Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah

Knowing that Hollywood was finally going to make a Godzilla movie, Toho decided to wrap up the Heisei series with a bang announcing that Godzilla Dies right on the movie poster.

Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla (1993) aka Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II

On the heels of the success of "Godzilla Vs. Mothra", which made even more money then the last three Godzilla films, Toho decided it was time to bring back Godzilla next most popular foe Mechagodzilla, and an updated version of Rodan and Minilla by the end of the next year. The result is Godzilla longest screen time to date, passing Godzilla Vs. Hedorah.

 

Godzilla Vs. Mothra aka Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle For Earth

With the success of "Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah" Toho decided to bring their next most popular daikaiju, Mothra into the new series. They brought back Kazuki Omori to write but he doesn't direct this time, the new director is Takao Okawara. With this entry Toho is releasing a new Godzilla every December.

Godzilla Vs King Ghidorah

After Godzilla Vs. Biollante didn't do as well as hoped it was rumored that Toho wanted Godzilla to face King Kong again, but Ted Turner wanted to much for the rights. So instead they went with Godzilla number one foe King Ghidorah instead. Writer/Director Kazuki Omori may have been a little to much into the Terminator films, making for some major plot holes and cheesy effects but over all it is the best Daikaiju action of the Heisei series.

Terror of Mechagodzilla

After the success of "Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla" Toho decided to bring back Mechagodzilla for a direct sequel as well as Ishiro Honda and Akira Ifukube hoping for a even bigger hit. It wasn't, and so Toho put the franchise on hold to give it a rest.

 

Godzilla Vs. Gigan aka Godzilla on Monster Island

"Godzilla Vs. Gigan" starts the heavy use of recycled effect footage. Godzilla ends up with a lot of screen time, however a lot of that is stock footage or spent swimming. This movie was also a later release in the US not coming out till 1977 five years after it came out in Japan. And called "Godzilla on Monster Island" even though he spends very little time on said monster island.

Destroy All Monsters

What happens when you try to end a franchise with a huge extravaganza? You end up revitalizing to genre into the next decade. Toho took every useable daikaiju suit and made a couple of new ones and through them together into on epic film that ends the golden age of daikaiju movies.

Invasion of the Astro Monster aka Godzilla Vs Monster Zero

With the sixth entry into the franchise it was decided to mix the sci-fi space invasion theme with daikaiju. The result is a great movie that surprisingly has very little daikaiju screen time, in fact this film has the least amount of Godzilla in the 50's and 60's golden age. But the short screen time is made up for by being some of the best in franchise history.

Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster

To borrow a term from wrestling, the fifth entry changes Godzilla from the villain, to a tweener. He and Rodan work out their differences across the Japanese countryside. Then Mothra convince them to team up and face the powerful space monster Ghidorah.

Mothra Vs Godzilla aka Godzilla Vs the Thing

The fourth entry into the Godzilla franchise is his last appearance as a pure villain in the original Showa era of films. After hitting box office gold with King Kong Vs Godzilla, Toho decided to pit Godzilla against Mothra who just had her own successful film a few years earlier.

King Kong Vs. Godzilla

My breakdowns continue with one of the most daikaiju filled films in the franchise, however King Kong does spend a lot of that time sleeping. For the review I had to track down a subtitled version of the original Japanese cut, and while the ending is the same, it is a superior cut of the film.

ゴジラ (1954) aka Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1955) Breakdown

ゴジラ (1954) aka Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1955)

My breakdown and review of Godzilla franchise starts of the original, I plan to review all the Godzilla movies overtime, hopefully one a week. In the breakdown I include the runtime, from the daikaiju’s appearance to the end included cuts of humans and destruction, and screen time, any visual part of the daikaiju is in shot, for each daikaiju appearing in the film. As well as the time of the 1st full appearance of each daikaiju, and how long any fights last.