Godzilla vs Space Godzilla


Sato: "What's that?"
Yuki: "Little Godzilla."
Sato: "Little Godzilla?"
Yuki: "Yeah. I don't know what they feed him, but he's growing so big. For a baby, I mean."


release year: 1994
genre: Godzilla
viewing setting: home Bluray, 7/31/19 and home VHS, 6/17/00

synopsis: A weird and powerful monster is headed for Earth, and whatever native monsters aren't busy fighting each other might be able to try and stop it.

impressions:  This was the sixth Godzilla movie of the Heisei, or second, era (1984-1995) and the 21st overall. It came in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio and the DVD options for language and subtitle were yet again plentiful. For giant monsters, in addition to Godzilla, this time we get Mothra (really a very short, almost cameo appearance as she flies through space and releases mini-Mothra drones), Space Godzilla (basically Godzilla with giant glowing crystals on his shoulders, and some extra teeth), Little Godzilla (the baby from the last one, larger but still combat-ineffective), and MOGERA (not really a monster but rather a giant robot, kind of a second-rate Mechagodzilla.) Some other things of note in this one include: plenty going on within the first few minutes, including a weird crystal object flying through space...a Voltron/Transformer type construct, except not as cool...Mothra flying through space and leaving behind some mini-me Mothras...people starting their day with a Counter G team meeting..."Project T" whose purpose is to control Godzilla using ESP and an amplifier...a daring save from a poisonous spider...that oh, no moment...recorded footage from the now-missing spaceship making it pretty damn obvious what happened to it...dust that turns into a mini-Mothra which then turns into twin fairies, who deliver a most dire warning...Miki's magical earrings and necklace...a "space control room" where all the fun stuff happens...Space Godzilla!...some dude's naked ass (no, there will be no screen shot of that)...Little Godzilla stumbles his way through the tear gas land mines...Godzilla wanders out of the ocean, squealing in a most un-Godzilla-like sound...a weirdo professor...this crazy old soldier stalking Godzilla...MOGERA flying out to space to confront Space Godzilla, and losing badly...an awful lot of people running amok on this island.

At this juncture, I'm going to take a break to talk for a moment about Little Godzilla, perhaps the dumbest child monster ever to grace the screen. Why is he dumb? Well, I'm glad you asked. Let me count the ways. One: he somehow mistakes Space Godzilla for real Godzilla and approaches. I know it's difficult to tell them apart when the bad Godzilla has two gigantic glowing crystals on his shoulders, and the good Godzilla doesn't, but still. Two: when Little Godzilla realizes that he's approached the wrong Godzilla, he...just falls over. Yeah, that'll help. Three: then he can't even get up! He just lies there as Space Godzilla approaches. Four: after he somehow does get back on his feet, does he run away? No. He wanders right into the middle of the fight! Five: after he gets swatted aside, he runs up to the good Godzilla and clings to his leg. This will not in any way enhance Godzilla's combat ability.

Now for a very brief battle, featuring among other things: Space Godzilla's crystal shield...orange electrical breath...it flies too...and has a tractor beam...the strange crystal formation turns out to be a cage...all the other crystals grow back when Space Godzilla takes flight, causing him to look like a giant inside-out geode. That battle doesn't last long, as Space Godzilla for some reason just leaves. Oh, and by the way, here is the G-force scientists' official explanation of Space Godzilla's origin: "The space monster has exactly the same G-cells. Therefore, we named it Space Godzilla. There were only two occasions when G-cells were sent into outer space. One, a fragment of Biollante. And two, Godzilla's flesh attached to Mothra. One of those cells must have been swallowed by a black hole and pushed out from a white hole. It assimilated crystal organisms during its rapid evolution and was exposed to tremendous energies from the explosions of stars. And finally, the most horrific monster was born. That's the theory."

Yep. Because that makes perfect sense.

So this movie has made sure to have ties to pretty much all the previous ones (I learned online, although it wasn't actually in the film, that MOGERA was built from leftover technology from Mecha-King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla. It's just that the film forgot to mention that.) More stuff: the crazy old island solder is asked to pilot MOGERA...one of the mini-Mothras gives a pep talk...Miki advocates for Godzilla, and then gets kidnapped...by Japanese mafia, working with that weird scientist from earlier...some random person playing and losing at one of those stupid claw games with prizes...Miki suddenly gains the power of telekinesis ("I've just never tried it before.")...more giant crystals grow out of the ground...a hyperactive reporter...a tactical map showing exactly what's up...Yuki apparently has his own agenda for MOGERA...overconfident MOGERA pilots who move in for close-quarters combat despite their ranged weapons proving quite effective...Godzilla takes a destructive detour but finallt gets to the battle site...recurrence of his un-Godzilla-like screeching sound...the tractor beam works on adult Godzillas too...some of the crystals randomly launch right up into the sky (and later come down) and then other crystals launch horizontally to attack Godzilla...Godzilla wises up and starts trashing the crystals to sap Space Godzilla's power...Godzilla powers through all of that and just keeps advancing...MOGERA separates into Land MOGERA and Star Falcon...the women push their way through the police barricade and then take a boat that was just there waiting for them(!)...Land MOGERA goes into underground mode to weaken the tower's foundations...Godzilla catches on and pushes the tower town, finishing the job...MOGERA rejoins for no real tactically-advantageous reason...MOGERA goes into battering ram mode...Godzilla becomes turbocharged for no apparent reason...Space Godzilla is going to explode, also for no apparent reason...Godzilla goes nuts and just destroys everything...Miki uses telekinesis to save the crazy old pilot guy...the fairies come back to thank everyone...after the battle, Little Godzilla appears from his earlier timeout (I had forgotten all about him, thankfully)...and he's burping (or maybe barfing) fire (it's a little too late to learn how to contribute to the fight, little buddy.)

number in Godzilla series: 21

previous Godzilla movie in series: Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II

next Godzilla movie in series: Godzilla vs Destroyah

other giant monsters appearing in this one: Space Godzilla, Little Godzilla, MOGERA, Mothra (very brief appearance, no actual involvement)

total giant monster battle time: about 27 minutes, most of which is the final battle

acting: Main characters: Shinjo and Sato, G-Force explorers (Shinjo is the more serious one)...Yuki, old crazy soldier guy on island...Okubo, suspicious-looking professor who you just know will end up being a bad guy...Gondo, good female professor whose brother challenged Godzilla and lost four movies ago...Miki, the ESP girl who's not the "chief psychic" of G-Force.

final word: Despite some goofiness and plot holes, this one did have quite a bit of action.

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