Ranking the Heisei Films

[Hellspawn28]

Not a fan of the 90's Heisei films, but here's my rankings of them.

Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla 1984
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Destroyah
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

[briizilla]

Godzilla 1984
Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Destroyah
Godzilla vs. Mothra




Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

[Hybrid Gojira]

Godzilla vs. Biollante
Godzilla 1984
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Destroyah
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla

These two are last...I go back and forth as to which one is worse.
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla

[Arislan]

I've just finished rewatching all the Showa films and I'm hesitating on starting on the Heisei films because I dislike them so much in comparison. But mostly my beef is with GODZILLA 1985.

Because I still remember how absolutely BORING it felt when I first saw it. I think I tried rewatching it ten years later and still hated it.

So yeah I'd rank that the lowest. Every three years I rewatch all Godzilla films but I usually skip that one.

I actually rewatch all of ZATOICHI every year and this year I have the remastered Blu-ray set that just came out, to look forward to. If only there was a similar offering for GODZILLA!

[jellydonut25]

1985 is one of the only Heisei films worth anything.

[DannyBeane]

I'm pretty sure I've ranked this thread before but I don't feel like searching so here is my list.
GvsKG
GvsBiollante
G85
GvsDestroyah
GvsMG
GvsSG
Gvs Mothra

[kiryugoji04]

[Legion]

[jellydonut25]

[Hybrid Gojira]

[Benjamin Haines]

The Return of Godzilla is one of a handful of Godzilla movies that I didn't like very much as a kid but I've come to enjoy a LOT more in recent years.* Maybe that's because all I had to go by used to be the US version, which is pretty much a bastardization aside from Raymond Burr's closing narration, but I just don't think the movie was suited to my tastes as a kid. That was, after all, back when I considered Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II one of my top favorites, but now I find it really boring.

As for how I'd rank the Heisei films now, favorite to least favorite...

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Biollante
The Return of Godzilla
Godzilla vs. Destroyer
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla


*Two other movies I didn't like much as a kid but have since come to appreciate a lot more are King Kong vs. Godzilla and Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster.

[Dr Kain]

I'm still perplexd at how much some of you hate the Heisei series, but whatever. That is your problem, not mine.

Arisian, I do recommend watching the movie. Of course, I mean the Japanese version, not that piece of crap dubbed one that adds in "Dr Pepper and his Soviet Monsters Who Launch a Missile on Japan." The movie is enjoyable even if it is slow moving as it does have some great effects and Godzilla looks pretty bad ass. Not as bad ass as his later Heisei self, but still terrifying nonetheless.

[DannyBeane]

[Jorzilla]

The Heisei series relies to heavily on visual effects. Almost all of the characters and the story are secondary to "Godzilla shows up and blows sh!t up." The problem is, as time goes on this visual effects have lost their luster especially compared with modern Hollywood films. Is much, much easier to nitpick the films and say "this looks fake."

The Showa series also has fake looking effects, but what it lacks in that regards, it makes up in 'heart' or effect craftmanship, story and characters.


Anyways, I have been slowly making my way through the franchise, and for the first time ever, I watched Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and was totally underwhelmed. I watched Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and was actually more impressed by it as a G-Film. If you had asked me a week ago which was better, I would have answered this completely different, but now I can say that MG is a more enjoyable film for me than KG. I will post later with a new ranking after completing my task of watching all Godzilla films once again.

[Gman2887]

[MekaGojira3k]

I only tend to compare Heisei effects to Showa effects. That's what makes their inadequacy so frustrating. People have already done this sort of thing and done it better. I think that actually goes for the films in their entirety and not just the effects.

[lhb412]

Have I posted here, yet? I don't think I have.

1. Godzilla vs. Biollante
2. Godzilla 1985
3. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
4. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
5. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
6. Godzilla vs. Mothra
7. Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla

[Jorzilla]

[heroforhirerob]

1) Godzilla vs. Mechgodzilla
2) Godzilla vs. Destroyer
3) Godzilla vs. Biollante
4) Godzilla vs. Mothra
5) Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
6) Godzilla 1985
7) Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla

[Gman2887]

Jorzilla, I'm speaking strictly from a special effects perspective though. However, I'm not strictly speaking about the effects in the Heisei films.

I don't know if I agree the Showa series looks "continuously worse", and granted your comparison to Western effects is more knee jerk than judgmental, but even with the Heisei series I've never felt a need to compare toku effects with Western effects-- Which is what I assume you mean when you say "modern effects". Technically Tokyo S.O.S., Final Wars, Gamera The Brave, Ultraman Saga and Kyoryuger have "modern effects", but they're not done in the same style as say, The Avengers. They're certainly modern for the style/genres they're building around though.

Granted, within the confines of the look and feel that these movies go for, the effects of the Heisei series have their share of problems, but realism is rarely a trait this style goes for. Like you said, sometimes "movie goggles" are needed to appreciate this particular art form, but I don't buy in to the "realistic means better crafted" mentality. Different? Absolutely. I always thought that was why most of us were fans of the genre anyway: We appreciate it as a filmmaking style, not tolerate it.

[Jorzilla]

First off, I am making generalizations about each era. You can obviously find one off examples that might contradict what I'm saying.

You're last point is getting at what I'm saying. I can't help but see the fake stuff in Godzilla, it's no longer cutting edge. Bad mattes, miniatures, scaling issues, etc., are ALL immediately apparent when watching these films. There's not a whole lot in Godzilla any Godzilla movie that you can seriously, objectively say, "this looks real." It's just a symptom of our modern time.

So they question comes down to: Did they do something good with the tools and budget that they had available in that era? Can I respect the film maker for doing the best with what they got. With Tsuburaya the answers is certainly yes. Teruyoshi Nakano is more or less yes. Kawakita this answer is a RESOUNDING no, with the exception of Biollante.

Sure you have to compare the special effects against similar films. You still have to acknowledge that you are being influenced by what is being cranked out from the best special effects houses of today. What ends up happening is that as time goes on, lines are blurring when you say that these are totally distinct special effects styles or movie eras. Back when Heisei was being produced the effects were cutting edge for Toku and they generally look better than Showa. Now that the movies are becoming more 'equal' in age (that is to say, while a movie like Mothra vs. Godzilla is currently twice as old a Godzilla vs. Mothra, in 50 more years that will no longer be the case), it's a lot easier to be unimpressed by the 'modern' effects. Again, needing to rely on other elements than just flashing lights and large explosions.

[Jorzilla]

Basically I'm not 'fooled' by the effects. I'm not necessarily immersed in the action as a real place as say I was in District 9. So that means I have to appreciate the effects on more 'intellectual' level by acknowledging the technical skill involved with creating something practical.

It's the same way I feel about King Kong. Back in the day though? That was cutting edge!

[tbeasley]

Godzilla vs. Biollante
Return of Godzilla
Godzilla 2000
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

I threw G2K, another Okawara film, in there for good measure.

[Gman2887]

[Pkmatrix]