Godzilla: Final Wars
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| Godzilla: Final Wars | |
 Official Japanese poster |
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| Directed by | Ryuhei Kitamura |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Shogo Tomiyama |
| Written by | Story: Wataru Mimura Shogo Tomiyama Screenplay: Isao Kiriyama Ryuhei Kitamura Joe Fenech (Uncredited) |
| Narrated by | Kōichi Yamadera |
| Starring | Masahiro Matsuoka Rei Kikukawa Don Frye Maki Mizuno Kazuki Kitamura Kane Kosugi Masakatsu Funaki Kumi Mizuno Kenji Sahara Masami Nagasawa Chihiro Otsuka Masatoh Eve Jun Kitamura Akira Takarada |
| Music by | Keith Emerson Akira Ifukube (Godzilla theme) Nobuhiko Morino Daisuke Yano |
| Cinematography | Takumi Furuya Fujio Okawa |
| Editing by | Shūichi Kakesu |
| Distributed by | Toho |
| Release date(s) | December 4, 2004 |
| Running time | 125 min. |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese, English |
| Budget | $19,500,000 (est) |
| Preceded by | Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. |
Godzilla: Final Wars (ゴジラ ファイナルウォーズ Gojira: Fainaru Wōzu) is the fiftieth anniversary film and the twenty-eighth film in the Godzilla film series.
It was directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. As a 50th anniversary celebratory film, a large group of actors from previous Godzilla films, both classic and new, made appearances as main characters or cameo appearances. This goes for the kaiju (monsters) as well, as most of the monsters in the film had been missing from the screen for more than 30 years.
Despite the title, this is not the final Godzilla film; Toho has decided to temporarily "retire" the character for a period of time.
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[edit] Plot
Endless warfare and environmental pollution has brought forth giant monsters, which are a grave danger to the world. As a result, the Earth Defence Force (EDF) is created to protect the planet, uniting every nation. The organization is equipped with some of the best of technology and weapons, warships and soldiers, as well as mutants with super-human abilities. Godzilla, a giant mutant dinosaur, is claimed to be EDF's only unstoppable opponent. The EDF's best combat vehicle, the Gotengo, manages to corner Godzilla at the South Pole and bury him under the Antarctic ice, cryogenically freezing him.
In 2020 (40 years after Godzilla was buried), the EDF discovers a mummified space monster. Mutant soldier Shinichi Ozaki and UN biologist Miyuki Otonashi are sent to research it. The Shobijin, fairies of the guardian monster Mothra, reveal to them that the monster is Gigan, an alien cyborg sent to destroy the Earth 12,000 years ago, and that a forthcoming battle between good and evil will eventually arrive.
Suddenly, monsters all appear around the world at major cities and the EDF promptly swings into action, attempting to drive away the monsters, but achieves little success. Then, after destroying much of their cities, the monsters vanish as an enormous alien mothership hovers over Tokyo. Aliens called the Xiliens then reveal themselves, insisting they are friendly and that they have eliminated the monsters. They also warn the Earth's governments about impending danger in the form of a planet called Gorath that will crash into Earth. Consequently, the Space Nations is established, an alliance that would unite the universe. Ozaki, Miyuki, and several others distrust them. After much researching and undercover work, they discover the Xiliens are up to no good. Finally, the Xiliens turn out to be evil and unleash the monsters to destroy Earth. Gigan is also revived and joins in the frenzy. The EDF eventually loses and Earth's cities are destroyed.
Elsewhere at Mt. Fuji, a hunter and his grandson discover Minilla, later revealed to be Godzilla's son. The trio are successful in outrunning the Xiliens' assault, traveling here and there in order to keep a low profile.
Ozaki and the protagonists, the leftover crew of the EDF, settle on a final, risky decision: free Godzilla. They pilot the Gotengo to Antarctica and are chased by Gigan. As soon as Godzilla is released from his hibernation, he quickly destroys Gigan by blowing the cyborg's head off with his atomic ray. Spotting the Gotengo, Godzilla immediately follows it with the intention of destroying the ship. The Gotengo returns for Tokyo, with the plan that Godzilla will unwittingly help defeat the Xiliens. Along the way the Xiliens send all the monsters they control, which includes the giant iguana Zilla, the giant spider Kumonga, the giant praying mantis Kamacuras, the giant pteranodon Rodan, the guardian monster King Caesar, the giant ankylosaurus Anguirus, the smog monster Hedorah, and the sea monster Ebirah. Godzilla defeats all of them in short battles. The Gotengo and Godzilla then arrive at Tokyo.
The battleship heads for the mothership and a pitched battle occurs. Eventually, a meteor falls to Earth. Godzilla destroys the meteor; however, a powerful space monster, Monster X turns out to be inside, and a vicious battle between the two titans ensues. Gigan, who has now been upgraded, aids Monster X, but Mothra arrives to engage him into battle. Mothra sacrifices herself to kill Gigan. Inside the Xilien mothership, the humans enter final confrontations with the Xiliens, and after an extended battle, the humans eventually win. With Gigan and Mothra dead, Godzilla continues his battle with Monster X, who eventually transforms into the three-headed dragon Keizer Ghidorah. After a long, painful battle, Godzilla manages to destroy Ghidorah with his spiral ray. He then attempts to destroy the Gotengo and the humans, but Minilla convinces him to stop. Godzilla then returns to the ocean with his son and roars in victory.
[edit] Reaction
Godzilla: Final Wars has received mixed reviews from fans and critics. It currently holds a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on eight reviews (four positive, four negative). This is very similar to fan reaction, as it seemed half of fans thought it was the best in the series, while the other half thought it was the worst.[1]
Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique called the film "utterly fantastic" and "a rush of explosive excitement."[2] Jim Agnew of Film Threat gave the film four and a half stars out of five, saying "the good news for kaiju fans is that Godzilla: Final Wars is a kick-ass giant monster flick."[3] Sean Axmaker of Static Multimedia said, "Directed by a true fan of the old school, it's lusciously, knowingly, lovingly cheesy."[4] Craig Blamer of the Chico News & Review called the film "a giddy and fast-paced celebration of the big guy."[5] Popcorn Pictures called Final Wars "the best Godzilla flick since Godzilla vs. Destoroyah," adding that "the monsters are all superbly realised, with their city-stomping antics being brought to vivid life like never before."[6]
Conversely, David Nusair of Reel Film gave the film one and a half stars out of five, saying that "the battles are admittedly quite entertaining" but felt that director Ryuhei Kitamura "is absolutely the wrong choice for the material."[7] David Cornelius of eFilmCritic gave the film two stars out of five, calling it "the dullest, weakest Godzilla movie I've seen in a long, long time."[8] Ty Burr of the Boston Globe gave the film one and a half stars out of five, saying it focused too much on action and not enough on story, and calling it "35 minutes longer than is necessary."[9]
Among kaiju-related websites, J.L. Carrozza of Toho Kingdom "absolutely love[d]" Final Wars, saying "[it's] no masterpiece, but it is such insane fun that quite frankly it's hard not to adore it."[10] Mike Bogue of American Kaiju said "the film is flawed, but nonetheless entertaining," saying there are "too many [Matrix-style] battles" but that the film "makes excellent use of its monsters" and "Kitamura keeps things moving at a brisk pace."[11] Japan Hero criticized the "[lack of] character development" but concluded that Final Wars is "a very entertaining movie," saying that "Kitamura did a wonderful job making it an interesting and great looking film worthy of being the final [Godzilla] movie."[12]
Stomp Tokyo said "the monster scenes are generally well done" but criticized the film's "incoherence," saying: "It's a shame that Kitamaura couldn't choose a tone for the film, instead shifting the movie's mood wildly from scene to scene."[13] Lenny Taguchi of Monster Zero criticized Keith Emerson's soundtrack but gave Final Wars an overall favorable review, calling it a "fun and good" movie that "tries many things, and generally succeeds at almost all of them."[14]
[edit] Cast
- Masahiro Matsuoka as Shinichi Ozaki
- Rei Kikukawa as Miyuki Otanashi
- Don Frye as Douglas Gordon
- Maki Mizuno as Anna Otanashi
- Kazuki Kitamura as the Xilien Leader
- Tak Sakaguchi as an Xilien
- Kane Kosugi as Katsunori Kazama
- Kumi Mizuno as Akiko Namikawa
- Kenji Sahara as Hachiro Jinguji
- Masami Nagasawa and Chihiro Otsuka as the Shobijin
- Kenta Suga as Kenta Taguchi
- Shigeru Izumiya as Samon Taguchi
- Masakatsu Funaki as Kumasaka
- Masatoh Eve as the Xilien General
- Jun Kunimura as Major Kumoro
- Akira Takarada as Naotaro Daigo
[edit] Monsters
- Tsutomu Kitagawa as Godzilla
- Kazuhiro Yoshida as Gigan and Hedorah
- Naoko Kamio as Minilla and Rodan
- Toshihiro Ogura as Keizer Ghidorah, Anguirus and Ebirah
- Motokuni Nakagawa as Monster X and King Caesar
- Manda, Mothra, Kamacuras, Kumonga and Zilla were portrayed by marionettes and CGI
[edit] Box office
At roughly $19,500,000, Godzilla: Final Wars was the most expensive Toho-produced Godzilla film of all time.
Any hopes Toho had of Godzilla: Final Wars ending the series with a box office bang were smitten when the film opened in Japan on December 4, 2004. In its opening weekend, it came in third at the box office with $1,874,559. At the holiday season box office, it was clobbered by Howl's Moving Castle and The Incredibles, both which also pursued the family market. It eventually grossed roughly $12,000,000 at the Japanese box office.[1]
[edit] Music
The music in Godzilla: Final Wars was composed by Keith Emerson, Daisuke Yano and Nobuhiko Morino, while the band Sum 41 contributed the song We're All To Blame to the soundtrack (and received high billing in the film's opening credits sequence). Some critics expressed concern with the music of Final Wars, arguing that Emerson's score would be better suited for a campy made-for-television movie or video games, while others pointed out that it made a refreshing change from the music of previous Godzilla films.
Akira Ifukube's themes were mostly absent from the movie, the Godzilla's original theme can only be heard at the beginning of the film. However, Keith Emerson did cover the Godzilla theme which is available on the film's official soundtrack. The cover is entitled Godzilla (Main Theme).
The bands Sum 41 and Zebrahead contributed the tracks We're All To Blame and Godzilla vs. Tokyo respectively, to the film[2], however neither song was on the film's soundtrack[3].
[edit] Filming locations
Godzilla: Final Wars began filming in July 2003. The locations of filming included:
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Egypt
- New York City, New York, USA
- Paris, France
- Shanghai, China
- Tokyo, Japan
[edit] Godzilla vs. Zilla
In the film, Godzilla confronts the infamous American Godzilla. Many die-hard Godzilla fans expressed outrage at the American Godzilla remake, one of whom is the director of Final Wars, Ryuhei Kitamura. Kitamura claimed Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin took the "God" out of Godzilla, so he named his version of the American Godzilla "Zilla".[4] The fight begins with Godzilla attempting to blast Zilla, with Zilla jumping out of the way of the beam, toward Godzilla. Zilla then gets knocked aside into the Sydney Opera House by Godzilla's tail, which Godzilla then sends an Atomic blast at, destroying Zilla and leaving the Xilien leader jumping and screaming in frustration stating "I knew that tuna-head wasn't up to much!" The battle itself lasts a mere 30 seconds, with Godzilla unquestionably victorious.
[edit] DVD
Sony Pictures
- Released: December 13, 2005
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.40:1) anamorphic
- Sound: Japanese (5.1), English (5.1)
- Supplements: Behind-the-Scenes featurette (comparison of B-roll footage to finished film); Trailers for Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Steamboy, Dust to Glory, MirrorMask and Madison
- Region 1
- MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence. Despite not being mentioned in the rating, there is much swearing in the film.
[edit] Hollywood Walk of Fame
At the premier of Godzilla Final Wars at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Godzilla won the Hollywood Walk of Fame, marking it the second time Godzilla won an award in the U.S. The first being in 1996, with Godzilla winning the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award.
[edit] References
- ^ Godzilla: Final Wars, Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Review by Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique
- ^ Jim Agnew, Film Threat
- ^ Review by Sean Axmaker, Static Multimedia
- ^ Review by Craig Blamer, Chico News & Review
- ^ Review Popcorn Pictures
- ^ Review by David Nusair, Reel Film
- ^ Review by David Cornelius, eFilmCritic
- ^ Review by Ty Burr, Boston Globe
- ^ Review J.L. Carrozza, Toho Kingdom
- ^ Review Mike Bogue, American Kaiju
- ^ Review Japan Hero
- ^ Review Stomp Tokyo
- ^ Review Lenny Taguchi, Monster Zero
[edit] External links
- Godzilla: Final Wars at the Internet Movie Database
- Godzilla: Final Wars at Allmovie
- Godzilla: Final Wars at Rotten Tomatoes
- Official Site in Japanese
- Godzilla: Final Wars at Toho Kingdom including several reviews
- "ゴジラ ＦＩＮＡＬ ＷＡＲＳ" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/2004/eb004820.htm. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
