***** It’s Time for Godzilla to get Serious!

The old series was canceled. After a nine year break, Toho decided to bring Godzilla back. Instead of the goofy shows that they used to do, they decided to go back to the format of the original movie, and pretend the others never existed.

Godzilla pops up again after thirty years. He heads for a nuclear submarine and a nuclear power plant, sucking up their energy. This causes cold war tensions, and Steve Martin is sent to the Pentagon (he had to show up somewhere). Godzilla then heads for Tokyo, destroying everything in his way. The Japanese military sends out the Super X attack plane to shoot cadmium missiles in Godzilla’s mouth, which neutralizes him. Because of an accidentally set off soviet nuclear missile, a counter missile is sent to destroy it over Tokyo. The atmospheric nuclear blast revives Godzilla, who destroys the Super X. He is led to a volcano by special waves that sounds like a flock of birds, which trigger a conditioned response. Godzilla falls into the volcano, his fate unknown.

This is the best Godzilla movie ever made in my mind. It has it’s problems, but the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff more than the rest of the series. It is the most dramatic movie of the serious. The whole movie has a dark, serious feel to it. Although I like a silly monster fighting movie, I like a pure monster movie just as much. The special effects are some of the best work Toho has done. Godzilla looks great, even believable. You can imagine he is real living creature in this movie. Some scenes are utterly amazing and awe inspiring. OK, so you can see strings in some scenes, but other than that, it’s good. The Godzilla vs. the Super X is one of the most amazing battles shot. The main reason I like this movie is the feeling I get when I watch it. I watched it a lot as a kid, but it still gets better every time I see it. The movie springs a serreal feeling most other movies don’t have. The extremely dramatic angle and dark feel makes this the best there is.

There is a big difference between the two versions of the movie. However, the American vs. Japanese stuff usually cancel each other out. The American is shorter but makes it faster even though it cuts out character development. The American additions are stupid but help make the movie not over-dramatic. The train scene was cut some, getting rid off some spectacular scenes but also getting rid of slow-down. I am neutral about the cold-war elements so I don’t care which version the missile launching scene is from. One thing that isn’t canceled out is the ending. Not only was the great epilogue by Ramon bur added, but so was that blood-curtailing cry Godzilla utters when he falls in the lava. I just can’t imagine the ending without it, because it makes the ending so dramatic that I practically cry every time I see it (and sometimes I do). I always liked a good ending, and the American version of this movie is by far the best of the series.

I only have one complaint about this movie: the starting sequence with the "Godzilla ticks". It’s pointless, gross, and stupid. Otherwise, this movie is great. Buy it, plug it in to a good quality VCR of DVD system, and watch it in the dark. It should be the best Godzilla experience you can get.

Great plot.

Terrific special effects.

Great music.

Dark, dramatic, serreal experience.

Best ending of all Godzilla movies.

Godzilla is actual believable for once.

Pointless, sick, and stupid first scene.

No explanation given to how Godzilla came back.

Godzilla is a bird-brain? That just can’t be.

Strings, strings! I see strings!

Come on, we are suppose to just forget the others never happened? I will never forget!

Credits