Review: GODZILLA VS. SPACEGODZILLA (1994)

We continue to make our way down the big list of movies (HERE).

Today's flick is Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla (1994).



My son, James, will go first:

Well, this one has Godzilla, Mini Godzilla, Mogera, and Biollante. So, the story about Space Godzilla is Biollante's DNA went into a black hole in space, came out of the white hole (whatever that is) and got mutated in the process, you make Space Godzilla. 

So, the story is: sees and explains Space Godzilla and then uses Mogera to stop it and fails, meanwhile, two gravity guys come and try to ether kill or control Godzilla, one of the Helper are villains and try to control Godzilla again and they fail, space Godzilla make crystal fortress, Mogera and godzilla destroy both Fortress and Space Godzilla, Boom and credits 

So, rating wise, i'll say 3.5 out of 6 Atomic Breaths of Awesomeness!!!

My turn:

Simply put, something about this movie just feels ... off.  Especially when compared to the Hesei films that have preceded it. 

In one of the most far-fetched origins for a Godzilla villain (yeah, I know; the whole franchise is "far fetched"), we learn that some of Biollante's remains went into space, got sucked into a black hole, expelled from a "white hole," and ... something-something ... Spacegodzilla. 

What works?  Most of the action.  And Spacegodzilla (mostly) seems very formidable. 

 

What else?  Well, remember this guy from The Mysterians?: 

 

He got a revamp and works for G-Force now: 

 

That's MOGUERA, alright, now with an impossibly stupid acronym for his name (Mobile Operation Godzilla Universal Expert Robot Aero-type). 

Baby Godzilla got a revamp as well.  Not a good one.  Apparently, the special effects director of this film didn't like the dinosaurian appearance of Junior in the previous film and decided to cute-ify him: 

 

Ugh.  Thankfully, beyond a seemingly interminable scene on the beach when he trips a bunch of gas mines, Junior's barely in it.  (I found it strange that Godzilla didn't try to free Junior from his crystalline cage.) 

Recurring telepath Miki Saegusa gets loads more to do, but she's one of the few bright spots among the humans.  Other than her, there's a generally useless bureaucrat, a scumbag professor (more on him in a mo), a couple of loser G-Force guys, and a revenge-seeking soldier whose rage seems to ebb and flow with the tides. 

The aforementioned scumbag prof sells out Miki to the Yakuza.  I'm not kidding.  It's a ridiculous diversion in a film that could have easily used some trimming when it comes to the human side of things. 

Also not swell?  The space battle between Spacegodzilla in his Kryptonian starship mode and MOGUERA.  It felt so very cheap.  (While I'm talking about SpaceG, let me say: his powers are cool, but you can tell how cumbersome the suit is by the extraordinary lack of movement he employs.  Once he takes over Fukuoka and erects his crystals, he barely shuffles two meters.) 

I nearly forgot.  Woefully forgettable music.  We get a brief Akira Ifukube reprise of the Godzilla theme and beyond that ... I couldn't tell you.  Oh, near the beginning when the G-Force guys get near the island, the soothing cues reminded me of the same kind of cues from the Bond film You Only Live Twice.  (Listen to it HERE and HERE.) 

Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla ... they can't all be great.  3.25 out of five atomic breath blasts.

Here's the trailer:



Next, Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon.

(GIFs from yanagiakira, stevendeven and captainaktion)