Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
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| Godzilla vs. Destoroyah | |
|---|---|
 Gojira shisu. (Godzilla dies.) |
|
| Directed by | Takao Okawara |
| Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka Shogo Tomiyama |
| Written by | Hiroshi Kashiwabara |
| Starring | Takuro Tatsumi Yôko Ishino Yasufumi Hayashi |
| Music by | Akira Ifukube |
| Editing by | Chizuko Osada |
| Distributed by | Toho |
| Release date(s) | 1995 |
| Running time | 103 min. |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | US $10,000,000 |
| Preceded by | Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla |
| Followed by | Godzilla 2000: Millennium |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (ゴジラvsデストロイア Gojira tai Desutoroia?), is a film where Godzilla fights Destoroyah, a creature that was created by the Oxygen Destroyer weapon that killed Godzilla back in 1954. It was released in Japan on December 9, 1995. It was originally intended to be the last Godzilla film until 2004, but due to the worldwide fan-disappointment of the 1998 American Godzilla film, Toho decided to release a film in 1999.
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[edit] Plot
After killing SpaceGodzilla, Godzilla swims back to Birth (or Bass) Island. However, the Monster King's atomic heart starts to malfunction and he ends up losing control, decimating the entire island. His adopted son, Little Godzilla, is presumed dead at first but later reveals himself as a larger and more powerful sub-adult due to the excess radiation Godzilla Junior. Godzilla, covered in glowing lava-like rashes, enters Hong Kong and destroys it. G-Force representatives hire college student Kenichi Yamane, adopted grandson of Dr. Yamane who witnessed the original Godzilla in 1954, to come work at the center in an attempt to unravel the mystery of Godzilla's condition.
Yamane suspects that due to his out of control radioactivity, Godzilla will soon explode, taking much of Japan with him. G-Force immediately deploys a flying combat vehicle outfitted with anti-nuclear cold weapons to forestall the event; the Super-X III. Meanwhile, in the area where the original Godzilla died, strange life forms begin to rise, and a host of deadly creatures called Destoroyah begin wreaking havoc. Soil samples reveal that the existence of Destroyah is directly connected to the Oxygen Destroyer used against Godzilla in 1954, which mutated pre-cambrian era life forms. After several deadly skirmishes with the Japanese Self Defense Force, the Destroyah evolve beyond the JSDF's containment abilities and psychic Miki Saegusa must use her failing powers to lure Godzilla Junior to the area in an attempt to combat Destroyah in Tokyo. Godzilla, who is tracking his offspring, follows Junior and will soon arrive in as well, but complications arise. Due to his encounter with the Super X III, Godzilla has now bypassed an explosion and will ultimately melt down once 1200 degrees Celsius has been reached; an even that will burn straight into the core of the planet and destroy all of Earth.
The first time the monsters fight Junior is greviously wounded but manages to destroy his opponent. However, as Godzilla and Junior meet in Narita, Destroyah returns in his final form: a monstrous gargoyle-like creature. Swooping down upon the surprised monsters, Destroyah snatches the little Godzilla away; dropping the small creature from high above and killing him. Enraged, Godzilla attacks Destroyah and a back and forth battle ensues that destroys much of Tokyo. Born from the weapon that first defeated Godzilla, Destroyah shows an obvious advantage from the start, but Godzilla's runaway radioactivity has pushed the monster's power to unimagineable levels and he soon destroys his son's killer. Unwilling to die easily, Destroyah's body decomposes into many smaller Destroyah which attempt to swarm Godzilla from all sides, but the attack ends in futility.
Alone at last, Godzilla attempts to breath life into his fallen son but to no avail, and even as he grieves, Godzilla's heart continues to fail, causing even more pain within the monster. Suddenly, Destroyah returns in his final form for one last attack! The battle is fierce but short; enraged by the loss of his offspring and maddened by the pain within him, Godzilla drives Destroyah back to the brink of death as Tokyo is bathed in fire. As the battle reaches fever pitch, the ghastly creature attempts to flee, but just as Destroyah lifts off, the Super X III attacks and disables the creature's wings, causing Destroyah to plummet back to earth where he explodes and is consumed in a fiery inferno at Godzilla's feet.
His son gone and his foe defeated, Godzilla stands alone and dying, but the human race cannot afford to give Godzilla a quiet funeral. As the monster begins to melt, the JSDF bombards the dying beast with a plethora of ice weapons, successfully neutralizing the immense heat that is given off and preventing Godzilla's remains from melting into the center of the Earth and igniting the planet.
The victory is a costly one however, for the radiation has made Tokyo an uninhabitable ghost town. Suddenly, radiation levels begin to drop, and from within the thinning smoke a roar can be heard. The younger Godzilla rises from the ashes a child no more. In death, Godzilla had passed on his excess radiation and life essence as a final gift to his son, reviving and mutating the next generation. The spitting image of his father, the new adult Godzilla flexes his claws and bellows a challenge to the world! The future becomes reality as the new Godzilla is the Godzilla that never destroys Japan in the future! Since the new Godzilla will move on to the next adventure on his new journey to follow his father's footsteps to a next new generation of all history.
[edit] Trivia
- The producer and creator of Godzilla Tomoyuki Tanaka died about 2 years after the film was finished.
- Momoko Kochi, who had played the lead female role of Emiko Yamane in the original 1954 film, returned in this film to reprise the character. It was her final film role, and she died three years later due to intestinal cancer.
- Akira Ifukube, who composed most of the music for the installments returned as the music composer in this film. It was his final film score.
- This film's original idea was to feature Godzilla fighting a ghost replica of the original King of the Monsters. However, Toho did not like the concept, since the previous two films had the two Godzilla-like opponents, Mechagodzilla and SpaceGodzilla. Then, in the 2002 film Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, a variation of this idea was used. Instead, the "ghost" of Godzilla was built into a robot.
- The Japanese theatrical poster holds the tagline: "Godzilla Dies".
- An alternate ending was filmed. Destoroyah attempted to escape once Godzilla gained the upper hand, but the JSDF shot him down. Godzilla, despite suffering from his meltdown, continued to battle the vicious monster. Godzilla quickly overpowered Destoroyah, grabbing him by his horn and pummeling him repeatedly. As Godzilla's life melts away, the JSDF rain their ULT weapons upon him, as well as Destoroyah. Unable to stand against the immense heat of Godzilla's meltdown and the freezing coldness of the ULT lasers, Destoroyah falls and evaporates. However, the scene was replaced because it was thought to be inappropriate, since Godzilla's foreseen death was to be the climax of the movie. So the scene was re-edited to have Destoroyah die after the JSDF intervenes, and allow Godzilla to have center stage as he finally dies.
The scene can be viewed here.
- This film features the final original score composed by Akira Ifukube for a Godzilla film. Although Ifukube's themes would be used for most of the Shinsei Godzilla films, he himself would not compose new scores.
- Godzilla's death at the end of the film was highly publicized in America, despite the character not having a new film released in the United States since 1989's Godzilla vs. Biollante. CNN ran a report on the event, the New York Times had an obituary for the character, and the death was even discussed on several late night talk shows.
- Despite the Godzilla Junior's revival at the end of the film, Godzilla Junior is never used in the later films. Instead, future Godzilla films use many different continuities from the Vs. Series, often using only the original Godzilla film for their storys.
[edit] Box Office
The film sold approximately 4 million tickets in Japan, and grossed around $18,000,000.
[edit] DVD Releases
Columbia Tristar (Sony)
- Released: February 1, 2000
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (1.85:1) letterboxed
- Sound: English (2.0)
- Region 1
- Note: A double feature with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla
