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Gojira ni-sen mireniamu (1999)
GOJIRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
I was fortunate enought to see the original Japanese version of Godzilla 2000. I have to say that this is The Best Godzilla Movie Of All Time. Instead of the futuristic technologies of the Heisei series (maser tanks, mechas and ESP), G2K presents more or less ordinary Japanese life. The only thing slightly futuristic in the movie are the JSDF's Full Metal Missiles (and the UFO itself).
I loved the human cast. G2K will be the second movie that I loved which has a human cast I enjoyed watching, the other being "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe". Katagiri and Shinoda shined throughout. Yuki Ichinose and Io Shinoda are just as good to. One of my favorite scenes with the humans is Io and Shinoda giving Yuki the runaround in their little headquarters (a scene deleted from the American version, I believe). The Godzilla Prediction Network is very well thought-out organisation. Shame they don't really exist ^_^*
MireGoji (the fan name for the 2000 suit) is one of the best G-suits in existence. The new dorsal plates are just great, especially as they light up. They seem to heat up from the inside, rather than flash. The new heat beam is just marvellous. Shame Goji lost the ability to blink.
The UFO and Orga are one of the greatest enemies Goji's had yet. Shame Orga didn't get much to do. However, his destruction was new and refreshing.
The special effects are fantastic. It's so relieving to see missiles hit their target. The CGI shots are great. My favorites are the shot of Goji swimming underwater and the tracking shot of the Full Metal Missiles under the bridge. The music by Takayuki Hattori is also fabuluous.
To sum up: GOJIRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
Sureiyâzu (1995)
The greatest anime I know!
"Where monsters rampage, I'm there to take them down! Where treasure glitters, I'm there to claim it! Where an enemy rises to face me, victory will be mine!"
And with those words from Lina Inverse, we enter the world of Slayers.
I'm only new to Slayers, having seen the Motion Picture and the Special OVAs. However, the TV series is pure excellence.
The dubbed versions are pretty good, with Lisa Ortiz as Lina, Eric Stuart as Gourry, Daniel Cronin and Crispin Freeman as Zelgadis, Joani Baker as Amelia and Stacia Crawford as Sylphiel.
The subbed version is cool, with Megumi Hayashibara as Lina. She's great.
On the whole, this is one of the best anime shows I know, and I strongly suggest it to anyone who's interested. I can't wait to see Slayers NEXT.
Sureiyâzu supesharu (1996)
An excellent trilogy of OVAs!
Because there's three Special OVAs, I'll go through them systematically:
THE SCARY CHIMERA PLAN is very good. The dream sequence which features the proposed super-chimera is very funny. Plus Naga and her clones generally smashing and laughing their way in order to find Lina. Overall: 7 out of 10.
JEFFREY'S KNIGHTHOOD is kinda like a Slayers take on Mission: Impossible. The scene where Lina tells the bandits that Naga's gonna get naked is an absolute hoot! Overall: 7 out of 10.
MIRROR MIRROR really shines. The shadow copies of Lina and Naga are excellent. The Shadow Lina's a simpering humanitarian, whereas Shadow Naga has no self-confidence and is embarrassed by her outfit! Overall: 9 out of 10.
Gojira vs. Mosura (1992)
My company has destroyed forests. I feel very guilty.
Number four in the Heisei Godzilla movies, and it's the return of Mothra!
However, there's a new monster thrown into the mix, the creature known as Battra!
Big G isn't too bad in this one. I'm not too sure about the sound of his atomic heat beam. I think it needs checking.
Mothra is back, but her larva form doesn't move in the way it did before. It's like she'd just propelled on rollers.
Battra is a very good newcomer. I don't know which form I like best, the larva or flying forms.
This is a good movie, but it's not the best.
Gojira vs. Kingu Gidorâ (1991)
Take that, you dinosaur!
Time travel movies mess with my head. However, GOJIRA VS KINGUGIDORA is the only time travel movie I can follow. To a certain extent. Like, when Big G has been erased from time, why do the Japanese folks still talk about him?
Godzilla is easily at his best here, with his battles with King Ghidorah, the JSDF and their maser tanks and when he gives Sapporo and the Shinjuku distrcit a lovely pounding. Best bit: Big G torching Shindo.
King Ghidorah is good in this movie, but his fight with the jets is not very good. I think the ultimate Ghidorah would be a cross between this one and the Ghidorah from MOSURA 3.
Koichi Kawakita does a lovely job on the special effects. I always prefer Godzilla to battle at night, as that's when the opticals (eg Godzilla atomic heat beam) are at their best.
Akira Ifukube really breathes life into this movie, especially with the use of the Godzilla theme on the end credits.
Roll on GOJIRA VS MOSURA!
Sureiyâzu (1995)
I understand they taste good pickled...
I'm just new to SLAYERS, so I decided that The Motion Picture would be my first animated encounter with Lina and Naga. Boy, did I enjoy it. I got lost on the plot once, but I just ignored it and picked up from there on. Out of the two mages, Lina has to be my favourite. There's something about her... I think it's probably her short temper. My favourite scene is just after when Naga literally bounces onto the screen and admonishes Lina for her diminuative stature. Lina cooly points at Naga and uses a fireball to roast her. I also liked the Midnight Blue song at the end. Oh, Naga! I forgot her. Um, well, just looking at her says it all. The best scene with Naga has to be the jellyfish/sea cucumber battle. That was just an odd spell, as was the one with the dragon made of rock (a massive head and tiny body). One problem, though: I think there wasn't enough of Lina's Dragon Slave.
But on the whole, an excellent piece of viewing for newcomers.
The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)
Look at this brain! See, it just won't die!
AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
I CAN'T STAND THIS ANYMORE!!! IT'S HORRIBLE!!!
I think the movie was made to be heckled at on MST3K. It's useless without Mike, Tom and Crow ripping it to shreds.
I'm in another dimension! Help me!!!
Mosura (1996)
"MOTHRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
With Godzilla dead and gone (yah, right), Toho concentrated on their other major star, Mothra.
In this first of a trilogy (more, more!) Mothra (the 1992 Mothra) battles a creature called Death Ghidorah (a cousin of King Ghidorah?). Thrown into the mix is the new Mothra, called MothraLeo. With time running out for Earth, can MothraLeo survive to carry on the long line of Mothras that have defended the planet?
Of course he can! If he couldn't, why did "Mosura 2" follow it?
The effects are outstanding in this movie. How can one moth have so many beam weapons?
I have to say that Megumi Kobayashi and Sayoko Yamaguchi, who play the priestesses of Mothra, now called the Elias, are excellent in this movie, as well as Aki Hano, who plays Belvera, one of the new elements to the Mothra saga. Of the two Elais, Moll is more determined than Lora, especially on calling the "old" Mothra into battle.
On the whole, a very good movie! Roll on Mosura 2!
Mitchell (1975)
BABY OIL?! NOOOOOOOOO!
Definite MST fodder. Notably for Joe Don Baker's character, the self-repairing headlight during the "chase" and for the boom mike (you just gotta know where to look).
The MST version is way better, including the Shaft parody:
TOM: Who's the puffy guy that's a big blurry sex machine? JOEL AND CROW: Mitchell! TOM: That Mitchell is one bad... CROW: Shut your mouth!
Best line of all? Cummings' "Watch out for falling rocks".
How does Mitchell like his scotch. According to Crow, "by the quart". And THAT is obvious.
Catalina Caper (1967)
No shoes. No shirt. No script.
If there was any movie that was destined to be MST fodder, this one is it.
Guest appearance by Little Richard. WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING IN THIS?
That's more or less it.
The opening titles are weird. As Joel Robinson said about the mermaid, "Nice measurements! 36-2-85..."
Thank you, Tommy Kirk. For making us laugh about love. Again.
Mosura 2: Kaitei no daikessen (1997)
Splash!
After kicking the butt of Death Ghidorah, Mothra takes on Dagarah, a creature who was genetically engineered to destroy garbage which went wrong (don't they always?). It's producing starfish-like creatures called Barem, and Mothra's the only one who can stop Dagarah before he destroys the world!
Mothra's more or less the same in this movie (apart from the final battle). The same beam weapons as before, but gets a colour change courtesy of the healing powers of Ghogo.
Dagarah's an odd one. It's original, I'll give it that, but apart from that, it's not a particularly good monster. It's good how Mothra can't touch him, especially when he dives deeper beneath the sea. Apart from that, it's not much good.
AquaMothra is one of the best Mothra forms I've seen. The CGI-fuelled sequence with the multi AquaMothras shooting their beam weapons inside of Dagarah is pretty surreal, but it's meant to be!
Ghogo's one of the most bizarre points of the movie. You can actually see the wire which it's attached to when it bounces! Even more bizarre is its human-healing properties: its urine. I wonder if it's any relation to Trumpy from Pod People, like a mother's niece's friend's friend's sister's person-who-they-met-in-the-mall's cousin's school-friend's pet. Ghogo, you can do magic things! (It's called evil. Or is it more like goofiness?)
I'm not going to talk about the kids. The Elias are not much different. Moll's still determined to stop the creature and Belvera, where Lora is still the unsure, emotional one. Belvera doesn't get much screentime, and when she does, it's in the company of those two nimrods she hired. Garu Garu's back, but its more mechanised this time. When Mothra lifts Dagarah out of the water when it's been killed (or something like it) the princess says something, Mothra's tractor-beam loses hold, and DAGARAH LANDS ON THE TEMPLE, COMPLETELY OBLITERATED!!! Was that meant to happen?
At the end of the movie, there should have been a prelude to MOSURA 3 with King Ghidorah heading towards Earth....
Gamera daikaijû kuchu kessen (1994)
The last hope, Gamera...
I'm new to the world of Gamera, and GAMERA DAIKAIJU KUCHU KESSEN was my first. An boy, did I love it. The kaiju battles were excellent. I even liked the human cast, especially Asagi, played by the daughter of Steven Segal. Her psychic link with Gamera was way better than Miki Saegusa's with Godzilla. Asagi actually shares the pain Gamera feels.
I think Gyaos is one of the coolest monsters (apart from Gamera, of course).
This review's shorter than my Godzilla and my Mothra reviews. What can I say, apart from roll on GAMERA 2!
Gojira vs. Desutoroiâ (1995)
That's one hell of a heartburn!
Godzilla's back, and boy does he look bad!
I think Kenpachiro Satsuma really goes the distance to make Gojira as realistsic as possible in this movie. Unlike SUPESUGOJIRA, his atomic ray is now red constantly throughout the movie.
Destoroyah is cool too. Unlike SpaceGodzilla, Destoroyah is one mean mammajamma 100% of the time, especially when he drops Junior. I prefer his final form over the others.
Junior is cool, too. Unlike his peaceful selves in MEKAGOJIRA and SUPESUGOJIRA, Junior is one bad-@$$ little dude. His atomic ray's good too.
The special effects are outstanding, especially Godzilla being frozen, the explosion prediction and of course, his final death sequence.
Once again, I don't think the human cast was up to scratch. It was a delight to see the return of Emiko Yaname, but apart from that, there was nothing special. Once again, I wound up disliking Miki Saegusa. This time she uses her pyschic powers to lure Junior to battle Destoroyah, and later when the final form drops the poor little bugger to his death, Miki cries for it. IT'S HER OWN STUPID FAULT!
Gojira vs. Supesugojira (1994)
Life would be sad without love. This movie would be great if the guy who said it wasn't in it!
This is Gojira's 40th anniversary movie. What a strange concoction this one is.
While SpaceGodzilla, who admittedly looks evil and can do evil things, seems a little out of place. I'm not too sure about his powers of flight. He's at his most bastard self when he attacks the more or less defenceless LittleGodzilla.
Little Gojira is a bit odd too. It looks nothing like Baby from "Gojira vs Mekagojira II". But, to its credit, it acts like a young one would. It's playful, it can wander into dangerous situations and it can call out for its parent.
MOGERA is an oddity too. How it could be classed a "sucessor" to the all-powerful MechaG from the previous movie is beyond me (or possibly any G-fan). It's kinda more like the B-squad of mechas. However, I do like its ability to transform into two vehicles. Actually, I prefer it like that.
I'm got going to mention much about Godzilla, except why, for most of the film, his atomic breath is blue? As we all know it turned red thanks to Rodan's self-sacrifice, but why is it not red all the time?
As per usual, the human cast don't have much going for them. I'm starting to dislike Miki Saegusa now. She keeps blabbing on about "Godzilla's rights", but as per usual, she gets led into the plan anyway. I'm not too sure about the guy in charge of the T-project (the one with the long face who smirks to himself a lot). He's kinda like a Japanese Snidely Whiplash.
Gojira vs. Mekagojira (1993)
The time has come, finally, to put our technology to the final test.
This is one of the best Heisei offerings from Toho. Whereas Gojira VS Mosura (1992) was mainly for the girls, this one's really for the boys. It's got mechas, kaiju and even a touch of gore. What's more, BabyGodzilla is a definite improvement of Minya. It's more dinosaurian than its 60's counterpart. I think this MechaGodzilla is much better than its 70's self. The Plasma Grenade weapon is much more devestating than those rotating missile fingers the original MechaG had. A nice return for Rodan, too. A lovely "guest" appearance from Mecha King Ghidora. And what of Gojira himself? I looove that new breath weapon of his courtesy of Rodan. I demand that Aoki guy be killed. And Miki Saegusa stands up for Gojira's rights, but who pushes the button to destroy Gojira's second brain in his spine? Hmm, let's see...
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
Mike, Crow and Tom's got some big foreheaded sissy butt to kick!
The brain-child of Joel Hodgson just got a whole lot bigger.
It's nice to see the new SOL bridge. The movie takes us places on the Satellite that the show doesn't: the basement, Tom Servo's bedroom...
Mike Nelson, Trace Beaulieu and Kevin Murphy really shine as Mike, Tom and Crow. Jim Mallon is good as Gypsy, but unfortunatley Gypsy only gets a few lines at best.
Best scene: Mike trying to get the Hubbell off the hull of the SOL.
It's a shame MST3K is finished. I was looking forward to another movie.
Gekijôban Poketto Monsutâ: Myûtsû no Gyakushû (1998)
Not that great...
Okay, let's keep this brief. The First Movie should have been pretty good. Why not? It's got the world's most powerful Pokemon in it, Mewtwo. The trailer promised "the greatest show down of them all". We got a little bit, but not much. Overall, all I can say is, "better luck next time". It is the first one, after all.
The short was surreal.
Godzilla 1985 (1985)
He's a warning... in a movie that's no good.
The big G's back, but not in the best of movies. Let's just say it's the first movie after nine years, and people are not as quick as they were. Just like Gojira, then. Ha ha ha. I'll just move to the good points. One: the music. Two: The Super-X thing. Three: The End! Most of the movie is not very good. One: Gojira himself. From the side, he looks okay, but from the front, his eyes are plain dumb. Two: Lack of talent in the actors. Apart from the guy who plays Gojira (poor brave soul!). Three: special effects in general. The masers are okay, but it's just Gojira's atomic blast. It looks like it's been put on the reel with crayon. Thankfully, the series gets better.