Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

Japan Release: 1995
Running Time:
103 minutes

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah


Japanese Title

ゴジラ VS デストロイア
[Gojira vs Desutoroia]

Distributor: Production:

Toho
Toho

Godzilla, its body burning, lays siege to Hong Kong. It's discovered that the King of the Monsters is on the verge of a meltdown. If Godzilla reaches a critical temperature, the resulting detonation will breach straight to the Earth's core and have a cataclysmic result. Meanwhile, a mysterious race of crustacean-like beings are spotted across Japan. Recent studies have been done on a process called Micro Oxygen, a method of increasing the size of something as a possible solution to help with food shortages. However, this new creature seems to have a more ancient history, being born from the Oxygen Destroyer itself that killed the original Godzilla in 1954.

Live Action Science Fiction Kaiju Godzilla

Box Office - Stock Footage - DVDs - CDs - Pictures - Background - Concept Art - Cut Scenes - Reviews

Titles

International Title

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

Initial US Title

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
US Distributor: Tristar (1999) / Time: 101 Minutes

Alternate Titles

Godzilla vs. Destroyer
[Literal]



Monsters



Aliens, SDF & Misc.

Type 87 Armored Scout Car
Type 87 Armored Scout Car
Type 89 IFV
Type 89 IFV
Type 73 tracked APCs
Type 73 tracked APCs
Oxygen Destroyer
Oxygen Destroyer (stock footage)



Staff

Cast

Directed by Takao Okawara
Writing credits Kazuki Omori
Produced by Shogo Tomiyama
Executive Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, Koji Hashimoto
Music by Akira Ifukube
Cinematography by Yoshinori Sekiguchi, Masahiro Kishimoto, Kenichi Eguchi
Film Editing by Michiko Ikeda
Director of Special Effects Koichi Kawakita
Assistant Director of Special Effects Kenji Suzuki
Miki Saegusa Megumi Odaka
Kensaku Ijuin, Doctor Takuro Tatsumi
Yukari Yamane, Reporter Yoko Ishino
Kenichi Yamane Yasufumi Hayashi
Meru Ozawa Sayaka Osawa
Takaki Aso, Commander Akira Nakao
Fukazawa, Professor Saburo Shinoda
Sho Kuroki, Major Masahiro Takashima
Emiko Yamane Momoko Kochi
Yukari's Editor Takehiro Murata
Marvin, Professor Ronald Hoerr
Aquarium Night Watchman Koichi Ueda
G-Force Technician Shelley Sweeney

Posters


Box Office

Release Date: December 9th, 1995 (Japan)
Budget: ¥1,000,000,000 / $10,000,000 (Rough Figure)
Attendance: 4,000,000 (Japan)
Distribution Earning: ¥2,000,000,000 / $18,000,000 (Japan, Rough Figure)

Toho Stock Footage



DVDs and Blu-rays

United States Region 1 Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla/Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Tristar (2000) Order
Japan Region 2 Godzilla vs. Destroyer Toho (2002)  
Australia Region 4 Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Madman (2006)
Japan Blu-Ray Godzilla vs. Destroyer Toho (2010)
United States Blu-Ray Godzilla vs. Destoroyah/Godzilla vs. Megaguirus Sony (2014) Order

CD Soundtracks

Compilations

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Background and Trivia

  • Toho submitted the film to the US copyright office on February 20th, 1996 with the registration number of PA0000796965. The movie was submitted under its international title, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, and its literal title, Godzilla vs. Destroyer.
  • This is the seventh and final film in the Heisei Godzilla series, which ran for a total of 11 years, starting with The Return of Godzilla in 1984.
  • The movie's first teaser was attached to the end of Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994), which saw a theatrical release on December 10th, 1994. While it never revealed the identity of Godzilla's next opponent, at the time the "unknown enemy" mentioned in the teaser was actually meant to be Ghost Godzilla. Storyboard sketches for the teaser and its details can be found in the pages of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Perfection (ISBN 4798615811).
  • On July 15th, 1995, producer Shogo Tomiyama announced that the Godzilla series was coming to an end. The given reason was that, after 21 movies, "Toho had run out of ideas" and, telling Reuters, Tomiyama explained that "that's why we wanted to put an end to the series. We wanted to finish with Godzilla while he is still a star."
  • The climax between Burning Godzilla and Destoroyah was originally going to take place at Tokyo's, still being developed, World City. However, the project, projected at costing $2.35 billion, was very unpopular with tax payers and ultimately they announced its cancellation in May of 1995. Special effects director Koichi Kawakita made a major, last minute pivot as a result, using the grounds were it would have been built for the battle but mostly having it take place near Haneda Airport. Mentioned in Japan's Favorite Mon-Star (ISBN: 1550223488).
  • In response to Godzilla's death, according to the London Daily Telegraph, Toho received more than 10,000 protest letters. Hiroshi Ono, a Toho spokesperson, told the Telegraph "we had to kill him. We're planning to come up with a monster better suited to the 21st century… but his death does seem to have upset a lot of people." In regards to Ono's claim of coming up with a monster better suited for the new century, it was possible he was referring to Mothra, and the upcoming Rebirth of Mothra (1996) film and sequels, as little known evidence supports that Toho seriously considered coming up with a new headlining monster.
  • Akira Ifukube originally intended for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) to be the final movie that he scored. In fact, he even turned down scoring the 1994 entry, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla. However, when learning of the concept for Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) and how it tied into Godzilla (1954) with the Oxygen Destroyer, that retirement was short lived. Feeling the movie should have music that evoked the original movie, Ifukube was approached personally by Tomoyuki Tanaka about accepting the assignment. Noting how much of the original crew had passed on, such as Ishiro Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya, Tanaka’s appeal was special as he also worked on the original with Ifukube. Finally, Ifukube also evoked the long history with Tanaka, going all the way back to Snow Trial (1947) and the producer taking a chance on an unproven composer such as himself in terms of why he accepted the Godzilla vs. Destoroyah assignment.

    Ifukube considered using the same theme from the King of the Monsters’ death sequence in Godzilla (1954) in this film. However, he realized the sentiment behind the two scenes was very different. In the 1954 movie, this is a resolution of a tragedy, while Godzilla’s death in the 1995 movie was “more pessimistic”. These background details can be found in 1999's G-FAN #41.
  • In a CNN news report from December 1st, 1995, actress Momoko Koichi, who appeared in the original Godzilla (1954), notes that "after the first Godzilla movie people pointed at me, saying: 'Godzilla, Godzilla.' As a young woman I hated Godzilla, so I thought, 'no more Godzilla for me.' But 41 years later I watched the film again and realized how great it was for its anti-nuclear theme.'
  • On December 5th, 1995, a few days before the movie opened, a one meter tall bronze memorial state of Godzilla was erected near the Hibiya cinema district. A ceremony was held with actors Akira Takarada and Yasuko Sawaguchi, from The Return of Godzilla (1984) and Yamato Takeru (1994). Relating the event to the Mainichi Daily News, a Toho spokesperson stated that Godzilla's death was not definitely permanent, but it was unknown when it might return. "Even if we call him back to life, it won't be before the turn of the century." This statement ended up being incorrect, as the next Toho Godzilla movie would be released before the turn of the century, Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999), although it was touted as being part of the new century.

Concept Art


Cut Scenes

Godzilla Junior in Tokyo

Godzilla Junior in Tokyo

Godzilla Junior advances further into Tokyo before being assaulted by Destoroyah, in its flying form.

Background:
Originally, Junior's advancement on land was a more drawn out sequence before confronting Destoroyah, who in this scene runs straight into the smaller Godzilla as its first attack.

 
Destoroyah's Chest Beam

Destoroyah's Chest Beam

Destoroyah spreads its arms to unleash a ray from its central chest, striking Godzilla with the beam and knocking him into a nearby building. With the King of the Monsters toppled, Destoroyah continues his assault with his chest beam before Godzilla gets up to mount a counter offensive with his own ray.

Background:
A supplement to the film's climax, at one point Destoroyah was to have fired a beam from his chest several times. The sequence was filmed and edited, but never went through its final stages of post production. Similar to Gigan's beam in Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), in the footage's present state Destoroyah's chest lights up but an actual visible ray was never finished.


Reviews

Miles Imhoff Star Rating
April 16, 2005
Alexander Smith Star Rating
April 16, 2005