Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
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| Godzilla vs. Destroyah | |
|---|---|
 Gojira shisu. (Godzilla dies.) |
|
| Directed by | Takao Okawara |
| Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka Shogo Tomiyama |
| Written by | Hiroshi Kashiwabara |
| Starring | Takuro Tatsumi Yōko Ishino Yasufumi Hayashi |
| Music by | Akira Ifukube |
| Editing by | Chizuko Osada |
| Distributed by | Toho |
| Release date(s) | December 9, 1995 |
| Running time | 103 min. |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | US $10,000,000 |
| Preceded by | Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla |
| Followed by | Godzilla 2000 |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (ゴジラvsデストロイア Gojira tai Desutoroia?), is a film where Godzilla fights Destoroyah, a creature that was created by the Oxygen Destroyer weapon that killed Godzilla back in 1954. It was released in Japan on December 9, 1995. It was originally intended to be the last Godzilla film until 2005, but due to the worldwide fan-disappointment of the 1998 American Godzilla film, Toho decided to release a film in 1999.
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[edit] Plot
In 1996, Birth Island is found destroyed with Godzilla nowhere in sight. His adopted son, Little Godzilla, is presumed dead at first but later reveals himself as a larger and more powerful sub-adult due to the excess radiation and is renamed "Godzilla Junior." Godzilla, covered in glowing lava-like rashes, enters Hong Kong and destroys it. G-Force representatives hire college student Kenichi Yamane, adopted grandson of Dr. Yamane who witnessed the original Godzilla in 1954, to come work at the center in an attempt to unravel the mystery of Godzilla's condition.
Yamane suspects that due to his out of control radioactivity, Godzilla will soon explode, taking the world with him. The G-Force immediately deploys a flying combat vehicle outfitted with anti-nuclear cold weapons to forestall the event; the "Super X III." Meanwhile, in the area where the original Godzilla died, strange life forms begin to rise, and a host of deadly creatures called Destoroyah begin wreaking havoc. Soil samples reveal that the existence of Destoroyah is directly connected to the Oxygen Destroyer used against the 1954 Godzilla, which mutated Precambrian era life forms. After several deadly skirmishes with the Japanese Self Defense Force, the Destoroyah evolve beyond the JSDF's containment abilities and psychic Miki Saegusa must use her failing powers to lure Godzilla Junior to the area in an attempt to combat Destoroyah in Tokyo. Godzilla, who is tracking his adopted son, follows Godzilla Junior and will soon arrive in as well, but complications arise. Due to his encounter with the Super X III, Godzilla has now bypassed an explosion and will ultimately melt down once 1200 degrees Celsius has been reached; an event that will burn straight into the core of the planet and destroy all of Earth.
The first time the monsters fight, Godzilla Junior is greviously wounded but manages to destroy his opponent. However, as Godzilla and Godzilla Junior meet in Narita, Destoroyah returns in his demon-like final form. Swooping down upon the surprised monsters, Destoroyah knocks down Godzilla and snatches the much smaller Godzilla Junior away; dropping the teenage Godzillasaur from high above and blasting him with micro-oxygen, killing him. Enraged, Godzilla attacks Destoroyah and a back and forth battle ensues that destroys much of Tokyo. Born from the weapon that defeated the first Godzilla, Destoroyah shows an obvious advantage from the start, but Godzilla's runaway radioactivity has pushed the monster's power to unimaginable levels and he soon destroys his son's killer. Unwilling to die easily, Destoroyah's body decomposes into many smaller Destoroyah which attempt to swarm Godzilla from all sides, but the attack ends in futility when Godzilla uses his Nuclear pulse to incinerate the miniature Destroroyahs.
Alone at last, Godzilla attempts to breathe life into his fallen son, but to no avail, and even as he grieves, Godzilla's heart continues to fail, causing even more pain within the monster. Suddenly, Destoroyah returns in his final form for one last attack! The battle is fierce but short; enraged by the loss of his son and maddened by the pain within him, Godzilla drives Destoroyah back to the brink of death as Tokyo is bathed in atomic fire. As the battle reaches fever pitch, the ghastly creature attempts to flee, but just as Destoroyah lifts off, the Super X III attacks and disables the creature's wings and making him extremely cold, causing Destoroyah to plummet back to earth where he is destroyed by Godzilla who had heated the ground around him. with the extreme change from hot to cold, Destoroyah explodes in a huge fireball at Godzilla's feet.
His son gone and his foe defeated, Godzilla stands alone and dying, but the human race cannot afford to give Godzilla a quiet funeral. As the monster begins to melt, the JSDF bombards the dying beast with a plethora of ice weapons, successfully neutralizing the immense heat that is given off and preventing Godzilla's remains from melting into the center of the Earth and igniting the planet.
The victory is a costly one however, for the radiation has made Tokyo an uninhabitable ghost town. Suddenly, radiation levels begin to drop, and from within the thinning smoke a roar can be heard. Godzilla Junior rises from the ashes a teenager no more. In death, Godzilla had passed on his excess radiation and life essence as a final gift to his son, reviving and mutating him. The spitting image of his father, the new adult Godzilla flexes his claws and bellows a challenge to the world, symbolically declaring that Godzilla's legacy would never die.
[edit] Cast
- Yasufuni Hayashi ......... Kenichi Yamane
- Yoko Ishino ......... Yukari Yamane
- Megumi Odaka ......... Miki Saegusa
- Takuro Tatsumi ......... Kensaku Ijuin
- Akira Nakao ......... General Aso
- Momoko Kochi ......... Emiko Yamane
- Godzilla ......... Kenpachiro Satsuma
- Destoroyah ......... Ryo Hariya, Eichi Yanagida
- Godzilla Junior ......... Hurricane Ryu
[edit] Trivia
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- This was the last Godzilla movie produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka as he died two years later
- Momoko Kochi, who had played the lead female role of Emiko Yamane in the original 1954 film, returned in this film to reprise the Role. But it was her final film role, and she died three years later of intestinal cancer.
- Akira Ifukube, who composed most of the music for the installments returned as the music composer in this film. It was his final film score, although some of his themes are used in the later films. He died almost 11 years after the film was finished due to multiple organ failure.
- This movie also marks the last appearance of actress Megumi Odaka in a feature film to date.
- This film's original idea was to feature Godzilla fighting a ghost replica of the original King of the Monsters. However, Toho did not like the concept, since the previous two films had the two Godzilla-like opponents, Mechagodzilla and SpaceGodzilla. Then, in the 2002 film Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, a variation of this idea was used. Instead, the "ghost" of Godzilla was built into a robot.
- The Japanese theatrical poster holds the tagline: "Godzilla Dies", referring to the climax of the film.
- An alternate ending was filmed. Destoroyah attempted to escape once Godzilla gained the upper hand, but the JSDF shot him down. Godzilla, despite suffering from his meltdown, continued to battle the vicious monster. Godzilla quickly overpowered Destoroyah, grabbing him by his horn and pummeling him repeatedly. As Godzilla's life melts away, the JSDF rain their ULT weapons upon him, as well as Destoroyah. Unable to stand against the immense heat of Godzilla's meltdown and the freezing coldness of the ULT lasers, Destoroyah falls and evaporates. However, the scene was replaced because it was thought to be inappropriate, since Godzilla's foreseen death was to be the climax of the movie. So the scene was re-edited to have Destoroyah die after the JSDF intervenes, and allow Godzilla to have center stage as he melts down and Godzilla Junior takes his place as the new Godzilla.
- Destoroyah is shown in the American version being killed by the JSDF; although in Japan Godzilla kills him in a deleted scene not shown in the US.
- This is the second series to have a series in a complete continunity. The first being the Showa series, while the Millennium series only have separated continunities.
- Burning Godzilla appears in Godzilla Unleashed as Godzilla 90's Critical Mass form.
- The U.S Sony DVD cut the credits out where the Heisei era Godzilla was all shown while Godzilla's theme played in the credits.
[edit] Box Office
The film sold approximately 4 million tickets in Japan, and grossed around $22,000,000.
[edit] DVD Releases
Columbia Tristar (Sony)
- Released: February 1, 2000
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (1.85:1) letterboxed
- Sound: English (2.0)
- Region 1
- Note: A double feature with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla. There were no other special features present, except for subtitles.
[edit] External links
- Godzilla vs. Destoroyah at the Internet Movie Database
- Godzilla vs. Destoroyah at Allmovie
- Godzilla vs. Destoroyah at Rotten Tomatoes
- ゴジラvsデストロイア (Gojira tai Desutoroia) (Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-07-19.
