Talkback: Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)

[HedorahLives]

Good movie I like how they put Biollante in the movie and gotta love the Godzilla suit and his roar. But I have to agree the movie is hard to find for a good price and in good condition with the cover and it's only on VHS for Region 1 for other places on DVD so for us in America here unknown when we'll get it on DVD which is sad

I cross my fingers for the day that we get a complete seven film Heisei box set, complete with Japanese language versions, some extra features, and maybe informative audio commentaries a la the classic media set. Probably will never happen, but a jerk like me can dream.

[Hellblaze]

Good movie I like how they put Biollante in the movie and gotta love the Godzilla suit and his roar. But I have to agree the movie is hard to find for a good price and in good condition with the cover and it's only on VHS for Region 1 for other places on DVD so for us in America here unknown when we'll get it on DVD which is sad

I cross my fingers for the day that we get a complete seven film Heisei box set, complete with Japanese language versions, some extra features, and maybe informative audio commentaries a la the classic media set. Probably will never happen, but a jerk like me can dream.

Same here we all can dream that

[showatomilleniumfan]

Can Someone Send Me The Making Of Godzilla Vs Biollante?

[Zilla103192]

im pretty sure send ing members stuff like this is against the rules except via PM. or unless its a youtube video... but if it was a youtube video... you could just search it.

eitherway bud, i cant help you here

[Showa Gyaos]

Not the entire "making of" special featurette, but here's some of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC0LeVwSG68

[TokyoVigilante]

So yeah, just fresh off of Godzilla vs. Biollante for the first time. I've spent pretty much my entire Fandom career seeing the Heisei era and this film in particular being hyped to hell. I ended up not liking the Heisei series (although my opinion has softened) in general.

This film is pretty awesome, though. Even though it's from the late-eighties, it's one of the "freshest" Godzilla films, thematically speaking, that I've seen since GMK. The Special Effects were fantastic, and I didn't find the film as over-crowded as some apparently did. Also, the characters were all nice and fresh also.

Oh and it's nice to see Miki actually be relevant to the story and her actress actually giving some effort. It's nice to see her not bored.

Biollante? Oh god. That roar freaks the hell out of me. It's an amazingly animated prop that is actually aided by its sheer mass and not hindered.

The Godzilla suit is looking better then it normally does. The spines are actually stable (!) and while no more mobile then the other Heisei costumes, technically, but the action didn't necessitate that the Godzilla suit do more then it was capable. The animatronic head is looking great and the mixing up of the suit and the animatronics makes Godzilla nice and lively.

But the music was awful. So out of place and didn't match the tone of the film at all. So bad. Especially after the fantastic score for G'85. It was completely out of place and spoiled many a tense moment for the human action and a spooky shot of Godzilla.

I'll need to watch it a couple more times to solidify my opinion for sure and whether it warrants a list on my favorites, but it was a great time.

[GodzillaXGomoraFight]

I finally got Biollante yesterday in Japanese from a torrent. I watched the battle scenes already and I'm planning to watch the entire film soon. The bad thing, however, is that there is no subtitles. That Japanese class I've been taking in school should at least help me a little through it.

[gojimantis]

to me, this parallels "Hedorah" as the WTF? film in the series , i think it gets written off too easily. i have not seen this in a long time, but i enjoyed watching it, i was unaware that there were movies after '84 ( i came across the vhs of Biollante in the mid 90's, still got it)
i think its good because it's not the run of the mill G film, TOHO threw us for a loop here... job well done. i liked the G suit, and the Bringing back IFUKUBE's music.
would love to see Biollante come back, but in a more flexible form, guess with cgi, they can make her move where and however.

[Arbok]

to me, this parallels "Hedorah" as the WTF? film in the series...

Curious, in what way? The concept of Godzilla fighting a rose is certainly odd on paper, but it was pulled off very well and who can't love that 1980's style art poster of seeing Godzilla face off against it?

This film felt like a great follow up to The Return of Godzilla. To me, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was the out liner film in the Heisei series, as it departed very strongly from the more serious approach of the previous two films and goes for some way out there science fiction elements (which is saying something when talking in regard to Godzilla films).

[Silv]

Okay. *cracks fingers* Here we go.

Godzilla vs. Biollante, quite possibly my favorite of all Godzilla films. I love many others for different reasons, but whenever raving about Godzilla in general, I never fail to mention this one. Now, to a Godzilla fan, I could still very well understand this not being their cup of tea. It's very different from any other title in any series, IMO. However, I would have preferred that the Heisei series continued to progress like this film for many reasons.

You really have many different portrayals of Godzilla throughout the decades. The original "King of the Monsters" and "Godzilla Raids Again" movies had a certain method to their execution of Godzilla. With the memory of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki still fresh in the memories of the Japanese people, the creation of Godzilla sort of gave a face to that very real horror, being a result of the nuclear fallout. The way he would reduce entire modern cities to ruble, leaving nothing but nuclear fallout and death in his path, sort of personified a modern day, real-life horror faced at the time. This was an effective manor in creating a classic.

In many ways, Cloverfield mimics this trick, with the 9/11 attacks still fresh in the minds of New Yorkers, the movie itself took that psychological aspect of a real terror that took place, and used it as a scare tactic for the film. The very scene in the beginning when what looked like the Chrysler Building went down, the dust cloud sequence, and then that general feeling of being trapped in the city, and not knowing what's going on, even though you know for sure, that you're under attack, but you don't know by what, and for what reason, or when it will end, or if its safe to try to escape on the bridges...

Ahem, a bit sidetracked there, but yes, Godzilla was the post nuclear attack horror story. But somewhere, it all went aloof. Godzilla started playing boulder volley ball with King Kong and Rodan, and fighting aliens from outer space, complete with the frisbee on a fishing pole flying saucers. Not to say there was anything wrong with these Showa series films. I've seen em all, and have been entertained by most of them. As long as you have an open mind and some popcorn, nothing beats watching Godzilla fly-kick Megalon as Jet Jaguar holds em like a wrestler.

But after twenty years of this slapstick monster humor, Godzilla 1985 was a breath of fresh air. It ignored all predecessors aside from the original, and used modern day production to create another memorable classic. Godzilla was scary again. And it once again took advantage of real life, modern day politics and war situations to build the plot around. This time it being the Cold War. During this time, a real life fear of nuclear annihilation plagued most of the modern world, due to the tension building between the two Nuclear super powers, the US, and the USSR. Drills taking place in high schools for a hypothetical nuclear attack. So once again writers capitalize in this modern fear for their movie. Godzilla in and of himself is a living nuclear weapon. And tensions between the US and USSR finally provoke a nuclear strike as the world fears.

These movies, "Godzilla King of the Monsters," "Godzilla Raids Again," and "Godzilla 1985" all share the similar aspects of trying to convince the audience that "this could really happen." Of course, we all know that giant, fire breathing lizards don't exist, and that the science behind it is in fact "science fiction." But they attempt as best as they can to back up what is happening with at least semi-realistic science, combined with the horror of real life current events to try to make fantasy seem like reality. No giant butterflies with magic fairy dust, no three-headed dragons controlled by little green men from mars. No boulder volley ball, no cheesy exaggerated physics(like the Godzilla vs Megalon leg drop, or the Godzilla vs "the Smog Monster" Hedora's fire breath flight rocket).

And now, comes along Godzilla vs. Biollante. Perhaps the most unique Godzilla film, because they stay true to the formula of who(or what) Godzilla is from the original KotM, GRA, and G1985 formulas, but still pit him against a monster in a "vs" themed movie. Now we can say that Godzilla Raids Again did this with Anguirus, but that movie was really not so much about the outcome of that fight. In fact, it had little to do with the story since Anguirus' puny carcass was disposed of halfway through the film... because he sucks. It was pretty much just the original Godzilla with another monster thrown in there in an attempt to make it different from the last film, which it really kinda wasn't.

Godzilla vs. Biollante is a movie with the end fight being the main event. And yet nothing about the plot was light hearted or silly. Nor did they attempt to dumb it down with a G Rating. Godzilla was portrayed as the same serious, destructive nuclear force rather than some silly mascot, or as in later Heisei films "a creature with a soul that needed to be understood(even though he's probably built up a bigger body count than Hitler at this point)." The plot itself, while no so much capitalizing on real current warfare events as much as previously mentioned films, was still serious, realistic, and interesting. Secret corporate warfare over new scientific developments that can shift the balance of power in the world. Agents assassinating spies and scientists left and right. The monster itself being a clone fusion of Godzilla and plant cells. While of course not scientifically accurate, I buy it a lot more than the nonsense surrounding the origins of Mothra and King Ghidorah in the Heisei series.

And I actually did enjoy the music. It was ominous when it needed to be, and emotional at the right times. Eerie during the first defeat of Biollante, and dramatic for Biollante's final departure.

Now like any movie, yes, it was flawed. I personally could have done without the whole "Erika's spirit" plot line. I mean, the whole concept of Erika's spirit being in Biollante, and the ESP was sort of left up in the air for most of the movie as to whether or not it was real, or whether Dr. Shirigami was just losing his mind after the death of his daughter. But the whole "floating head of Erika" scene during Biollante's departure into space was just a total buzz kill at the end that sort of takes away a lot of the movie's credibility for trying to stay semi realistic and serious.

Also, they seemed to put a lot more care into this movie. While yes, some military vehicles were fake, we did for the most part have lots of footage of real helicopters, planes, etc. as opposed to obvious toy models throughout, like in the following Heisei series films.

And then of course you had Biollante itself. Sure, today we can just CG animate our hearts away to create a monster in modern cinema, but to me, nothing beats puppet work, suits, and animatronics. I still believe that they are a superior means of creation over CG animation, and if done right, can look much more realistic than anything CG animated. Sure, Godzilla movies aren't the best example for anything in terms of special effects, but I still feel that GC animated anything just doesn't fool anyone, and in more cases just looks more cartoony and out of place than convincing. That being said, we have Biollante, and the time period. At this point in time we have never seen Godzilla face anything quite like Biollante. Godzilla for the most part was taking on creatures his size or smaller. Now we have Biollante, a monster that fits nearly half of Godzilla's body in its mouth, and overall, dwarfs the lizard. Biollante, at this point in all of the Godzilla series was Godzilla's most terrifying foe yet. One scary good guy. Imagine yourself in the military at that time, trying to take out Godzilla, and then THAT thing shows up? Even though Godzilla was the bad guy, I was kind of hoping for humanity that he defeated Biollante, because that thing did not look nor seem friendly... Erika's spirit or not. And I personally much more practically see myself wanting to deal with taking down Godzilla over a giant Biollante terrorizing Tokyo.

All of that being said, I really wish that the Heisei series had stayed true to its formula after Godzilla vs. Biollante. Everything in the Heisei series that followed was just as cheesy and laughable(perhaps even more cheesy) than most films in the Showa series. Once GvKG rolled along, they took everything that made the previous two movies special, stomped them to the ground, and went right back to making silly movies again. The Godzilla and Mothra movie solidified the burial of these two gems by replacing Godzilla's new deep, intimidating roar with the whiny Showa series roar from before. And I'm really not trying to bash the Showa series. It's provided 20 years of great entertainment. But if they were gonna go ahead and start a new series, make it something different. Do thing that we have never seen before. Godzilla vs. Biollante did things that we had never seen before, and I was excited to see how they would take it to the next level in future films. Instead, they just set themselves back in the rest of the Heisei films. Back in the 60's they had an excuse for the overly cheesy plots, and horrible special effects. Mainly... it was the 60's. In the early 90's you have movies like Jurassic Park in the US showing what modern day special effects were currently capable of. And then you had that god awful dinosaur in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah that would even make a child laugh. *sigh*

[shinmattiathekaiju]

To me this is the best of the heisei series and it surpass also Mothra vs Godzilla as one the best sequels.

[Arrow]

(Sorry for the lengthy post...)

I know I'm very critical with this film, but after just watching it all the way through, I won't deny that it has its strong points. I don't think I've ever seen a Godzilla suit after his 1989 appearance that tops it. This is the kind of Godzilla that I like. He's big, he's powerful, and nowhere in the movie did I ever get the impression of a monster too large for its own good that it can barely walk. The face has always been one of my favorite things about this Godzilla. In a lot of the films, I feel that Godzilla has this problem where he looks good on some angles and not on others - the '84 version, for example. But here, every time a close up of Godzilla is shown, the monster looks as good as ever. And he still has that roar introduced in '84. One of the things that bothers me about the Heisei films were the switch in roars in Godzilla vs. Mothra. While I do like the classic Godzilla's roar, I personally think that the Heisei Godzilla should have stuck to its own separate version. Minor gripe, I know. The point is, Godzilla's never looked any better since. He radiates power and I like that. Biollante is highly impressive as well - unique, also powerful (the second form's reveal is magnificent), a unique display of powers. That might actually be one of my favorite things about Biollante. She's not some beam-spammer. Instead, she has acid sap and a seemingly endless supply of vines to stab Godzilla with. Again, the design is highly innovative - the vines, the crocodile mouth, the whale cry. I like all of that. Godzilla vs. Biollante brings two great-looking monsters. And Biollante's execution is, for what should have been a highly immobile monster, actually pretty good. The only awkward moments I can point out is when she tries to move towards Godzilla. Everything else comes out well. And the fact that the two monsters have different powers (Godzilla has his atomic ray; Biollante has her vines and sap/spray) makes for creative and interesting battles - as opposed to the later "beam wars".

The effects are also were strong. From Godzilla's ray, to Biollante's various attacks, to the destruction scenes, to the military stuff. It's all pulled off very well. I like Godzilla's battles with Biollante - they're short, but they're well done (very much like Mothra vs. Godzilla. Godzilla's fights against the military are great, especially when he lands in Osaka and starts tearing shit up. His battle with the military in the plains where they tried to raise his temperature were great, as was his sea battle with the navy after climbing out of Mt. Mihara. I also like Godzilla's appearance from the volcano, even if I think this scene was pulled off a lot better in Godzilla vs. Mothra (which was one of that film's few redeeming points). The execution of things like this (Godzilla and Biollante's battles; the military's attempt to destroy Godzilla) is why I rank this film over the '90s stuff and why it's my favorite Heisei movie. And why I think it's the best one.

Unfortunately, that's about where my praise for it ends. When I was watching it earlier, one thing that really stood out to me were the performances. The attempts at English were just terrible. For example, the fight between the Japanese soldiers and the American agents. I had such a hard time understanding the Saradian agent. And the Japanese performances just felt... flat. Dr. Shiragami is killed right in front of them and the reaction just feels phoned in. Same with the death of Gondo. The way they react to the news of Godzilla escaping Mihara or even that Bio Major has bombs placed inside the volcano... I don't feel anything when I heard them. That hurt a lot of scenes for me, as I didn't feel the tension in any of it. Bio Major is threatening to release Godzilla. "Meh". The Saradian agent has the ANEB. "Meh". Godzilla is free. "Meh". On a related note, one common complaint about the movie that I always hear about is the sheer number of characters. There are some memorable characters - Shiragami, Miki (who, I'll admit, isn't so bad here), and Kirishima. But I really couldn't have cared less about anyone else. I always wondered what was so special about Gondo, though. I did like Kirishima.

The story itself is interesting and probably one of the most creative in Godzilla films, but is jammed with so many things going on. Wars over Godzilla cells, Godzilla escaping, ANEB, Biollante, Super X-II, genetic recklessness, etc... It all becomes a bit too much and leaves the plot a little bloated. It's not as bad as Space Godzilla, but I'll always be of the idea that a Godzilla movie works better with a simple plot if that plot isn't going to be continued. I also feel that Biollante got the short end of the stick here. She only makes two short appearances. Battles are good, but I don't feel that I really saw enough of her. Best Heisei original creation? YES. Not nearly enough screen time. I don't think the SXII was really needed in this, but at least it served the purpose of getting the ANEB into Godzilla. There were honestly points where I got bored with it.

My least favorite thing about the movie is the music score. The Ifukube themes were nice, yes, but the original stuff did absolutely nothing for me. One thing that made the destruction scenes so great in Gojira and Mothra vs. Godzilla was the music. The piece that plays over Godzilla's battle with Mothra, the fantastic melding of both monster's themes, really drew me in. When it came to Godzilla's battles with Biollante, or with the military, it only felt like unmemorable movie music and didn't really draw me in all that well. "Bio Wars" is cool, but nothing else in the movie really did all that much.

Despite its flaws, I'd take Godzilla vs. Biollante over any other Heisei film. But it's a mixed bag for me. - (3/5)

[SuperMonsterZero]

I find it interesting that people say they like the film because it was "different" and "experimental". Well, I can think of another G-film that was different and experimental: Godzilla's Revenge.

[Goji]

Yeah, but people generally favor BIOLLANTE over REVENGE, and still feel it's a better film overall. What's your point? (Not trying to sound snarky)

[TokyoVigilante]

I find it interesting that people say they like the film because it was "different" and "experimental". Well, I can think of another G-film that was different and experimental: Godzilla's Revenge.

GR is experimental and quirky as a response to a low budget. Godzilla vs Biollante has the breathing room of a full budget with lots of experimental bits.

Does anybody else love those wire frame battlefield transitions too? I fucking love those. What a great way to establish the scenario while building tension.

And yes the music is just awful. It sounds like a better fit for Star Wars. Should have stuck with the previous composer.

[SuperMonsterZero]

Yeah, but people generally favor BIOLLANTE over REVENGE, and still feel it's a better film overall. What's you're point? (Not trying to sound snarky)

Obviously people favor Biollante over Revenge. That wasn't meant to be a knock against Biollante or anything, and I didn't really have a point. Just throwing that out there lol

[KaneLocke]

I find it interesting that people say they like the film because it was "different" and "experimental". Well, I can think of another G-film that was different and experimental: Godzilla's Revenge.

You can be different and experimental, and STILL fail.

It was the manner in which Revenge experimented that made it fail.

[shinmattiathekaiju]

I find it interesting that people say they like the film because it was "different" and "experimental". Well, I can think of another G-film that was different and experimental: Godzilla's Revenge.

Except Godzilla's Revenge reminds people of Dr. Mengle's experiments.

...and not the fun ones with the little people.

You nailed it big time.

[Rody]

Thanks to a new VCR, I was able to watch this film again for the first time in a while.

This is a very good movie. The story feels very fresh & original, with a compelling international conflict & lots of action. It's very interesting to see a somewhat realistic struggle with world powers taking place, and the battle sequences between the military and Godzilla are great. Not since Mothra vs. Godzilla have we seen so much effort put into stopping the king of the monsters, and they certainly put in a lot of effort! The Super-X 2, the Thunder Control systems, the ANEB... Japan is using their full technological abilities to bring down Godzilla.

With an original story comes an original monster, and Biollante is definitely the best kaiju of the Heisei series. She's huge, she's terrifying, and she pulls this off wonderfully. The first shot of her in the the lake is downright creepy. Her bellowing, wailing roar is downright chilling. The special effects team outdid themselves here.

For those of you that criticize the music, listen to the soundtrack and hear the uncut scores by Koichi Sugiyama. They are magnificent; in fact this film's soundtrack has become one of my favorites of the entire franchise.

The film is not without faults, though. As stated already, the acting is very bland (and probably made worse by the dubbing), so many scenes lose the intended impact and suspense. The ending of the film feels too lighthearted as well. Shiragami is dead, the military has failed, and Godzilla is still alive. "Oh well." My primary complaint, though, is that Biollante's sub-plot is actually, overall, insignificant. You could get rid of her and Dr. Shiragami, and it wouldn't really affect the film. Going along with this is the problem that Biollante had very little screen time; her battles with Godzilla a rather short.

Overall, however, the film is very good. I wouldn't put it in a top 5 list of Godzilla films, but it's still one of the best in the franchise.

[Bentley]

I think that this movie pulls the gloomy and dark ambiance quite well, Biollante is quite scary and not campy at all despite being a FREAKING GIANT ROSE.