A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Ishiro Honda, starring everyone from all the crappy Godzilla movies.
Monsters attack. Seriously, that's all that happens.
This is the worst daikaiju film I have ever sat through. The threadbare plot was accompanied by bad writing and poor acting. That pretty much did it in. Some of the monster scenes looked cool, but it's not worth watching just for a few seconds of some giant squid, crustacean and turtle. I don't feel the need to write more about this trash. I rate it bad. DO NOT WATCH!!!
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Jun Fukuda.
A baby Godzilla (Minya/Minilla) is born on an island where a military compound is stationed. Godzilla teaches the child to use the breath weapon as they face off against insect monsters and the military people try to escape.
Not bad. There was a little bit more coherent plot in this one and fewer main characters. I've always liked the spider monster, Kumonga/Spiga as a side-monster, but using it as the main opposing kaiju is a little anti-climatic. The full use of breath power negates the plot of All Monsters Attack, which I see as a sequel to this. Godzilla and Minilla's acting was on the plus side here and more expressive than in other films. Overall, decent. I rate this adequate because it was far less painful to watch than many others in the franchise.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Jun Fukuda.
A group of aliens have taken human bodies as disguises and plan to take over the Earth. As a small group of humans uncover their plan, the aliens summon Gigan and Ghidorah who fight Godzilla and Anguirus.
Not so great. The main problem is that underexposure ruined the whole monster fight. Other than that, it's the same as all the other Godzilla films. There was also some re-used footage. I rate this poor.
A Japanese American daikaiju science fiction directed by R.J. Kizer and Koji Hashimoto.
Godzilla arises from the ocean and begins destroying Japan. The only American journalist to survive his previous attack is called in and a small team work on using bird sounds to lure him into a volcano.
This was no good. The plot failed to hold my attention and there were too many characters. Godzilla was badly acted and the overall presentation was seriously lacking. Overall, not worth watching. I rate this bad.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Ishiro Honda.
Godzilla attacks Japan after a giant egg is found. Mothra fights and dies before the egg hatches. A pair of small women are connected to these events.
Standard issue Godzilla flick. If there ever was a standard to judge Godzilla films by, this is it. It's just cheesy enough to notice and conforms to all of the Godzilla criteria. The human drama is meaningless and the monster fight doesn't make sense. The special effects are crude, but functional. Overall, middle of the road in mediocresville. I rate this o.k. so it can blend in and normalize like it wants to.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Ishiro Honda.
Aliens from space take control of people and monsters with remote devices. They want to rule the planet, but a team in a space ship finds their base on the moon. With humans in control of the Earth's monsters, they battle against Ghidorah and a flying saucer.
This was alright. Nothing really special. The visual effects were hilariously bad. I could easily see when they were using miniatures or a painted background. Recycled footage also made a few appearances. There were some sections that had no music for some reason. It made some of the action scenes a little weird. The climax fight between many monsters was cool. Overall, just another Godzilla flick. I rate it o.k.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Shusuke Kaneko.
Godzilla battles Baragon, Mothra and Ghidorah as well as the human military. You know, just for the point of fighting.
This was terrible. It failed to catch or hold my attention in any way. Three tries and the slightest distraction was more important than this. I would chalk that up to bad directing. The modern production methods used in these newer Godzilla films make everything look fine. Even though you can still see the actor's head in Godzilla's neck, at least his breath looks good. Ghidorah is cool and I kind of liked Baragon. He's not the best monster, but I think he was acted well. Overall, one of the worst Godzilla flicks. I rate this bad.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction written directed and produced by Yoshimitsu Banno.
A mutant tadpole creature from outer space feeds on Earth's pollution to become a giant monster. Godzilla cooperates with the humans to destroy it.
This was a unique Godzilla film that broke out of the same old formula. The directing was better to start with. Good camera-work and scene staging helped immensely. Some people hate the '60s psychedelic soundtrack, but I liked it. The band features a guitarist with an awesome Teisco guitar (picture). It has side-rectangle fret markers and rocker switches: a real gem. I also liked the decor of the night club with a liquid light show and animated skeletons. The little boy was almost as annoying as the "Grandma!" kid in The Witches (1990). Overall, something different to break the monotony of my Godzilla marathon. I rate it good.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Masaaki Tezuka.
As Japanese scientists are working on a way to rid the world of Godzilla, giant dragonflies come out of a wormhole created by their latest experiment. These turn into an even bigger dragonfly that fights Godzilla.
This was very much like the other Masaaki Tezuka Godzilla films. It featured an anti-Godzilla military team and a child who plays a small role in the plot. They tried using an unsuccessful romantic interest, but it seemed inconclusive to me. This may be the only film of the franchise where they actually get rid of Godzilla. It beats me why they would want to, after he saves the Earth from so many other monsters. Personally, I would try to train him not to wreck cities. The monster was pretty cool because it changed and the final form was artfully crafted. Overall, another Godzilla movie. Only 9 left! I rate it o.k.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Masaaki Tezuka.
This is a sequel to Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla from the previous year. It continues the adventures of Godzilla, his mechanized skeleton and adds Mothra, bringing this specific plot to a conclusion.
It's good to see a sequel Godzilla movie AFTER the first one. It happened totally by chance. It's also cool that they even made a continuation, as most of these films are stand-alone entries with occasional references to previous episodes. This was very similar to Against Mecha, but I thought the camera-work and scene staging was a little less impressive. It lacked the "OH WOW!" shots like Mecha's head crashing through an office. This picture doesn't look like a screen-shot and I'll probably get in trouble for it. If it's yours', let me know and I will change it. Overall, a decent entry on the list. I rate it adequate.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Kazuki Omori.
Scientists use Godzilla cells when genetically engineering a plant. A monster results that fights Godzilla.
Those darn scientists just can't keep their filthy digits off of Godzilla's cells and genetic material. They have known since the 1970s that it doesn't turn out well, but keep doing it anyway. The unique monster for this film was alright. It's final form was only shown for a few minutes of battle time and most of the film was taken up by talking scenes about genetic engineering and G cells. Godzilla's acting was moderately expressive and his costume was one of the better ones. It even had eye articulation. I'm really becoming familiar with the Godzilla series by watching so many in a row. I would not recommend this activity because of redundancy and repetition. Overall, this is not one of the better Godzilla films. It's not so bad that you would be better off just viewing a picture of the unique monster, but it's not really worth watching either. I rate it tolerable.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Masaaki Tezuka.
After an accident involving tanks and cars during a Godzilla attack, a female driver is demoted to librarian. Because of her mistake, a pilot's brother was killed. When a biomechanical robot is made based on the first Godzilla's skeleton (picture), she is chosen as a pilot. The semi-robotic Godzilla initially malfunctions because of Godzilla's DNA being used in the computer. It is repaired and returns to fight real Godzilla a second time.
This was actually not bad. The plot was presented clearly and the characters were acted well. The soundtrack was effective too. I think the special effects were done relatively tastefully. My favorites were Kiryu (mecha) going through a building and later slamming into real Godzilla while glowing. In the building demolition scene, there is an interior shot of the head going through an office and then an exterior of the whole robot emerging out of the other side. The drawback here is that there were no new monsters. Overall, pretty decent. I rate it adequate.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Ishiro Honda.
A princess is the target of an assassin and claims to be a Martian, capable of telling the future. Ghidorah arrives and begins to destroy Japan. The fairies from Mothra's island call him to unite with Godzilla and Rodan to defeat Ghidorah.
This was pretty standard for Godzilla flicks. It differentiated from others by the presence of Ghidorah, one of the cooler kaiju monsters. The monster costumes/puppets were of noticeably poor quality and their acting lacked expression. The audio was very treble-biased and the soundtrack was repetitive. Overall, a regular Godzilla movie. I rate it o.k.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Takao Okawara.
A giant rock comes out of the ocean. It turns out to be an alien spacecraft that transforms into a monster and fights Godzilla.
This had the simplest plot of an Godzilla film I've seen so far. The monster was pretty cool because it kept changing. They could not help but to present this clearly and there were a small number of characters. Overall, a regular Godzilla flick with some good attributes. I rate it adequate. This was very easy to review.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Ishiro Honda, starring Kenji Sahara and Hideyo Amamoto.
A boy whose parents are always at work is cared for by a neighbor. The boy dreams of Godzilla and company when he sleeps. A pair of bank robbers are hiding out in a nearby abandoned factory and they kidnap the boy.
I had a VHS of this when I was younger and believe I may have worn it out from repeated viewing. It features a wide variety of monsters, but this also means a wide range of quality. Lots of the daikaiju fights are stock footage from previous films. I get the feeling that the little boy is supposed to be the child who befriends Gamera, but could find no concrete proof of this. Overall, a decent entry in the Godzilla catalog. I rate it best for sentimental reasons.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Ryuhei Kitamura.
Aliens come to Earth. They trigger and stop attacks by all of the giant monsters. Wanting to use humans as a food source, they struggle against an elite Earth military group who call Godzilla. An old man and his grandson find baby Godzilla, but that doesn't matter at all.
This was over the top and out of the park. The Japanese film team handled special effects like a child who has found his father's gun. There was a composited fight on motorcycles and more Hong Kong wire than anyone knows what to do with. Fast editing cuts and beam weapons abounded. True to the spirit of daikaiju films, they pulled out all the stops and released all the monsters except Destoroyah and MechaGodzilla. A movie so bad that it's good, this makes reparations for those crappy '90s Godzilla flicks that I've been talking trash about recently. Overall, (and sticking with the baseball analogy) they hit a home run. I rate this awesome.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Takao Okawara.
Use of nuclear technology has awakened prehistoric monsters that mutate. Godzilla is going through a nuclear meltdown as he fights the largest of these monsters.
This was not so hot. The monsters were really cool, but the film was so poorly made that it's almost not worth watching. The horrible plot was made worse by terrible acting. Seriously, you would be better off just looking at a picture of Destoroyah. Overall, no good. I rate this poor.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Kensho Yamashita, starring Akira Emoto.
SpaceGodzilla comes from outer space as Earthlings are testing methods to control Godzilla. They use Mogera, a Mechagodzilla-type robot to help in the fight.
This is the absolute worst Godzilla movie. The crappy acting is something that I'm used to, but the sparse soundtrack was what really screwed the pooch on this one. SpaceGodzilla looks really cool, but there's no music! The fight scenes were bad too. I didn't actually see any giant monster combat. Poorly made and uninteresting, this really sucks a big, floppy donkey dick. I rate this bad. NEVER EVER WATCH!!!
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Ishiro Honda.
A sequel to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), the aliens still want to bring destruction with their robot and they enlist the aid of Earthlings when they find out about a marine daikaiju called Titanosaurus. Mechagodzilla and Titanosaurus are being controlled to fight Godzilla.
This is cited by Wikipedia as "the least successful of the entire Godzilla franchise", but I kind of liked it. The opening narration was very clear and accompanied by clips from previous films. There was another section later in the film where someone is wondering if Titanosaurus will become "one of the killers" in which previous clips were used to a positive effect as well. The plot was presented a little more clearly than in many other Godzilla films and Godzilla's acting was more expressive too. An interesting side note, I misheard one of the interpol agents introduce himself as "Murakushi, The Meat-pole" to the daughter of a scientist. Overall, it figures that I would like the "least successful" film of the franchise. I will even go as far as to rate it good.
A Japanese daikaiju science fiction directed by Jun Fukuda.
A false Godzilla flies out of Mount Fuji and begins to attack Japan. Anguirus tries unsuccessfully to stop it, but calls real Godzilla before returning underground. A pair of Japanese traditionalists are aided by a journalist and a pair of archaeologists to summon King Caesar/Shisa to help Godzilla battle the false metal replica of himself.
I seriously thought they were saying "King Seesaw", but he turned out to be a pretty cool monster. The metal pipe that the archaeologist made was cool too. The enemies gaining gorilla masks in death was another interesting point. That's about it. I rate this o.k.
