Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

I really dig the opening of Godzilla x Mechagodzilla, especially the the bit when Akane looks up from the car and sees Godzilla and the lightning, followed by the title. I like that music cue and the way the title unfolds itself visually.

The opening of Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster is a classic. Ifukube's music rumbles a bit over the TohoScope logo and then kicks into full force as soon as the title appears. And what better way to let that theme play out that with those interspersed shots of the monsters in action? I also like how King Ghidorah's appearance is treated as something of a mystery there. We see a close-up of his scales behind the title and a quick shot of Mothra biting one of his tails, but his full-fledged onscreen revelation is reserved for later in the movie.

I also like the way Terror of Mechagodzilla and Godzilla vs. Biollante open strongly by recapping the respective films that came before them, set to some great Ifukube music, of course.

The opening to Godzilla vs. Destroyer could have been an instant classic were it not for the lazily-staged shots of destruction in Hong Kong. A glowing, burning Godzilla is madly tearing through every building in his path while the people on the streets of Hong Kong walk along casually. That's lazy filmmaking, and it's a shame because everything else about that opening sequence was done really well.

i love the openings to GODZILLA'S REVENGE (the montage over the amazing music) and Ghidrah is very cool. GODZILLA VS MEGALON has a fine opening as well.
i don't remember many of the VS series of openings.

David

Best openings huh?

Well I love the Ghidrah opening for the very reasons Ben stated above, so I don't need to recap that.

I've always loved the opening to Destroy all Monsters. The creepy, otherworldly Toho Logo motif sets the tone nicely, and I love the animation of the title screen. The colorful backgrounds behind the opening credits are cool.

There's something satisfying for me about the Godzilla vs Gigan opening. The stock Ifukube Toho Logo track fits very well. We get our hero immediately (everybody cheer!) accompanied by his classic entrance theme and he breathes his fire right into the camera to produce the title card. The credit music sounds cool and (in the Japanese version) the credits appear inside multicolored laserbeams which stretch to reveal the text.

Godzilla vs Mecahgodzilla (93) has a really cool opening credit sequence. The unique Ifukube cue is appropriately ominous, the CGI Mechagodzilla "construction" sequence was neat for it's time, the reveal of Mechagodzilla is very well staged, the main title Ifukube music is one of his most original Heisei pieces and the animation on the title card is absolutely beautiful.

Next up on the favorites list is Godzilla vs Destroyah. Aside from the glaringly bad matte shots that Ben pointed out, this is an outstanding sequence. Today we've gotten used to monster sequences in Godzilla films, but for Godzilla vs Destroyah it was brand new. Ifukube's music is absolutely perfect, one my favorite bits of music from any Heisei film. And of course the main title animation is just brilliant. But then again, I can't keep thinking of that bad mattes. Ugh.

Although Godzilla X Mecahgodzilla's opening to similar to Godzilla X Megagiras, it's about 100 times better. Oshima's Godzilla theme sounds simply fantastic here and I'm so glad a large orchestra was used for this film. Sounds great on CD. And again the opening title is very well staged: the imagery, the music, the title animation. Very, very cool.

Tokyo SOS, if only for the astounding main title animation. That got a GIGANTIC cheer when the film was shown at G-Fest in 2004. It's incredibly classy how they used the Showa era font for Godzilla and Mothra's names. I think it's the most elaborate piece of title animation in any Godzilla film.

As for the least favorites"

Well first of all, I have no least favorites from the Showa series. Every single opening has a charm about it, whether it be a neat title design, upbeat or engaging music, a random monster appearance, freeze frame fun, a catchy little tune or a stock footage recap. Sorry Showa haters

The Japanese opening of Godzilla (84) does nothing for me. It's brief and completely uninteresting. The American opening is much better, but I'm ignoring American versions when I make my decisions.

What's the deal with the opening of Godzilla vs Space Godzilla. The beginning rips off Godzilla vs Mothra (and includes the exact same shot of Godzilla) and the ending rips off Godzilla vs Mecahgodzilla. How inanely unoriginal.

I don't like the opening for Godzilla 2000 very much. Godzilla's reveal is decent, but the music doesn't do a thing for me and the title card is laughably bad in the Japanese version.

Godizlla: Final Wars actually has a pretty strong opening up until the insane carnival music kicks in and opening narration begins. Then there are those godawful opening titles. How much crack was Kyle Cooper on when he came up with the epileptic fit of a credit sequence. Seeing "Sum 41" in the opening titles of a Godzilla movie made me die a little inside. It's unreadable garbage. This is what you get when Toho tries to appeal to the mainstream, people. Original poster of this thread, I'm talking to you.

Oddly I don't think anyone has mentioned GMK. I thought it was a great opening, from the eerie Toho logo to the in-your-face title.

Legion mentioned the Godzilla vs. Gigan opening credits and the fact they appear inside "laser" effects. These have sound effects to go with them, but in the international version, they don't show the credits the same way visually. However, they kept the sound effects, and the inclusion is weird in that case.