Oh no! No more Godzilla!

Cafe Society
1

I just read this on Asahi. Toho studios have stated that the movie “Gojira: FINAL WARS” will be the beast’s last. This coincides with the big G’s 50th birthday and the re-release of the original movie.
Including the yet-to-be-shot “Final Wars” there have been 28 Godzilla movies.

Although Toho studios really, really milked the radioactive lizard for all he was worth, it’s still sad that the rubber suit will be hanged for the last time.

Not quite an Eve obit, but still, I’d appreciate thoughts and memories of the big bad green.

2

Oh, c’mon! It’s as likely that Godzilla has fire-breathed his last as it was that Superman would stay dead!

You can’t keep a good giant prehistoric quasi-reptile down!

3

A recent bar conversation about King Kong vs. Godzilla erupted into a near brawl.

Spoiler From the collective memory of the bar patrons (may be inaccurate, corrections appreciated):

Godzilla and King Kong take their battle to the ocean. King Kong emerges from the ocean. One camp insists that King Kong defeated Godzilla and is emerging triumphant. The other camp insists that King Kong is FLEEING Godzilla.

Whichever way, I still think it was completely unfair and quite a cheap trick to increase King Kong’s size. The original Kong had to climb the Empire State Building, then fell to his death! Godzilla could simply walk through the Empire State Building leaving the rubble in his wake.

4

Isn’t the “current” Godzilla not the original one (and I mean of the more recent starting-in-the-90s films?

I recall reading somewhere the “original” (1990s) Godzilla was killed in a relatively recent film and his son absorbed his “energy” and became the current Godzilla.

5

[Japanese Guy] Godzirra? Godzirra??? ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!![/JG]

[SUB]If you don’t listen to Bob & Tom, this won’t make sense. Matter of fact, if you do listen to Bob & Tom, it’s still pretty stupid. Moving along now. [/sub]

6

Mostly, yeah. But it’s a tad more convoluted than that.

See, what happened was

[spoiler]The original G-Man simply ended his run with the (197… odd) film Godzilla vs Megalon. In 1984, Toho decided that every Godzilla film after the original never happened. They released “the second movie” Gojira '84 (Godzilla 85 in the US market) and proceeded to remake, rehash, or recycle most of the original flicks, with updated rubber suits. It was THIS Godzilla that died in a tragic meltdown (no lie, really) and was succeeded by his “son,” as you mentioned.

THEN in 2000, they did it again. IOW, they made a new “second Godzilla movie” that ignored everything since the original, titled, originally enough, Godzilla 2000.

This was more so they could slap Dean and Devlin in the face for the Tristar American Godzilla movie, as the G-Man battles a giant ID-4 style flying saucer that turns into a giant monster. Or something.[/spoiler]
Sorry you asked now? :smiley:
[sub]Whatever happened to our resident expert on all things G? Paging godzillatemple, cleanup in CS…[/sub]

7

Thanks Skeezix, you are a scholar and a gentleman.

8

I bought the DVD of Godzilla 2000 just for the privilege of seeing that smackdown over and over and over and over again.

Godzilla wallops GINO – just as it should be! :smiley:

9

Wow. This is one subject that I honestly never thought that I’d be posting in. In way of explanation, one of my sons Loves Godzilla toys & movies…to the extent where his room contains a replica of almost every single Godzilla as well as every single monster that has ever fought Godzilla or been on Monster Island (King Kong you practically have to get on E*bay). He also has Many TOHO Godzilla movies…which we’ve watched together (trying holding back the MST3K comments is just another test of fatherhood).

I’m actually shocked at hearing this news. I’m aware that in 1990, Godzilla vs King Ghidora had time travellers going back in time, killing the original Godzilla, and then leaving 3 gold furbie-esque things that were to melt into King Ghidora.
(I guess they went back in time & killed the name “Ghidra” too…and I must have must when he was crowned “King” ?!) Another Godzilla is nuked awake by Russian sub wreck meanwhile (A bigger Meaner Godzilla).

Two movies later, in ‘Godzilla vs Destroya’, Godzilla is glowing red due to an impending nuclear melt down (his insides have gone fission) and he’s dying. He fights Destroya, beats Destroya, watches his son die, and then dies in a semi-blinding white flash.

Then in Godzilla 2000, he appears to have been reborn again.

(OK, I always found History dull too.)

This year I was actually looking forward to getting my son a DVD of a remake/ prequel / sequel of Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla (to be released summer 2004?). (Think Power Ranger Zord with Talent & an Attitude)

Now they’re going to kill off Godzilla Again??? What’s their freaking problem??? Isn’t he supposed to symbolize the power of the Heart of Japan versus the forces of Nature and Technology? Methinks somebody in TOHO needs an Atomic Fireball Suppository…

10

Still, we should run as though it was Godzilla.

Even though it’s not.

11

Godzilla will be back. Toho’s just keeping him from being worn out for a while.

12

Eh. I believe there won’t be anymore Godzilla movies about as much as I believe Lucas will never release the original Star Wars films on DVD. So long as there’s still one red cent left to be made from the franchise, the lizard will walk again.

13

I thought the first movie (as in the actual first one made, regardless of any ret-cons) ended with Godzilla’s skeleton lying on the ocean floor. Am I thinking of some other movie, or did he get better?

14

TWDuke you’ve got the right of it. The Oxygen Destroyer basically skeletonized the big G (along with its creator) in Tokyo bay. I don’t recall there ever being an explanation for his ressurection in the original movies, they just brought him back.

In the 85 reimaging, complete once again with Raymond Burr inserted into the American release of the film, they mention that, way back when they never found a body.

(The skeleton seen by the audience is, however not retconned out of existence, it’s just not mentioned.)

In the third (I think) 90s flick, the new Godzilla vs King Ghidorah, they time travel right around his destruction by having his transformation from semi-benign dinosaur into Godzilla not take place until the year 200x, as quietman mentioned. “Causality be damned, we need more Kaiju Fightin’ Action!”
And in the 2000 rebirth, the whole thing gets pretty much ignored in favor of more neat crush, crumble and chomp type goodness.

And as to the '04 release of a new MechaGodzilla flick, you have a link to any info on that, mate? It’s possible that the film in question is actually the 90s Mecha-G movie, which seems to have never gotten any major distribution in western markets. All the rest, G-85, G vs Biollante, G vs KingGhid, G and Mothra, G vs SpaceGodzilla (yeah, really; fun movie, actually) and the final G vs Destroyah were relased to video, or American movie channels (AMC and Showtime, at the least) but I’ve never run across the “new” G vs MechaG m’self.

The Skeezling is three. We happened across G vs KingGhid on Showtime a couple months back, and a new fanatic was born. So I’ve been immersed in Kaiju all over again the past while. And they’re just as much goofy fun now as when I was a wee lad. :smiley:

15

Looks like I was off by 2 years. I noticed on the Clawmark Toys site that they had a brand new Super-Mecha Godzilla in for 2004 and assumed. It looks like the movie actually came out in 2002, but only in Japanese:

And in case your wondering, I owe more thanks to the people at Clawmark come Birthdays & Christmases than they’ll ever know.

http://www.clawmarktoys.com/index.html

16

Yeah, I didn’t see it but I remember when Mechagodzilla came out here.

17

If true, this is bad news for the Japanese construction industry.

Just a week or two ago one of my students (a Japanese engineer and longtime Gojira fan) told me, with a reasonably straight face, that the Japanese government has a portion of its budget set aside for the regular rebuilding of the Tokyo Tower. They have to, since Gojira knocks it over every couple of years.

18

[anime]

And every alien, mad scientist, demon, and evil wizard ever to set foot in modern Japan get it when Gojira’s on vacation.

[/anime]

I have to agree that this won’t be the last Gojira ever. Another reboot seems likely, though.

19

They’ve got the new Mechagodzilla movie at the fancy local video store in Austin, and it’s not a rerelease of an older film, it’s one made within the past couple years. See, after Godzilla vs Destroyah, they ended that specific line of Godzilla movies (Godzilla’s melting down and endangering the world, because when he blows, the atmosphere burns, and all life dies. Luckily, his fight with Destroyah prevents that from happening, turns him into a big puddle of radiation that is absorbed by Baby Godzilla, who comes out of the cloud of dust as a fully grown Godzilla…and the movie ends). There were three more films that came out, starting with Godzilla 2000 (I think it’s Godzilla Melenium originally) that are all “Alternate universe” stories, that pretty much say after the first movie, anything goes. For G2000, it’s that the big G showed up every now and again, but he was the only big monster. Others recognize that he fought other monsters in the past, but don’t go into specifics.

The storyline for the newest Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla is that scientists find the skeleton of the original Godzilla killed in the first film and use it as a building block to design the new and advanced Mechagodzilla. The Godzilla currently terrorizing Japan is a whole new beasty. Of course, something goes wrong due to “inherent memories” or whatever in the skeleton that make the Mechagodzilla go kinda crazy, and a big nasty fight ensues.

I do believe I’ve seen the third of these alternate universe movies, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it is. There are a lot of good fan sites out there though, so a quick search should turn up something.

20

For those who don’t already know, the 2002 version of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (III) will be released on DVD on March 23. As mentioned, this represents the beginning of the fourth(!) “Alternate Timeline” for Godzilla movies. Its follow-up, released in Japan in Dec. 2003, is Godzilla vs. Mothra vs. Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

The two follow-ups to Godzilla 2000 are Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000) and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidora - Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001). Those are the U.S. release names, anyway. And those are already out on DVD.

Unfortunately, the only one of these five movies I’ve seen thus far is Godzilla 2000. I’ve got shopping to do…