Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by GodzillavsRayquaza »

A messily written, boring slog of a movie that feels like the (very) rough draft of Against Mechagodzilla in terms of human characters, and also like two movies stapled together with the vastly disparate plots of the military plans with the Dimension Tide and the Meganula incursion. It’s only highlights are the monster stuff. Imo it is the worst movie of the Millenium series, easily.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

Terasawa wrote: Wed Aug 12, 2020 10:45 am Did you know that GxM is "the pinnacle of the Heisei Godzilla series"?

Image

So proclaims Toho's 2001 VHS/DVD artwork.
Also references the film as a threeway fight between Godzilla, Megagurius and humanity, which is accurate. The Japanese title, G-Destruction Strategy: Godzilla vs. Megaugurius is a better descriptor of the film but is for obvious reasons too wordy.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by Terasawa »

And the tagline is an obvious reference to Ghidrah's original title.

GxM tagline: 地球最大の死闘 The Greatest Death Battle on Earth
GtTHM title: 三大怪獣 地球最大の決戦 Three Giant Monsters: The Greatest Battle on Earth
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by Legion1979 »

Until the anime films showed up, this was in my bottom 3 when it came to Toho-produced Godzilla films. I have no desire to ever watch it again.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by Major sssspielberg! »

I enjoy Megaguiris more than the Kiryu films honestly. I think the Kiryu films are more polished, with much better FX, but... the take on Godzilla in Megaguiris is awesome. The climactic fight is great. I also really like the miniature work during the RPG assault by the G-grapsers. (that miniature garbage can for instance)
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by edgaguirus »

Godzilla the wrestler.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by Tohosaurus »

Watching this pretty much back-to-back with GMK really highlights how much better Mothra was executed just a year later versus Megaguirus.

Regardless, this is still fun. It charmingly takes itself seriously at times despite it's sillier elements (miniaturized black hole and all).
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

Major sssspielberg! wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:16 am I enjoy Megaguiris more than the Kiryu films honestly. I think the Kiryu films are more polished, with much better FX, but... the take on Godzilla in Megaguiris is awesome. The climactic fight is great. I also really like the miniature work during the RPG assault by the G-grapsers. (that miniature garbage can for instance)
Everybody talks about the Tail Slide Dropkick Maneuver, but nobody talks about the pure cinematic bliss of...
The Big Jump
The issue with the Kiryu Saga is it apes too hard or formulaic nostalgia, especially Tokyo Sos. Like "oh Mothra dies, the twins avenge her". Megagurius plays into nostalgia a bit, but GxMG works well.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by Lesko »

While I find this movie to be horribly lackluster the actions scenes we get with the monsters are actually pretty damn good. We don't get to see many opponents that actually cause Godzilla to require to need to think more strategically rather than just bashing or blasting his opponent apart. I am a big fan of the Meganulon since Rodan so I really like their reappearance here especially in the form of Megaguirus. I think the movie's base concept is fine but this was just executed poorly. If more time was spent making some of the filler scenes mean something and make Megaguirus look less stiff this could have been something special. Instead this just seems like an attempt to get a Godzilla movie going that led into GxMG. Moreoever unlike GxMG Godzilla feels much more like Godzilla should. We just don't see him nearly enough. Still as the poster above me mentioned we got that epic body slam scene as well as a freakin black hole gun.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by MogeGoji1994 »

Honestly I really love Megaguirus. While she can be a little stiff, I think her design and concept is awesome. And don't get me started on the roar. Actually, the millennium era just has outstanding roars overall.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by Kinggoji1962 »

I'm going to be honest when I say that I love this movie and find it insanely easy to watch. Love that Megaguirus is really just a Meganulon reimagined into something completely refreshing, not too dissimilar to Heisei Moguera. Love the touch of sci-fi in this movie with the dimension tide and the Griffon VTOL. Also gotta note how entertaining the final fight in this movie is. In fact, I find it to be more entertaining than the Orga fight.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by Godzilla21 »

Gave this a re-watch the other day for the first time in years. Unfortunately its still the worst Millenium film for me and its in my bottom 5 of the series.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by H-Man »

Kinggoji1962 wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:42 pm I'm going to be honest when I say that I love this movie and find it insanely easy to watch. Love that Megaguirus is really just a Meganulon reimagined into something completely refreshing, not too dissimilar to Heisei Moguera. Love the touch of sci-fi in this movie with the dimension tide and the Griffon VTOL. Also gotta note how entertaining the final fight in this movie is. In fact, I find it to be more entertaining than the Orga fight.
Yeah, that's about where I stand on the film. I loved it when I first saw a camcorder copy back in '01 and love it today (with my official Sony DVD, of course).

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

I watched this last night and I noticed something:
Tsujimori fires the tracking bullet at a weight, right after she gets it.

I always thought this was just her seeing if it worked, and also a way to sort of portray her as hung-ho, but I realized it’s a really calculated move on her part, and makes the scene where she rides Godzilla later. It’s totally intentional, and everything is planned in that moment. Maybe this was obvious to others but it wasn’t to me.

It also means we get a really easy to understand idea of how tough Godzilla is. The outermost layer of his skin at least, is at least as tough as a dumbbell iron metal.
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

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LSD Jellyfish wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 1:02 am I watched this last night and I noticed something:
Tsujimori fires the tracking bullet at a weight, right after she gets it.

I always thought this was just her seeing if it worked, and also a way to sort of portray her as hung-ho, but I realized it’s a really calculated move on her part, and makes the scene where she rides Godzilla later. It’s totally intentional, and everything is planned in that moment. Maybe this was obvious to others but it wasn’t to me.

It also means we get a really easy to understand idea of how tough Godzilla is. The outermost layer of his skin at least, is at least as tough as a dumbbell iron metal.
Hey, I was just watching this movie yesterday in prep for a podcast! If you don't mind, I'm going to bring up your observation when we record!
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by edgaguirus »

I've never given that scene that much thought, but a nice insight.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

Listened to the G-Force podcast and there's some nice insights and observations there. A few things they brought up:

Nick (?) states that the Dimension Tide is easily one of the most glossed over super weapons of all time in the franchise. He spends a large amount of time discussing how it's probably just as bad, if not worse, than a nuclear bomb, and that the film treats it in a very cavalier light. I kind of thought Nick was getting a bit too in depth about it, but then I realized, "You know, I never thought of the Dimension Tide before, like actually took time to think about it". Nick is absolutely right: it's pretty insane. Even after they confirm to make a wormhole on Earth, they decide to keep going ahead with it. The first time you use it, a horrible, possibly world ending monster, appears.

The tool itself is a problem as well. Putting a weapon on a satellite is also a big no-no and should've been a red flag for the world. While this is "just a silly movie" and we should "just relax", it's telling that subsequent films (GXMG+Tokyo SOS) at least make an attempt to address international pushback and implications of having a super weapon. What I realized is Godzilla vs. Megagurius is the type of film that just keeps throwing new insane things at you (Godzilla backride, Meganulon attack, Tokyo Flooding, meganulon swarm...) to a point that you become numb and don't really question anything. The idea that they fired a black hole gun, known to create massive wormholes, create monsters, and cause big damage, on Tokyo, is absolutely insane to me.

I forget who, but they also bring up that this feels more like a two-parter in an Ultraman series and that the G-Graspers feel like a Monster Attack Team. Couldn't agree more. It feels like in an Ultraman show or a special TV-two parter, the overarching plot would be a new weapon that is created to defeat a monster (Godzilla). The fight with the swarm would be the end of the first episode, and Megaguirus would be a reveal for the next.

I'm with Eabaker on this one, it's the "bottom of the middle" for me, but I can see why this might rank very low on others lists.

Podcast here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g ... 0577793576
Last edited by LSD Jellyfish on Fri Sep 02, 2022 11:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by edgaguirus »

The Ultraman comparison is spot on. The series usually gives the heroes some kind of flying vehicle, and this movie gives us one. The Griffon has the same kind of advanced appearance of these craft.
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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by Legion1979 »

This isn't at the very bottom of my pile since that's where Final Wars and the Anime Ttilogy sit, but it's right above them.

Lol the G-Force podcast was way too easy on it.

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Re: Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Post by Gojira-Fan »

I watched this one with my gf this weekend on a double feature with GMK.

I was expecting that we would both dislike this one because of the reputation it has. I haven't watched it in a few years and it is one of my least watched Godzilla movies. Although, it was actually one of the first Godzilla movies I had ever seen and the second Toho produced Godzilla movie I ever seen back in the summer of 2004.

Anyway, my GF and I actually really enjoyed this one! I think it struck a good balance of fantastical elements/camp and gravitas. I think the Godzilla series is perhaps at its best when it does this. I think it had a good build up. The CGI was a lot better than Godzilla 2000. My GF liked the subplot with the boy finding the Megaguirus egg. She also liked the part when Godzilla is swarmed by the dragonflies. The final fight was fun. I think I like Tezuka's style and the score (which my GF really liked too).

I have to say this was the best viewing experience I've had of this movie ever. I remember as a kid that I got bored around the first scene of the flooding, but this time I found a lot more to like than I think I ever have. I don't think I understand the hate this movie gets.

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