by Pkmatrix » Sat Dec 28, 2013 9:36 am
All right, my five favorite sequences or scenes from the Millennium era (in chronological order):
1. G2K's Opening Sequence - As others have pointed out, the whole opening sequence of this movie is GREAT. It's well-executed, suspenseful, and does a great job resetting Godzilla's tone following the '90s films and Z'98.
2. Godzilla vs. the UFO and Orga - This is, hands down, my favorite fight in the whole Millennium set! It's exciting, fast-paced, it's action-packed, and is DIFFERENT. It's so dramatically different from the typical climactic fight in these movies that it, IMO, stands out as amongst the best in the whole franchise. Now, it isn't perfect...in fact, once Orga is introduced it grows pretty stale pretty quickly. As cool and interesting the UFO was as an opponent, and as fascinating a foe as Orga is, the fight between Godzilla and Orga is just not all that well executed. Doesn't stop it from being one of my favorite sequences post-1995!
3. GxMegaguirus' Opening Sequence - I'm a fan of alternate history, so seeing the Godzilla series dabble in it is a ton of fun! This is one of the only times the filmmakers tried to show how Godzilla's attacks had actually affected Japan and its history, in this case showing his attacks having major repercussions: Japan is forced to move it's capital after Tokyo is destroyed in 1954, they're forced to abandon nuclear energy after Tokai is destroyed in 1966, and so on. The only other movies that come anywhere near what this sequence does are Biollante, GMK, and the Kiryu duology...and none of them show Japan having been affected so dramatically or seriously as in this sequence. I still consider it a massive shame that the rest of Megaguirus isn't as interesting as it's opening.
4. Admiral Tachibana's Flashback - It's REALLY hard to choose a favorite sequence from GMK since I like so many of them! Since I figure others had already pointed out the obvious ones (Godzilla vs. Baragon, the battle in Yokohama, Godzilla's first landing, etc.), I'll point out a less obvious favorite: Admiral Tachibana's recounting of Godzilla's first attack. It's a well-done and well-acted moment in the film that does a great job fleshing out his character as well as really demonstrating how much Godzilla has shaped this man's life. It also helps explain why the Admiral is so different from the other military leaders in the film: unlike the rest, he remembers Godzilla's first attack all too well.
5. Kiryu Remembers - My favorite moment from the Kiryu duology is the scene in Godzilla against Mechagodzilla when the cyborg at last remembers who he really is and then proceeds to run wild. It's a moment the film had been building up to and is executed VERY well! The shot where he walks through a building and the shot where he shuts down with the sun setting in the background are probably the two most beautiful in all of Tezuka's Godzilla films.
Runners Up: Every Godzilla sequence in GMK, Godzilla vs Baragon in GMK, Godzilla vs. Mothra and King Ghidorah in Yokohama in GMK, GMK's Ending, GxMG's Opening Sequence, Tokyo SOS' Opening Sequence, Manda vs. Gotengo in GFW, and the Monsters attack the World sequence in GFW (minus the AWFUL pimp scene), and Godzilla vs. Kamacuras in GFW.
I should point out that I think the Millennium films pretty much all have great opening sequences. The films that follow don't often match the quality of the first 5 to 10 minutes, though, and other than GMK's Ending I can't think of any ending that I actually liked.