Talkback: Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)

[Lain Of The Wired]

I loved Biollante, I thought she looked great, so massive and beautuful!

But does any one know what the hell was that yellow/red glowing core thing was in her?

[Arbok]

I loved Biollante, I thought she looked great, so massive and beautuful!

But does any one know what the hell was that yellow/red glowing core thing was in her?

It's a protective area that houses her nucleus:

http://www.tohokingdom.com/articles/ana ... llante.htm

Biollante doesn't have normal organs like a brain and what not (which is how she survived having the her head blown through by Godzilla), but instead has a central nucleus that is housed in the core of the orb in her final form.

[20th Century Boy]

Bumping this thread since a lot of people are going to be seeing the new Echo Bridge release. This is my second favorite Godzilla film, first being the original. The Godzilla suit has a very cool design and the Biollante effects are simply mind-blowing. The Japanese version is surprisingly a little cheesier for some reason, I guess it's because of the bad acting from the English-speaking characters. That doesn't really ruin the movie though. It's still one of my favorites.

[Arbok]

The Japanese version is surprisingly a little cheesier for some reason, I guess it's because of the bad acting from the English-speaking characters.

Yeah, I actually prefer the English dub simply as the English-speaking characters are so god awful in the original cut ("Kiss you guys").

Ideally, someday, there will be a cut with the original Japanese track that uses the English dub performances for the English speaking actors.... only problem is Shiragami since he speaks in both English and Japanese.

[eabaker]

The Japanese version is surprisingly a little cheesier for some reason, I guess it's because of the bad acting from the English-speaking characters.

Yeah, I actually prefer the English dub simply as the English-speaking characters are so god awful in the original cut ("Kiss you guys").

Ideally, someday, there will be a cut with the original Japanese track that uses the English dub performances for the English speaking actors.... only problem is Shiragami since he speaks in both English and Japanese.

I say, if such a mash-up version is ever assembled, leave Shirigami's original performance, as well as that of his Saradian employer. It's just so much fun listening to two such mangled versions of English pronunciation, and wondering how the Hell they can possibly understand one another well enough to converse.

[Terasawa]

Did you know that the Oxygen Destroyer is briefly visible in Gondo's office?

[GojirO]

I shall be watching out for this

[Tohosaurus]

I'm surprised I haven't posted in this thread yet, but Biollante is one of my favorite Godzilla movies and these days I'd say the best of the Heisei series. It was probably the last time -along with Gunhed that year- that a Toho special effects movie could stand shoulder to shoulder with a Hollywood movie that enjoyed a four or five times larger budget. Not that this makes it so great, but just a though. It has one of the more interesting stories and is pretty unique as Godzilla movies go. It's a shame they didn't continue in this direction, but the box office numbers discouraged Toho.

Unfortunate!

[tymon]

I picked up the Blu-Ray on Tuesday and watched it for the first time since I was 12 (I had tried watching my old HBO tape last year but my VCR crapped out so I only saw the beginning). Man, this really is the best Heisei film. The pacing is wonderful, the characters likeable and the SFX are just great. The land Godzilla suit is the most powerful look the monster has ever had IMO, especially while walking out of that volcano. The music is hit-or-miss for me, some themes work exceptionally and others fall flat on their face (gotta say that putting in a few of Ifukube's best themes was a great choice, back before it became a trend. The intro in particular always gives me chills, with the creepy synth stuff that leads into the classic Mothra vs. Godzilla theme). Biollante is one of the most well-executed Toho creations ever, and of course shits all over every kaiju that came after her in terms of execution.

This one just worked its way into my top five G-films. 4.5/5

[eabaker]

After 13 Showa films and the two Kiryu movies, I finally showed my fiance her first Heisei Godzilla movie today. She thought elements of "Biollante" were well done, but thought the story was all over the place to the point where it was confusing and that the music wasn't appropriate. Wasn't that what EVERYONE was saying about this movie until recently, when all of a sudden people starting hailing it as a masterpiece?

That was more or less the consensus in fandom back in the 90s. I never agreed with it, though.

Yeah, the story has a lot of different threads, addressing its themes from a multitude of perspectives, but I've never found it confusing, just complex. The screenplay weaves all those threads together, then separates them at times, only to bring them back again. It's a cohesive whole, but not a consistent one.

To me, that's a very exciting way to tell a story.

And, even when the pieces aren't fitting together perfectly, they're still very well accomplished in and of themselves.

I see it as a story with a great overall conceit, constructed using a number of really good pieces which achieve occasional moments of real wonder. Is it uneven? Sure. It stumbles at times.

But when you're attempting something worthwhile and complex, you cannot be faulted for stumbling here and there.

[Rody]

^ I fully agree. It's not a GREAT movie, but it's one of the better films of the franchise, and arguably the second-best since the 60's.

[tymon]

^Agreed. Hardly any of these kaiju films are "great" movies in my book, from a critical standpoint. I just appreciate them as escapism for the most part, and GvsB is some excellent escapism (and has at least some critical merit), especially when compared to what came directly after it throughout the 90's and most of the 00's.

[GojirO]

This film is a favorite of mine due to the elements of fantasy and action.....and oh yeah godzilla obviously. it plays like a fantasy with the whole life through death (erika's, ashes growing the flowers), the science gone completely wrong (biollante) but it has the bad assery of an action film (the opening with the chase scene and every action scene after that) and obviously, as said before, godzilla.

[MaxRebo320]

I actually don't think the English speaking scenes are that bad. But yeah, they are pretty bad. Still, none shall beat the English actors in ''King Ghidorah''!

[eabaker]

I actually don't think the English speaking scenes are that bad. But yeah, they are pretty bad. Still, none shall beat the English actors in ''King Ghidorah''!

Although "King Ghidorah" doesn't offer the agonizing experience of hearing two non-English speakers have a conversation about politics and (mad) science in something that they think passes for English.

[MaxRebo320]

I actually don't think the English speaking scenes are that bad. But yeah, they are pretty bad. Still, none shall beat the English actors in ''King Ghidorah''!

Although "King Ghidorah" doesn't offer the agonizing experience of hearing two non-English speakers have a conversation about politics and (mad) science in something that they think passes for English.

True. But, the thing is in ''Biollante'', the actors obviously cannot speak much English, so it's forgivable. But in ''King Ghidorah'', those are actors speak understandable English, but are horrible actors.

[eabaker]

I actually don't think the English speaking scenes are that bad. But yeah, they are pretty bad. Still, none shall beat the English actors in ''King Ghidorah''!

Although "King Ghidorah" doesn't offer the agonizing experience of hearing two non-English speakers have a conversation about politics and (mad) science in something that they think passes for English.

True. But, the thing is in ''Biollante'', the actors obviously cannot speak much English, so it's forgivable. But in ''King Ghidorah'', those are actors speak understandable English, but are horrible actors.

I heard that the actors were off their game because everytime Omori called action, that asshole Minilla would stand beside the camera making rude gestures at them.

[GojirO]

^ fuckin minilla

[MaxRebo320]

'Ya know, you can tell this asshole off on Facebook! I'm sending a nasty message!
http://www.facebook.com/mobileprotectio ... ty?fref=ts

[Megalon-5]

'Ya know, you can tell this asshole off on Facebook! I'm sending a nasty message!
http://www.facebook.com/mobileprotectio ... ty?fref=ts

I'm dying

There needs to be more Asshole Minya images.