Talkback: Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

It`s the best movie of the Millenium series in my eyes.

So after watching the whole Millennium series about 10 times, G x Megaguirus is my favorite.

This is why we need a goddamn like button on Toho Kingdom.

[edgaguirus]

We do have topics where we rate and pick films we like.

[Terasawa]

Did you know that GxM is "the pinnacle of the Heisei Godzilla series"?



So proclaims Toho's 2001 VHS/DVD artwork.

[VoyagerGoji]

Did you know that GxM is "the pinnacle of the Heisei Godzilla series"?



So proclaims Toho's 2001 VHS/DVD artwork.

Well I mean, they’re not wrong, on both fronts. It did come out in Japan’s Heisei period, and, it has a lot of Heisei elements such as the weapon to kill Godzilla that fails.

[Terasawa]

It probably predates the official "Millennium Series" name but I just thought it was interesting that they deliberately tied it to the Heisei Godzilla Series.

[eabaker]

It probably predates the official "Millennium Series" name but I just thought it was interesting that they deliberately tied it to the Heisei Godzilla Series.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the term "vs Series" initially used to differentiate the earlier Heisei entries from the "Millennium Series," with all of them falling under the larger Heisei umbrella? Or was "vs Series" always strictly a fan appellation?

[UltramanGoji]

IIRC, "Vs. Series" is a Japanese fandom nickname but I think Toho officially refers to the two series as the "Heisei" and "Millennium" series.

[Terasawa]

It probably predates the official "Millennium Series" name but I just thought it was interesting that they deliberately tied it to the Heisei Godzilla Series.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the term "vs Series" initially used to differentiate the earlier Heisei entries from the "Millennium Series," with all of them falling under the larger Heisei umbrella?

I think UG's right: I believe "VS Series" was coined by Japanese fans while that series was still in production (so some time during the 1990s). (Who wants to dig through G-Fans to check if it was being used by JD back then too?) I don't know when or in what context "Heisei Godzilla Series" was first used but IIRC it's spoken in at least some of the making of specials for the 1989-1995 films.

Both "VS" and "Heisei" are used on Japanese Wikipedia pages: it's the only series that uses two titles. For example, here and here.

[VoyagerGoji]

Omni Viewer does a very good job explaining how GxMG is a far superior film to this film, and for those who haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

[eabaker]

Omni Viewer does a very good job explaining how GxMG is a far superior film to this film, and for those who haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

Despite the superficial plot/character similarities, the two movies are too tonally different for any kind of 1:1 comparison to make sense.

And to my mind, while GxMG may be better by most measures (certainly not all), it ain't nearly a good enough movie to be considered "far superior" to anything else in the Godzilla series.

[Terasawa]

Speaking of, doesn’t GxMG feel like the longest 88-minute movie ever? That thing draaaags.

[VoyagerGoji]

Speaking of, doesn’t GxMG feel like the longest 88-minute movie ever? That thing draaaags.

To some, maybe. Not for me, of course, it was one of my first G-movies and one of my favourites.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

Speaking of, doesn’t GxMG feel like the longest 88-minute movie ever? That thing draaaags.

Seriously though, I always thought that movie was close to two hours until I finally looked up the length. Still can't believe it isn't even an hour and a half...

[eabaker]

Speaking of, doesn’t GxMG feel like the longest 88-minute movie ever? That thing draaaags.

It definitely sags in places, but for me Tokyo SOS is the one that really feels interminable.

[Terasawa]

That’s true. Neither one feels much shorter than the Heisei Godzillas that run in the 100-minute range.

[Desghidorah]

The most inexcusable reboot ever. Seriously, this film coulda had at least some benefit to continuity with G2000. I've even seen fan rewrites that do that exact thing and it proves to be a boon.