The Millennium Legacy

[JVM]

So an honest question...

in ten or how many ever years, how do you think Godzilla fans of the next generation will remember the Millennium series?

While I hate the Millennium films with a passion aside the incredible GMK, I have a feeling the next generations of fans will be quite fond of them the same way many of us are fond of the least great of the Showa films. Nostalgia can blind us all.

[Showa Gyaos]

I could see this happening. But I will probably still despise the Kiryu saga.

[Tyler]

I already like it more than Heisei, so hooray for me!

[HayesAJones]

If future or up-and-coming fans watch those first, then they'll definitely find some nostalgic enjoyment for them. The movies I watched as a kid were mostly Heisei, so that's my favorite series.

But hopefully they'll also appreciate the older films.

[ZigraDude]

I already like it more than Heisei, so hooray for me!

You're not the only one.

[Hellspawn28]

I'm pretty sure most people who was born in the late 90's and the 2000's would end up finding the Millennium movies nostalgia since they end up growing up with them like most of us did with The Showa or Heisei movies.

In the late 2010's I can see it happeing it now.

[Ethan]

I already like it more than Heisei, so hooray for me!

Pretty much. They're also starting to age better.

[godzilla1996]

I think it will go down as the forgotten series, because Godzilla's popularity was really low during the series, and the films weren't being released here in the U.S. theatrically, so not a lot of newer fans will know these movies, especially if they don't know how to use a computer.

[JVM]

I think it will go down as the forgotten series, because Godzilla's popularity was really low during the series, and the films weren't being released here in the U.S. theatrically, so not a lot of newer fans will know these movies, especially if they don't know how to use a computer.

Most kids being raised these days have computers unless they're poor.

[Showa Gyaos]

I think it will go down as the forgotten series, because Godzilla's popularity was really low during the series, and the films weren't being released here in the U.S. theatrically, so not a lot of newer fans will know these movies, especially if they don't know how to use a computer.

JVM said it, but I'll say it: everybody has a computer, and many people do know how to use them.

And, if All Monsters Attack and Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla are well-known for infamy, I doubt the Millennium series will be forgotten any time soon.

[Hellspawn28]

Not to mention most video stores have more Millennium Godzilla movies then they do with Showa and Heisei movies. And that they are cheaper to buy as well. So anyone who was born in the late 90's, and the 2000's will likely end up being introduce to the Millennium Era as their first Godzilla movie series.

I'm gald that I was born in 1991, so I still miss the day of going to the video store on Friday nights and renting a new Godzilla movie.

[Chris55]

I already like it more than Heisei, so hooray for me!

Yeah I wasn't a fan of the Heisei series either

[Gorosaurus Rex]

I have the feeling that this will be the second best remembered series of Godzilla films. Their overall better then the incredibly boring Hesei beamrape fests.

[Arrow]

Until recently, I used to consider the Millennium series the weakest of the three. I changed my mind upon seeing just how badly the '90s films hold up in comparison. I still consider GxM among the worst of the Godzilla movies and GxMG as an incredibly slow-paced, formulaic film - but am very fond of GMK and Godzilla 2000, and am even warming up to Tokyo S.O.S.. Even GFW, as awful as it is, is far more memorable than the majority of the Heisei movies.

As for Millennium's legacy, there's not much I can add. It has its fans and it'll always have its fans, as disappointing as the series as a whole preformed. It's not great and could probably have been a lot better had Tezuka been cut out altogether, but if Heisei continues to have its fans then I'm sure Millennium will as well.

[Ethan]

Part of the reason why the Millenium series are more tolerable is because we know the flaws these films had were a result of Toho trying to play things safe, as opposed to the filmmakers not giving a damn (with Godzilla Final Wars being the exception) like it had happened before. I also consider Tezuka to be underrated.

[Arrow]

I agree that the Millennium series as a whole (save for GFW) suffered from Toho "playing it safe" and I consider Tezuka's films, the Kiryu Saga in particular (Godzilla x Megagurius is just plain bad), to be the biggest examples of that. What little originality is brought to the franchise (that Kiryu is made from the bones of the original Godzilla) is hardly expanded on save for the rampage of Kiryu in GxMG, the Godzilla that appears in the film serves to do little more than conveniently create conflict whenever the plot calls for it, and the films seem to move about in a very formulaic fashion with little risk taken - IMO, anyway. Tokyo S.O.S. at least brings in a fun final battle, a great Mothra redesign, and probably the best SPFX in the franchise, but GxMG is just so... bland in comparison. GMK is a great film that is hindered by Toho's meddling, and GFW is just plain awful, but at the very least we can say that we've never gotten a film like those two before.

In the end, though, I'd take Godzilla 2000, GMK, Tokyo S.O.S., and even GFW (!) over any of the Heisei films. So I do agree with you, to an extent.

[omgitsgodzilla]

I think it will go down as the forgotten series, because Godzilla's popularity was really low during the series, and the films weren't being released here in the U.S. theatrically, so not a lot of newer fans will know these movies, especially if they don't know how to use a computer.

Actually, neither were any of the Heisei films aside from G85. Biollante got the direct-to-video treatment in 1992, and the rest hit VHS and (mostly) DVD in 1998. Similarly, G2K got released theatrically, and the rest got direct-to-DVD releases in 2004 and 2005.

[HedorahLives]

I think the new series will be seen as Godzilla's second decline, much like the 70s were his first decline. By decline, I mean more in terms of popularity and box office.

G2K may get the nostalgia factor because it was a lot of people's first exposure to the Japanese Godzilla or their first exposure since the Showa films. I think it's popularity in the US is underrated, even though it didn't perform well at the box office.

GMK will continue to be the fanboy favorite. GFW will continue to be immensely polarizing, maybe assuming the mantle of Godzilla's Revenge as the most polarizing film in the franchise. The Kiryu movies will, I think, go down as the benchmark for Toho's Kaiju effects. GxM will be seen as the "bad" movie a la Gigan or Spacegodzilla.

[Mini-Godzilla]

Yes, the 2K series will probably be seen as the "Late Heisei" decline period in the same way that the Champion Festival films are regarded as the "Late Showa" decline period.

[Starfishman]

I love the Millennium Godzilla films way more than the Heisei Godzilla films, at least the Millennium films didn't bore me to sleep like most of the Heisei Godzilla films did. I enjoy the Millennium films despite how "bad" some of them are.