Godzilla, Mothra et King Ghidorah

Godzilla mothra and king ghidora: giant monsters all out attack.

Godzilla mothra and king ghidora: giant monsters all out attack or GMK for short can be considered a semi-reboot of the franchise. Compared to the rest of the millennium era Godzilla movies, GMK is the most unique in terms of tone, spirit and overall feel of the movie. Even Godzilla's origin and design sets itself apart. Here is a monster mashup done well, despite its budgetary limitations, with a bigger badder Godzilla than ever.

Where Godzilla films have been mostly sci fi in nature, GMK seeks to throw in a supernatural fantasy spin on a familiar mythos. As usual, a string of mysterious attacks on sea vessels, this case some submarines, leads the the reemergence of Godzilla. Defeated in the 1950s by a destructive chemical weapon, Godzilla's corpse was apparently reanimated by the souls of world war 2 soldiers. Larger, angrier and more powerful than ever, this super zombie Godzilla is possessed by pure evil as he starts tearing his way across japan. Meanwhile, an intrepid reporter discovers an old prophecy that seems to foretell the second coming of Godzilla and an old man who reveals to her the legend of three guardian monsters who would be the key to ending Godzilla's murderous rampage.

This fantasy retelling, as well as reworking familiar monsters' origins, may not sit well with some. On its own merits, this movie works; recasting Baragon, Mothra and Ghidorah into mythical guardians of earth; a big change especially for Ghidorah who was in previous films an alien weapon of destruction. The first thing to stand out were the new monster designs. Intricately crafted yet with a decent amount of mobility. Godzilla gets special mention for his menacing new look; vampire fangs, jet black skin, insanely sharp claws and soulless white eyes oozing with evil. His overall look is closer to the original Godzilla only with his size and fearsome features pumped to the max.

What many would appreciate is the return of "Godzilla is the ultimate badass" theme. Here he is the villain and humanity is powerless. The monsters engage in truly spectacular fights with the director's stylish camera-work enhancing the scale of such clashes. Another mistake this movie corrects from previous ones is that even in scenes without the monsters, their presence is felt. Many past films just drag in their human scenes until the beasts show up for the action. Accompanying the action here is a pulse pounding score by Kou Otani whom anime fans would recognize as the composer for Gundam Wing Endless Waltz and many other memorable anime soundtracks.

GMK's human characters are well developed; we see our main character go from just wanting the scoop of a lifetime to a well rounded individual who has experienced true horrors of disaster and pulled through. The monsters who are the stars are by far the best among the millennium series of Godzilla movies. Perhaps the fantasy element was not too popular, seeing as how subsequent movies went back to sci fi. But no doubt, it was a bold move, a bold semi reboot, with awesome action, great production design for its modest budget, and a story that never let's up with the tension. A must watch for any Godzilla fan.

The first time I saw this movie was on the sci-fi channel and the movie had pieces cut from it and it was badly dubbed. I bought the DVD and watched it and it was a lot better than the sci-fi experience. First off the music is great when you listen to it in stereo, secondly the effects are really good for a Godzilla movie. My major complaint it seems was simply Godzilla's appearance in the movie. It is a major jolt when one is used to the Godzilla of the previous two movies, but on seeing it again it looks rather good, and very evil (still a bit two dumpy, but I got over this time). In this movie, Godzilla is on a rampage...a rampage where he isn't just stumbling through the city causing damage because of his size, but rather causing damage because he wants to kill the people of Japan and make them suffer. Many of his most deplorable acts were cut from the sci-fi version, but on DVD you get to see him cause lots of pain on purpose. Who can stop the rampaging Godzilla...well we have Mothra, Baragon, and King Gidorah, but quite frankly these monsters just can not stand up to the power of this evil super Godzilla. So the military also pitches in with their full arsenal. Very interesting characters abound in a reporter and her military dad and various other interesting people. All of them with one goal: To stop the onslaught of Godzilla.

Godzilla is a horrible little bastard in this movie. He is truly badass. For once, he has no redemption, to the point that previous alien controlled villains are now guardians of the earth. This film grabs the human element by taking a father and daughter as an army captain and a TV reporter. The effects here are just fantastic. All the puppets, suits, CGI looks great, and we get more Godzilla/Human interaction than ever. I loved the shot where Godzilla arrives and throws a boat into the air, only for it to fall straight down onto the camera again. We get some exceptional long takes of cityscapes. It's fascinating to see so many monsters beat each other in what looks like a real city. These Godzilla movies also have the confidence to just let it play out rather than making me sick with constant edits. With a subtitle of Giant Monsters All Out Attack, you know this is gonna be good. Just a shame that Mothra and Ghidorah were slightly out of character.

Dear Godzilla,

Only two aspects of Daikaijû sôkôgeki bothered me. First, you were asked, again, to play a 'bad guy'. Second, your make-up was so awful that it was at times, impossible to see that it was actually you in this film. Even this however, could not prevent me from noticing that this script was a great big leap ahead of most of the rubbish you've recently chosen for your roles. All of your true fans know that your Tokyo destructive rampages are inspired by a single desire - to locate and destroy once and for all the Toho Productions studio, and that once you've destroyed it, your final purpose will be fulfilled. Yet, in this film, you had to pretend that you symbolize the collective guilt of the Japanses people. While this is certainly an interesting and philosophical not to mention political spin and it certainly made your unpleasant behavior tolerable for some people, I am wondering if you will ever get a great role showing your true colors - as a protector of all living things (Japanese and otherwise) - again.

Your acting, and your supporting cast, even the very small hairless apes, were positively stellar in this film, and the production values were good enough to inspire me to plead with you to spare Toho from the revenge you certainly deserve for their occasional attempts to ruin your career, your public image, and your family life. Despite your bad facial makeup, you, Mosura and Kingu Gidorâ were all shot beautifully with some of the best split screen and blue screen work I have ever seen. Although it bothered me that Gidorâ was cast in the role of saving japan, and that he even joined that overgrown spray-painted house fly Mothra in this effort, I am certainly glad that, despite the Americanized title - something like "Giant Monsters All Out Attack" - was not really what this film was about. I'm glad the director allowed the characters some time to develop and to construct an interesting set of subplots between scenes of mass devastation.

I don't blame you for avoiding Hollywood, especially after that film they claimed to be about you which they they hired one of your stunt doubles to do a few years ago. And this film gives reason to think there is hope for the Toho production company after all. But, the offer still stands. Retirement in Hollywood could really be a good time for you, and again, I can think of at least a few states with habits of electing famous middle-aged and older thespians of grand stature and size to public office. Besides, if you got cast in a bad role here in the USA, just imagine the popularity with which your first rampage through southern California would be received! So the prospects are unlimited here. Give it some thought!

Japanese filmmakers know how to make Godzilla films. Nearly 50 years after giving us the original "Godzilla," Japan films present "Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack." The technical, special effects, CGI, and all aspects are superb. This film launched a renewal in Godzilla lore on film. It completely outdoes the lame 1998 American "Godzilla" by TriStar.

As with the original black and white, Godzilla looks the part of the monster it is - a unique hybrid not a dinosaur-age imitation or look-alike. The other monsters in this one, especially Mothra and the Red Monster look more cartoonish. The battle scenes, rampage and destruction around Tokyo again has a real feel to it.

This plot has an interesting twist. The original Godzilla was conceived as an aberration that resulted from nuclear bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean. But, in this film, a question surfaces more than once, after a reference to Godzilla having been in New York (the 1998 American film). "Why Tokyo again?" a couple of Japanese officials ask rhetorically. And the female lead, Yuri Tachibana (played by Chiharu Niiyama) says that it may be because Japan has to acknowledge its inhumane actions in the Pacific war. That's how the reference is stated regarding World War II and Japan's inhumane aspects in its conduct of the war.

Even though it doesn't specify any of the bad deeds, this is an acknowledgement that the Japanese did some heinous things during the war. That's interesting coming in a film 55 years after the end of WW II.