Talkback: Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)

[Giga Kaiju]

One of the first Heisei movies that i watched (Second to Ghidorah) also one of my favorites in all the franchise. i like the atmosphere and seriousness of it and how Godzilla was portrayed along with his battles with Biollante and Super XII (Best effects).

[MothraPeanuts]

......

[Goji]

Geezus, you'd watch VS. MOTHRA over this? I find that film to be much, MUCH more boring. Outside of the volcano sequence, Godzilla's brief tangle with Battra underwater (both which take up very little screen time) and the music score, I find it dreadfully dull, and uninspired.

As much as I personally enjoy BIOLLANTE, I agree with all of your points.

[wrongnote85]

watched the american version the other night with my daughter. it was one of the few films that i was not familiar with at all, and sadly i was not very impressed. the action was pretty good between the two monsters, but the human characters were kinda lame and the plot,while promising, dragged a lot i felt.

i read some earlier posts ITT and it seems the japanese version is far superior. in what regards? editing? dialouge? pacing? also i had seen clips of a short stop motion action scene on YT that i did not see in the film i watched. any clues on that?

[Space Hunter M]

There's no difference in editing between the two "versions". The film was simply dubbed into English by Toho's international department in Hong Kong.

[Goji]

Toho's international department didn't do any actual dubbing themselves (For the 90's films, that would be Omni Productions), but they were probably instrumental in getting the film materials sent to Omni in Hong Kong, on time.

[Arrow]

i read some earlier posts ITT and it seems the japanese version is far superior. in what regards? editing? dialouge? pacing? also i had seen clips of a short stop motion action scene on YT that i did not see in the film i watched. any clues on that?

The Japanese version is basically the same, except for the performances. The actors still sound completely bored to me, but at least it's nowhere near as terrible as the English dub.

The movie's still mediocre either way.

[Huan_of_Valinor]

but despite being a mediocre movie over all, it's probably still the best movie of the heisei series. I'm gonna write my full opinions on this movie after i rewatch it again.

[Zornow13]

I've always loved this movie! Prob my 2nd favorite of the Heisei series ( after Mecha-G) I ABSOLUTLEY LOVE the Godzilla suit/design in this movie, he looks SO POWERFUL to me. I like how he spent sometime in amt Mihara, and then comes out not only unscathed, but bigger and more powerful than the last movie hahaha. Biollante is an AMAZING creature design as well, I call her the crocoflower haha. Love the Miki Saegusa character. my only real major issue with the movie is that the battles between the 2 monsters are'nt long enough for me. especially the final battle, that really could have been longer IMO.

[DaddlerTheDalek]

Best Heisei Movie & One of Best Godzilla Movies ever!
Biollante is my Favourite Kaiju!

[pikmintaro]

I was looking on Google for images of Biollante, and I found this.

http://www.monstropedia.org/images/4/4b/Biollante.jpg

It looks pretty weird imo, I don't know if it's a photoshop or what, and when I looked in the concept art here I found something similar.

http://www.tohokingdom.com/concept_art/ ... ttle1.html

Does anybody know what the story is on this version of Biollante? is the first picture like a costume they actually had or what?

[JAGzilla]

Kind of a cool look, but I prefer the one we got. It looks a lot more intimidating.

[pikmintaro]

Ok thanks for the information, I was wondering what it was.

[Plexton]

It's very cool and alien (not to mention closer to Biollante's initial form), but I prefer the final design as well; it more clearly evokes the idea that Biollante came from Godzilla's cells.

[edgaguirus]

That head says Arachis worm more than Godzilla. Still, it's one scary looking kaiju.

[JVM]

I'm going to put a disclaimer here: I've only seen Biollante once, and it was a grainy bootleg DVD, after four or so years of knowing of it only from fandom secondhand, so obviously there's bias and interference. I do plan on rewatching on the Echo Bridge copy at release.

So, for the lack of a better terms, I'm curious what elevates Godzilla vs. Biollante aboard the rest of the Heisei series. I felt the film did drag in a similar way to it's successors and suffered from a lot of the same flaws, but it seems to be one of the most universally-loved films in the franchise. Ultimately, my question is what sets Biollante apart from the succeeding Heisei entries?

Again, I'm completely willing to chalk my issues up to bad viewing experience and this isn't a question of "I think this movie sucks and want to argue", I'm genuinely curious what I seem to have been missing out on.

[Arbok]

Biollante is probably the premiere popcorn flick of the Godzilla series. Lots of action from both the human cast and monsters, great special effects (a few shots don't hold up, but all in all still one of the more visually pleasing films in the series), a unique monster that makes what could have been a silly concept work (and I give major props for that), decent pacing and... well poor character development. However, much of the franchise has weak characterization, part of the problem with juggling giant monsters mostly removed from the human action, so it gets a slight pass compared to other entries.

I have a feeling Godzilla vs. Biollante will get slaughtered by a lot of people seeing it for the first time with the new release because it is so well liked and talked about by fans... and since the film is far from "high art", it's not going to meet a lot of expectations.

That said, the film remains my favorite Toho film, faults and all, and if I could only take one Toho film to a deserted island, it would be this.

[JAGzilla]

In addition to the aforementioned stuff, the awesome-looking Biogoji suit probably deserves a mention. It's roughly my second favorite G-suit, and from what I can tell, plenty of other people consider it one of the best.

The score stands out, too. It's very different from what we get in most of the other movies, but in a good way. It's memorable, and fits this movie well.

[Godzilla628]

Before I watched this for the first time, I found it odd for Godzilla to fight a giant mutated plant,but after I watched I was so glad I did. It is now one of my favorite G films. The atmosphere is so much different than any of the other films. The score is also a refreshing experience. It fits the film really well. The suit is also one of my favorites. I think people like it so much because it is so different.

[Xx_The_Masquerade_xX]

Score = Awesome
Story = Unique, an well thought out in comparison to other G-films prior
Characters = Some can consider them a bore, but i found them interesting or at least fun to watch
Godzilla = The best suit of the series, Looks great an the roar is easily one of the best
Biollante = When you say Godzilla fights mutated flower sounds corny but they pulled it off greatly, The Crocodile looking second form was brilliant an stunning to see, also enjoy how she was just as innocent as Godzilla as far as monsters are created not to mention having Erica's spirit trapped in there at some points is a nice touch.
Super-X2 = Great model, the fire mirror was a great addition to it
Length = Some may say this is a fault an at some point's it can drag a little bit but not for long, not as long or boring as some films prior

So while it has it's faults like every film in the series, it is one of the better an more unique films or the franchise. Though it may not appeal to you it can't be denied that for a film that could have turned out ridiculous, overlong an completely cheesy they took a serious approach an pulled it off.