Bio-Wars: The Greatest Heisei Track?

[LSD Jellyfish]

It's been over a year since the original post, and I maintain my thoughts from the previous posts. Man, the way the guitarist picks away at the guitar around 1:40 is orgasmic.

[DragonZord13]

Is nobody going to comment on that one guy who said he had a threesome while listening to this song? No? Ok.
Anyway, I enjoyed this track since I was a kid and it, for me is a defining piece of music for GvB. Plus that opening gun fight with this song is just really entertaining. "Hey guys over here!"

[LegendZilla]

I think that the main reason as to why Ifukube was a detractor of Godzilla Vs Biollante's score was because he felt jealous and threatened that a composer with talent rivaling his own taking a shot at scoring a Godzilla film.

[Terasawa]

Do you have any factual or empirical reason to believe that or is it just unfounded conjecture?

[GigaBowserG]

I think that the main reason as to why Ifukube was a detractor of Godzilla Vs Biollante's score was because he felt jealous and threatened that a composer with talent rivaling his own taking a shot at scoring a Godzilla film.

But if that were the case, why did he seemingly have no issues with Godzilla 1984's composer?

[LegendZilla]

I think that the main reason as to why Ifukube was a detractor of Godzilla Vs Biollante's score was because he felt jealous and threatened that a composer with talent rivaling his own taking a shot at scoring a Godzilla film.

But if that were the case, why did he seemingly have no issues with Godzilla 1984's composer?

Maybe he did, but just never got around to voicing his opinion.

[SoggyNoodles2016]

I think that the main reason as to why Ifukube was a detractor of Godzilla Vs Biollante's score was because he felt jealous and threatened that a composer with talent rivaling his own taking a shot at scoring a Godzilla film.

Ifukube's own daughter said he was mad they used his Godzilla theme for the remix and she convinced him to go back to scoring, so this nothing but needless bullshit fan bait, but go off I guess

[eabaker]

From pretty early on, Godzilla movies were also being scored by Masaru Sato. If Ifukube didn't feel threatened by frickin' Sato, I have a hard time imagining him feeling threatened by Sugiyama.

[H-Man]

Actually no, Ifukube hated the track. It's one of the reasons he returned to score Godzilla vs King Ghidorah.

Yeah and I’ll be honest, his heisei music wasn’t as great as the showa stuff.

Only real standout was the big Godzilla vs MG2 theme.

Even the G vs. MG2 theme isn't exactly original. It was used in the original 13 Assassins. But that said, reused Ifukube is better than no Ifukube.

Personally, my favorite GvsB track is "Scramble March," which he would (sort of) revisit as "Through the Fields" in Dragon Quest VI (1995).

[LegendZilla]

Actually no, Ifukube hated the track. It's one of the reasons he returned to score Godzilla vs King Ghidorah.

Yeah and I’ll be honest, his heisei music wasn’t as great as the showa stuff.

Only real standout was the big Godzilla vs MG2 theme.

Even the G vs. MG2 theme isn't exactly original. It was used in the original 13 Assassins. But that said, reused Ifukube is better than no Ifukube.

Personally, my favorite GvsB track is "Scramble March," which he would (sort of) revisit as "Through the Fields" in Dragon Quest VI (1995).

What is 13 Assassins?

[H-Man]

Yeah and I’ll be honest, his heisei music wasn’t as great as the showa stuff.

Only real standout was the big Godzilla vs MG2 theme.

Even the G vs. MG2 theme isn't exactly original. It was used in the original 13 Assassins. But that said, reused Ifukube is better than no Ifukube.

Personally, my favorite GvsB track is "Scramble March," which he would (sort of) revisit as "Through the Fields" in Dragon Quest VI (1995).

What is 13 Assassins?

13 Assassins is a 1963 jidai-geki (period drama), or chambara, film. It was famously remade in 2010 as a large-scale action epic by cult director Takashi Miike. My thoughts from an older post:

13 Assassins (1963) - (original title: Jûsan-nin no shikaku) Produced by Toei studios. A vassal of daimyo who happens to be the Shogun's youngest half-brother commits suicide in front of the house of one of the Shogun's councillors. The vassal's farewell letter requests his Lord's abdication, but the request is denied by the Shogun and the case is closed. Knowing that the Lord is a tyrant, and that he'll soon be promoted to the Council, which will give him further inpunity to his crimes, the councilor asks the Court Inspector to assassinate the Lord. The Inspector sets about the nigh-impossible task getting together the people he trusts the most, and the samurai whom they trust the most. Meanwhile, the Lord's head samurai, an old rival of the Inspector's, is just as wily and a game of wits begins as the trap is set to kill the Lord on his long journey back to his territory.

This two-hour jidai geki is 75% drama and 25% action, with all of the sword fighting being left for the last 30 minutes. The rest of the movie is building tension as the two teams try to outmaneuver each other like a game of chess, with conversations about the life and purpose of the samurai padding things out a little more. Chiezô Kataoka is great as Inspector Shimada, who maintains calm in the most difficult circumstances as he and his men plan the right time to strike, knowing full well that their mission is one of suicide. Even when he has to convince his nephew to join the cause, he never loses his cool, even when his nephew's behavior is initially an affront to the Bushido code. The final battle is classic David vs. Goliath shenanigans, as the 13 assassins use their surroundings to advantage to take down the Lord's guards, numbering more than 50. Admittedly, you'll need a bit of patience to get there, but the payoff is worth it.

Also of note is that the score is provided by the legendary Akira Ifukube, best known for his work on the Godzilla movies and other Toho sci-fi flicks. His music is instantly recognizable, and I noticed that his theme for Mechagodzilla from the 1993 Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II was taken from this movie.

[DragonZord13]

Here is the question why would Ifukabe dislike the score to GvB? It's very 80's sure but their is nothing wrong with the music. So what's Ifukabe's deal?

I found the song on YouTube and played it while driving. Totally worth it.

[Terasawa]

Here is the question why would Ifukabe dislike the score to GvB? It's very 80's sure but their is nothing wrong with the music. So what's Ifukabe's deal?

DM: What do you think of the scores to GODZILLA 1985 (1984) and GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE (1989)?

AI: I don't know much about the score for GODZILLA 1985. However, my impression of GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE is a negative one, both in terms of the direction and the music. For example, the music that is heard while the scenes that take place in Saradia are shown is just ridiculous. The composer used European music instead of some modern Arabic music. (The score for GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE was composed by Koichi Sugiyama.)

By the way, during the production of GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE, Toho asked for permission to use some of my music in the film. I said that I would allow its use as long as it was not turned into popular music. Toho agreed to that, but just before GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE was completed, a Toho representative came to me and said, "Well, your music was turned into popular music." By that time, it was too late to do anything about the situation.

After GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE was released, my daughter came to me and said, "No matter how much you try to escape from Godzilla movies, Toho always uses your name and your melodies, so why don't you just score the next Godzilla film yourself?" That is why I agreed to work on GODZILLA VS. GHIDRAH.

Interviewed by David Milner, December 1992.

(Note how he doesn't say or imply that he was jealous of or threatened by Koichi Sugiyama, because that "narrative" is nonsense.)

[DragonZord13]

Wow that answered my question haha. Thank you for that! But I must admit, AI comes off as a grumpy old man. So the GvB composer used a different style compared to AI that doesn't make it wrong or even bad.
In my opinion GvB is the most memorable music from the Heisei Era. (At least to me) Also his comment about his G theme not becoming "popular music" rings a little hollow considering that "Godzilla's Theme" is the most popular and recognizable Monster theme in history.

[Terasawa]

Also his comment about his G theme not becoming "popular music" rings a little hollow considering that "Godzilla's Theme" is the most popular and recognizable Monster theme in history.

Pretty sure he was saying that he didn't want his music turned into popular-style music, such as rock music, which is exactly what was done with "Bio Wars" (the Ifukube Godzilla theme in a contemporary rock style). His request has nothing to do with how well known his music is but rather how its adapted.

[Star Falcon]

I really like Bio Wars. It's pretty different from everything else, but as a standalone piece of music it's super catchy. I've loaded the Godzilla soundtracks that are on iTunes onto my car bluetooth and Bio Wars is a favourite for cruising in the evening

[DragonZord13]

Also his comment about his G theme not becoming "popular music" rings a little hollow considering that "Godzilla's Theme" is the most popular and recognizable Monster theme in history.

Pretty sure he was saying that he didn't want his music turned into popular-style music, such as rock music, which is exactly what was done with "Bio Wars" (the Ifukube Godzilla theme in a contemporary rock style). His request has nothing to do with how well known his music is but rather how its adapted.

Sorry I didn't mean to come off as harsh as I did. I agree that is what he meant but I guess I question the logic. The rendition is quite good and for the action scenes it is used in it is appropriate. I just can't help but feel his comment is a bit "nit picky" at best.