Positive things about the Heisei Series

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Creatures designs. I do like most of the creatures created during this era, even the overhyped ones like Destoroyah and Space Godzilla. Plus the first two films in the era are genuinely good films with a lot of effort put into them.

[tbeasley]

I think Toho did a good job presenting a consistent portrayal of Godzilla, and did a good job making him feel like a serious, big deal again, a force of nature. Not too different from what Legendary had to do on a larger, international scale. And that design is still their modern, go to face of the character you see in those big statues and murals.

I think if anything really hurt the 90s (and Millennium) films was the assembly line approach to film production, trying to pump out a film every year.

[PitchBlackProgress]

Am I the only one who finds it funny someone had to make a thread devoted to solely saying nice things about this series?

[Maritonic]

Am I the only one who finds it funny someone had to make a thread devoted to solely saying nice things about this series?

Honestly, I find it funny as well, as I've never understood the hatred for the Heisei series. This fandom confuses me, as it seems to be all MUH SHOWA and then everything else is crap. Meh.

[GodzillaFan1990's]

-Without a doubt features one of the best looking incarnation of Godzilla.
-Had it not been for this, there would be no Heisei Gamera Trilogy whom are equal as my favorite movie of all time and no doubt the best kaiju films beating pretty much every Godzilla film and also up there with the original 1954 Godzilla.
-How the callback to Godzilla 1954 was the theme to the last movie in the series and no doubt one of the coolest Godzilla monsters.
-The strong closure and ending how the legacy of Godzilla will never end.

[UltramanGoji]

Some of the shots in these films are downright gorgeous.

[Godzilla21]

I find a ton of faults in the Heisei series but I did feel a ton of sadness when Godzilla died in 95. We had got to know this Godzilla for the last few films and I felt more during his death here than any other point In the series when he ”died”.

[LegendZilla]

Here’s another positive thing : Koichi Kawakita is to thank for having a consistent design to Godzilla for such a long time. I know that many of you hold him responsible for whatever complaints you have for the Heisei series’ run during the 90’s, but if you ask me he is someone who actually cared for Godzilla. I blame it on things like schedule and budget cuts.

In addition, he had a reason as to why he made kaiju very slow, overly bulky and a heavy reliance on projectiles. Kawakita himself stated in an interview that from his point of view, kaiju would not be able to realistically do much in terms of hand-hand brawling due to their size and weight, so he had is own little way of working around such a problem. In addition, any creature of such an immense size would need to have a disproportionately large muscle mass, especially in the thighs to help support their massive frame.

If you don’t believe me, check out this video courtesy of Trey the Explainer regarding the hypothetical biology of giant organisms.

[Kenpachiro Hirata]

I guess it's really hard to be a fan of Heisei films on Western boards...
Outside of poorly made GvsSG and GvsD, Heisei series is the best this franchise has to offer past 1954.
Especially considering the development process of each was its own type of unique cluster****.

[eabaker]

Outside of poorly made GvsSG and GvsD, Heisei series is the best this franchise has to offer past 1954.

Just to be crystal clear, are you saying that 5 of the 7 Heisei films are each, individually better than any other non-Heisei Godzilla movie beyond the original? So, for example, Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth is better than Mothra vs. Godzilla?

[Kenpachiro Hirata]

They're better made than anything under Showa or Millennium, if that's what you ask.
G1999 came close but the CGI's just bad... Ironically, Final Wars had the best CGI.

[eabaker]

Better made in what respect? Writing, visual storytelling, cinematography, editing, vfx, scoring, acting, all of the above?

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

It's laughable to say that the Heisei flicks are the best the franchise has to offer considering how they were absolutely destroyed by critics at the time.

Spoiler:

Come to think of it, they're the Bayformers of 1990's Japan. Shoddy films made to sell cool toys!

[Zarm]

...And a perfect companion to the post made in Shin. Just as Academy Awards are not an objective measure of any quality, neither are critic opinions. They are merely opinions- no more substantive than your opinion, or mine. In ideal circumstances, better-educated... but still no measure of the objective quality of a film.

Incidentally, I'd agree with the statement if it were amended to "Heisei series is the best this franchise has to offer past 1967"- and certainly that they are more enjoyable films for me, taken as a whole, than the sum total of showa Godzilla taken as a whole. (And yes, from Eabaker's list- writing, visual storytelling, cinematography, editing, vfx, and scoring. I would leave acting off the list, as that is individual to film, and style prevalent in an era.) I would hesitate to say that the individual entries are better than some of the individual entries of 60s showa (it would be down to individual comparisons).

It seems like the boards this month have become particularly focused on which films are 'better' and if certain fan-favorites are actually 'good.' But the question always has to be 'better to whom?' and 'good to whom?' Since there is no universal consensus, that answer has to be individual. We don't have to keep wasting our time in skreeonking contests over our favorite and least favorite movies. A movie works for you if it works for you; it doesn't if it doesn't. And the ability to spread that like or dislike to another person through the internet is... far less possible than the amount of time devoted to it on these boards seems to suggest.

[eabaker]

It seems like the boards this month have become particularly focused on which films are 'better' and if certain fan-favorites are actually 'good.'

I've noticed that trend lately, as well. My first impulse is to attribute it to the divisiveness of Shin, or the Shin/14 rivalry that's become such a thing; we're more than a year past Shin's U.S. theatrical release, so there's not as much constant back-and-forth about that movie anymore, but the argumentative attitudes that emerged in its wake may have stuck around, infecting the way we talk about other movies/eras.

[KingKaiju]

Cool new monsters, badass Godzilla designs (BioGoji), Godzilla basically going Super Saiyan with the possibility of exploding or melting down.

[GodzillaXGomoraFight]

Here is my list of positives of the Heisei Series, the era of the Godzilla Series I have the most affinity towards:

1. The design for most monsters was very well executed and creative such as Biollante, Battra, and Destoroyah. The designs for Godzilla, King Ghidorah, and Mothra are iconic, and in my opinion, are the quintessential examples of the look for the three monsters.

2. Akira Ifukube's scores. Although they borrow heavily from scores from previous entries in the Showa Series, they are well-done and provide modern recordings for themes that I find very off-putting from the Showa Series. The scores for The Return of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Biollante are solid.

3. The city sets for the Heisei Series are much better than the Showa Series. Movies that come to mind in particular are The Return of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, where the cityscape towers over Godzilla.

4. The special effects for the most part have aged well. There is not a whole lot of CGI in these films and I believe that the beams look fine even today. There was also a lot of impressive explosions in the Heisei Series too.

5. Several notable scenes such as Godzilla's death in both Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II and Destoroyah, Godzilla and Mr Shindo, Godzilla falling into the volcano, etc.

6. With the exception of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, a plot thread throughout all the films. At this point, I rationalize the time travel plot in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah by assuming that they did nothing except make a stronger Godzilla. Everything else before remains.

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

5. Several notable scenes such as Godzilla's death in both Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II and Destoroyah, Godzilla and Mr Shindo, Godzilla falling into the volcano, etc.
remains.

Godzilla didn't die in Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 1993, he was merely paralyzed.

[GodzillaXGomoraFight]

5. Several notable scenes such as Godzilla's death in both Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II and Destoroyah, Godzilla and Mr Shindo, Godzilla falling into the volcano, etc.
remains.

Godzilla didn't die in Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 1993, he was merely paralyzed.

Wow to be honest after all these years, I never realized it. I always figured that since his second brain was destroyed, Godzilla would have immediately died. I have always found Rodan's sacrifice to be similar in nature to Godzilla giving energy to Godzilla Junior in the final Heisei film.

[Maritonic]

5. Several notable scenes such as Godzilla's death in both Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II and Destoroyah, Godzilla and Mr Shindo, Godzilla falling into the volcano, etc.
remains.

Godzilla didn't die in Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 1993, he was merely paralyzed.

Wow to be honest after all these years, I never realized it. I always figured that since his second brain was destroyed, Godzilla would have immediately died. I have always found Rodan's sacrifice to be similar in nature to Godzilla giving energy to Godzilla Junior in the final Heisei film.

Uhh, I'm with you on this. Godzilla didn't completely DIE, but he was about as close as he's been and Rodan saved him. Mechagodzilla is pretty much the only monster to actually be capable of killing Godzilla, but no one really talks about this.