by ryuuseipro » Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:54 pm
Looking back at GFW, I like the film, but I don't love it. It's fun to watch, but I still think it needs fixing. The mixed-up music score, the editing, etc. It's like watching a workprint or something. So I would say that, despite enjoying this film, I'd say that this is the low point in the Millennium Series.
I'm okay with Keith Emerson doing the score, since I listened to ELP's Tarkus album some time before that, but they could've just used the Tarkus album for the score, quirky as it was!
I thought the Godzilla suit in this film was pretty good. It looks a lot better in front than on the side, and the head is a bit more consistent than in the last two films. The other monsters look just fine (Rodan look a lot better here than in Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla '93), but appear a bit too briefly.
I was also glad that of the monsters Godzilla fought, he spared Anguirus, Rodan, and King Caesar! Those three are among my favorite monsters.
Gigan looked awesome, but was ultimately weak on film. (He loses his head twice!) I think Monster X (who looks interesting for a Godzilla foe, though more like a He-Man villain) should've been the monster that was covered in stone instead of Gigan. Kaiser-Ghidorah looks interesting, though, and the transformation sequence was quite effective! Mothra was in the film pretty quickly (aside from the fact that the Shobijin looked goth in this film!).
Don Frye is awesome! He's no Nick Adams, but even as a non-actor, his presence has impact, and he can speak without mumbling or going nonsensical like other actors (like Bob Sapp in Devilman, where he was nearly incomprehensible).
Kazuki Kitamura's daffy Controller of Planet X is enjoyable, even if he is more in common with Invader ZIM than Yoshio Tsuchiya's memorable original.
It's also great to see Akira Takarada and Kumi Mizuno back in action one more time! Like Hiroshi Koizumi in Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, they actually get to DO STUFF, unlike most veteran actors did in the entire Heisei Era (ie. just sit around and watch a big monitor).
And the one scene considered to be the best in the entire film: Godzilla Vs. GINO!
I'd say, it's still enjoyable, even it if is a mixed bag.
-John Cassidy
Richmond, VA
http://ryuuseipro.livejournal.com/
"The monster a child knows best and is most concerned with [is] the monster he feels or fears himself to be." -Bruno Bettelheim