GODZILLA 2000: Released 5 years ago today!

[ryuuseipro]

[Jim Ballard]

Those five years have gone fast. It's weird to think the Millennium series has now been and gone.

Very cool little retrospection. I found myself agreeing with most of your comments in your original review, especially the "characters from all walks of life". Personally, I think G2K and GMK had some of the most entertaining characters out of the bulk of Heisei and Millennium films, as they were quite easy to relate to. While I find the "military" characters interesting, I think it's been done to death in recent years.

[CyHunter]

Well, I'm fairly certain I saw it on opening weekend, if not opening day.


I guess this anniversary is particularly special for me. I know most the people here were fans from their early childhoods longs before G2K ever reached the States or was even being conceived of at Toho Studios, but for me, this marks five years of Godzilla/kaiju fandom.

[Xenorama]

i don't understand what was non-PC about Millenium or "organizer"- and the comment about too many characters in the VS movies after praising Kaneko's over populated Gamera movies (especially G3) is funny, but it's a good review.

David

[Master Fwiffo]

[ryuuseipro]

[AnguirusAnguirus]

[briizilla]

[Joseph Goodman]

[Bladefist]

[Joseph Goodman]

[CyHunter]

[Giganfan]

[JordanGLC]

I remember the day I went to see this in the theater well. My nephew was 13 and not quite at the early stages of the "too cool for Godzilla" phase that he's currently still in. We played 9 holes of golf and then went to check this movie out. We were screaming "Katagiriiiiiiii" at each other for a few weeks afterward.

I wasn't a web surfer at the time so I definitely wasn't up to speed on Godzilla myself (the only Heisei movie I had seen was Godzilla 1985), so seeing the Mire-Goji design was quite a revelation. I remember being not so thrilled with the fins or that his ray wasn't blue. Still, the movie was definitely refreshing after seeing GINO two years prior. I still prefer G2000 over Megaguirus.

[autobutz]

I also saw this film in the theatre and left more or less happy with how it turned out. The movie has its flaws, but the final battle was spectacular, particularly after sitting through all the energy beam battles of the heisei series (not that theres anything wrong with them ) The more I look back, the more I like the G2K suit too.

[walshbeme]

[jamaal7]

The points raised by walshbeme regarding Godzilla 2000 are the very things that make it one of the most enjoyable and satisfying films in the series to me. It's really very simple: when watching it , I feel like the events unfolding in front of me are actually happening. The JSDF uses real, believable, existent hardware at Tokai Mura, and does so very well, stopping Godzilla in his tracks. It's like you're watching an actual news event as it is occuring. The characters are down to earth, living real lives with all of the human connections and relationships one would expect: father and daughter running a business/scientific endeavor, while having a life at home; scientist and intrusive, whiny journalist at loggerheads; government bureaucrat (CCI's Kataghiri) idealogically jousting with Shinoda about Godzilla and what should be done about/with him (in a manner that mirrors and honors the debate bewteen Professor Yamane and the military/government in the original Gojira); scientist Miyasaka rediscovering his scientific roots and questioning his ties to CCI.

All of this and much more make Godzilla 2000 Millennium, imperfections notwithstanding, very enjoyable, a spectacle to behold.

[lhb412]

[armandv]

[SparkieGojira]

I saw it opening night 2 or 3 times... and then kept going back till I reached my heisei average of 14 viewings,,, and I paid for every single ticket! I was flush with money back then and I wanted G to get every penny I owed him on his long awaited US theater return.

[SparkieGojira]

[armandv]

One thing about Godzilla 2000: Millennium is that it dared to take chances in special effects. Sure some didn't come off very well (the "floating" Godzilla during the scene when the GPN vehicle is driving towards the camera), while others came off very nicely (the GPN vehicle driving toward the power plant as Godzilla is smashing it). The characters were probably the best in the Millennium series, before Toho got into a rut with characters with personal issues.

[MouthForWar]

I remember seeing this opening day, then a few more times the following weeks up till it was gone. I loved seeing Godzilla in the theater for the first time (Zilla 98 doesn't count). I still like Godzilla 2000 but I do think its the worst of the millenium series. Its still a really fun movie though.

[briizilla]

[MouthForWar]