Godzilla: Final Wars
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
|
| Godzilla: Final Wars | |
|---|---|
 official poster |
|
| Directed by | Ryuhei Kitamura |
| Produced by | Shogo Tomiyama |
| Written by | Story: Wataru Mimura Shogo Tomiyama Screenplay: Isao Kiriyama Ryuhei Kitamura |
| Narrated by | Kōichi Yamadera |
| Starring | Masahiro Matsuoka Rei Kikukawa Kazuki Kitamura Don Frye Kane Kosugi Tsutomu Kitagawa |
| Music by | Keith Emerson Akira Ifukube Nobuhiko Morino Daisuke Yano |
| Cinematography | Takumi Furuya Fujio Okawa |
| Editing by | Shūichi Kakesu |
| Distributed by | Toho |
| Release date(s) | December 4, 2004 |
| Running time | 125 min. |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | $19,500,000 USD (est) |
| Preceded by | Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. |
| Followed by | Godzilla 3D to the MAX |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Godzilla: Final Wars (ゴジラ ファイナルウォーズ Gojira: Fainaru Wōzu?) is the fiftieth anniversary film and the twenty-eighth film in the Godzilla film series.
The movie was released theatrically in Japan on December 4, 2004, and was released on DVD and VHS in Japan on July 22, 2005, and in the United States on Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD on December 13, 2005.
It was directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. As a 50th anniversary celebratory film, a large group of actors from previous Godzilla films, both classic and new, made appearances as main characters or cameo appearances. This goes for the monsters as well, as most of the monsters in the film had been missing from the screen for more than 30 years. The MPAA gave the film a "PG-13" rating for intense sequences of violence.
But despite the title, this is not the final Godzilla film; Toho has decided to temporarily "retire" the character for a period of 5-10 years (possibly around 2013 or 2014 [1]) in order to renew interest in the series as Godzilla's 59th or 60th anniversary.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Endless warfare and environmental pollution has brought forth giant monsters, which are a grave danger to the Earth. As a result, the Earth Defence Force (EDF) is created to protect the Earth. The organization is consisted of the best of technology and weapons, warships and soldiers, as well as mutant humans with special abilities. Godzilla, the king of the monsters, is claimed to be EDF's only unstoppable opponent. In the end they could not kill Godzilla so instead they bury him under Antarctic ice, sending him into a state of suspended animation. 40 years later, the EDF discovers a mummified space monster. The Shobijin, Mothra's fairies, reveal that the monster is Gigan, an evil cyborg sent to destroy the Earth 12,000 years ago. At that precise point in time Anguirus, Ebirah, Hedorah, Kamacuras, King Caesar, Kumonga, Rodan, and Zilla suddenly appear giving the EDF a tough task to do. Then after destroying much of the Earth's cities, the monsters vanish. Thereafter an enormous alien mothership hovers over Tokyo. The aliens in the mothership reveal themselves to be friendly, having captured all of the monsters attacking Earth, and warn the Earth's governments about impending danger in the form of a meteor. Several of the main characters distrust them. Finally the aliens, called the Xilians, turn out to be evil and unleash the monsters they have captured to annihilate the world. Gigan is also revived and joins in the frenzy. The EDF ultimately loses and Earth's cities are decimated. The protagonists, the leftover crew of the EDF, have all but one choice: free Godzilla. They pilot the Gotengo to Antarctica and are pursued by Gigan to the South Pole where Godzilla is released. Godzilla quickly kills Gigan before following the Gotengo across the globe. Along the way the Xilians send Zilla, Kumonga, Kamacuras, Anguirus, Rodan, King Caesar, Ebirah, and Hedorah to combat Godzilla, and the king of the monsters kills/defeats all of them. In Tokyo, Godzilla uses his atomic ray to destroy the meteor the Xiliens told the humans about. It is destroyed, but Monster X is released from it and fights Godzilla. The Xiliens send out the upgraded Gigan to help Monster X, right when the Shobijin send Mothra to help Godzilla. Mothra sacrifices herself to kill Gigan. The humans enter final confrontations with the Xilians. After an extended battle, the humans defeat the Xiliens and destroy their mothership. Godzilla continues his battle with Monster X, who transforms into Monster X II. After a long, painful battle, Godzilla kills Monster X II with his spiral atomic ray. He then turns his attention to the Gotengo and attempts to kill his sworn enemies, the humans, but Minilla, the son of Godzilla, pleads his father to stop. Before leaving for the ocean with his son, Godzilla roars in triumph.
[edit] Reaction
Godzilla: Final Wars received mixed reviews from fans. It was intended to be a "monster mash" to celebrate Godzilla's long history, but due to the large cast of monsters, each was only allowed limited screen time. Furthermore, the movie departed from previous films in the series by introducing elements of human-focused action, an addition that was variously praised and condemned.
[edit] Cast
- Masahiro Matsuoka as Shinichi Ozaki
- Rei Kikukawa as Miyuki Otanashi
- Don Frye as Douglas Gordon
- Maki Mizuno as Newscaster Anna Otanashi
- Kazuki Kitamura as the Xilien Leader
- Tak Sakaguchi as a Xilien
- Kane Kosugi as Katsunori Kazama
- Kumi Mizuno as Akiko Namikawa
- Kenji Sahara as Hachiro Jinguji
- Masami Nagasawa and Chihiro Otsuka as the Shobijin
- Kenta Suga as Kenta Taguchi
- Shigeru Izumiya as Samon Taguchi
- Masakatsu Funaki as Kumasaka
- Masatoh Eve as the Xilien General
- Jun Kunimura as Major Kumoro
- Akira Takarada as Nataro Daigo
- Tsutomu Kitagawa as Godzilla
- Kazuhiro Yoshida as Hedorah and Gigan
- Naoko Kamio as Rodan and Minilla
- Toshihiro Ogura as Anguirus, Ebirah, and Monster X II
- Motokuni Nakagawa as King Caesar and Monster X
[edit] Box office and Business
At roughly $19,500,000, Godzilla: Final Wars was the most expensive Toho-produced Godzilla film of all time.
Any hopes Toho had of Godzilla: Final Wars ending the series with a box office bang were smitten when the film opened in Japan on December 4, 2004. In its opening weekend, it came in third at the box office with $1,874,559. At the holiday season box office, it was clobbered by Howl's Moving Castle and The Incredibles, both which also pursued the family market. It eventually grossed roughly $12,000,000 at the Japanese box office.[2] Its total admissions have been estimated at 1,000,000[3], making Godzilla: Final Wars the least-attended Godzilla feature since 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla.
[edit] Music
The music in Godzilla: Final Wars was composed by Keith Emerson, Daisuke Yano and Nobuhiko Morino, while the band Sum 41 contributed the song We're All To Blame to the soundtrack (and received high billing in the film's opening credits sequence). Some critics expressed concern with the music of Final Wars, arguing that Emerson's score would be better suited for a campy made-for-television movie or video games, while others pointed out that it made a refreshing change from the music of previous Godzilla films. Akira Ifukube's themes were mostly absent from the movie, angering some fans. Two rock bands made songs for the film, We're All To Blame by Sum 41 and Godzilla Vs. Tokyo by Zebrahead. Godzilla Vs. Tokyo is not played in the film or on soundtrack but Zebrahead announced that they actually made that song for the film. The soundtrack can be described as mixed rock, techno, and electronica with musical scores.
[edit] Landmarks Shown
- Sydney Tower - Destroyed at the first seconds of Zilla's attack on Sydney.
- Empire State Building - Visible when Rodan stands on a building near it, roaring.
- Sydney Opera House - Destroyed when Godzilla trips Zilla and he lands in it, then blown up by Godzilla's atomic breath.
- Mt. Fuji - Where Godzilla fights Anguirus, Rodan, and King Caesar; also visible when Godzilla roars after defeating them.
- Oriental Pearl Tower - Destroyed when Anguirus knocks the Karyu into it.
- Chrysler Building and MetLife Building - Visible when Rodan was flying around in New York City.
- Eiffel Tower - Visible when Kamacuras lands on it, not seen destroyed.
- Jungle Of Papua New Guinea - Where Kumonga fights Godzilla.
- Statue Of Liberty - Chopped in half by Rodan offscreen (the audience only sees the torso of it lying near the lower half).
- Sydney Harbour Bridge - Destroyed offscreen by Zilla. The ruins are seen when Godzilla approaches Sydney to confront Zilla.
- Grand Canyon - Visible when Kumonga crushes a trailer.
- Tokyo Tower - Bent, presumably by the Xilians. Seen when Mothra fights the upgraded Gigan for the first time.
[edit] Locations Shown
- Sydney, Australia (Attacked by Zilla)
- New York City (Attacked by Rodan)
- Shanghai, China (Attacked by Anguirus)
- Paris, France (Attacked by Kamacuras)
- Papua New Guinea (Where Godzilla fought Kumonga)
- Tokyo, Japan (Attacked by Gigan)
- Okinawa City (Attacked by King Caesar)
- Arizona (Attacked by Kumonga)
[edit] Filming Locations
Godzilla: Final Wars began filming in July of 2003. The locations of filming included:
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Egypt
- New York City, New York, USA
- Paris, France
- Shanghai, China
- Tokyo, Japan
[edit] Appearances
|
Kaiju |
Non-Kaiju Stock footage
|
[edit] Concept arts for Godzilla redesign
- Before production began, director Ryuhei Kitamura wanted a new Godzilla costume, particularly one that was slimmed down to allow more agile moves. Four concept arts of Godzilla were very altered-looking. The first three shows that Godzilla is very slender and more demonic-looking. The fourth one is very similar to the one in the film, but with spiny scales, very different dorsal spikes, longer claws and red markings on its chest. [4]
[edit] Notes
- This is the second time a Godzilla series has ended with a "disaster-across-the-world"-like film, the first being Destroy All Monsters (the 1968 film took place in 1999).
- This film beat the record for most kaiju shown in a Godzilla film. The second was Destroy All Monsters with 11 monsters.
- In this film, Godzilla confronts his American counter-part. Because of the outrage many fans expressed about the American Godzilla, director Ryuhei Kitamura named Toho's version "Zilla", claiming Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin took the "God" out of Godzilla.[citation needed]
- MMA fighters Gary Goodridge and Ray Sefo appear in the film as EDF employees at Area G in Antarctica.
- During the scene where a cop and a pimp get into an argument, the word Fuck was originally used multiple times. The word was edited out and replaced with the word "hell". This may have been done to avoid a possible R rating. Most Godzilla films have been rated PG, G, and NR (Not Rated). Godzilla: Final Wars is the only film in the franchise, avoiding the 1998 remake, to be rated PG-13.
- Four martial artists co-starred in this film: Don Frye, Gary Goodridge, Ray Sefo,and Kane Kosugi.
- The martial arts in the film were choreographed by Tsutomu Kitagawa [who plays Godzilla]. Kitagama also choreographed the monster fights.
- Several other monsters were considered, including: King Kong, who wasn't secured due to a hard time in getting the rights for the monster; Varan and Gorosaurus, who were dropped due to their lack of popularity in Japan; and the gargantuas Sanda and Gaira, who were dropped because it was felt that they didn't fit into the Godzilla universe. At one point, Gamera was even considered, but rights couldn't be aquired from Kadokawa-Daiaei.
[edit] DVD Releases
Sony Pictures
- Released: December 13, 2005
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.40:1) anamorphic
- Sound: Japanese (5.1), English (5.1)
- Supplements: Behind-the-Scenes featurette (comparison of B-roll footage to finished film); Trailers for Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Steamboy, Dust to Glory, MirrorMask, and Madison.
- Region 1
- MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence.
[edit] External links
- Godzilla: Final Wars at the Internet Movie Database
- Godzilla: Final Wars at Allmovie
- Godzilla: Final Wars at Rotten Tomatoes
- Official Site in Japanese
- Godzilla: Final Wars at Toho Kingdom including several reviews
- ゴジラ ＦＩＮＡＬ ＷＡＲＳ (Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
