Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

Whether you love Final Wars or you hate it, the one thing that everybody says about it is that it basically takes Godzilla's entire film history, throws it into a blender, and then splatters it onto the screen.

So I was thinking about this the other day: Does Final Wars reference every single Godzilla movie that preceded it?

Well lets have a look. I am going to try and link Final Wars to every single Godzilla film that came before it:

Gojira = Yes. They use clips from the original film in the intro and mention that Godzilla's rampage began in 1954.

Godzilla Raids Again = Anguiras is in the movie, and Godzilla is trapped in ice by mankind in both movies.

King Kong Vs. Godzilla = Bit of a stretch with this one, but Godzilla breaks out of his icy prison in Final Wars, much like he did in King Kong Vs. Godzilla.

Mothra Vs. Godzilla = Adult Mothra and the twin fairies are in the movie.

Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster = A beefed up Ghidorah is the final foe of the movie. Also, Godzilla & Mothra team up to fight what turns out to be another version of Ghidorah.

Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero = Probably the most obvious yes given that the Xiliens are clearly a modern take on the Planet X denizens from this film.

Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster = Ebirah is in the movie.

Son of Godzilla = Minya, Kumonga, & Kamackarus are in the movie.

Destroy All Monsters = Another obvious one since the goal of this movie was to top DAM's monster cast count.

Godzilla's Revenge = A young boy befriends Minya in both movies.

Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster = Hedorah is (briefly) in the movie.

Godzilla Vs. Gigan = Gigan plays a large role in the film.

Godzilla Vs. Megalon = Bit of a stretch with this one, but using the Earth's mechanical defense (Jet Jaguar/Gotengo) to "fetch" Godzilla to save the Earth is a similar plot point, right?

Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla = Music of Mechagodzilla's battle with Anguiras is used during a scene. King Ceasar appears in the movie. Also stock footage is used.

Terror of Mechagodizlla = Stock footage of Titannosaurus is used.

Return of Godzilla = That movie has a drunk homeless guy that suffers through a monster attack, and so does this one!

Godzilla Vs. Biollante = Stock footage from the movie is used.

Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah = Godzilla blasts off Ghidorah's middle head in that movie, and blasts off Keizer Ghidorah's heads in similar fashion.

Godzilla Vs. Mothra 92 = Mothra & Gigan's backstory is this movie is presented and explained in a similar way to Mothra & Battra's.

Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla 93 = Stock footage from the movie is used and Godzilla also uses the red spiral beam here, which debuted in the 1993 movie.

Godzilla Vs. Spacegodzilla = Final Wars is the only time in the Millennium series that Godzilla & Mankind work together, and the only time that happened in the Heisei series was in GVsSG. Also, there is stock footage from the film used here.

Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah = Also has stock footage used.

Tristar Godzilla = Do I even have to mention how this one fits in? For Godzilla fans, there was much rejoicing when that, um, "fight" took place.

Godzilla 2000 = The climax has Godzilla headed towards the enemy UFO in the middle of the city. The climax of Final Wars begins with Godzilla headed towards the enemy UFO (though a lot of other crazy stuff happens in FW).

Godzilla X Megaguiras = Stock footage of Megaguiras is used.

Godzilla, Mothra, & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack = The only two movies in the series to feature Godzilla, Adult Mothra, & King Ghidorah are GMK & Final Wars. Both movies also feature Godzilla fighting an evolving King Ghidorah in the climax.

Godzilla X Mechagodzilla = Absolute Zero Cannon, which is a reference to Attragon, was used in GXMG and came back again in this movie, being used against Manda by the Gotengo. Again, that is more of a reference to Attragon, but since the Absolute Zero cannon was previously used in a Godzilla movie too, I'll count it as a reference.

Godzilla: Tokyo SOS = This one is tough considering it was the film that preceded Final Wars and this movie references a lot of previous films too, but I guess seeing so much of Mothra & the Faries being used largely for exposition two films in a row, I guess I could tie in some similarities there.

Had to stretch with some of them and I am sure alot of it was unintentional on the film makers parts, but I like to think that Final Wars was basically a condensed version of Godzilla's entire history all splattered onto the screen, so it was fun to think about.

The references to the Millennium era are all kind of a stretch, but I think Megalon is the biggest stretch
Interesting excersize

The most prominent references to Toho stuff I saw were: Raids Again/King Kong vs. Godzilla, Gorath, Atragon, Monster Zero, Destroy All Monsters, and Godzilla vs. Gigan.

Oh, and then there's the Matrix, V, Return of the Jedi references.

DBZ, don't forget when the main Xilian goes Super Saiyan.

A simpler way to tie in Tokyo SOS would be the fact that both films used the same Mothra puppet.

Footage from Godzilla 2000, GMK, and Tokyo SOS appears in the opening credits montage.

There's another reference to Godzilla 2000: Millennium in a brief scene. An annoying kid in Vancouver, Canada is playing with monster toys in front of the TV as the news is broadcasting Anguirus' attack on Shanghai, China. One of the toys is Orga, the monster that Godzilla battles at the climax of the previously mentioned movie.

There's also another mild reference to Godzilla x Mothra x Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. through actor Akira Nakao. He makes a brief appearance as the captain of the Gotengo in the prologue for Godzilla: Final Wars. You may remember him from the Millennium Series as Prime Minister Igarashi in both Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. You may also better remember him from the Heisei Series as General Aso in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.