MovieChat Forums > Gojira vs. DesutoroiĆ¢ (1995) Discussion > Finally a Godzilla film with a good stor...

Finally a Godzilla film with a good story.


As a long time Godzilla fan, I can't praise this film enough. It is by far my favorite in the new generation of G films. For two big reasons.

Reason number one is Desteroyah. This is by far, the most menacing and imaginitive new monster that Toho has ever devised. When you see the final version of this monster, there has to be a momentary doubt that Godzilla will beat this behemoth. It's a nice match up.

Reason number two is a great storyline. The best scripts are filled with obstacles for the protagonists to overcome. Godzilla not only has to vanquish a monster created from the oxygen destroyer that obliterated the original Godzilla (perhaps their parent or grandparent - Many have speculated that the latest Godzilla could be a grown up Minya of the old G series - though I am putting my money on the fact that Minya grew up to be the Godzilla of the 70's Megalon - MechaG movies -- look at that puppydog face) but Godzilla also must deal with the fact that he is letting off a little nuclear heartburn and is building to a chain reaction that could melt Tokyo. Excellent stuff. This is a great double feature with "Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah" (my second favorite in the new G series.) Again, top-notch writing and a good monster match.

Biolante was a good monster match, but the writing in that was not so good. Godzilla Vs. Queen Mothra was NO MATCH in my eyes. Two bugs against Godzilla. Space Godzilla is my least favorite. Rodan was the only cool thing about G Vs. MechaG 93 (OK and the music by Ifikube). Frankly, MechaGodzilla has gotten way too much time in the latest films (as has Mothra - yawn!) - Bor-Ring!!!

Final Wars was a mess. What the ehck was that? OK - I dug Anguirus (Angilas - whatever) destroying Shanghai. Rodan in new York was nice too but, man... that movie needed some direction. The waste of Manda, Hedorah and Gigan for the sake of more plot was criminal.

Anyway, this film is very cool. The smaller Desteroyah crabs fighting Godzilla is a highlight.

SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! Read ne' further if yee haven't seen this movie.

The end of the movie works for me. Sorry, I liked it. It gives us the
death of Godzilla in a dramatic fashion, Tokyo is threatened but saved and it leaves the door open to bring the series back. Nicely wrapped up I think.

You have to admit... It beats the usual ending of having Godzilla and his foe drop into the Ocean and having the foe fly off into space (or head back to their monster island retreat).

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Well this was the last of a series so they wanted to pull out the stops with a story that makes things come the full circle and also have Godzilla return to being a metaphor for Nuclear destruction even if in a different way. Also grants us what might be Godzilla's most Sadistic foe....they really wen't out on a highnote unlike the dreadful Final Wars.....this was definately in my eyes the last great Godzilla film.

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You didn't like GMK?

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meh....it was okay....but I definately think it wasn't all the great, being over packed with CGI which I find doesn't go with the genre well....though that and Tokyo SOS were not as bad as other films of the 2000 series

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Tokyo SOS was quite visually stunning, in my opinion. But Final Wars was a disaster, I cannot watch that movie again.

To the OP, the Heisei Godzilla has nothing to do with Minya in the Showa films. Heisei-G was part of a complete re-boot that ignored every previous film except the 1954 original.

But otherwise, I do agree with everything else you say. Destroyah ranks among the highest films in the series because the stakes are amazingly high, the drama is handled with class, and we really are made to care about Godzilla without going over the top - he was just given some emotional tenderness that was vital to the success of the film as an operatic series finale. A film is also only as good as its villain, and Destroyah was as original, memorable and sadistic as they come for a Kaiju film.

While there were some annoying factors in Destroyah, the good parts make it enough for me to gloss over them.


"Your views are as narrow as your tie."
- Bernard Herrmann

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Agreed. The story was excellent. The way this film ties in with the original gave the plot real substance, resonance, and even poignancy.

I'm a totally bitchin' bio writer from Mars!

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