Whether you love Final Wars or you hate it, the one thing that everybody says about it is that it basically takes Godzilla's entire film history, throws it into a blender, and then splatters it onto the screen.
So I was thinking about this the other day: Does Final Wars reference every single Godzilla movie that preceded it?
Well lets have a look. I am going to try and link Final Wars to every single Godzilla film that came before it:
Gojira = Yes. They use clips from the original film in the intro and mention that Godzilla's rampage began in 1954.
Godzilla Raids Again = Anguiras is in the movie, and Godzilla is trapped in ice by mankind in both movies.
King Kong Vs. Godzilla = Bit of a stretch with this one, but Godzilla breaks out of his icy prison in Final Wars, much like he did in King Kong Vs. Godzilla.
Mothra Vs. Godzilla = Adult Mothra and the twin fairies are in the movie.
Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster = A beefed up Ghidorah is the final foe of the movie. Also, Godzilla & Mothra team up to fight what turns out to be another version of Ghidorah.
Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero = Probably the most obvious yes given that the Xiliens are clearly a modern take on the Planet X denizens from this film.
Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster = Ebirah is in the movie.
Son of Godzilla = Minya, Kumonga, & Kamackarus are in the movie.
Destroy All Monsters = Another obvious one since the goal of this movie was to top DAM's monster cast count.
Godzilla's Revenge = A young boy befriends Minya in both movies.
Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster = Hedorah is (briefly) in the movie.
Godzilla Vs. Gigan = Gigan plays a large role in the film.
Godzilla Vs. Megalon = Bit of a stretch with this one, but using the Earth's mechanical defense (Jet Jaguar/Gotengo) to "fetch" Godzilla to save the Earth is a similar plot point, right?
Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla = Music of Mechagodzilla's battle with Anguiras is used during a scene. King Ceasar appears in the movie. Also stock footage is used.
Terror of Mechagodizlla = Stock footage of Titannosaurus is used.
Return of Godzilla = That movie has a drunk homeless guy that suffers through a monster attack, and so does this one!
Godzilla Vs. Biollante = Stock footage from the movie is used.
Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah = Godzilla blasts off Ghidorah's middle head in that movie, and blasts off Keizer Ghidorah's heads in similar fashion.
Godzilla Vs. Mothra 92 = Mothra & Gigan's backstory is this movie is presented and explained in a similar way to Mothra & Battra's.
Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla 93 = Stock footage from the movie is used and Godzilla also uses the red spiral beam here, which debuted in the 1993 movie.
Godzilla Vs. Spacegodzilla = Final Wars is the only time in the Millennium series that Godzilla & Mankind work together, and the only time that happened in the Heisei series was in GVsSG. Also, there is stock footage from the film used here.
Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah = Also has stock footage used.
Tristar Godzilla = Do I even have to mention how this one fits in? For Godzilla fans, there was much rejoicing when that, um, "fight" took place.
Godzilla 2000 = The climax has Godzilla headed towards the enemy UFO in the middle of the city. The climax of Final Wars begins with Godzilla headed towards the enemy UFO (though a lot of other crazy stuff happens in FW).
Godzilla X Megaguiras = Stock footage of Megaguiras is used.
Godzilla, Mothra, & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack = The only two movies in the series to feature Godzilla, Adult Mothra, & King Ghidorah are GMK & Final Wars. Both movies also feature Godzilla fighting an evolving King Ghidorah in the climax.
Godzilla X Mechagodzilla = Absolute Zero Cannon, which is a reference to Attragon, was used in GXMG and came back again in this movie, being used against Manda by the Gotengo. Again, that is more of a reference to Attragon, but since the Absolute Zero cannon was previously used in a Godzilla movie too, I'll count it as a reference.
Godzilla: Tokyo SOS = This one is tough considering it was the film that preceded Final Wars and this movie references a lot of previous films too, but I guess seeing so much of Mothra & the Faries being used largely for exposition two films in a row, I guess I could tie in some similarities there.
Had to stretch with some of them and I am sure alot of it was unintentional on the film makers parts, but I like to think that Final Wars was basically a condensed version of Godzilla's entire history all splattered onto the screen, so it was fun to think about.