Review: GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH (1991)

Still plenty of films to watch on our big list (HERE).

Today's is Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991).



I'll go first:

Time for some timey-wimey. 

For the first time, we get to see Godzilla's origins.  A dinosaur, somehow still alive on a Pacific island, mutated by nuclear testing.  The whole plot is about preventing this from happening, but by the end, Godzilla was instead created thanks to a nuclear submarine accident in the '70s.  The good news is, Godzilla got even more power and got even bigger thanks to a second submarine sent after him in 1992. 

Details, details, details. 

Time travelers from 2204 come to the present to get Japan to stop Godzilla.  They say it's because Godzilla destroys Japan.  It's a plot, of course, to stop Japan from becoming the world's most powerful nation.   

Oddities:

• So the writer guy doesn't want to write about "nonsense" like the legit UFO that just appeared ... but he does want to write about the crazy old man who rants about seeing dinosaurs?
• Apparently, pronouncing the word "nucular" is still happening in the 23rd century.
• M11, the android.  Were the writers watching Aliens?  Star Trek: TNG?  Terminator?  Definitely Terminator.  And why hire a guy who looks like dour Dave Coulier?
  
• The Dorats usefulness?  "They can cheer us up" if we get lost.
• The dumber-than-dumb shoutout to Steven Spielberg.
• The contempt that the ginger Futurian seems to show when the Japanese Futurian is told about the plans to destroy Japan.  "It seems you've lost your vision, just because your country's being crushed?"  Well, yeah.
• Speaking of the Japanese Futurian, for someone who was supposedly unaware of the big plan, she still let the Dorats out in the past ... and she knew an awful lot about the big plan, too.
• The fast and loose rules of nuclear mutation: blow up something nuclear next to something alive and it'll turn into a monster.  Hell, have three creepy-cute things?  Maybe they'll merge into one big three-headed monster.
• Another scientific one: time paradoxes don't seem to apply here.  Even though this Godzilla was erased from history, everyone seems to still remember him.
• One liners: "Take that, you dinosaur."  "I'm spinning!"  "I'm the Peter Arnett of Japan!"

All of that aside, I love so much about this movie:

• The Ghidorah suit is downright badass.  
• I love the head jerk and twitch Godzilla does just before he shoots his breath (that seems like a semi-new thing to me).  
• For some reason, I love that Godzilla fell when his foot plowed through the street and down into a subway station.
• The models and their destruction were very well done.  
• The Gozillasaurus scene is very enjoyable (and apparently controversial since it shows Americans as the bad guys).
• The Futurians' ship is cool and unique.  
• And Akira Ifukube is back to do the music ... just fantastic.  

In my research, I found out that the producers had wanted to use all-new monsters for Big G to fight, beginning with Biollante.  When that movie didn't do so well, they went with what worked.  This film was a hit.  As nice as it would be to have seen some new kaiju, I'm plenty happy with what we got. 

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah ... and somehow I didn't mention the awesomeness of Mecha-King Ghidorah.  4 out of five atomic breath blasts.

My son's turn:

This one is about when 23rd century guys came and (did not want to do what they did) made a more stronger and meaner Godzilla and made Mecha-King Ghidora to stop Godzilla, but did it work? NO!! Of course not! Godzilla is too awesome and powerful to be beaten!  They should have called this movie Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah: Time War. 

So, rating wise, i'll say 3.1 out of 5 Atomic Breaths of Awesomeness!!

Here's the trailer:



Up next, Godzilla and Mothra: Battle for Earth.