Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

Japanese theatrical release poster
Directed by Kensho Yamashita
Produced by Shogo Tomiyama
Written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara
Starring Megumi Odaka
Jun Hashizume
Zenkichi Yoneyama
Akira Emoto
Towako Yoshikawa
Music by Takayuki Hattori
Cinematography Masahiro Kishimoto
Production
company
Distributed by Toho
Release dates
  • December 10, 1994 (1994-12-10)
Running time
 108 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese
Budget US $10.3 million
Box office US $20 million

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (ゴジラvsスペースゴジラ Gojira tai SupēsuGojira) is a 1994 Japanese science fiction kaiju film directed by Kensho Yamashita. It is the 21st film in the Godzilla franchise and the sixth film in the Heisei series. The film was released in Japan on December 10, 1994 and released direct to video in the United States in 1999 by Columbia Tristar Home Video.

Plot

Godzilla cells brought into space by Biollante and Mothra are exposed to intense radiation from a black hole. The celestial fission creates a highly aggressive extraterrestrial beast closely resembling Godzilla. This "SpaceGodzilla" quickly makes its way to Earth.

Meanwhile, a group of soldiers and scientists are setting up at Birth Island to try Project T against Godzilla, who has taken up residence on the isle. The plan is to plant a device on Godzilla which will allow the Japan Self Defense Forces to control the mutant dinosaur telepathically. With help from psychic Miki Saegusa, the project is put into action, but it ultimately fails. Afterward, the Cosmos, Mothra's twin priestesses, appear to Miki and warn her of SpaceGodzilla's arrival. With Mothra gone to space, the world will have to rely on Godzilla to stop the invader. SpaceGodzilla gets closer and closer to Earth, destroying a NASA space station along the way. M.O.G.U.E.R.A., a giant penguin-like robot built by the JSDF to replace the Mechagodzilla, is sent in to intercept SpaceGodzilla, but the alien uses a number of psychic attacks to cripple the robot, forcing it to retreat.

Attracted to Godzilla's radiation, SpaceGodzilla lands on Birth Island, where it finds the child Godzilla, Little Godzilla. SpaceGodzilla mercilessly attacks the small creature when it approaches it curiously, and Godzilla comes to Little Godzilla's rescue. Godzilla puts up a good fight, but finds himself overwhelmed by SpaceGodzilla's power and is knocked out. With Godzilla temporarily subdued, SpaceGodzilla creates a small cage made of crystals and traps Little Godzilla inside of it. He then leaves for Japan, intending to destroy it. Godzilla, after failing to free Little Godzilla from the cage, pursues SpaceGodzilla.

Shortly thereafter, the Yakuza capture Miki and brings her back to their base in Fukuoka in an attempt to use Project T to gain control of Godzilla. Fortunately, a recovery team is successfully dispatched and Miki and the team escape before SpaceGodzilla arrives and destroys the building. SpaceGodzilla lands in central Fukuoka and forms a massive fortress of celestial crystals. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. arrives to once again fight SpaceGodzilla, but is still no match for him. Godzilla arrives in Kagoshima Bay and fights SpaceGodzilla, but SpaceGodzilla's cosmic powers easily allow it to gain the upper hand.

The JSDF discovers that SpaceGodzilla is using Fukuoka Tower as a power converter, using it to transform the Earth's core into an energy that SpaceGodzilla can absorb, slowly killing the planet. While Godzilla wrestles with SpaceGodzilla, M.O.G.U.E.R.A. splits into two different mechs: the Star Falcon, a flying battleship, and the Land Moguera, a tank. The mechs damage the crystal fortress while Godzilla pushes over Fukuoka Tower, cutting off SpaceGodzilla's energy supply. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. quickly reforms and blasts off SpaceGodzilla's crystal-like shoulder formations, weakening him. Enraged, SpaceGodzilla beats M.O.G.U.E.R.A. into submission and starts to throttle Godzilla, who further wounds SpaceGodzilla by drilling into his neck.

With SpaceGodzilla brutally beaten and sporting a hole in his neck, M.O.G.U.E.R.A. uses up the last of its power supply by ramming into the alien beast, but SpaceGodzilla impales M.O.G.U.E.R.A. with his tail and hurls it into the remains of the crystal fortress. Godzilla blasts SpaceGodzilla with his atomic ray, sending SpaceGodzilla crashing on top of M.O.G.U.E.R.A.'s remains. With a supercharged atomic blast, Godzilla finally eradicates SpaceGodzilla, and cosmic energy floats from the inferno and vanishes in the atmosphere.

Having won the fight, Godzilla makes his way back to Birth Island. Before Godzilla departs, Miki uses her psychic powers to remove the mind control device from Godzilla's neck; he turns to her and nods in gratitude. Little Godzilla is then free from the crystal prison and can blow bubbles of fire.

Cast

English Version

After the film was released in Japan, Toho commissioned a Hong Kong company to dub the film into English. In this international version of the movie, an English title card was superimposed over the Japanese title, as had been done with the previous 90s Godzilla films.

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah on home video on January 19, 1999. This was the first time either film had been officially released in the United States. TriStar used the Toho dubs, but cut the end credits and created new titles and opening credits for both films. Toho's complete international version of Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (sans any onscreen text besides the English title) has been broadcast on several premium movie channels since the early 2000s.

Box office

Released on December 10, 1994, the film sold approximately 3,200,000 tickets in Japan and grossed around $20,000,000 (U.S) (US$32,000,000 world wide).

Critical reaction

The film received mainly negative reviews. Monster Zero called the film "a curiously uninvolving effort" that "disappoints in nearly all aspects of the production" [1] American Kaiju criticized the "wildly uneven pacing," "uneven special effects," and "exceedingly lumpy story," but added that "most of the special effects are pretty fair" and "the monster battles are mostly fun."[2] DVD Cult said, "It does have some great destruction scenes and monster battles; two things that make these films worthwhile to begin with. The monster SpaceGodzilla is excellently designed, and is certainly far more menacing than anything Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich ever dreamed up."[3] Toho Kingdom said the film is "far from terrible" and "an underrated movie" but felt it suffered from an "overly complicated story," "underdeveloped characters," and "forgettable" music.[4]

Home Media releases

Sony - Blu-ray (Toho Godzilla Collection) [5]

DVD

Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment

Universe Laser

Adaptations

A manga adaptation was produced shortly before the film's release, it was written by Kanji Kashiwabara and illustrated by Takayuki Sakai, published by Shogakukan's Ladybug Comics line.[6]

Awards

In 1995, the film won the Best Grossing Films Award - Silver Award.

References

  1. ↑ Review Ed Godziszewski, Monster Zero, June 10, 2002
  2. ↑ Review Mike Bogue, American Kaiju
  3. ↑ Godzilla Double Feature DVD - dvdcult.com
  4. ↑ Review Anthony Romero, Toho Kingdom, February 6th, 2003
  5. ↑ http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/64126/godzilla-vs-mechagodzilla-ii-godzilla-vs-spacegodzilla-set/
  6. ↑ Product Listing on Amazon.co.jp

External links

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