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Film: Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (Gojira VS Supesugojira)
Year: 1994
Director: Kensho Yamashita
Writer: Kanji Kashiwa and Hiroshi Kashiwabara
Starring: Megumi Odaka, Jun Hashizume and Zenkichi Yoneyama
Review:
This film begins by telling us that a robot has been created by the UN to destroy Godzilla. The new machine is Mogera. It is comprised of two machines, one that can drill through the ground and one that can fly. They combine to make a robot that stands as tall as Godzilla. There is also another operation in the works dubbed T for telepathic. Megumi Odaka is being asked to control Godzilla with her mind. They already know she has a connection with him.
Two soldiers from G-force go to Birth Island, they are played by Jun Hashizume and Zenkichi Yoneyama. They meet up with another soldier, played by Akira Emoto. Hashizume and Yoneyama are there to shoot Godzilla with a sensor that will amplify Odaka’s telepathic thoughts. Emoto is there for another reason, he has a bullet that is loaded with anti-coagulates. She claims there is a spot on Godzilla that if he can hit with the bullet, it will kill him.
The baby Godzillasaurs is still alive and has taken a liking to Emoto. He is on the island as well. Emoto has been there for some time and he states that he has seen Godzilla a few times. He comes in and out of the ocean. We learn later on that he has grudge against him for killing his brother in the last attack on Japan.
It should be pointed out that in space, there is something coming toward Earth. Moguera is sent out there to intercept.
Odaka gets a vision of Mothra going out into space. She releases powder and they become tiny Mothras. What is the meaning of this? Odaka is also visited by a small Mothra that becomes the two fairies that call upon her. They tell her that a space monster similar to Godzilla is coming to Earth and they need Godzilla to save them.
Working with Odaka is Towako Yoshikawa and Yôsuke Saitô. They all come to Birth Island as well. Odaka is upset with Hashizume, Yoneyama and Emoto, because they only seem interested in killing Godzilla. Hashizume and Yoneyama are still on board with trying operation T.
Moguera meets the crystal monster in space and they do battle. Moguera takes heavy damage and the space monster continues toward Earth. When it finally lands, it changes to a Godzilla like monster that has two large crystals on its back. The place on Birth Island it lands, there are a few pits with large crystals coming out of them. We will learn later that this is SpaceGodzilla and it was created by Godzilla’s cells entering a black hole, coming out of a white hole and the place that it was at, it has formed this monster.
Little Godzillasaur gets attacked by SpaceGodzilla and put into one of the pits. While it is there, it is trapped and energy sucked from it. The sensor is placed on Godzilla, but the machines are destroyed by Saitô. Godzilla goes to protect its baby and fights with SpaceGodzilla. Godzilla can’t do too much damage and SpaceGodzilla flees.
SpaceGodzilla attacks a city next. More crystals appear that give it a shield. Emoto’s rage for Godzilla is halted and he is asked to pilot Moguera along with Yoneyama and Hashizume. Godzilla is also on his way there to destroy this space monster.
Will they succeed or will SpaceGodzilla destroy the real one and set the planet up for conquering? Can Moguera and Godzilla team up to defeat this threat? Can they figure out how to hurt SpaceGodzilla before it is too late?
I want to lead of stating that in this era of Godzilla films, this is the first one that actually has Godzilla as a hero of Earth again. What I like though is that Moguera is created to kill Godzilla, but an outside threat comes, making him a good guy and needing to team up with him. I thought SpaceGodzilla looked great. I like that he is similar, but with still a distinct look to him. I like the idea of having the crystals to suck in power as well. I thought Moguera was a pretty good idea as well. The acting surrounding the giant monsters was not bad as well.
Now I do have a few issues with this film. The first issues being how do these random crystals just grow out of the ground? I feel a little bit of explanation was needed, because it didn’t make sense to me. The next issue is that I did like that Emoto, with the threat of SpaceGodzilla attacking a city; he would rather continue his grudge against Godzilla. I guess it is possible, but it seems you would rather save Earth first so then you could finish it. The final issue I want to bring up that this film is bother. It drags to the first battle and then it drags until the second battle. There is way too much talking that came off as pointless to me. I would have really liked to see more of SpaceGodzilla wrecking havoc or more of it doing battle.
I will say that this film had the potential to be one of my favorites. I love SpaceGodzilla in how it looks, its attacks and the idea behind it. The problem was that the film was not fleshed out to my liking. I am more interested in story, but this one seemed to waste time with a lot of pointless dialogue and we needed more of the giant monsters battling. This film isn’t horrible, but I would say this one is hard to just jump into and watch. It draws things from previous films, so please keep that in mind. If you are going to just watch one, I would avoid this one.
My Rating: 5 out of 10