguiras is a cool monster, even if a bit of a rip off of past Kaiju (Battra & Legion most notably), but they did some really cool things with here and I loved the fight scenes. Gotta love Godzilla's flying body splash! This film was a post millenium homage to the 70s, and I kind of liked that.

3) Godzilla 2000 - I've got a soft spot for this one because when it came out in the US, I went to go see it in theaters, making it the only Japanese Godzilla film I ever got to see on the silver screen. It was a really fun experience, and I actually prefer the US Version as they injected lot of fun and nice little touches to it to make it an overall better movie. The UFO made for an interesting foe for the Big Guy too. There was a lot of mystery surrounding it, and that always makes for an interesting villain. Godzilla's battle with Orga is a great one too as it is just a knock down drag out brawl between two animal like creatures. I also think this film probably has one of the best human cast of characters for any G film.

2) Godzilla: Tokyo SOS - I loved this one. I think this one felt the "been there, done that" effect that I talked about as Mothra had already been brought back multiple times, & Mechagodzilla was making his 2nd straight apperaance. However, the action is this film is spectacular. Visually, this is probably the best in the series (either this or Biollante) The action scenes are really well done. They also tied this movie in with the original Mothra film, which was an interesting creative decision, and it worked out well. This is a highly enjoyable entry and an often overlooked one unfortunately. Of course I also appreciate this one for actually being a sequel to the previous entry.

1) Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack - Very few entries in the series have truly captured Godzilla as an evil SOB. The original did, and so did Godzilal vs. Mothra (64) & Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (91), but this one takes it to a whole other level. Godzilla is the most menacing he's ever been with this entry. The role reversals with Ghidroah being good & Godzilla being bad was interesting to say the least, but once everything kicked into gear, it was easy to accept. This one also had a very dark tone and tried to capture a horror movie feel to it at times, which added to what they were tyring to do with Godzilla. And of course it was nice to see Baragon actually do something in a Godzilla film too. This was the ultimate Monster Mash that the Millenium series had to offer and it was a real treat.

[BruceAReville]

My Copy-Catting Continues Worst To Best:

6) Godzilla Final Wars (Battles were just too rushed for me)
5) Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S.
4) Godzilla 2000
3) Godzilla X Megagurias
2) Godzilla X MechaGodzilla (Mainly because I have a thing for Yumiko Shaku) :drool:
1) GMK

[Brick Side]

Worst to First

6) Final Wars- It's quite fun to watch, but then it is just one long "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" when Godzilla shows up. The final battle was good, though.

5) G2000- I liked that they introduced another original monster to follow Destroyer, but this one just never really hooked me.

4) GxM- I have always enjoyed this one. Fun to watch, and the fight at the end of the movie is very well done.

3) GMK- I don't think this was as good as the Gamera trilogy, but it was enjoyable since it was rather different from most of the other films in the last 20 years.

1,2) GxMG/GMMG- It works very well since one is a sequel of the other. Individually GxMG is okay, while I found the sequel much more enjoyable. But I always found it best to watch these 2 back-to-back or within 24 hours of each other.

[lhb412]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Andrew Nguyen]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Legion]

[Benjamin Haines]

[Andrew Nguyen]

[kiryugoji04]

It is a pretty forgettable film.

My list:

1. GxMG
2. GMK
3. G2K
4. GxM
5. TOKYO SOS
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.
.
.
.
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6. GFW

[DannyBeane]

[godziwolf]

[JordanGLC]

[Giganfan]

Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
Godzilla X Mechagodzilla
Godzilla 2000
Godzilla Final Wars
Godzilla X Megaguirus
Godzilla Tokyo SOS

That was from best to worst, by the way.

[Stadawim]

Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah - I liked this one best because Godzilla was more true to his orignal form; a malevolent beast from nature (albeit mutated, or maybe spectral in this outing) bent on the destruction of everything around him. Now, this is actually more brutal than he has ever been but that is one of the reasons i enjoyed it so much. Plus, he looked more like he used to than in the other 'Millennium' series. I don't like the new suit.

Godzilla Final Wars - Much like above, although he isn't used so much against humans this time as other kaiju. And again, he has a more back-to-the-original look about him. But also i like seeing all the other kaiju involved, including some i thought we'd really never see again (King Seesar, Kamakiras).

Godzilla 2000 - I almost thought that this one might feature him solo again, and i really do like it when the headliner simply stomps Tokyo. Course, how many times can we do the same thing? So Orga was brought in, and Orga is a pretty nifty kaiju similar to Biollante in some respects. That and also there were some really cool Godzilla versus man scenes in there.

Godzilla, Mothra, MechaGodzilla - I like this one because of all the somber feelings around Godzilla 54's bones being used. Not only does it have a nostalgic feeling due to the old kaiju's spirit in the mechanical one, but they use some pretty music and atmosphere throughout. MechaGodzilla "feeling" for Godzilla near the end and sinking with Godzilla was almost tear jerking. Chujo's 'feelings' for the mechanical wonder almost blow it. And of course, for me Mothra's presence practically kills it.

Godzilla against MechaGodzilla - Really not too bad. It's like my previous entry (the sequel) without Mothra. Which should bring it up the rankings. But i have to admit i like the atmosphere in the other one better. Though i really do like bringing our previous star back (albeit in skeletal form) to romp through Japan again.

Godzilla vs Megaguirus - Seriously, just what the hell is a Megaguirus anyway? It must be related to Battra; i.e. something Toho scraped the bottom of the barrel of ideas for to find something for Godzilla to fight. It does have it's moments, but they are few and far between. And although it did add a different aspect to the series, exactly why was there a need to flood Tokyo? Because all that sea around Japan had already been used in previous films? I did like the black hole weapon Dimension Tide though.

[Gooberzilla]

1. GMK
2. Godzilla X Megaguirus
3. Godzilla X Mecha-Godzilla
4. Tokyo SOS
5. Godzilla 2000
6. Godzilla: Final Wars

[McGodzilla]

1) GMK
2) G2000
3) GFW
4) Godzilla X MechaGodzilla
5) Tokyo SOS
6) Godzilla X Megaguirus

In my mind, GMK is the clear standout above all the rest. All the rest have their various flaws, but also some good aspects as well. Just a couple of points: 1)A year or so ago I would have put Final Wars much lower, but over time I have come to enjoy it as simply a fun movie to watch. Does it make any logical sense? Of course not! But it is a good watch. 2) I rate G2000 fairly high simply because it came after the GINO debacle. I also really liked the Millennium Godzilla suit. 3) GXM and Tokyo SOS are ok, but it just seems to rehash older movie themes and never really resolves anything. 4) Godzilla vs. Megaguirus just doesn't seem to be well executed. I am sure some will say the same about G2000, but I am just not a big fan of the story in this one. And although I am a big fan of the millennium suit, I think Megaguirus is poorly conceived and the wire work is quite appalling at times.

[Giganfan]

I picked GMK as my favorite simply because it's better than anything else in the series. Godzilla 2000 is a well-made "standard-issue" Godzilla movie, while Godzilla Final Wars is so unapologetically bad, and so unapologetically cheesy, I can't help but enjoy it. Godzilla X Megaguirus and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla are both admirable efforts by a first-time director, GXMG progressively better than the former. Masaaki Tezuka's love for the genre is the engine that drives both movies, and I really thought that Tokyo SOS was going to be his masterpiece of sorts. Unfortunately, while there is plenty to like (Mothra's role in the story, as well as the handling of her effects-work is astonishing; Hiroshi Koizumi's return, the tokusatsu in general), this has to be one of the worst Godzilla movies ever made. Personally, I don't think I've ever been so let down by a Goji flm until I saw Tokyo SOS.

[jellydonut25]

[MouthForWar]

[Flame of Udin]

[kiryugoji04]

[king_ghidorah]

[TerranigmaFreak]