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243 of 259 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
KNOW YOUR GODZILLA 101: FIRST LESSON, December 2, 2004
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.
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51 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Strong Outing in the Godzilla Series, October 19, 2004
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.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
City Stomping Fun, January 8, 2005
"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."
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