Customer Reviews

Godzilla - Tokyo S.O.S.

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the most recent GODZILLA movie to reach US shores and it was an unusually fast trip. In recent years fans have had to wait as long as
six years for a Godzilla film to make it here. For the uninitiated or new and younger fans of Godzilla here is a listing of all the Godzilla projects
in their most current US video titles. There are many spin-off movies such as RODAN, MOTHRA etc. But I have only included the films in which Godzilla himself appears. The spin-off films are listed at the end. The films with the * next to them are true sequels and pick up where the previous films leave off. The ones with the V next to them are currently available on DVD. All Godzilla movies have been available on home video (mostly vhs) in the past.

First we have the original classic and its sequel. Both were in black & white and fullscreen. They were released in 1954 & 1955 :
#1 GODZILLA (1954 JAPANESE VERSION currently in US-UK theatres)
GODZILLA- KING OF THE MONSTERS (1956 american version) V
#2 GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN 1955 (aka GIGANTIS- THE FIRE MONSTER 1959)*

The first series (in color/cinemascope) really starts here. It ran from 1962-69. Most had decent effects budgets and were dubbed very well, either in Japan or in the States:
#3 KING KONG VS. GODZILLA* (1962/63)
#4 GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA 1964 (aka GODZILLA VS. THE THING 1964) V
#5 GHIDRAH- THE THREE HEADED MONSTER* (1964)
#6 GODZILLA VS. MONSTER ZERO (1965) (aka MONSTER ZERO )
#7 GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER (1966) V
#8 SON OF GODZILLA (1967) V
#9 DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968) V
#10 GODZILLA' S REVENGE (1969) V

MONSTER ZERO and DESTROY ALL MONSTERS were very science fictiony and had futuristic settings. This upset the plot continuity of later films (set in the 60s/70s). MONSTER ZERO is set in the 1980s, but the US version obscures this. DESTROY ALL MONSTERS takes place in 1999 in both US and Japanese versions.

The seventies series starts here, with much smaller budgets and awful dubbing done in Hong Kong. They all take place between GODZILLA'S REVENGE and MONSTER ZERO/DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. Most are intended for a child audience:
#11 GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH (1971 aka GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG
MONSTER) V
#12 GODZILLA VS. GIGAN (1972 aka GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND) V
#13 GODZILLA VS. MEGALON* (1973)
#14 GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA (1974 aka GODZILLA VS. COSMIC MONSTER) V
#15 TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975 aka TERROR OF GODZILLA)* V

The recent DVD releases of GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER, SON OF GODZILLA, DESTROY ALL MONSTERS and GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH have different dubbing than the earlier american theatrical
versions. So there are now two versions of each in america.

The eighties/nineties films start here. They are in a rectangular widescreen but not the real wide cinemascope like the first series. The plots are connected, each picking up whwere the last left off:
#16 GODZILLA 1985* (1984/85)
#17 GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE* (1989)
#18 GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH* (1991) V
#19 GODZILLA AND MOTHRA- THE BATTLE FOR EARTH* (1992) V
#20 GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA 2* (1993) V
#21 GODZILLA VS. SPACE GODZILLA* (1994) V
#22 GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH* (1995) V

Next is the "Millenium" series. It was shot in the same widescreen as the first series:
#23 GODZILLA (1998) V
#24 GODZILLA 2000 (1999/2000) V
#25 GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRAS (2000) V
#26 GODZILLA, MOTHRA AND KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS
ALL OUT ATTACK (2001) V
#27 GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA (2002) V
#28 GODZILLA- TOKYO S.O.S.* (2003) V
#29 GODZILLA- FINAL WARS (2004) V

#30 GODZILLA 3-D (imax yet to be released)

In addition Godzilla also appeared in the live action japanese
TV series REISEI NINGEN ZON (aka ZONE FIGHTER (1973). in
the animated Hanna Barbera produced show GODZILLA (aka THE
GODZILLA POWER HOUR or GODZILLA SUPER 90(1978) and the
animated GODZILLA: THE SERIES (1998).

Many of Godzilla's films were reedited for American theatres. Most are shorter than the Japanese versions (only GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA is longer in the US) and some have scenes with American actors (like the late great Raymond Burr) added. Of the films currently available on video, the ones most different from the Japanese versions are GODZILLA-KING OF THE MONSTERS, GIGANTIS- THE FIRE MONSTER (don't even call him Godzilla in this one), KING KONG VS. GODZILLA, GHIDRAH- THE THREE HEADED MONSTER, TERROR OF GODZILLA and GODZILLA 1985. The rest are pretty much the same as the Japanese versions.
Contrary to rumours going as far back as the 60s; KING KONG VS. GODZILLA has ONLY ONE ENDING. It is the SAME in both the Japanese and US versions. I won't spoil it and tell you who wins but.......
Both monsters went on to make alot more movies, so do the math.

Just a thought: In GIGANTIS- THE FIRE MONSTER, Godzilla is the monster, but he is not called that. In GODZILLA (1998) The monster is not Godzilla, but he is called that. Go figure.

Here are the Toho films that either spun-off or were later connected to
the Godzilla series. (They are in no particular order. The ones with the M feature giant monsters, all the others do not.)
1) Half Human: Story of the Abominable Snowman
2) The Mysterians V M
3) Rodan (The Flying Monster) V M
4) Battle in Outer Space (a sequel to The Mysterians)
5) Varan- The Unbelievable V M
6) The H- Man
7) Mothra (The Monster God) M
8) Atragon (The Flying Supersub) M
9) Frankenstein Conquers the World M
10) War of the Gargantuas (a sort-of sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the World) M
11) King Kong Escapes M
12) Yog- Monster From Space M
13) DaiGoro vs. Goliath M
14) Rebirth of Mothra V M
15) Rebirth of Mothra 2 V M
16) Rebirth of Mothra 3 M
17) Gorath M
18) Matango- Attack of the Mushroom People V
19) The Human Vapor
20) Dagora the Space Monster (aka Dogora) M
21) Latitude Zero M
22) Invisible Man (not the Universal series with Claude Raines)
23) Gunhed V ( has big robots, but no monsters)
24) The Last Days of Planet Earth (sort-of sequel to Godzilla vs. Hedorah, has mutants, but no giant monsters in it.)

I hope this list was helpful to young fans.

This is the fifth Godzilla movie from the Millennium Series (begun with Godzilla 2000) and the first direct sequel from the series. In that regard, it would help greatly if you saw Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and are familiar with it as Tokyo S.O.S. assumes you already know the groundwork. If you liked Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, chances are you are going to like this one as well. Picking up directly where its predecessor left off, the battle ensues again, this time with three versions of Mothra in the mix... the moth and two newborn caterpillars! The flashbacks to the orginal Mothra movie are a lot of fun too. Overall, the action and special effects, as is always the case with the modern Godzillas, are quite good. The story, while somewhat slim, does have some interesting twists too.

From what I understand, the next movie will be called Final Wars and will feature 10 monsters! Promos for this movie (that opens in Japan in December of 2004) claim this one is "the end." Of course, such was supposedly the case with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah from the Hesei Series, so after a hiatus of a number of years, Godzilla will probably be back again. Until then, a high-budget Destroy All Monsters for the new millennium will certainly be something to look forward to.

"Godzilla: Tokyo SOS" (released in Japan under the rather cumbersome moniker "Godzilla X Mothra X Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS") is one of the best of the recent Godzilla movies. For those of you who don't like all that pesky plot and character development getting in the way of monster carnage - this is your movie. A startlingly long amount of the running time is devoted to a three way melee between Godzilla, Mothra, and Mechagodzilla, and it's some of the best monster action Toho has ever filmed. What little human plot there is is made a bit more interesting than usual by the presence of Hiroshi Koizumo, reprising his role from the original "Mothra."
The DVD from Columbia doesn't look as good as it should considering that this is a 2003 movie. There are scenes, particularly near the beginning, of very heavy grain, and there are some truly grotesque moments of edge-enhancement. Purists will be happy to know that subtitled Japanese audio is available as well as the English track. Unlike most of Columbia's Godzilla DVDs, there is a rather substantial extra - a Toho-produced 20-minutes behind-the-scenes documentary about the special effects. It's pretty interesting, but definately not for casual fans. Also included are some random trailers, including the Japanese teaser for "Godzilla: Tokyo SOS."

this the sequel to godzilla vs mechagodzilla is from what ive heard not the best godzilla but not the worst. what raises this to five stars is that it will be widescreen with original japanese and subtitles and incredibly it will apparently have a behind the scenes feature produced by toho! this is a major improvement over all other dvds. and it seems that sony is trying to actually make godzilla fans happy the dvds are getting better and better and they are finally getting some old movies along with the new. bravo sony and keep getting the old movies.

This summer, I attended the Chicago premiere of the latest Godzilla movie: Tokyo SOS! We got there around 9:15 and got in line. Lucky for us, the big crowd arrived after we did, so we got good seats. We waited for half an hour, and then the crowd, apparently knowing that the movie would start soon, started chanting �gSOS! SOS!�h Then J.D. Lees, the head of the whole G-Fest thing and publisher of G-Fan, came up and made a short speech about how it was so great that people were getting popcorn after the movie was supposed to start, and that it would begin in five minutes. We waited another five minutes, and then�c the TOHO logo! Plastered up on the screen with all it�fs glory! At that point, the crowd went nuts. Of course, being the civilized person that I am, so did I. The movie started off with a shot of Mechagodzilla (or Kiryu, if you prefer) in the repair dock, with all the chords and metal thingies sticking out of him. Then, it immediately switches to a scene of two fighter planed tracking an unidentified object through a thick cloud cover. They try to shoot it down, but they just end up missing. One of the planes takes a picture of it. Back at base, they focus the picture, revealing a familiar shape. �gOh, no! It�fs�c�h The word �gMothra�h flies onto the screen, followed by �gKiryu�h and �gGodzilla�h. Then, the screen blows up in a fiery explosion, revealing the title of the movie. In my opinion, this scene is right up there with Star Wars and the original Godzilla as one of the best opening title sequences in movie history.

They really don�ft mess around with sub-plots and characters in this movie. After you get past the first fifteen minutes of plot development (who needs that?!), it's pretty much just one long, spectacular battle until the credits roll. The battle was probably one of the greatest in Godzilla movie history. At some points in the battle, you just want to stand up and cheer (which is what everybody did). For example, in one part, Godzilla and Kiryu are standing on opposite sides of a building. Kiryu fires a storm of missle around the building at Godzilla, who doesn�ft even seem to be bothered the explosive impacts. He then fires his heat ray through the building at Kiryu. Godzilla then runs at Kiryu, who grabs him by the tail, swinging him over his head and into a nearby building. Godzilla, now undoubtably pissed off, blasts Kiryu in the face with his heat ray, knocking him out cold. Wow.

This movie successfully combined the �e70�fs fun with the �e90�fs ray-shooting slug-fests to create the ultimate Godzilla movie. While the original will remain the best movie ever made, Tokyo SOS has totally exceeded my expectations. It�fs now definitely one of my all-time favorite movies! Where can you get a dramatic storyline, non-stop action, and the coolest monsters ever? One word. Godzilla.

I recieved this film for christmas and I have to say that I was impressed with the special effects. When watching a Godzilla film, one doesn't come to expect a certian technical prowess when it comes to CG work. However, while not ILM quality, the effects here more than get the job done. The opening Jet sequense is particularly stunning, and proabably compromises some of the best CG work in any Godzilla movie. Period. And of course, Godzilla is still a man in a rubber suit, and I must say, he looks better than ever. The movies actng is a bit cheesy and never lives up to the films powerfull score. But this is to be expected. I really dont understand how someone like Roger Ebert can give a Godzilla movie a poor rating because of the effects work. It amazes me how he completly misses the point of these movies. I must say that I was a bit confused by the plot (despite it bieng used more than once in past films) but this is proabably due to the fact that I never saw Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla --this movies prequel. The action is great, the effects spectacular, and the dvd offers the origional Japanese soundtrack. What more can a Godzilla fan ask? Buy it today.

I've been a Godzilla fan for as long as I can remember. I even love the old series - its cheesiness was part of the fun of it. I thought the 80's/90's series was pretty good as well. But the new "Millenium" series is really fantastic. And "Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." is another fine entry in the series.

"Tokyo S.O.S." is the only film in the "Millenium" series which is a sequel to another film in the "Millenium" series. "Tokyo S.O.S." occurs one year after "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla". Hiroshi Koizumi reprises his role from the original 1961 "Mothra" film as Dr. Shin'ichi Chujo. The doctor receives a visit from two tiny fairies, who tell him that Mechagodzilla must not be returned, or Mothra will be forced to wage war against Japan. The old man sets out to stop the use of Mechagodzilla - but his young son, who works on the Mecha G ground team, has different plans.

"Tokyo S.O.S." is probably the third best Godzilla film I've seen. It's well-made, never hokey, and it has a fine score (by Michiru Oshima). Godzilla fans should enjoy it. I did.

I got this DVD as an early Christmas gift, it is quite an enjoyable film. I don't know why Kiryu was referred to as Mechagodzilla through the whole movie, when in the first one they called him Kiryu 99.9% of the time. Well the plot is pretty good but to preachy at times, and there are moments when you wish that everyone would just shut up so you can see the big boys going at it. However this movie as many others say is just to set up the epic final battle between Kiryu and the Big G. They threw Mothra into the mix to make it more exciting.
WARNING SPOILERS:
The movie starts out with the cosmos(annoying midget Mothra girls)warning this guy from the original Mothra movie that the bones of the original Godzilla must be returned to the sea because the dead should not be disturbed. The man(sorry I forgot his name)goes to the prime minister to warns him that Mothra will declare war on mankind unless the request is not anwsered. The prime minister says that Mothra destroyed Tokyo 43 years ago and says Kiryu is their only defense. Later on through the movie it's everyone discussing the situation, until a giant sea turtle(Kameobas)washes up on shore with huge claws marks in it's neck, and everyone knows that it's killer can only be Godzilla. Kiryu in the mean time is under heavy repairs after the whoopin Godzilla gave him in the first movie. That guy(from first mothra movie)still argues that Mothra will come and fight in Kiryu's stead. He is still scoffed at. Then the mighty Godzilla rises from the sea, the military is as always helpless against him. Godzilla comes ashore and begins wrecking havoc(GO BIG G),meanwhile that guy from the first Mothra movie(going to be reffered to as MOTHRA GUY for the rest of this review)goes looking for his grandson who has dissapered, and soon finds him laying out the Mothra symbol with desks from a nearby building. The sybol attracts Mothra who goes to battle Godzilla. They fight a fierce battle, but Godzilla quickly begins making short work of Mothra(FYI I don't like Mothra), The prime minister soon decides to launch Kiryu to assist Mothra in combat. Meanwhile on Infant Island(Mothras home) her egg hatches and to Mothra Larva are born, they quickly head to Tokyo to assist their mother. Kiryu soon arrives on the battle field and begin fighting a fierce battle. Godzilla charges the massive machine but Kiryu flips Godzilla over his shoulder, the pilots think the big guy is out cold and approach him. Godzilla now undoubtedly burning with rage lashes out with his powerful tail knocking Kiryu clear off his feet and tumnling down towards him, Godzilla quickly turns over and lets loose his mighty breath blasting Kiryu right in the face and slamming back, knocking him out cold.

Well to make a long story short the Mothra larva arrive and Mothra gets blasted to oblivion, the continue a long battle, Godzilla is eventually stunned and wrapped in silk by the larva and carried off to sea by Kiryu and they desend into the japenese trench. However if you wait half way through the credits you'll hear the mighty roar of Godzilla indicating he is still very much alive.

You will leave this movie very pleased I believe even though I was a little upset by the ending. I still believe people will be arguing over if Godzilla was defeated. Personally I think Godzilla is the mightiest being of all Kaiju and was the true victor, although he was flown away from Japan he survived while Kiryu did not, I think Godzilla was the victor, and to me he will always be the victor to me and I really think he was the victor.

In conclusion this is a great movie with great affects and I apologize for this long review, the major complaint I have about Kiryu is he doesn't have as much personality as he did in the first one. I give this roughly five stars.

"Godzilla - Tokyo S.O.S." ("Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira: Tokyo S.O.S."), the fifth film in the Millennium Series, is a showdown between Japan's three most famous Kaiju. A rare direct sequel, following "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla " ("Gojira tai Mekagojira"), this flick features massive Giant Monster Action, with the three beasties squaring off against each other in the heart of Tokyo, much to the dismay of the citizens of Japan.

The plot is Godzilla Standard, with the extremely cute Shobijin showing up to warn of a future attack, unless repairs are stopped on Mechagodzilla, and the bones of the original Godzilla (now being used as the skeleton for Mechagodzilla,) are returned to the sea. Seeking out Dr. Shinichi Chujo, with Kaiju veteran Hiroshi Koizumi reprising the role he first did over 40 years ago in "Mothra," they sing their pretty song and say that Mothra will again come calling to Tokyo in a viscious assult. Secure in the power of Mechagodzilla to repulse Godzilla, the government does not heed their warning. Of course, Godzilla strikes, stomping toy tanks and smashing buildings, and of course, Mothra comes flying in to meet him. But Mothra is no match for Godzilla, and the mighty yet unfinished Mechagodzilla must be deployed, leading to the three-way showdown.

Like the rest of the Millennium Series, "Godzilla - Tokyo S.O.S." features some impressive effects while still keeping the "Man in Suit" feel that is the heart and soul of the Godzilla franchise. Mothra has never looked better, and manages some impressive flying thanks to CGI assistance. Godzilla is looking good also, and his breath-weapon is truly deadly. Mechagodzilla has bulked up a lot since his original appearance almost 30 years ago, and is looking even more fierce.

The 3-Way battle (actually 5-Way battle, when the Mothra larva get into the mix) is smashing, with some nimble feats of dexterity not possible in previous flicks. There is more pathos in "Tokyo S.O.S." that I have seen in any other G-Film, and the final stand of Mothra is enough to moisten an eye over her brave sacrifice.

The DVD for "Godzilla - Tokyo S.O.S." isn't bad at all, with a wide-screen release and original Japanese with English subtitles available. There is also a nice little featurette with almost 22-minutes of behind the scenes footage. Definitely one of the best Godzilla DVD releases.

Let me just say this about Godzilla Movies in general: Forget about trying to understand the "plot", if there was one to start with, it gets lost in translation/dubbing to English and none of these Millenium Series movies makes any sense at all. They seem to be an odd mix of fantasy, sci-fi, horror and drama. You really need to take a leap of faith into the Godzilla Universe to sit through an entire movie, the dialog and themes are hard to take. I'd say it probably boils down to nothing more than a difference between Japaneese and American story telling sensibilities. After watching the whole thing, My son and I like to watch it again a time or two, but we jump right to the best Monster battle scenes - that's the beauty of the DVD format, you can go right to the good stuff and pass up all the weird parts in between.

That said, the MS movies are absolutely awesome. Compared to the older "guy-in-suit" Godzilla Movies, the new ones (90's-2000's) are cutting edge. They have mind blowing special effects, huge sets of cities built with models, and they seem to have a creepy, chilling, & darker look to the night scenes. The "behind the scenes" part is neat, showing how they shoot the films - just as enjoyable as the movie.

If you can get past the bizzare and distractive Mothra scenes (I just don't understand this monster at all - it doesn't really help the story one bit and Mothra doesn't really seem to have any special powers, or any ability to fight Godzilla except for flying around him and making dust) and the absolutely goof ball "Fairy" part of the story line, the special effects of the Mechagodzilla blasting away with the electro-shock waves, missiles, and cannons was unreal, like something you'de see in Japaneese Anime robot cartoons, and the battle scene between Mechagodzilla and Godzilla was so good it was breath taking, I loved it. The detail level on the models used in the movie for the Mechagodzilla and the cities is unbeleivable! Very enjoyable to watch.