What do you like or dislike about Godzilla vs. Destoroyah?

[HedorahGrabber]

Recently after having many discussions with friends about the last entry in the 2nd series of Godzilla films, I ultimately wanted to know what are people's overall opinion on this film. What do you like about it? Dislike about it? Are you mixed on it? Where does it rank out of all Godzilla films for you?

Personally, I'm not a big fan of this film. I do see potential in the screenplay, the monsters, the allegory, and the characters, yet I never really felt like the film executed any of them well. It all felt lackluster and just made the experience quite boring honestly. It just seems like everyone was tired at that point and ready to wrap up the Heisei era for the Godzilla films.

But hey, that's just my opinion, I would love to hear yours.

[Zarm]

I dislike the film overall. I've never been a big fan of grim, apocalyptic tones in media (so, yeah- this is not my favorite going-on-two-decades of Hollywood/TV history... ); seeing Godzilla, one that I've come to know over the series, in such suffering is uncomfortable. Miki's storyline is highly unsatisfying to me, and the majority of the characters tend to fall flat. Plus, some major effects failures like the little wheeled Junior puppet. I don't know; this one never seems to gel, the finale with Destroyah feels anticlimactic, and even the status of the battle feels unclear.

That said, there are some great practical effects, too, an amazing suit, a decent score, and a very emotional ending. It's not all bad. But the majority of the film just feels like the script never quite cohered into a satisfying entity, for me.

[HedorahGrabber]

I dislike the film overall. I've never been a big fan of grim, apocalyptic tones in media (so, yeah- this is not my favorite going-on-two-decades of Hollywood/TV history... ); seeing Godzilla, one that I've come to know over the series, in such suffering is uncomfortable. Miki's storyline is highly unsatisfying to me, and the majority of the characters tend to fall flat. Plus, some major effects failures like the little wheeled Junior puppet. I don't know; this one never seems to gel, the finale with Destroyah feels anticlimactic, and even the status of the battle feels unclear.

That said, there are some great practical effects, too, an amazing suit, a decent score, and a very emotional ending. It's not all bad. But the majority of the film just feels like the script never quite cohered into a satisfying entity, for me.

Something I would like to add is that Destoroyah never really felt like a product of the Oxygen Destroyer especially in the second half of the film. We did get that fish tank scene and some of the abilities are oxygen related, but nothing ever really screams "Oxygen Destroyer" (besides the fish tank scene). Destoroyah's design, abilities, and personality just don't really resemble it's origin. Destoroyah is a walking weapon of mass destruction but is never treated as such. Even when Godzilla has changed multiple times over many generations, he always resembled his origin even in through his more kiddy phase. A good comparison is Hedorah. Hedorah is extremely similar to Destoroyah but does everything right in terms of being consistent with it's origin. Hedorah feeds off of pollution so with that, his design, abilities, and personality just scream, "Pollution."

[Zarm]

Agreed. Hedorah felt like much more of an apocalyptic, ultimate threat, too; so did SpaceGodzilla, and the original Mechagodzilla. Destroyah seemed cruel, kinda... but there wasn't enough of a conceptual, cause-and-effect connection, and they didn't sell the 'ultimate foe' aspect, or even the 'sadist' aspect (again, I think SpaceGodzilla was done better in that regard), as well as they did in previous villains.

[HedorahGrabber]

Agreed. Hedorah felt like much more of an apocalyptic, ultimate threat, too; so did SpaceGodzilla, and the original Mechagodzilla. Destroyah seemed cruel, kinda... but there wasn't enough of a conceptual, cause-and-effect connection, and they didn't sell the 'ultimate foe' aspect, or even the 'sadist' aspect (again, I think SpaceGodzilla was done better in that regard), as well as they did in previous villains.

Destoroyah felt more like a pest than an actual threat

[BlankAccount]

I dislike the film overall. I've never been a big fan of grim, apocalyptic tones in media (so, yeah- this is not my favorite going-on-two-decades of Hollywood/TV history... );

Funny you mention that, my biggest problem with this movie is the world is ending and yet it doesn't feel like that till the airport fight. Most of the film feels like "just another Godzilla movie" rather than any sort of big special event or final film.

[HedorahGrabber]

I dislike the film overall. I've never been a big fan of grim, apocalyptic tones in media (so, yeah- this is not my favorite going-on-two-decades of Hollywood/TV history... );

Funny you mention that, my biggest problem with this movie is the world is ending and yet it doesn't feel like that till the airport fight. Most of the film feels like "just another Godzilla movie" rather than any sort of big special event or final film.

That's another thing to mention as well. The world might be at it's final days yet everyone is going at a medium pace and seem to be more annoyed and mildly impatient. Like is anyone terrified that the world might FUCKING end?

[KaijuCanuck]

I dislike the film overall. I've never been a big fan of grim, apocalyptic tones in media (so, yeah- this is not my favorite going-on-two-decades of Hollywood/TV history... );

Funny you mention that, my biggest problem with this movie is the world is ending and yet it doesn't feel like that till the airport fight. Most of the film feels like "just another Godzilla movie" rather than any sort of big special event or final film.

That's another thing to mention as well. The world might be at it's final days yet everyone is going at a medium pace and seem to be more annoyed and mildly impatient. Like is anyone terrified that the world might skreeonking end?

Maybe in the rest of the world. They just really have their shit together in Japan.

[PitchBlackProgress]

I liked Burning Godzilla and to a certain extent, how his meltdown was executed.
And I felt the concept of Destroyah was cool in a way…

I hated the TV quality of the film, and the execution of Destroyah’s smaller forms.
Godzilla not finishing off his enemy didn’t sit right with me either.

Anyone else not big on the sudden TV quality the Heisei series suddenly dropped to around Godzila vs. Mechagodzilla II?

[BlankAccount]

I liked Burning Godzilla and to a certain extent, how his meltdown was executed.
And I felt the concept of Destroyah was cool in a way…

I hated the TV quality of the film, and the execution of Destroyah’s smaller forms.
Godzilla not finishing off his enemy didn’t sit right with me either.

Anyone else not big on the sudden TV quality the Heisei series suddenly dropped to around Godzila vs. Mechagodzilla II?

That's the OTHER biggest problem I have with this film, it's supposed to be the final Heisei film, Godzilla is gonna die. It should have the same quality as ROG or Godzilla vs Biollante. But it doesn't. Don't get me wrong there is some amazing FX like Godzilla freezing, but then there's not so amazing FX like the shot of Junior's legs not moving when Destroyer attacks them at the airport. Yeah...

The acting is...okay. Like how HedorahGrabber pointed out, everyone seems more annoyed than scared of Godzilla's impending meltdown, like it's just another monster attack like in the past and not an extinction level event. Really Big G's death ironically saves this film.

It's even sadder when you consider the Gamera films of the 90's were made with less money than the Heisei films and were on par with if not better than first two Heisei Godzilla films.

[GodzillavsRayquaza]

Is the whole “everyone just seems mildly annoyed about the end of times” just a dub thing, or is it like that in the original? Because thinking it over, yeah it’s something I remember, but it might just be the dubs sucking.

Godzilla vs Destoroyah is one of my favorite films, though I will admit it has more than a few flaws. Effects fuck ups, writing being weak in certain places, some characters not getting fleshed out enough, Destoroyah’s unceremonious death, and the whole thing just feeling rushed.

But, it’s still one of my favorites. This might just be nostalgia talking, but screw it.

The characters that are fleshed out are great, with Miki in particular always sticking out to me. The connections to the original film are amazing, and the story is (most of the time) pretty great.

Burning Godzilla looks amazing, and Godzilla Jr here is my favorite depiction of a child of Godzilla. Godzilla and Junior’s relationship is written so well, and communicated amazingly even though we barely see them together on screen. The scene where Godzilla tried and fails to revive Junior is genuinely heartfelt, and his death, along with Junior’s subsequent resurrection, is in my opinion easily one of the best moments in the whole franchise.

Destoroyah is such an amazing concept for a monster, and even if it doesn’t live up to it in the movie, Destoroyah is still so awesome. I will never forget the shot of Final Form Destoroyah’s first appearance, framed by fire and smoke. Its final battle with Godzilla is one of my favorites in the whole series, with the two tearing each other apart and getting up close and personal in a time where most battles consisted of the two monsters mostly just standing back and shooting beams at each other.

So overall, I love this movie, despite the flaws.

[Vakanai]

One of my favorites actually, surprised by all the bashing. Second best film of its era after the first (never got why everyone else loves Biollante so much).

[BlankAccount]

One of my favorites actually, surprised by all the bashing. Second best film of its era after the first (never got why everyone else loves Biollante so much).

You can recognize a movie's faults and still like it. Godzilla vs Gigan for example is way more fun than any movie with that much stock footage has any right to be.

[Vakanai]

One of my favorites actually, surprised by all the bashing. Second best film of its era after the first (never got why everyone else loves Biollante so much).

You can recognize a movie's faults and still like it. Godzilla vs Gigan for example is way more fun than any movie with that much stock footage has any right to be.

True, but it seemed most of the comments were about the flaws, I think only one poster mentioned the things he or she liked.

[HedorahGrabber]

One of my favorites actually, surprised by all the bashing. Second best film of its era after the first (never got why everyone else loves Biollante so much).

You can recognize a movie's faults and still like it. Godzilla vs Gigan for example is way more fun than any movie with that much stock footage has any right to be.

True, but it seemed most of the comments were about the flaws, I think only one poster mentioned the things he or she liked.

The reason why me and many other people love Godzilla vs. Biollante so much is because it does what a sequel should do, expand off of the original while still telling a unique story. Biollante has good writing, good characters, solid dialogue, a LITTY score, and outstanding special effects. Plus it never felt dull or ever outlandish. Everything felt real and grounded, unlike later entries in the Heisei era.

[Maritonic]

a LITTY score

Am I truly that old that I've hit the point where I don't "get" young lingo? Because I see this and other words on Godzilla instagrams and cringe like crazy. Hell does this mean? Supposed to be a "cool" way of saying "lit"?

[HedorahGrabber]

a LITTY score

Am I truly that old that I've hit the point where I don't "get" young lingo? Because I see this and other words on Godzilla instagrams and cringe like crazy. Hell does this mean? Supposed to be a "cool" way of saying "lit"?

It's based off of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's twitter whenever he responds to critics. For example, whenever somebody tells the rock that his movie is bad (Baywatch for example), The Rock usually responds with, "This film has had people PISSING themselves with laughter. It was made FOR THE FANS! Not for UNMASCULINE and OUT OF TOUCH CRITICS!" Something in the lines of that. The meme was originally created on 4chan but was introduced to the Kaiju community through a meme page that I run called "Kaijushitposting."

[Maritonic]

a LITTY score

Am I truly that old that I've hit the point where I don't "get" young lingo? Because I see this and other words on Godzilla instagrams and cringe like crazy. Hell does this mean? Supposed to be a "cool" way of saying "lit"?

It's based off of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's twitter whenever he responds to critics. For example, whenever somebody tells the rock that his movie is bad (Baywatch for example), The Rock usually responds with, "This film has had people PISSING themselves with laughter. It was made FOR THE FANS! Not for UNMASCULINE and OUT OF TOUCH CRITICS!" Something in the lines of that. The meme was originally created on 4chan but was introduced to the Kaiju community through a meme page that I run called "Kaijushitposting."

Well, shit. That explains a fucking LOT. Thank you.

[HedorahGrabber]

Am I truly that old that I've hit the point where I don't "get" young lingo? Because I see this and other words on Godzilla instagrams and cringe like crazy. Hell does this mean? Supposed to be a "cool" way of saying "lit"?

It's based off of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's twitter whenever he responds to critics. For example, whenever somebody tells the rock that his movie is bad (Baywatch for example), The Rock usually responds with, "This film has had people PISSING themselves with laughter. It was made FOR THE FANS! Not for UNMASCULINE and OUT OF TOUCH CRITICS!" Something in the lines of that. The meme was originally created on 4chan but was introduced to the Kaiju community through a meme page that I run called "Kaijushitposting."

Well, poop. That explains a skreeonking LOT. Thank you.

Forgot to mention, but The Rock also saids, "LITTY and RAUNCHY" a lot. But yes, you're welcome. We did give the fanbase a bit of whiplash when we started making memes of it, but it soon grew with the community quite well.

[Zarm]

Obviously, I am not a big fan of vs. Destroyah... but I know more people than this have to be. While it's nice to see reinforcement of my own POV, for balance in the thread... surely there are many reasons the fans that often put vs. Destroyah in their top 5 like this film, yes?