Gojira vs. Supesugojira

The 1994 "Gojira vs. Supesugojira" (aka "Godzilla vs Space Godzilla") was actually one of the more entertaining of movies in the massive Godzilla franchise.

Sure, the movie was campy, no doubt about it. But still, this is a Godzilla movie, so you know what you are getting yourself into here. And I will say that writers Kanji Kashiwa and Hiroshi Kashiwabara actually managed to turn out a script that really worked and felt very much like a Godzilla movie. And director Kenshô Yamashita brought the story to life nicely on the screen.

This is a very typical Godzilla movie in every sense. The Earth is threatened by a kaiju - this time from outer space - and Godzilla comes in to take on the threat and emerge victorious (of course). So yeah, a standard Godzilla movie in every aspect. You know what you are getting into, and you know the outcome of the movie even before it starts.

The storyline, despite it being generic, was actually entertaining. I was especially enjoying the Godzilla fight against Space Godzilla, whereas the Mogera was just a side dish with little to no flavor to add to the movie. I was particularly fond of the approach with the Space Godzilla creature.

For a movie from 1994 then the effects were particularly good, given the fact that this is, after all, a Godzilla movie.

"Godzilla vs Space Godzilla" is definitely a movie that is well worth taking the time to sit down and watch if you enjoy the kaiju movies. My rating for the movie is a solid six out of ten stars.

This Godzilla movie was a vast improvement over its previous version "Godzilla vs Mecha Godzilla II". I liked the plot, and I especially liked the fact that new monster worthy of Godzilla was introduced here instead of old monsters (especially Mothra and King Gidorah) being recycled into its plot. Cinematography was good, and the way Godzilla was depicted in this movie had freshness to it with Godzilla shown in a scene with actually existing landscapes like Mt. Aso in Kyushu.

The actors were mostly all new to this movie, and they were better actors than those in the earlier series. If there's one actor that I don't understand why she's in it is Megumi Odaka(Miki Saegusa). She has no expression, and just stands there and talks the dialog, and she's in every single Godzilla movie made in the '90s. The actor I liked the most was Dr. Gondo. The plot is that her brother was killed by Godzilla. Toho should work more on casting with these movies. They could easily bring up the quality of production couple of notches (as '90s Gamera series proved with rented talent from Toho doing special effects and directing).

This is Gojira's 40th anniversary movie. What a strange concoction this one is.

While SpaceGodzilla, who admittedly looks evil and can do evil things, seems a little out of place. I'm not too sure about his powers of flight. He's at his most bastard self when he attacks the more or less defenceless LittleGodzilla.

Little Gojira is a bit odd too. It looks nothing like Baby from "Gojira vs Mekagojira II". But, to its credit, it acts like a young one would. It's playful, it can wander into dangerous situations and it can call out for its parent.

MOGERA is an oddity too. How it could be classed a "sucessor" to the all-powerful MechaG from the previous movie is beyond me (or possibly any G-fan). It's kinda more like the B-squad of mechas. However, I do like its ability to transform into two vehicles. Actually, I prefer it like that.

I'm got going to mention much about Godzilla, except why, for most of the film, his atomic breath is blue? As we all know it turned red thanks to Rodan's self-sacrifice, but why is it not red all the time?

As per usual, the human cast don't have much going for them. I'm starting to dislike Miki Saegusa now. She keeps blabbing on about "Godzilla's rights", but as per usual, she gets led into the plan anyway. I'm not too sure about the guy in charge of the T-project (the one with the long face who smirks to himself a lot). He's kinda like a Japanese Snidely Whiplash.

With this film, I think Toho Studios focused more on the human characters and subplot. Major Yuki and Dr. Gondo's relationship take center stage, as do Miki Saegusa and Shinjo. Yuki wanted to avenge Godzilla for his friend Goro Gondo (from 1989's Godzilla vs. Biollante). Therefore, he has a personal vendetta against the monster, who battles SpaceGodzilla to save his son. Miki was instructed to use her powers to control Godzilla, hopefully, lessening his attacks on Japan.

This movie marked Godzilla's 40th anniversary and is the only Heisei film that introduced a creature from space-SpaceGodzilla, a creep of a monster when he attacked the innocent LittleGodzilla on Bass Island. BabyGodzilla (from 1993's Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II) grew into Little Godzilla. Moguera was a new tin-can weapon made by G-Force to defeat Godzilla. It is said to be better improved than Mechagodzilla. But, he had no effect on Godzilla and lost two battles with SpaceGodzilla. The first battle sequence between Moguera and SpaceGodzilla shows them in space, which gave us a very bad special effect of big, white plastic chunks of rocks. Also, the battle sequences of Godzilla and SpaceGodzilla were mainly rays zapping against each other. The Japanese Mafia looks more like businessmen in suits and they were not emphasized enough in the movie. Akira Ifukube didn't even return to score this movie. Toho even had a new director and writer for this film, giving the story to a new crew. The final battle, consisting of Godzilla, SpaceGodzilla and Moguera was more focused on Moguera. However, the movie plot flowed fairly well, with some good and solid acting. I loved how Miki's psychic powers were enhanced in this film, i.e., she used telekinesis to levitate a bed she was strapped down to, open a trapped door and dislodge a transmitter from Godzilla's neck. She even used her powers to communicate with Shinjo. As Shinjo says "see you again one day" and Sato saying "Godzilla! I still have something to settle with you" to Godzilla made it seem that the monster is beginning to garner the audience's sympathy.

As you watch closely, this film features more monsters than any other film in the Heisei Series-Godzilla, SpaceGodzilla, LittleGodzilla, Moguera, Mothra, and Fairy Mothra.

Overall, not a bad film. There are better Godzilla movies than this one, but if you're a G- Fan, add this movie to your collection by all means.

Grade B-

This is one of those movies that it infuriates me to see so many people get very analytical on. Most people find all so many things to harp on, they forget this movie (and most of the series) is made to entertain. Lots of people criticize the plot, but who really goes into a kaiju fighting movie looking for deep meaning (there are a FEW exceptions)?

Setting that aside, let's get to the review. The plot deals with a monster bred in space that comes to earth to battle Godzilla. It's origins are ambiguous: Biollante or Mothra are responsible in one way or another. After Godzilla is defeated in the first encounter, both monsters retreat and then both tear up Japan as they head towards the final battleground: Fukuoka.

Personally, I thought Space Godzilla was cool. He was quite a difficult opponent to fight. Godzilla's breath for the most part wasn't effective. I liked his design also. The final battle goes on for quite long as Godzilla and a robot ally, MOGUERA take Space Godzilla in a giant crystal fortress. There were some ambitious ideas involving telekinesis; both Space Godzilla and Megumi Odaka use it during the film. I liked the score, it's a lot better than it's given credit for. My favorite part is the destruction montage of Godzilla destroying various cities on his way to Fukuoka. Great special FX and great musical accompaniment.

Overall, an entertaining film.