Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by Grievous »

Okay...so...

This film is more a collection of great
scenes than a proper narrative story.

I know its highly regarded by many
kaiju fans & it does feature some
of the most powerful moments in
the entire franchise...BUT...for me...
looking at it now...it seems very
uneven in places & if I'm being honest...
Destoroyah is simply a crab-like copy of
Hedorah with a forced connection to the
oxygen destroyer.

I swear I'm not trying to start a fight...
but this is just how I feel about the film.

Like I said...some of the scenes are amazing...
but the rest of the film around them seems so...
uninteresting.

Also the "Aliens" ripoff scene is pretty shameless.
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by JAGzilla »

^ You're not alone, don't worry. The human characters are mostly cardboard exposition machines, and they drag the film down pretty badly. When it's good it's great, but it's just not good often enough to be more than middle of the road material overall.
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

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JAGzilla wrote:^You're not alone, don't worry.
Oh Good...

I thought everyone was going to gang
up on me & give me a "forum wedgie"
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by MechaGoji Bro7503 »

Grievous wrote:Okay...so...

This film is more a collection of great
scenes than a proper narrative story.

I know its highly regarded by many
kaiju fans & it does feature some
of the most powerful moments in
the entire franchise...BUT...for me...
looking at it now...it seems very
uneven in places & if I'm being honest...
Destoroyah is simply a crab-like copy of
Hedorah with a forced connection to the
oxygen destroyer.

I swear I'm not trying to start a fight...
but this is just how I feel about the film.

Like I said...some of the scenes are amazing...
but the rest of the film around them seems so...
uninteresting.

Also the "Aliens" ripoff scene is pretty shameless.
I was just rewatching this, and I agree. Especially about the first part, it has some pretty great and memorable scenes but overall it ain't a good narrative. I still believe Omori isn't the best screenwriter.......
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

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MechaGoji Bro7503 wrote:I was just rewatching this, and I agree. Especially about the first part, it has some pretty great and memorable scenes but overall it ain't a good narrative. I still believe Omori isn't the best screenwriter.......
I is making valid point aboot teh giant reptile films!

:thumbsup:
Last edited by Grievous on Sat Dec 15, 2018 6:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by Maritonic »

This came up in a MonsterVerse thread. Pretty interesting watch.
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

Barring how Destroyah is disposed of, I actually think all the Kaiju stuff is some of the best in the franchise. The film does a fantastic job of juggling the threat of Godzilla’s meltdown and hyping up Destroyah, while building up junior.

We open on Burning Godzilla
Possibility of Junior
Then transition to the first inkling of Destroyah
Cut back to Godzilla and freeze him, GXS-X
Then there’s the Juvenile Destroyah Rampage
Godzilla Junior Emerges
Aggragrate Destroyah/Flying Destroyah
Godzilla Jr vs Destroyah
Junior Death
Godzilla vs Destroyah
Meltdown

Maybe some of these are out of order, but you get the point. There’s a great mix of army men vs Destroyah, Mecha freezing Godzilla, various Destroyah fights, and of course the intersplicing of tragic Kaiju scenes. I actually have no problem with the “alien” rip off, because quite honestly while the double mouth is pretty blatant, the rest of the juvenile destroyahs design is so radically different I always forget it. I also really appreciate anytime the franchise has some action scene involving human sized monsters, they’re rare and welcome to vary things up.

Barring the final forms stubby hands, The fights all have a great mix of melee and beams. The aggragrate form continually jumps on Jr, uses his punching mouth, and uses the “top legs” to pummel Jr. Then, the final form, uses its tail, it’s physical mass to ram Godzilla, as well as its laser nose sword, and IIRC also kicks Godzilla. One of my favorite moments is actually when it breaks down and covers Godzilla in aggragates. Again, a lot of variety in the fights.

Where the film absolutely falls apart, is the characters. I completely forget why the young college guy with the glasses is in the story, and if he has anything to contribute, other then coming up with the Meltdown hypothesis. Same for Miki’s friend. The guy making the microoxygen weapon is neat, but they don’t develop him enough, and he, like most of the cases doesn’t really do anything.
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by monintoho »

Godzilla vs Destroyah is my favorite Godzilla movie of all time! To me it's absolutely spectacular! I love Burning Godzilla and the effects <3

Destroyah looked absolutely terrifying

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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by Gothicserpent »

Possibly the best Heisei Film along with Biollante.
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by Godzillian »

what was the thought process of having nearly all the human "action" of the film take place in a command center with the cast watching stuff on a screen?
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by Terasawa »

Godzillian wrote:what was the thought process of having nearly all the human "action" of the film take place in a command center with the cast watching stuff on a screen?
I think the thought process was: Those characters are only in the film to set up the meeting of the three monsters in Tokyo, now we have nothing else for them to do but unambiguously drive home our message we're introducing in the final reel.
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by UltramanGoji »

I hate how mixed I am on this movie.

On one hand, it’s got an amazing endgame story for the Heisei series with Godzilla’s meltdown which includes a boatload of fantastic ideas such as stopping the destruction of Earth with the Oxygen Destroyer, the return of Emiko Yamane, Godzilla and Junior heading to the Bering Sea together, and the general concept of Destoroyah being a creature spawned and mutated from the OD itself.

But it completely falls apart at taking all of these ideas and stringing them together coherently.

Destoroyah doesn’t fit in with the plot of Godzilla’s death. Through the entire duration of the first two thirds of the film, aside from the mention of its origin, Destoroyah remains largely separated from Godzilla. It isn’t until Ken decides to suggest bringing the two together for Destoroyah to kill Godzilla. Only...it doesn’t. Godzilla wipes the floor with Destoroyah and ends up melting down anyway. Destoroyah’s only semblance of worth to the story is to kill Junior and provide Godzilla with an opponent for the third act. It is utterly inconsequential to the movie’s main conflict: Earth and the meltdown of Godzilla.

The characters, as mentioned earlier, are pretty much just exposition vehicles. I do like the reintroduction of characters from past films like Emiko and Sho from Vs. Biollante but they still don’t do much other than bring up ethical issues that go largely unaddressed throughout the film or more exposition.

I really like the visuals in this film. Burning Godzilla is one of my favorite Godzilla designs and I love how his expression exemplifies his declining health. He looks royally pissed off. It’s probably the most visually impactful of the Heisei films with a dazzling array of special effects sequences and stunning cell and CG animation, especially in Godzilla’s death.

Speaking of, Godzilla’s death is the highlight of the film and one of the reasons I’m so mixed on it as a whole. This sequence is beautiful, the score by Akira Ifukube (itself a highlight of the film as well) swells to perfection, the visual display of Godzilla’s energy is just magnificent. Even Miki’s line “My work with Godzilla is finished” manages to make me tear up a bit. It’s all so well done.

But alas, one fantastic sequence cannot make up for an otherwise missed opportunity of a film. It’s not a film I hate or love, it’s always going to be somewhere in the middle.
Last edited by UltramanGoji on Fri May 24, 2019 12:53 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by Terasawa »

UltramanGoji wrote:Destoroyah doesn’t fit in with the plot of Godzilla’s death. Through the entire duration of the first two thirds of the film, aside from the mention of its origin, Destoroyah remains largely separated from Godzilla. It isn’t until Ken decides to suggest bringing the two together for Destoroyah to kill Godzilla. Only...it doesn’t. Godzilla wipes the floor with Destoroyah and ends up melting down anyway.
As always ymmv but in theory I don't think it's a problem that the monsters' plots are unconnected through most of the film. It worked in King Kong vs. Godzilla, where the title characters don't truly interact until around an hour in. Up to that point the movie splits its time between Godzilla and Kong plots pretty evenly, just as this film does with its two title characters.

The difference between those movies, however, this is definitely a movie about Godzilla, whereas KKvG allowed both monsters to share to spotlight. It also doesn't help that many of the solo Destoroyah sequences fall flat.

I agree with you that despite all the drama around creating a second Oxygen Destroyer and then having a monster version of the device appear, Destoroyah doesn't live up to the hype in its own movie. It's mostly a drawn out battle because Destoroyah keeps retreating or transforming to get away from Godzilla.
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by MechaGoji Bro7503 »

If we had far better human characters and Destoroyah was actually intimidating, this one would'nt be too shabby. The characters are dull, and unrememberable, Emiko's role was underused. Godzilla Junior is still boring, but the idea of Burning Godzilla is great.

Destoroyah itself is the most overhyped villain in the franchise, the perfect example of a missed oppurtunity. Like UltramanGoji said the film is a missed oppurtunity, maybe with a better director it could've left a bigger impact.
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by shadowgigan »

Grievous wrote: This film is more a collection of great
scenes than a proper narrative story.
/quote]

While being a huge fan of this movie, I certainly understand where you are coming from. I love the story but acknowledge it's flaws. The film had a huge impact on me as a child. Your comment resonated with me on some level

Added in 1 day 4 hours 34 minutes 50 seconds:
shadowgigan wrote:
Grievous wrote: This film is more a collection of great
scenes than a proper narrative story.
While being a huge fan of this movie, I certainly understand where you are coming from. I love the story but acknowledge it's flaws. The film had a huge impact on me as a child. Your comment resonated with me on some level
Added in 39 seconds:
Grievous wrote: This film is more a collection of great
scenes than a proper narrative story.
While being a huge fan of this movie, I certainly understand where you are coming from. I love the story but acknowledge it's flaws. The film had a huge impact on me as a child. Your comment resonated with me on some level

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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by Gailah 1966 »

Dam. My childhood was was far over when this movie came out! :shock: I`m a mummy X_X
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by Omegazilla »

Considering the short time between GvSG and GvD were made I'd say this is a great one. It also felt like it was more of a conclusion than G:FW for sure. Meltdown Godzilla is iconic and uniquely awesome. It's nice to see a grown Junior as well, and not to mention Destroyah is a great villain despite being stiff as a board in this movie. Tying this movie with the Oxygen Destroyer and the events of the first film are also a nice touch.

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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by edgaguirus »

The cameo by Emiko was also a nice link.
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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by Gojira9310 »

edgaguirus wrote:The cameo by Emiko was also a nice link.
Though her being by herself kinda implies Ogata is dead and that's sad because the Heisei Series was seriously lacking in Akira Takarada (with the exception of Godzilla vs Mothra)

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Re: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Post by eabaker »

Gojira9310 wrote:
edgaguirus wrote:The cameo by Emiko was also a nice link.
Though her being by herself kinda implies Ogata is dead and that's sad because the Heisei Series was seriously lacking in Akira Takarada (with the exception of Godzilla vs Mothra)
Doesn't she also still go by the name Yamane, suggesting that she may have never married?
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