The Heisei-era Godzillas, Ranked From 'The Battle For Earth' to SpaceGodzilla
Every monstrous slugfest from the monster king's second series.
After Terror of Mechagodzilla premiered at the disinterested box office in 1975, Godzilla entered a nine-year hibernation. This is not a design failure to develop a new project that makes economic and creative sense. Solution? Back to source. With 1984's The Return of Godzilla, every previous film except for the 1954 original was scrapped, establishing a new timeline for the king of monsters. And the king is not about to save the world from aliens by teaming up with his monster friends and mechanics; he has returned to his roots as a violent force of nature and a symbol of nuclear annihilation.
Welcome to the Heisei era, the second installment of the Godzilla film series that spanned from 1984 to 1995. The series sees ever-larger monsters in more elaborate clothing, interconnectedness. closer continuity between the films and a recurring character in psychic Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka). Fewer images were made during the Heisei era, and the new monsters introduced here never achieved the iconic status of their predecessors. But production value remains high throughout the series, and Heisei's best films match or surpass many of their predecessors.
We've already passed the first (Shōwa) era for Godzilla movies. Now here is our rating of the second era:
7. Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth (1992)
There's a great fairy flavor to this setting. Unfortunately, Godzilla's presence feels more like an intrusion into Mothra's story than an organic part of it. When a movie would be better without either of its title characters, you know you have a plot problem. The fact that it doesn't help is a big part of the original 1961 Mothra being brought into the proceedings, though this is a very different story. There's not much to recommend here other than monster action; except for the marquee value of its two-star kaiju, I'm not sure how Battle for Earth became such a success. But at least it paved the way for more original movies later in the decade.
6. Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
Unfortunately, these fascinating pieces belong to a story that, like Godzilla Raids Again in the final list, is a jumbled set of confusingly adjusted themes. Things are not quite as disjointed here as they were in that 1955 effort. The two main plot themes of Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla - the extraterrestrial threat and the plan to control Godzilla depends on Miki - at least throughout the movie and intersect. But there are still awkward stops and tangents along the way, detracting from what should have been a solid sci-fi story.
5. Return of Godzilla (1984)
Gareth Edwards must have done well to note how The Return of Godzilla reintroduced the monster king: sans co-star. Godzilla has all of Tokyo to himself here, and he lives up to his producer-producer Tomoyuki Tanaka's goal of re-establishing his monster as a threat. Up until Shin Godzilla (2016), no movie since the original has spent much effort on making Godzilla scary. Effort is largely successful here. Godzilla's nocturnal raids on Japan, represented by some of the finest miniatures and optics ever made for a kaiju film, don't neglect to show the numbers of people during the rage. his fury.
The return of Godzilla is also a political animal, even more so than Godzilla 1954, in that it named the United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers that endangered the world with nuclear tension in the 1980s. Godzilla is both an excuse for conflict between the Cold Warriors, and a means for them to come to Japan to avert a greater catastrophe. A little heavy handed? Probably, and older than the original movie. The lack of memorable human characters doesn't help. But if it falters as a political commentary, The Return of Godzilla is still a picture of horror for sure.
4. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
You can almost think of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah as Godzilla Begins. Nearly 40 years after it first appeared on the silver screen, Godzilla's origins as a plant-eating Godzillasaurus horribly mutated by atomic tests have been identified. Worse still, the poor dinosaur was nearly killed when he happened to be involved in a skirmish between the US and Japanese forces during World War II. His inadvertent rescue of the Japanese battalion has earned him a devoted friend in commander Yasuaki Shindo (Yoshio Tsuchiya). Their parting on the island is unexpected and touching, and the resolution to their relationship near the end of the film is a devastating piece of tragedy.
But it's not just Godzilla who discovers his past. His arch nemesis King Ghidorah was transformed from an alien dragon to create the genetics of time travelers, the fusion of three H-bomb-loved Dorats into three selves. its destructive head. Ghidorah ends the movie three monsters for the price of one when it gets a cybernetic upgrade and becomes Mecha-King Ghidorah in the finale. With good effects, compelling human characters, and significant story content about the monsters themselves, the only thing going against Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is its time travel game. They don't add the most coherent plot. But that's not a problem new to Godzilla movies, and it's very well offset here by the character's work.
3. Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
The first movie of the Heisei period to be produced during the Heisei period, Godzilla vs Biollante was uneven. But it's also one of the most innovative Godzilla movies ever made, and the only Heisei Godzillas movie to go out with new kaiju concepts. Whatever you think of the end result, you can't deny that a genetically engineered monster made up of Godzilla cells, a rose, and a geneticist's murdered daughter is a concept. initial concept. The end result is a cynical and rather beautiful monster. Beauty is hard to see in the final form with the mouth of an alligator, but there it's all the same.
However, before Godzilla can encounter that ghost, he must contend with Biollante's rose form and with Miki Saegusa's psychic powers during her first appearance. She may not have been able to defeat Godzilla with her abilities, but she made an impressive effort against him. Godzilla's suit in this movie sets his design to the rest of the Heisei movies (with minor tweaks during each outing) and it's my favorite look to this day. The miniatures are impressive, the human action fascinating, but the story is another disjointed affair. However, the creativity of this level in itself deserves a round of applause.
2. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
Despite the Roman numerals after its name, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II is not a replacement for the 1974 introduction of Godzilla's metal counterpart. This time, Mechagodzilla sided with the angels, or at least on the side of the United Nations Godzilla Response Center (UNGCC). The remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah are used to craft anti-Godzilla weapons, of which Mechagodzilla is the pinnacle. There's no better reason for the United Nations to model their robot after Godzilla than it is for the evil space chimpanzees of the Shōwa era, but if you can't get the money, this might not be the case. is the kind of movie for you. If possible, you'll find here a more coherent plot than most Heisei Godzillas. There's less ambition in the concepts, but the viewing experience is smoother and it doesn't seem like the plot is incoherent.
Aside from reintroducing Mechagodzilla, this film transports Rodan into the Heisei era, still demonstrating a love-hate relationship with the series' star. It also reintroduces the idea of Godzilla having biological children, but the approach is far from the Shōwa era. Baby Godzilla is a much more successful creation than Minilla. He really does look like he might be a Godzillasaurus infant, and he has some real nature as a character beyond the lightness and cuteness of the comics. The circumstances that led to Godzilla accepting him weren't as sweet as in Godzilla and Son (1967), but they were significantly more substantial.
1. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
The Shōwa era was coming to an end, but Godzilla's Heisei series ended things with a bang. In the wake of America's first attempt at a Godzilla of their own, Toho decided to retire their biggest kaiju star in breathtaking fashion. Massive advertising claims that in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, "Godzilla is dead!" Whether it's from the mutated crustacean colony Destoroyah, or from Godzilla's own volcanically triggered crisis - that, you need to go to the movies to find out.
The Heisei era has been reset, a direct continuation of the original film in The Return of Godzilla; At the end of the series, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is more tied to the 1954 classic than any sequel before or since. The Oxygen Terminator finished off the first Godzilla behind the Terminator's arrival. Momoko Kōchi, who played the heroine Emiko Yamane in Godzilla, takes on the role in a cameo, while the family is represented by a grandson. The film is the final work of producer Tanaka and composer Akira Ifukube, both of whom were part of Godzilla's creative process and have accompanied him in most of his subsequent films. The decisions made for Godzilla, his son, and Miki Saegusa are all satisfying in an ending that, despite the film's tagline, is quite triumphant.
You can make a good case that Godzilla has reached his natural endpoint here, no more movies needed. Such a conclusion comes from the story rather than the economic value of a world-famous character name, so we're here with more films since. But everything is fine, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah remains the greatest final installment in any Godzilla timeline
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