MovieChat Forums > Gojira (2004) Discussion > Which Japanese versions still suck?

Which Japanese versions still suck?

posted 8 years ago by gollumsmeagolrocks
10 replies | jump to latest

So, I've been told the general consensus is the Japanese versions are better by far, however IMDb only rates the English versions it seems. The general consensus also seems to be the only Japanese versions that are still bad seem to be a handful of the Showa era movies. As far as I can gather, the list of actually good Godzilla movies with the Japanese versions are:

Showa Era
1) Gojira (1954)
2) Gojira Raids Again (1955)
3) Rodan (1956
4) Varan (1958)
5) Mothra (1961)
6) King Kong vs Gojira (1962) (Maybe not with this one, no one has the Japanese version to compare due to legal crap
7) Atragon (1963)
8) Mothra vs Gojira (1964)
9) Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster (1964)
10) Invasion of the Astro Monster (1965)
11) King Kong Escapes (1967) (Maybe not, no one has the Japanese version of this due to more legal crap
12) Destroy All Monsters (1968)
13) Gojira vs Mechagojira (1974)
14) Terror of Mechagojira (1975)

Heisei era
15) Gojira (1984)
16) Gojira vs Biollante (1989)
17) Gojira vs King Ghidorah (1991)
18) Gojira vs Mothra (1992)
19) Gojira vs Mechagoira II (1993)
20) Gojira vs Spacegojira (1994)
21) Gojira vs Destroyah (1995)

Millennium era
22) Gojira: Millennium (1999)
23) GMK (2001)
24) Gojira Against Mechagojira (2002)
25) Gojira: Tokyo SOS (2003)
26) Gojira: Final Wars (2004)
Is this generally which ones are considered good?

~NW~

[–] kingofthemonsters1995 8 years ago

In general, most fans consider all of the films (at least in their Japanese versions) to be good to an extent. The only ones I consider objectively bad are All Monsters Attack and Godzilla vs. Megalon, and even those have their charm.

Though to be fair, there is one instance where I believe the US version is actually superior to the Japanese one, and that is Godzilla 2000.

[–] Tsavo 8 years ago

Someone else who does ot like GMK? I'm glad it's not just me! I know a lot of people praise it for portraying Gojira as evil, but frankly, it felt too over the top, almost turning into Gojira murder porn at points, and generally mean spirited.

"From a phylogenetic perspective, we are all fish!"

[–] kingofthemonsters1995 8 years ago

I wasn't talking about GMK, I was talking about All Monsters Attack from 1969, also known as Godzilla's Revenge. GMK is actually one of my favorite movies.

[–] Tsavo 8 years ago

Oh! *facepalms* Yeah! I know which film you're talking about, I was completely exhausted at the time I typed that message to you, crossed All Monsters Attack with Giant Monsters All-out attack. It's a shame though, I guess I really am alone in disliking GMK. The ideas were somewhat interesting, but the execution killed it for me.

*edited for typos*

"From a phylogenetic perspective, we are all fish!"

[–] nickm2 8 years ago

Well, I am mixed about GMK, I have to say. It was decently acted & decently filmed, but it had some impressive effects. In fact the 'Ghost Goji' 'atomic breath' shock/blast effect is certainly the best I have seen-in fact the whole millennium series seems to have great atomic breath.

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

[–] Tsavo 8 years ago

Oh yes, I do remember the production quality being quite good. It has been a while since i watched it,but as soon as I can get someone to join me and watch the original Gojira, I'll work my way through the series again.

"From a phylogenetic perspective, we are all fish!"

[–] damonbkcc-66267 8 years ago

You're not the only one, I hate GMK as well especially how poorly they treated Ghidora.

[–] Tsavo 8 years ago

Great! I am happy I am not alone!

"From a phylogenetic perspective, we are all fish!"

[–] noamoskaljov 7 years ago

In my opinion the bad ones are:
Invasion of Astro-Monster (not BAD per say, just not better than the first 5)
Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster
Son of Godzilla
All Monsters Attack
Godzilla vs. Hedorah
Godzilla vs. Gigan (the best out of the BAD ones in my opinion)
Godzilla vs. Megalon
And of course, the piece of crap 1998 american ZILLA

[–] hobnob53 7 years ago

Why do you list Rodan, Varan, Mothra and Atragon as "Godzilla movies"? Godzilla/Gojira isn't anywhere near them.

The Japanese originals are almost uniformly better than any American version (of these and the other Toho kaiju eiga). This definitely includes the original King Kong vs. Godzilla, which is available on DVD in the U.S. Kingu Kongu tai Gojira is far better than the Americanized version.

I haven't seen all the later films but of the classic ones you mentioned, the only one where the American version is in many respects better than the original is not a Godzilla movie but Rodan. The U.S. version, recut and slightly rearranged, is actually much more logical and tense than the original film, which has a very choppy and poorly-developed plot.