by Benjamin Haines » Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:05 am
I definitely prefer the Millennium series over the Heisei films. While the Heisei era has two genuinely good films (Return, Biollante) compared to the Millennium era's one (GMK), the Heisei series has three straight duds in a row (Mothra, MGII, SpaceG). The only Millennium movie that I'd call a full-fledged failure would be Megaguirus. I'd put the Kiryu saga and Godzilla vs. Destroyer about on the same par as one another, while Final Wars broke against the mold moreso than anything in the Heisei era, and love it or hate it, it succeeded in exactly what the filmmakers were going for.
I don't think the Heisei movies hold up as well over time as the Millennium films, either. I really enjoyed Godzilla vs. Mothra and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II when I was in elementary school but I really can't get into them these days, especially the latter. On the other hand, Godzilla 2000 has been one of my favorites of the entire series since I saw it on the big screen at the age of 11 and that hasn't changed; I even enjoy the Japanese version just as much for different reasons than its American counterpart. I also have to say that I enjoy it more than Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, my favorite Heisei movie and also one of my favorites of the entire series.
Neither of them come close to the quality of the Showa era, but I'll take the Millennium films over the Heisei entries any day.