The Godzilla Shinsei Series: a Countdown to the Best Movie in the Series

It was a humid August 2003, and I was in Hong Kong for some meetings in the company I worked for then. My officemate from Kuala Lumpur and I were hanging out after work along the many quaint shops in Causeway Bay around Times Square. We stopped to look at some movies in a modestly set-up DVD store and low and behold, I saw some Godzilla movies in the rack. I remembered how my family and I used to see Godzilla movies in the 1970s when I was a boy. There was no IMAX theatre then, but the special effects of the kaiju (“giant monster” in Japanese) battling and trouncing the city and the military were awesome. The Godzilla movies I saw in the theatres in the 1970s then were part of the Showa series or Godzilla movies from 1954 to 1975. I still saw some in my teens and early 20s from the 1980s to 1990s, and they were part of the Heisei series or Godzilla movies from 1984 to 1995. However, I was not aware of the Shinsei or Millennium series because they were never shown, and the DVDs were never distributed in my home-country, the Philippines. I quickly bought the Godzilla movies I saw because they were just around HKD20 each and I wanted to see Godzilla again. It took another trip to Hong Kong in November 2006, already married and this time in a vacation with my wife, to complete my Godzilla Shinsei series DVD collection. From boy to husband, come to think of it, this franchise has a strong staying power. It even helped put Japan in the map of global cinema. Below is a flyer of 50 years of Godzilla from my copy of Godzilla Final Wars.

The Godzilla Shinsei Series

The Godzilla Shinsei series spans from 1999 to 2004, and the movies in the series are the following:

• Godzilla 2000 Millennium (1999)
• Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus (2000)
• Godzilla Mothra and King Ghidora: Giant Monsters All-out Attack (2001)
• Godzilla Vs. MechaGodzilla (2002)
• Godzilla Tokyo SOS (2003)
• Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

After the Japanese public and Toho’s dissatisfaction of the US version of Godzilla in 1998, Toho, the movie company that produces Godzilla movies, decided to make a new series of Godzilla movies. Unlike the Showa and Heisei series, the Shinsei series are independent and not related to one another except for Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla and its sequel, Godzilla Tokyo SOS. Despite having its patented roar, which sounds 75 percent like an elephant roar and 25 percent like two metal plates scraping, the look of Godzilla in the 1998 US version was altered to a smaller monster with more mobility. Godzilla also lost its famous nuclear breath blast and had to eat fish and even lay eggs like an animal. In the Japanese version, Godzilla produces its own nuclear energy like a generator, does not have to eat and has a formidable hide. It is more indestructible than the US version. The Shinsei Godzilla, compared to the look of its predecessors, basically has an angry jet-like face and longer, menacing spikes at the back. Its overall design is only different in Godzilla Mothra and King Ghidora: Giant Monsters All-out Attack. There, Godzilla has a bigger face and jaw and smaller spikes at the back like in the Heisei series. The Shinsei series also ushers in the use of Computer Graphic Imagery (CGI) to complement traditional suit-mation (“actor” in a kaiju suit) and scale model special effects Toho has expertly used in the past.

Criteria for a Great Kaiju Film

Below is my countdown of the Godzilla Shinsei series. This starts from my least favourite movie to what I think is the best movie in the series. After each movie is a picture of my DVD copy which I proudly completed from Hong Kong. I’m sure other fans will have their own ranking and preferences in the series. For my own, I selected six criteria as the basis to describe my ranking of the six movies in the series. They are in no particular order of importance, and they are the following:

1. Level of Destruction

   This may sound dark, but this shows the painstaking special effects put into the movie. This involves the explosions, destruction of the scale model city or vehicles, kaiju defeat and others.

2. Use of Special Effects

   This may not involve any destruction at all, but the use of special effects to enhance the movie. This involves flight or swimming sequences of vehicles or kaijus, use of CGI and suit-mation, realistic scale model of a city or big vehicle and others.

3. The Story

   Yes, there is still a story in Godzilla movies. This for me actually makes or breaks the film. The story is what the film-maker or director overlooks in many of my least favourite Godzilla movies. The trick here is to keep audiences interested until the climax of the movie. Some Godzilla movies prove to be dragging at the early scenes when kaijus are absent and when the human characters dominate that part of the story. The story has to be at the right pace and enthralling to keep the audiences intact in the ride to the climax.

4. Entertaining Fight Scenes

   Like martial arts films, kaiju movies have to have the coolest fight scenes. They may be between two or more kaijus or Godzilla versus the army, aliens or special weapons. The poses, the execution, the right length of the fight, second wind and the death-blow are all what fans of this movie genre crave for.

5. Memorable Scenes

   Like rain-drenched Rick waiting for Ilsa in the Paris train station in Casablanca or Keating’s students standing on their chairs one by one to salute their mentor in the Dead Poets Society, kaiju movies, though obviously not at that higher standard, also have their memorable scenes. It’s what ties the audience to remember a specific Godzilla movie among many Godzilla movies. It’s what brings fans together in lively discussion about the kaiju film genre.

6. Substance and Meaning

   It’s not all about action and destruction. There’s a point to the entire melee in Godzilla movies. Remember that the first Godzilla movie in 1954 was a warning against the use and effects of nuclear weapons and energy. That message has since grown in Godzilla movies to the importance of being environment-friendly, conscious of saving energy and respectful of life.

These are criteria I used to gauge the impact of the movies to me. These are not meant to be strictly followed such as counting the number of buildings or tanks destroyed to measure Level of Destruction, for example. These are movies about a giant mutated monster after all and not like Citizen Kane or the Godfather Parts 1 and 2. The countdown is for the spirit of enjoyment and meant to celebrate Godzilla, the world’s most popular kaiju. So fans and interested readers, let the countdown begin! (sound of Godzilla’s roar!!!)

Number 6: Godzilla Final Wars

Released in 2004, Godzilla Final Wars (GFW) marks the 50th anniversary of the world’s most famous kaiju. Having that honor, Toho employed rising director Ryuhei Kitamura of Azumi fame to the helm, included 15 kaijus and invading aliens into the film and utilized CGI to a whole new level. After being buried in ice for years in a battle with a military flying warship, Godzilla is awoken by the remaining fighting survivors of the human race from an alien invasion. Here, Godzilla battles all of the invading aliens’ 11 kaijus and mother ship. Aside from the group of survivors that includes the movie’s lead superhuman character, Godzilla’s only kaiju ally is Mothra (kaiju moth) who takes on the cyborg kaiju Gigan in the climax of the film. GFW has the spectacle and less on the story and substance. Memorable fight scenes include Godzilla against the US version Godzilla or Zilla and the band of superhumans against Eborah (kaiju crab). Toho’s other popular kaijus are also in the movie such as Rodan (the giant pterodactyl) and King Ghidora (giant three-headed dragon) and classic kaijus such as Manda (giant serpent) and Anguirus (armoured rolling kaiju). The last movie I saw apart from GFW with a lot of kaiju’s was the classic 1968 Destroy All Monsters. I saw that in a movie theatre in the 1970s.

Score Card

Total: 15 Points; 50% rating

Number 5: Godzilla Mothra and King Ghidora: Giant Monsters All-out Attack

Godzilla Mothra and King Ghidora: Giant Monsters All-out Attack (GMA) was the third of the Shinsei series and first in the series to include other popular Toho kaijus. Godzilla returns to wreak havoc on Japan only to face three guardians, namely Baragon (the underground digging kaiju), Mothra and King Ghidora in that order. Godzilla also has to face the military as usual and was defeated by it, in a rare occasion. I like the admiral’s strategy of his mini-sub being swallowed by Godzilla. Only in the inside can he effectively use his drill torpedo rather than on Godzilla’s tough hide on the outside. After a sputtering and lengthy start featuring the admiral and his daughter’s relationship, the cast of reporters and a mysterious old man, the action sequences, special effects and climax were revitalizing. Ghidora’s transformation to the gold-coloured King Ghidora was excellent. It had to be, I guess, because this is a rare movie where he is the protector, a role reversed from his usual appearances in other Godzilla movies. GMA made the most money in the Shinsei series, and I think it’s because audiences were treated to seeing the popular Mothra and King Ghidora again after Toho’s Mothra series from 1996 to 1998.

Score Card

Total: 16 Points; 53% rating

Number 4: Godzilla 2000 Millennium

The first in the Shinsei series introduced Godzilla’s new look and revitalized the franchise by pitting Godzilla against an adversary looking much like the mother ship and alien of Independence Day, the most popular movie made by the same producers of the 1998 US version of Godzilla. What I like about Godzilla 2000 Millennium (GM) is the conflict between the two lead characters. One is the scientist Shinoda, leader of the Godzilla Prediction Network (GPN), a small but self-sufficient group with the aim of studying Godzilla for the main purpose of making effective preventive measures against the kaiju. The other is Katagiri, the brilliant and determined head of the government’s Crisis Control Intelligence (CCI) who commands scientists and the military with the aim of destroying Godzilla. This conflict of “to study” against “to destroy” is a welcome element in the storyline and complements the usual spectacle of Godzilla appearing, wreaking havoc on Japan and facing off with the military and another kaiju.

Score Card

Total: 18 Points; 60% rating

Number 3: Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus

After Orga in GM, Toho created another new and interesting kaiju to do battle with Godzilla. This time, it was Megaguirus, a wasp-like kaiju with claws in Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (GXM). Being a victim myself of an attack by wild bees in the mountains, I thought it was about time a kaiju insect was matched pound for pound against Godzilla in a fierce and lengthy battle when I saw GXM. Insects, after all, are very menacing, coordinated, territorial and deadly. Turn a wasp into a kaiju with claws and that will give Godzilla one of his most difficult battles to win. This is also probably the first Godzilla movie wherein the lead character rides Godzilla in the scene where the heroine fires a tracer on Godzilla’s back while he swims in the sea. I love that sequence. Aside from this, another notable special effect used in GXM is the meganula swarm that hatched from the Tokyo sewers. The scene wherein the audience first sees the swarm in the side of the building to the attack on Godzilla on Ogasawara Island is pleasing eye-candy. I’m sure traditional special effects were used there, but they were still effective. GXM also features special weapons such as the Griffin, the G-Graspers’ attack plane and the black-hole gun or Dimension Tide as named by it by Kudo, the young scientist employed by the G-Graspers. GXM revolves around the beautiful lead heroine of the film who, after losing her commander in the opening gambit, dedicates her life in eliminating Godzilla. It’s beauty against the beast.

Score Card

Total: 21 Points; 70% rating

Number 2: Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla

Take a beautiful dedicated soldier as your lead heroine. Make her a loner, scorned and guilt-ridden with career demoted from pilot to librarian. Bottle up all her angst and thirst for revenge against a kaiju and channel them to wield a robot version of Godzilla, complete with a jet pack and a variety of high-tech weaponry. Surround her with an interesting cast such as a responsible prime minister, bad-ass commander, lovable girl confidante and bumbling but brilliant scientist suitor. Take all those elements, and you have the magic of Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla (GXK). After introducing new and old kaijus into the first three movies in the Shinsei series, Toho resurrects the Mechagodzilla character into a new and probably its most visually stunning form yet. Unlike in the Heisei series wherein it never runs out of power, Mechagodzilla or Kiryu has a realistic limited energy level, especially when it fires its ultimate weapon, the absolute-zero gun from its chest. This is a hidden lesson on the value of energy in the film. Kiryu is also a cyborg having the skeleton of the original 1954 Godzilla and body of a robot. Kiryu’s weaponry brings the fight scenes to a higher level, and there are a lot of cool anime and martial arts-inspired poses and action choreography such as the scene wherein Kiryu knocks Godzilla to the ground before he burns a hospital with his nuclear breath blast and the brief slow motion crash scene of one of the Herons. The leads of GM and GXM also had cameos in GXK. The lead character carries the film well from the tragedy in the opening gambit to her redemption, triumphantly standing on Kiryu’s right shoulder at the end of the film. It’s beauty against beast taken to a higher level. GXK is the second biggest grosser in the Shinsei series, and it would have been my number one if not for…

Score Card

Total: 28 Points; 93% rating

Number 1: Godzilla: Tokyo SOS

Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (SOS) takes what GXK was driving at and elevates the message of Godzilla movies. A lot of fans may disagree here and even mention that this is the second lowest grosser in the Shinsei series. However, the elements, special effects, story and message are all superb. SOS has appealing elements, namely an underdog turned hero, sacrifice, great cast and that rising urgency to avoid destruction. SOS has a new lead character, Kiryu’s mechanic Chujo. Though not an ace pilot or commander in the base, he rises to the occasion by fixing Kiryu when it was damaged in the battle-zone. He is also willing to sacrifice himself just to complete the mission of stopping Godzilla. Mothra likewise commits a sacrifice in SOS briefly guiding her twin pupa offspring in their baptismal in battle. The movie continues the great special effects staged in GXK with fight scenes full of contact and weaponry. I especially like the use of a basic weapon such as the drill-hand giving the final blow to Godzilla rather than a high-tech, energy-hungry weapon such as the absolute-zero gun which was non-functional in SOS. The story also has the right length of scenes from the exciting opening gambit introducing the status of the three main kaijus and the pursuit of two F-15s of Mothra at mach speed.

But what really sets SOS apart from the other movies is how it presented its message about life. Since GXK, Godzilla has always been compelled to face Kiryu. In GXK, man has desecrated the bones of the original 1954 Godzilla by using them as the source of Kiryu’s fast-acting DNA computer. Mothra’s involvement in SOS stemmed from this as its fairies warned the lead characters that the bones should be returned to the sea. This is what probably Godzilla wants to do, to return the bones of the first of his own kind back to the sea. As it turns out, Kiryu was the one returning his “brother” back to the sea when it sprung to a life of its own after Godzilla’s defeat. This indication of life was sensed by Kiryu’s original pilot in GXK. Having life, Kiryu even communicates with Chujo in my most favourite scene. Carrying Godzilla back to sea in flight, Kiryu tilts 360 degrees helping Chujo out of the access station he was stuck in inside the hull. Before falling out to sea to be rescued by a Heron, Chujo hangs on wondering why Kiryu turned and saw a monitor in Kiryu’s body flashing “Sayonara” to him. Chujo has diligently maintained Kiryu in the base not knowing that the machine was indeed alive. We can always extract substance, whatever amount of it, in kaiju movies, and it doesn’t take much effort to do that amidst the action in SOS. From warning about the negative effects of nuclear energy in 1954, the message has now grown to respect for life in SOS.

Score Card

Total: 29 Points; 97% rating

Another 50 Years of Godzilla

This ends our countdown to the best movie in the Godzilla Shinsei series. Like Bond, Godzilla will be back with a new series, one that will highlight its 60-year anniversary. Till then, we can always enjoy the first three series spanning 50 years of kaiju showdowns and special effects development. “Life is lived as long as nature allows it to”, says the grandfather in SOS, and I think Godzilla will be in the big screens for another 50 years. Sayonara readers. (Sound of Godzilla’s roar!!!)