TALKBACK #24: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus

[lhb412]

Godzilla 2000 isn't a great movie, but it was a fun step in the right direction. This film is several steps backwards. Remember when I said that G2K looked and felt like a modern motion picture? Godzilla vs. Megaguirus feels amateurish, a return to the "did this go straight to cable?" feel the Heisei films had.

The characters aren't very compelling. They're out for revenge, but any one watching the film - not just a Godzilla fan - can see that Godzilla isn't evil and that they should just as soon be mad a hurricane. Kudo is the only person in the film who is a bit interesting.

They were over-ambitious, many things they really couldn't do on this budget were attempted (Meganulon swarm, Megaguirus' flying). Some of the very worst special effects in the series are in this movie. Terrible.

Good points: there are several moments where Godzilla is given back his almost anthromorphic intelligence of the '70s and late '60s which is a lot of fun. This gives the final battle, even with some really inept effects, a sense of campy delight.

[MouthForWar]

BOOOORRRRRIIIINNNNG

[metal_bryan]

I love the campy battle and the idea of the "dimension tide," but otherwise the movie is rather stale. NEEEEEXT

[MekaGojira3k]

Meh. This is my least favorite of the millennium series. I mean Final Wars was bad, but at least I enjoy it for being terrible. Megaguirus is just so forgettable. I think the monster, if executed better, could have been grand. The same could be said for the Dimension Tide. Lots of neat concepts, but such a poor means of utilizing them. The film also falls so short in terms of quality compared to G2k. I think lhb412 said it best in saying that G2k felt like a modern film. This really does look designed almost exclusively for either video or television.

Also, I do not give a damn about anybody in this film. Which is a shame, because I generally enjoyed all of G2k's cast.

[Andrew Nguyen]

For me, if Godzilla 2000 was not really my cup of tea, this movie was even more worse.

There are many things here that do go wrong. I may list them down eventually. And I am willing to admit here, that after G2000 and this movie, I was ready to jump ship as I asked if this is the best that the people at Toho could do then what is the point of maintaining interest in it all.

[Destroysall]

I remember when this movie was barely released and I was so hyped for it. A few years ago, this and GMK was on what is now "SyFy". This one somewhat bored me, GMK I thought in a way made up for it.

I think G: StE is the reason I like Megaguirus. She was so much better in the game.

Can't complain on the theatrical poster and artwork poster though.

[Legion]

This is another one on my bottom three, above GFW and G2K but still close to the bottom of my list.

There are some decent moments, and I like Oshima's score, but this is another one of those films that I don't care for all that much.

[Tyler E. Martin]

I loved this movie so much when I first saw it, but looking back, I have to ask myself, "Why?" It's just so...lame. Granted, it does contain a small handful of good moments--I especially loved Godzilla torching the Meganula swarm--but they are very few and far between. None of the characters are compelling, the story is mediocre even at its best points, and the whole film just has that sort of "direct-to-video" vibe people keep mentioning. This one sits pretty close to the bottom in my book.

[jellydonut25]

ive got four words for this one:

Worst Godzilla Film EVER


i hate it...more than GvsSpacegodzilla or GvsMothra...

[zekend01]

I like it very much up until about the birth of MegaCRAPus. Up until that point, I'm invested, I'm interested, I'm thought at the time,"MAN, they just might pull this one off!!" Then the big "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" floats up and hovers. THEEEEEEN I'm done.



Didn't help that the revenge theme was regurgitated later either (as in :puke: ).

[Reaper G]

I really thought this one had some good ideas -- a creative new weapon in the Dimension Tide, and fun battles with the swarm and the queen monster. I thought it would bode well for Godzilla movies to come, but the Kiryu films were less creative (I can't really compare them to GMK and GFW, as those were the creations of the directors themselves rather than the studio system).

I also love the idea of a gigantic dragonfly zipping around at Mach 3, but the sfx didn't live up to that potential.

[TerranigmaFreak]

I also liked this movie quite a bit. The dimension tide, the battles, the silliness of it all makes it a very enjoyable movie to rewatch a few times. This movie has imo the best battle of all the movies.

[MouthForWar]

I can't really compare them to GMK and GFW, as those were the creations of the directors themselves rather than the studio system.

That's not necessarily true. Tezuka wrote and directed Tokyo SOS... and GMK and GFW still had the usual bumbling studio interference from Toho.

[Green Dragon]

I don't think I ever made it all the way through this one.

[Mac]

While I enjoy this movie, I understand why others do not. Can't rap my head around the idea that this is less energetic than Godzilla 2000 though, that film is a vapid hole, the American version barely helps.

[H-Man]

I never really cared for this one. At least there's more going on here than in G2k. The Godzilla suit is executed so poorly here. Why the mechanical head was removed at all after the VS series seriously baffles me. Too complex? Too heavy? It would have certainly been worth it, IMO.

Megaguirus is a very bland monster. The concept of stealing Godzilla's energy is interesting, but Orga tried to do practically the same thing in the previous film! Also, Megaguirus' "sonic flying" ability is so unconvincing. Actually, its flying is unconvincing period.

The score is pretty good, though.

[kpa]

The Godzilla suit is executed so poorly here. Why the mechanical head was removed at all after the VS series seriously baffles me. Too complex? Too heavy? It would have certainly been worth it, IMO.

Shinichi Wakasa told me that FX director Kenji Suzuki wanted minimal mechanical features for Godzilla. Suzuki's idea was that Godzilla's performance would be conveyed through the movements and posture of suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa rather than via a mechanical face... a concept borrowed from Noh theater.

[MouthForWar]

The Godzilla suit is executed so poorly here. Why the mechanical head was removed at all after the VS series seriously baffles me. Too complex? Too heavy? It would have certainly been worth it, IMO.

Shinichi Wakasa told me that FX director Kenji Suzuki wanted minimal mechanical features for Godzilla. Suzuki's idea was that Godzilla's performance would be conveyed through the movements and posture of suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa rather than via a mechanical face... a concept borrowed from Noh theater.

And also a concept that doesn't work at all and gets even WORSE in GxMG especially during the laughable first battle.

What kind of jerk thinks Godzilla should act like a motionless Noh character? Its like he was trying to make the character as boring as possible (and he succeeded). Tezuka is probably my least favorite director to ever touch the series. The guy seems to have no concept at all of what makes monster movies fun.

[H-Man]

Shinichi Wakasa told me that FX director Kenji Suzuki wanted minimal mechanical features for Godzilla. Suzuki's idea was that Godzilla's performance would be conveyed through the movements and posture of suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa rather than via a mechanical face... a concept borrowed from Noh theater.

Well I was definitely not expecting an answer like that. But it makes sense (and in a way, it's an interesting concept), even though I definitely think Suzuki failed in producing an interesting Godzilla based on Kitagawa's performance alone (much as Mouth said).

He could have at least had sense enough to drop the laughable scenes of Godzilla shaking his head side to side. What an embarrassing effect!

Anyway, thanks for clearing that up, Keith.

[TerranigmaFreak]

Yeah, that's seriously stupid. Maybe deep down, they just want to be cheap and use a smaller budget.

[KaiserGhidorah]

He could have at least had sense enough to drop the laughable scenes of Godzilla shaking his head side to side. What an embarrassing effect!

What about that beautifully executed springboard jump of his?

[H-Man]

What about that beautifully executed springboard jump of his?

Actually I kind of enjoy that scene. The only part that spoils the effect is that Godzilla hits Megaguirus at a different angle than his jump.

Also, I didn't mention the Griffon. While it plays an important part in the story a few times, it's really just another military super-weapon that doesn't work against Godzilla. I know this isn't the VS series anymore, but they might as well have called it Super-X IV.

[zekend01]

He could have at least had sense enough to drop the laughable scenes of Godzilla shaking his head side to side. What an embarrassing effect!

I didn't mind this at all. It gave him some personality IMO.

[Xenorama]

I just watched this again, for the first time in several years, and I liked it. way more than any of the VS movies. the scene with her riding Godzilla is great.

David

[H-Man]

I didn't mind this at all. It gave him some personality IMO.

I agree, that the action of it gives him some personality. My problem is that the effect just looks so shoddy. To shake Godzilla's head, Kitagawa has to move the whole body. To me, it just looks so unnatural, especially after the excellent head animatronics in the VS series.