Cloverfield is a 2008 American found footage monster horror film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams and Bryan Burk, and written by Drew Goddard. The film, which is presented as found footage shot with a home camcorder, follows six young New York City residents fleeing from a gigantic monster and various other smaller creatures that attack the city while they are having a farewell party. The film was well received by critics and it earned $170.8 million at the box office against a $25 million budget. The film eventually served as the first installment of the Cloverfield franchise, which also consists of 2016's 10 Cloverfield Lane and the currently unnamed 2018 film formerly known as God Particle.
Hud records what appears to be an enormous creature several blocks away collapsing the Woolworth Building. Later, during the city's evacuation, the creature's gigantic tail destroys the Brooklyn Bridge, killing Jason and several other people. News reports show the Army National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division attacking the monster. Smaller "parasite" creatures fall off its body and attack nearby pedestrians and soldiers. Rob listens to a phone message from Beth, stating that she is trapped in her apartment at the Time Warner Center and unable to move. Going against the crowd, Rob, Hud, Lily, and another party-goer, Marlena, venture into Midtown Manhattan to rescue Beth. By 3:17 am, they get caught in a battle between the creature and the National Guard and run into the Spring Street station, soon attacked by several of the parasitic creatures during the scuffle; Marlena is bitten by one. Exiting the subway via the 59th Street station, the four come to a command center and field hospital. Marlena reacts to the bite, causing her to bleed from her eyes. She is dragged into a tent, where she apparently explodes. Rob, intending to save Beth, persuades one of the military leaders to let him go. The man then tells Rob when the last evacuation helicopter will depart before the military executes its "Hammer Down Protocol," which will destroy Manhattan in an attempt to kill the monster. The group rescues Beth, impaled on exposed rebar, and the four make their way to the evacuation site at Grand Central Terminal, where they encounter the creature once more. Lily is rushed into a departing Marine Corps helicopter and escapes. Moments later, Rob, Beth, and Hud are taken away in a second helicopter and witness a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit bomb the creature. The bombing causes the creature to fall, but then it lunges at the protagonists' helicopter, causing it to crash into Central Park. The film skips to the early morning of Saturday, May 23, less than an hour later. A voice on the crashed helicopter's radio warns that the Hammer Down protocol will begin in fifteen minutes. The three friends regain consciousness and flee; Hud retrieves it, where the creature suddenly appears and kills him. Rob and Beth grab the camera and take shelter under Greyshot Arch in Central Park. As sirens blare and the bombing starts, Rob and Beth take turns leaving their last testimony of the day's events. The bridge crumbles and the camera gets knocked out of Rob's hand and buried beneath some rubble. Rob and Beth each proclaim their love for each other just before another bomb goes off, with both screaming while the monster roars. The footage concludes with Rob and Beth's Coney Island date on April 27. Unnoticed by the characters, an indiscernible object falls from the sky into the ocean. Rob points the camera toward Beth and himself, and zooms in on the latter, who says "I had a good day." At that point, the tape freezes and cuts out. After the credits, indistinct radio chatter can be heard. It can be perceived as "Help us", but when played in reverse, it says "It's still alive". Cast
Production Development J. J. Abrams thought up a new monster after he and his son visited a toy store in Japan while promoting Mission: Impossible III. He explained, "We saw all these Godzilla toys, and I thought, we need our own American monster, and not like King Kong. I love King Kong. King Kong is adorable. And Godzilla is a charming monster. We love Godzilla. But I wanted something that was just insane and intense." In February 2007, Paramount Pictures secretly greenlit Cloverfield, to be produced by Abrams, directed by Matt Reeves, and written by Drew Goddard. The project was produced by Abrams' company, Bad Robot Productions. The visual effects producer was Chantal Feghali. The severed head of the Statue of Liberty was inspired by the poster of the 1981 film Escape from New York, which had shown the head lying in the streets in New York. Reeves explained, "It's an incredibly provocative image. And that was the source that inspired producer J. J. Abrams to say, 'Now this would be an interesting idea for a movie'." Title The film was initially named Cloverfield. This changed several times throughout production before it was decided that the original title would be used. Matt Reeves explained that the title was changed frequently due to the hype caused by the teaser trailer. "That excitement spread to such a degree that we suddenly couldn't use the name anymore. So we started using all these names like Slusho and Cheese. And people always found out what we were doing!" The director said that "Cloverfield" was the government's case designation for the events caused by the monster, comparing the titling to that of the Manhattan Project. "And it's not a project per se. It's the way that this case has been designated. That's why that is on the trailer, and it becomes clearer in the film. It's how they refer to this phenomenon [or] this case", said the director. The film's final title, Cloverfield, is the name of the exit Abrams takes to his Santa Monica office. In turn, the road used to lead to the Santa Monica Airport, which originally bore the name Clover Field. One final title, Greyshot, was proposed before the movie was officially titled Cloverfield. The name Greyshot is taken from the archway that the two survivors take shelter under at the end of the movie. Director Reeves said that it was decided not to change the title to Greyshot because the film was already so well known as Cloverfield. The film received a subtitle in Japan, where it was released as Cloverfield/Hakaisha (クローバーフィールド/HAKAISHA Kurōbāfīrudo/HAKAISHA). The subtitle "Destroyer" was chosen by Abrams and was translated into Japanese as Hakaisha (破壊者 lit. "Destroyer") by Paramount Japan at his request. The subtitle Kishin (鬼神 lit. "Demon[ic] God") was chosen for the manga spin-off, Cloverfield/Kishin, released exclusively in Japan. Production The casting process was carried out in secret, with no script being sent out to candidates. With production estimated to have a budget of $30 million, principal photography began in mid-June 2007 in New York. One cast member said that the film would look like it cost $150 million, despite producers not casting recognizable and expensive actors. Filmmakers used the Panasonic HVX200 for most of the interior scenes, and the Sony CineAlta F23 high-definition video camera to tape nearly all of the New York exterior scenes. Filming took place on Coney Island, with scenes shot at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park and the B&B Carousel. The scenes of tanks firing at the creature while the main characters hide in a stairwell were filmed on Hennesy Street on Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank, CA. Some interior shots were taped on a soundstage at Downey, California. Bloomingdale's in the movie was actually shot in an emptied Robinsons-May store that was under reconstruction in Arcadia, California. The outside scenes of Sephora and the electronics store were taped in Downtown Los Angeles. The film was shot and edited in a cinéma vérité style, to look like it was taped with one hand-held camera, including jump cuts similar to ones found in home movies. T.J. Miller, who plays Hud, has said in various interviews that he taped a third of the movie and almost half of it made it into the film. Director Matt Reeves described the presentation, "We wanted this to be as if someone found a Handicam, took out the tape and put it in the player to watch it. What you're watching is a home movie that then turns into something else." Reeves explained that the pedestrians documenting the severed head of the Statue of Liberty with the camera phones was reflective of the contemporary period. According to him: "Cloverfield very much speaks to the fear and anxieties of our time, how we live our lives. Constantly documenting things and putting them up on YouTube, sending people videos through e-mail – we felt it was very applicable to the way people feel now." VFX and CGI were produced by effects studios Double Negative and Tippett Studio. Several of the filmmakers are heard but not seen in the film. The man yelling "Oh my God!" repeatedly when the head of the Statue of Liberty lands in the street is producer Bryan Burk, and director Matt Reeves voiced the whispered radio broadcast at the end of the credits. After viewing a cut of the film, Steven Spielberg suggested giving the audience a hint at the fate of the monster during the climax, which resulted in the addition of a countdown overheard on the helicopter's radio and the sounding of air raid sirens to signal the forthcoming Hammer Down bombing. Style of cinematography The film's shaky camera style of cinematography, dubbed "La Shakily Queasy-Cam" by Roger Ebert, caused some viewers (particularly in darkened movie theaters) to experience motion sickness, including nausea and a temporary loss of balance. Audience members prone to migraines have cited the film as a trigger. Some theaters showing the film, such as AMC Theatres, provided posted and verbal warnings, informing viewers about the filming style of Cloverfield, while other theatres like Pacific Theatres just verbally warned customers in detail at the box office about experiencing motion sickness upon viewing the film and what to do if they had to step out and vomit. The cinematography affects the encoding of the video and can cause compression artifacts due to fast motion across the field of view. Creature design Visual main effects supervisor Nick Tom and Phil Tippett's "Tippett Studio" were enlisted to develop the visual effects for Cloverfield. Because the visual effects were incorporated after filming, cast members were only familiar with early conceptual renderings of the beast and had to react to an unseen creature during their scenes. Artist Neville Page designed the monster, creating a biological rationale for it, though many of his ideas, including an "elongated, articulated external esophagus," would not show up on screen. His central concept was that of an immature creature suffering from "separation anxiety." This recalls real-life circus elephants who get frightened and lash out. The director stated that "there's nothing scarier than something huge that's spooked." Marketing Before the film's release, Paramount carried out a viral marketing campaign to promote the film which included viral tie-ins similar to Lost Experience. Filmmakers decided to create a teaser trailer that would be a surprise in the light of commonplace media saturation, which they put together during the preparation stage of the production process. The teaser was then used as a basis for the film itself. Paramount Pictures encouraged the teaser to be released without a title attached, and the Motion Picture Association of America approved the move. As Transformers showed high tracking numbers before its release in July 2007, the studio attached the teaser trailer for Cloverfield that showed the release date of January 18, 2008, but not the title. A second trailer was released on November 16, 2007 which was attached to Beowulf, confirming the title. The studio had kept knowledge of the project secret from the online community, a cited rarity due to the presence of scoopers that follow upcoming films. The controlled release of information on the film has been observed as a risky strategy, which could succeed like The Blair Witch Project (1999) or disappoint like Snakes on a Plane (2006), the latter of which had generated online hype but failed to attract large audiences. Pre-release plot speculation The sudden appearance of the untitled teaser for Cloverfield, and limited details available in the lead up to the film's release fueled wide media speculation over the film's plot, with many expecting it to be an adaptation of an existing property. Among the possibilities reported on, The Star Ledger suggested that the film could be based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft, or a new entry in the Godzilla series. The Guardian reported the possibility of a spin-off to Abrams' television show Lost, and a misinterpretation of the trailer's line "It's alive!" as "It's a lion!" led USA Today to speculate on a live-action adaptation of Japanese animated series Voltron. IGN and Time Out suggested that the film would feature an alien called "The Parasite", with that rumored to be the working title of the film. Elsewhere online, Slusho and Colossus had been discussed as other possible titles, as well as Monstrous, although this was dispelled by Abrams at ComicCon. The viral marketing campaign drew the attention of alternate reality game enthusiasts, hoping to uncover information about the film hidden online. Members of the forums at argn.com and unfiction.com have investigated the background of the film, with the "1-18-08" section at Unfiction generating over 7,700 posts in August 2007. The members have studied photographs on the film's official site, potentially related MySpace profiles, and the Comic-Con teaser poster for the film. A popular piece of fan art posited that the monster was a mutated humpback whale. Viral tie-ins Unlike most viral marketing campaigns, this one had virtually nothing to do with the film's plot or characters. Instead it focused mainly on the fictional drink Slusho! and the fictional company Tagruato. Puzzle websites containing Lovecraftian elements, such as Ethan Haas Was Right, were originally reported to be connected to the film. On July 9, 2007, producer J. J. Abrams stated that, while a number of websites were being developed to market the film, the only official site that had been found was 1-18-08.com. At the site, which now redirects to the Paramount Pictures home page, a collection of time-coded photos were available to piece together a series of events and interpret their meanings. The pictures could also be flipped over by repeatedly and rapidly moving the mouse side to side. Also, if the page was left open for six minutes, the monster's roar could be heard. Eventually, Cloverfield Movie.com was created. The site provided both a trailer and a number, 33287, which, when texted from a mobile phone, provided a ringtone of the monster's roar and a wallpaper of a decimated Manhattan. This eventually turns out to be a Paramount number (people later received material on Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Kung Fu Panda, and The Love Guru). The drink Slusho! served as part of the viral marketing campaign. The drink had already appeared in producer Abrams' previous creation, the TV series Alias. Websites for Slusho! and Taguruato were launched to add to the mythology of Cloverfield. The Japanese phone number in the Tagruato website did work, but only played recorded messages. For example, one of the messages was: "Thank you for calling Tagruato. Due to high call volumes, your call has been transferred to an automated answering service. There are no updates at this time. After the tone, please leave a message, and one of our associates will find you as soon as possible". A building bearing the company logo for Tagruato can also be seen in the TV spot of the 2009 Star Trek film, and Uhura orders a Slusho! during the bar scene. When Cloverfield was hosted at Comic-Con 2007, gray Slusho! T-shirts were distributed to attendees. Fans who had registered at the Slusho! website received e-mails of fictional sonar images before the film's release that showed a deep-sea creature heading toward Manhattan. Fans who ordered merchandise received pieces of torn Tagruato documents and Japanese newspapers along with their products. Slusho! has also appeared in Fringe and Heroes. Producer Burk explained the viral tie-in, "It was all done in conjunction with the studio... The whole experience in making this movie is very reminiscent of how we did Lost." Director Reeves described Slusho! as "part of the involved connectivity" with Abrams' Alias and that the drink represented a "meta-story" for Cloverfield. The director explained, "It's almost like tentacles that grow out of the film and lead, also, to the ideas in the film. And there's this weird way where you can go see the movie and it's one experience... But there's also this other place where you can get engaged where there's this other sort of aspect for all those people who are into that. All the stories kind of bounce off one another and inform each other. But, at the end of the day, this movie stands on its own to be a movie.... The Internet sort of stories and connections and clues are, in a way, a prism and they're another way of looking at the same thing. To us, it's just another exciting aspect of the storytelling." At Menuism.com there are reviews for a Japanese restaurant called Garbanzos in Norway that mention Tagruato, Slusho! and Seabed Nectar. Merchandise A four-installment prequel manga series by Yoshiki Togawa titled Cloverfield/Kishin (クローバーフィールド/KISHIN Kurōbāfīrudo/KISHIN) was released by Japanese publisher Kadokawa Shoten. The story focuses on a Japanese high school student named Kishin Aiba, who somehow bears a connection to the monster. Based on the film's successful opening weekend, Hasbro began accepting orders for a 14-inch (36 cm) collectible toy figure of the monster with authentic sound and its parasites that were shipped to fans by December 24, 2008. Release First publicized in a teaser trailer in screenings of Transformers, the film was released on January 17 in New Zealand, Russia and Australia; January 18 in North America; January 24 in South Korea; January 25 in Taiwan; January 31 in Germany; and February 1 in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy. In Japan, the film was released on April 5. Cloverfield opened in 3,411 theaters on January 18, 2008, and grossed a total of $16,930,000 on its opening day in the United States and Canada. It made $40.1 million on its opening weekend, which at the time was the most successful January release (record then taken by Ride Along in 2014 with a weekend gross of $41.5 million). Worldwide, it has grossed $170,602,318, making it the first movie in 2008 to gross over $100 million. In Japan, the film held the top spot in the box office rankings until the release of Kamen Rider Den-O & Kiva: Climax Deka took the top spot in its first weekend. Critical reception Cloverfield received generally positive reviews from critics. Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 77% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 200 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "A sort of Blair Witch Project crossed with Godzilla, Cloverfield is economically paced, stylistically clever, and filled with scares". According to Metacritic, the film has received an average score of 64, based on 37 reviews. Home media
The DVD was released on April 22, 2008, in two versions: the standard single-disc edition and an exclusive "steel-book" special edition that was sold at Suncoast and FYE retailers in the US and Future Shop in Canada. Other store exclusives include an exclusive bonus disc titled "T.J. Miller's Video Diary" with the DVD at all Best Buy retailers, an exclusive mix CD titled "Rob's Goin' to Japan Party Mix" with the DVD at all Target and Wal-Mart retailers and an exclusive ringtone with the DVD at all Kmart and Sears retailers. Borders also has an exclusive booklet encased with their DVD. The Region 2 DVD was released on June 9 in both one-disc and two-disc editions. The limited steel-book edition is only available from HMV, while Play.com offers exclusive cover artwork. The HMV-exclusive steel-book contains two discs. The DVD includes two alternative endings, which vary only slightly. The first alternative ending shows Rob and Beth exiting the Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station instead of on the Ferris wheel and features different sirens in the background as Rob talks to the camera. In the second alternative ending, just after the final explosion, Beth can be heard screaming "Rob!", followed by a very brief clip of an unknown person looking at the camera (in the commentary, Reeves said that it was one of the crew members) and brushing rubble off the lens. The film then ends with the original final clip of Rob and Beth on their Coney Island date recording themselves on the Ferris Wheel as the camera tape runs out, with two differences: there is no timestamp in the lower left-hand corner of the screen, and there is an additional beeping tone indicating the end of the tape. A Blu-ray edition was released on June 3, 2008. It includes a "Special Investigation Mode," as well as all the bonus features of the 2-disc DVD in HD.
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Gamera the Brave ( 小さき勇者たち~ガメラ~ | Chiisaki Yūsha-tachi ~Gamera~, lit. Little Braves of Gamera), is a kaiju film released in 2006, produced by Kadokawa Pictures. This is the twelfth entry in the Gamera film series, the second reboot of the series and the first produced by Kadokawa Pictures after they purchased a percentage of the remaining assets of Daiei Motion Picture Company, the original company responsible for the Gamera films.
The human characters determine that the still-immature Gamera must consume the red stone which Toru had found with the egg in order to fully gain its powers. The egg is located and, with some difficulty, delivered to Toru, who throws it into Gamera's mouth during the battle. Gamera's power of jet-propelled flight manifests itself and it defeats Zedus by breathing a fireball at it. The kaiju escapes further government investigation with Toru's assistance and flies off as the boy wishes him farewell. Cast
U.S. Release Gamera: The Brave was released on DVD in the United States by Tokyo Shock in 2008. Tokyo Shock later released the film on Blu-ray in 2013, though it quickly went out-of-print. Reception Despite being considered a failure at the box office, Gamera: The Brave was met with mostly positive reception. The film's effects and story were frequently praised, especially the relationship between Toru and Toto. Katsuhito Ishii, director of the upcoming Gamera film, cited this film as one of his favorites and a tremendous influence on his upcoming project. The film currently holds a 6.9/10 on IMDb and a 65% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has also received its fair share of criticism. Some fans criticized Toto's cute appearance in contrast to the ferocious appearance of Gamera from Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris. Many fans were upset at the film's attempt to move away from the seriousness of Shusuke Kaneko's trilogy back to the kid-friendliness of the Showa era. Gamera's iconic roar being replaced by stock King Kong roars was also a source of disappointment for many. Trivia
King Kong is a 2005 epic monster adventure film co-written, produced, and directed by Peter Jackson. A remake of the 1933 film of the same name, the film stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody, and, through motion capture, Andy Serkis as the title character. Set in 1933, King Kong tells the story of an ambitious filmmaker who coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to the mysterious Skull Island. There they encounter Kong, a legendary giant gorilla, whom they capture and take to New York City. Filming for King Kong took place in New Zealand from September 2004 to March 2005. The project's budget climbed from an initial $150 million to a then-record-breaking $207 million. It was released on December 14, 2005 in Germany and on December 16 in the United States, and made an opening of $50.1 million. While it performed lower than expected, King Kong made domestic and worldwide grosses that eventually added up to $550 million, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film in Universal Pictures history at the time. It also generated $100 million in DVD sales upon its home video release. The film garnered positive reviews from critics and appeared on several top ten lists for 2005. It was praised for its special effects, performances, sense of spectacle and comparison to the 1933 original. It won three Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects.
The natives offer Ann as a sacrifice to Kong, a 25 feet (7.6 m) tall gorilla. The crew returns fully armed, but is too late as Kong takes Ann and flees into the jungle. Ann wins Kong over with juggling and dancing, and begins to grasp Kong's intelligence and capacity for emotion. Englehorn organizes a rescue party, led by Hayes and Driscoll. They encounter and kill a Ferrucutus. The rescue party is then caught in the middle of a pack of Venatosaurus saevidicus and the herd of Brontosaurus baxteri they are hunting, and seven people are killed, including cameraman Herb. The rest of the rescue party come across a swamp where actor Bruce Baxter and two others leave the group. The rest cross the swamp on rafts, only to be attacked by "Scorpio-pedes", as well by a "Piranhadon", which devours three sailors. The rescue party is making their way across a fallen log over a ravine when Kong attacks. Five crewmen, including Hayes and Choy, are killed after being thrown off the log, and the rest of the crew ride the log down the ravine and land in a pit. Kong returns to Ann and rescues her from three Vastatosaurus rex. Kong takes her to his lair in the mountains. The remaining rescue party find the pit to be full of giant insects. Lumpy is killed by the maggot-like "Carnictics Sordicus" while two others are killed by spider-like creatures. Englehorn, Baxter and the two crewmen return, saving the last four survivors of the rescue party from the pit. As Jack continues searching for Ann, Carl decides to capture Kong. Jack goes to Kong's lair, inadvertently waking him and provoking a swarm of flying Terapusmordax. As Kong fights the swarm, Ann and Jack escape. They arrive at the wall with Kong pursuing them, and Ann becomes distraught by what Carl plans to do. Kong bursts through the gate and attempts to get her back, killing several sailors, but is subdued when Carl knocks him out with chloroform. In New York City, Carl presents "Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World" on Broadway, starring Baxter and an imprisoned Kong. Ann is played by an anonymous chorus girl, and Kong becomes enraged after realizing that the girl on stage is not Ann. After breaking free from his chrome-steel chains, he wrecks the theater and chases Jack. Kong knocks Jack out by stopping his car and flipping it, then encounters Ann again. Kong and Ann share a moment on a frozen pond in Central Park until the army attacks. Kong climbs with Ann onto the top of the Empire State Building, where he fights off six F8C-5 Helldiver Navy planes, downing three. At the end of the confrontation, Kong is mortally wounded by the gunfire and gazes at Ann for the last time before falling from the building to his death. As Ann is reunited with Jack, civilians, photographers, police and soldiers gather around Kong's corpse. Carl makes his way through the crowd, takes one last long look at Kong and says, "It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast." Cast
Watts, Black, and Brody were the first choices for their respective roles with no other actors considered. In preparation for her role, Watts met with the original Ann Darrow, Fay Wray. Jackson wanted Wray to make a cameo appearance and say the final line of dialogue, but she died during pre-production at 96 years old. Black was cast as Carl Denham based on his performance in the 2000 film High Fidelity, which had impressed Jackson. For inspiration, Black studied P. T. Barnum and Orson Welles. "I didn't study [Welles] move for move. It was just to capture the spirit. Very reckless guy. I had tapes of him drunk off his ass." The native extras on Skull Island were portrayed by a mix of Asian, African, Maori and Polynesian actors sprayed with dark makeup to achieve a consistent pigmentation. Production Development Peter Jackson was nine years old when he first saw the 1933 film, and was in tears in front of the TV when Kong slipped off the Empire State Building. At age 12, he attempted to recreate the film using his parents' Super 8 mm film camera and a model of Kong made of wire and rubber with his mother's fur coat for the hair, but eventually gave up on the project. King Kong eventually became his favorite film and was the primary inspiration for his decision to become a filmmaker as a teenager. He read books about the making of King Kong and collected memorabilia, as well as articles from Famous Monsters of Filmland. Jackson paid tribute to the 1933 film by including Skull Island as the origin of the zombie plague in his 1992 film Braindead. During the filming of Jackson's 1996 film The Frighteners, Universal Pictures was impressed with Jackson's dailies and early visual effects footage. The studio was adamant to work with Jackson on his next project and, in late 1995, offered him the chance to direct a remake of the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon. He turned down the offer, but Universal became aware of Jackson's obsession with King Kong and subsequently offered him the opportunity to direct that remake. The studio did not have to worry of lawsuits concerning the film rights from RKO Pictures (the studio behind the 1933 film) because the King Kong character is held in the public domain. Jackson initially turned down the King Kong offer, but he "quickly became disturbed by the fact that someone else would take it over," Jackson continued, "and make it into a terrible film; that haunted me and I eventually said yes to Universal." At the same time, Jackson was working with Harvey Weinstein and Miramax Films to purchase the film rights of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, while 20th Century Fox was trying to hire him for the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes. Jackson turned down Planet of the Apes and because Weinstein was taking longer than expected to buy The Lord of the Rings rights, Jackson decided to move forward on King Kong. Weinstein was furious, and, as a result, Jackson proposed a deal between Universal and Miramax that the two studios would equally finance King Kong with Jackson's production company Wingnut Films. Universal would receive distribution rights in the United States, while Miramax would cover foreign territories. Jackson was also warranted the right of final cut privilege, a percentage of the gross profits, as well as artistic control; Universal allowed all filming and visual effects to be handled entirely in New Zealand. The deal was settled in April 1996, and Jackson, along with wife Fran Walsh, began working on the King Kong script. In the original draft, Ann was the daughter of famed English archaeologist Lord Linwood Darrow exploring ancient ruins in Sumatra. They would come into conflict with Denham during his filming, and they would uncover a hidden Kong statue and the map of Skull Island. This would indicate that the island natives were the last remnants of a cult religion that had once thrived on Asia's mainland. Instead of a playwright, Jack was the first mate and an ex-World War I fighter pilot still struggling with the loss of his best friend, who had been killed in battle during a World War I prologue. The camera-man Herb is the only supporting character in the original draft who made it to the final version. The fight between Kong and the three V. rex also changed from the original draft. In the draft, Ann is actually caught in the V. rex's jaws, where she becomes wedged, and slashed by the teeth; after the fight, Kong gets her out but she is suffering from a fever, from which she then recovers. Universal approved of the script with Robert Zemeckis as executive producer, and pre-production for King Kong started. The plan was to begin filming sometime in 1997 for a summer 1998 release date. Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, under the supervision of Richard Taylor and Christian Rivers, began work on early visual effects tests, specifically the complex task of building a CGI version of New York City circa 1933. Jackson and Walsh progressed with a second draft script, sets were being designed and location scouting commenced in Sumatra and New Zealand. In late 1996, Jackson flew to production of the 1997 film Titanic in Mexico to discuss the part of Ann Darrow with Kate Winslet, with whom he previously worked with on his 1994 film Heavenly Creatures. Minnie Driver was also being reportedly considered. Jackson's choices for Jack Driscoll and Carl Denham included George Clooney and Robert De Niro. However, development for King Kong was stalled in January 1997 when Universal became concerned over the upcoming release of the 1998 film Godzilla, as well as other ape-related remakes with the 1998 film Mighty Joe Young and the 2001 film Planet of the Apes. Universal abandoned King Kong in February 1997 after Weta Workshop and Weta Digital had already designed six months worth pre-production. Jackson then decided to start work on The Lord of the Rings film series. With the financial and critical success of the 2001 film The Fellowship of the Ring and the 2002 film The Two Towers, Universal approached Jackson in early 2003, during the post-production of The Return of the King, concerning his interest in restarting development on King Kong. In March 2003, Universal set a target December 2005 release date and Jackson and Walsh brought The Lord of the Rings co-writer Philippa Boyens on to help rewrite their 1996 script. Jackson offered New Line Cinema the opportunity to co-finance with Universal, but they declined. Universal and Jackson originally projected a $150 million budget, which eventually rose to $175 million. Jackson made a deal with Universal whereby he would be paid a $20 million salary against 20% of the box office gross for directing, producing and co-writing. He shared that fee with co-writers Walsh (which also covered her producing credit) and Boyens. However, if King Kong were to go over its $175 million budget, the penalties would be covered by Jackson. Immediately after the completion of The Return of the King, Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, supervised by Taylor, Rivers, and Joe Lettieri, started pre-production on King Kong. Jackson brought back most of the crew he had on The Lord of the Rings series, including cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, production designer Grant Major, art directors Simon Bright and Dan Hennah, conceptual designer Alan Lee, and editor Jamie Selkirk. Jackson, Walsh and Boyens began to write a new script in late October 2003. Jackson acknowledged that he was highly unsatisfied with the original 1996 script. "That was actually just Fran and Peter very hurriedly getting something down on paper", Boyens explained. "It was more one of many possible ways the story could go." The writers were adamant to base the new script on the 1933 film, rather than the 1996 script. They also included scenes that were either uncompleted or entirely omitted from James Ashmore Creelman's original script in the cutting room floor. In the scene where Kong shakes the surviving sailors pursuing Ann and himself from a log into the ravine, it was originally the intention of directors Merian Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack to feature giant spiders emerging from the rock to devour their bodies. This was cut from the original release print, and remains known to Kong fans only via a rare still that appeared in Famous Monsters of Filmland. Jackson included this scene and elaborated upon it. Jackson, Walsh and Boyens also cited Delos W. Lovelace's 1932 novelization of King Kong as inspiration, which included the character Lumpy (Andy Serkis). To make the relationship between Ann Darrow and Kong plausible, the writers studied hours of gorilla footage. Jackson also optioned Early Havoc, a memoir written by vaudeville performer June Havoc to help Walsh and Boyens flesh out Ann Darrow's characterization. Carl Denham was intentionally modeled after and inspired by Orson Welles. Their new draft was finished in February 2004. Filming Principal photography started on September 6, 2004 at Camperdown Studios in Miramar, New Zealand. Camperdown housed the native village and the Great Wall, while the streets of New York City were constructed on its backlot and at Gracefield in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. The majority of the SS Venture scenes were shot aboard a full-scale deck constructed in the parking lot at Camperdown Studio and then were backed with a green screen, with the ocean digitally added in post. Scenes set in the Broadway theater from which King Kong makes his escape were filmed in Wellington's Opera House and at the Auckland Civic Theatre. Filming also took place at Stone Street Studios, where a new sound stage was constructed to accommodate one of the sets. Over the course of filming the budget went from $175 million to $273 million over additional visual effects work needed, and Jackson extending the film's running time by thirty minutes. Jackson covered the $32 million surplus himself and finished filming in March 2005. The film's budget climbed from an initial US$150 million to a then-record-breaking $273 million and received a subsidy of $34 million from New Zealand, making it at one point the most expensive film yet made. Universal only agreed to such an outlay after seeing a screening of the unfinished film, to which executives responded enthusiastically. Marketing and promotion costs were an estimated $60 million. The film's length also grew; originally set to be 135 minutes, it soon grew to 200, prompting Universal executives to fly to New Zealand to view a rough cut, but they liked it so their concerns were addressed. Other difficulties included Peter Jackson's decision to change composers from Howard Shore to James Newton Howard seven weeks before the film opened. Visual effects Jackson saw King Kong as opportunity for technical innovations in motion capture, commissioning Christian Rivers of Weta Digital to supervise all aspects of Kong's performance. Jackson decided early on that he did not want Kong to behave like a human, and so he and his team studied hours of gorilla footage. Serkis was cast in the title role in April 2003 and prepared himself by working with gorillas at the London Zoo. He then traveled to Rwanda, observing the actions and behaviors of gorillas in the wild. Rivers explained that the detailed facial performance capture with Serkis was accomplished because of the similarities between human and gorilla faces. "Gorillas have such a similar looking set of eyes and brows, you can look at those expressions and transpose your own interpretation onto them." Photos of silverback gorillas were also superimposed on Kong's image in the early stages of animation. Serkis had to go through two hours of motion capture makeup every day, having 135 small markers attached to different spots on his face. Following principal photography, Serkis had to spend an additional two months on a motion capture stage, miming Kong's movements for the film's digital animators. Apart from Kong, Skull Island is inhabited by dinosaurs and other large fauna. Inspired by Dougal Dixon's works, the designers imagined what 65 million years or more of isolated evolution might have done to dinosaurs. Release The marketing campaign started in full swing on June 27, 2005, when the teaser trailer made its debut, first online at the official Volkswagen website at 8:45 p.m. EDT, then 8:55 p.m. EDT across media outlets owned by NBC Universal (the parent of Universal Studios), including NBC, Bravo!, CNBC, and MSNBC. That trailer appeared in theatres attached to War of the Worlds, which opened on June 29. Jackson also regularly published a series of 'Production Diaries', which chronicled the film's production. The diaries started shortly after the DVD release of The Return of the King as a way to give Jackson's The Lord of the Rings fans a glimpse of his next project. These diaries are edited into broadband-friendly installments of three or four minutes each. They consist of features that would normally be seen in a making-of documentary: a tour of the set, a roving camera introducing key players behind the scene, a peek inside the sound booth during last-minute dubbing, or Andy Serkis doing his ape movements in a motion capture studio. A novelization of the film and a prequel novel entitled King Kong: The Island of the Skull were also written. A multi-platform video game, entitled Peter Jackson's King Kong, was released, which featured an alternate ending. There was also a hardback book entitled The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island, featuring artwork from Weta Workshop to describe the film's fictional wildlife. Jackson has expressed his desire to remaster the film in 3-D at some point in the future. Jackson was also seen shooting with a 3-D camera at times during the shoot of King Kong. Reception In North America, King Kong grossed $9,755,745 during its Wednesday opening and $50,130,145 over its first weekend for a five-day total of $66.1 million. Some analysts considered these initial numbers disappointing, saying that studio executives had been expecting more. The film went on to gross $218,080,025 in the domestic market and ended up in the top five highest-grossing films of the year there. The film grossed an additional $332,437,332 in the international box office for a worldwide total of $550,517,357, which not only ranked it in the top five highest-grossing films of 2005 worldwide, but also helped the film bring back more than two and a half times its production budget. During its home video release, King Kong sold over $100 million worth of DVDs in the largest six-day performance in Universal Studios history. King Kong sold more than 7.6 million DVDs, accumulating nearly $194 million worth of sales numbers in the domestic market alone. As of June 25, 2006, King Kong has generated almost $38 million from DVD rental gross. In February 2006, TNT/TBS and ABC paid Universal Studios $26.5 million for the television rights to the film. Cinematic and literary allusions
Home media
King Kong was released on DVD on March 28, 2006 in the United States and Canada. The three versions that came out were a single disc fullscreen, a single disc widescreen, and a two-disc Widescreen Special Edition. A three-disc Deluxe Extended Edition was released on November 14, 2006 in the U.S., and on November 3 in Australia. Twelve minutes were reinserted into the film, and a further forty minutes presented alongside the rest of the special features. The film was spread onto the first two discs with commentary by Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens, and some featurettes on discs one and two, whilst the main special features are on disc three. Another set was released, including a WETA figurine of a bullet-ridden Kong scaling the Empire State Building, roaring at the army with Ann in hand. The extended film amounts to 200 total minutes. A special HD DVD version of King Kong was part of a promotional pack for the release of the external HD DVD Drive for the Xbox 360. The pack contained the HD DVD drive, the Universal Media Remote and King Kong on HD DVD. It was also available separately as a standard HD DVD. The film's theatrical and extended cuts were released together on Blu-ray Disc on January 20, 2009. A re-release of the Blu-Ray with a new bonus disc compiling the extras from all previous editions titled the "Ultimate Edition" was released on February 7, 2017. An Ultra HD Blu-ray followed in July 2017. Soundtrack King Kong: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard, who composed The Sixth Sense, Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet. Originally, Howard Shore, who worked with Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings, was to compose the film's score. Shore completed and recorded several cues before he and Jackson parted ways. Shore's appearance as the conductor in the New York theatre from which Kong escapes remained in the film. James Newton Howard's score was later nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score Negadon: The Monster from Mars (惑星大怪獣ネガドン Wakusei Daikaijû Negadon, literally Great Planet Monster Negadon) is a 25-minute computer animated Japanese short film completed in 2005 (production started in 2003). Written and directed by Jun Awazu with his independent company Studio Magara co-produced with CoMix Wave Films, the film attempts to capture the look and feel of Showa era Japanese special effects films, mainly from the 1950s and early '60s. Negadon has been broadcast across Japan by the anime satellite television network, Animax. The film premiered on AZN Television in North America. The film has also played by the Sci-Fi Channel in the United States in 2008. Negadon, the Monster from Mars (2005) was released in North America on DVD on July 11, 2006 by Central Park Media.
His mission accomplished, Narasaki allows himself and Miroku to die when Negadon explodes. Cast
Production
Reception
Writing for the New York Times, Neil Genzlinger remarked that Negadon: The Monster from Mars "looks great and even has a respectable dose of the character development and backstory that anime sometimes spurns... The setup is lovely, but the film seems in a hurry to get to the big clash, as if desperate not to violate some anime time limit. Too bad; it might have worked at feature length." Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network gave a more muted endorsement: "Negadon is, at heart, a distillation of everything that Jun Awazu loves about the kaiju eiga. At only 25 minutes, there isn't time for anything else. Of necessity, this means jettisoning much of what gives the best kaiju movies their resonance; character depth and interaction, social commentary, and (as silly as it sounds) any depiction of the human cost of fighting a giant monster are all excised, inherently limiting the scope of the intended audience. This isn't a movie for everyone; Negadon is instead aimed squarely at those of you who stand up and cheer when a giant robot breaks out its drill arm." Godzilla: Final Wars (ゴジラ ファイナルウォーズ Gojira: Fainaru Wōzu) is a 2004 Japanese Science fiction Kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, written by Wataru Mimura and Isao Kiriyama and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. It is the 28th installment in the Godzilla film series, and the sixth in terms of the series' Millennium era. The film stars Masahiro Matsuoka, Don Frye, Rei Kikukawa, Kane Kosugi, Maki Mizuno and Kazuki Kitamura. The film is set in a future where mutant soldiers are in the ranks of the Earth Defense Organization. An invasion by the alien Xiliens unleashes a legion of giant monsters across the world, leaving behind only a few surviving humans. The survivors travel to the South Pole to free Godzilla from his frozen prison while another group attempts to infiltrate the alien Mothership and take out the Xiliens. As a 50th anniversary film, a number of actors from previous Godzilla films appeared as main characters or in cameo roles. In addition, various Kaiju (monsters) made reappearances, as most were last seen more than 30 years earlier. Godzilla: Final Wars premiered on November 29, 2004 in Los Angeles, California and was released on December 4, 2004 in Japan. Before the world premiere, Godzilla received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Director Ryuhei Kitamura has compared Godzilla: Final Wars to that of a musician's "Best of" album, stating "We picked lots and lots of the best elements from the past and combined it in a new way. It's what I love about Godzilla and what I don't love about recent Godzilla movies". Plot In 2004, endless warfare and environmental pollution has resulted in dangerous kaiju and the Earth Defense Force (EDF) is created to protect the planet. The organization is equipped with the best technology, weapons and soldiers, as well as mutants with special abilities. Godzilla is the EDF's only unstoppable opponent. The EDF's best combat vehicle, the Gotengo, corners Godzilla at the South Pole and buries him under the Antarctic ice, freezing him alive. Forty years later, the EDF discovers a mummified space monster. The mutant soldier Shinichi Ozaki and the United Nations biologist Dr. Miyuki Otonashi are sent to research it. Shortly thereafter, the two encounter the Shobijin, fairies of the guardian monster Mothra, who reveal that the monster is Gigan, an alien cyborg sent to destroy Earth 12,000 years earlier. They also warn that a battle between good and evil will happen soon and that Ozaki, because of his mutant capabilities, must choose between the two. Suddenly, kaiju appear in major cities. The EDF attempts to drive them away. The monsters include Anguirus in Shanghai, Rodan in New York City, King Caesar in Okinawa, Kamacuras in Paris, Kumonga in Arizona, Zilla in Sydney and Ebirah near Tokyo. Despite defeating Ebirah, the EDF is unsuccessful in destroying the monsters. After destroying most of the cities, the monsters vanish and an enormous alien mothership appears over Tokyo. The aliens, known as Xiliens, say that they are friendly and have eliminated the monsters. They also warn the Earth about an impending asteroid called Gorath that will impact soon. Because of their seemingly-friendly nature, the UN is disbanded and the Space Nations, an alliance to unite the universe, is organized. Ozaki, Miyuki, Douglas Gordon (the Gotengo's captain) and several others distrust the aliens. Using research and undercover work, they discover that the Xiliens are actually the ones who unleashed the kaiju; and that they also replaced several members of the EDF with android duplicates. They plan on subjugating humanity to harvest their mitochondria for food. The Xiliens are exposed on television. Opposed to the Xilien commander's decision to subtly take over Earth, his subordinate, the Regulator named X, kills the commander and assumes control of Earth's mutants, except for Ozaki. The kaiju are again released in Earth's major cities. Ozaki, Miyuki, Gordon, and others flee to their secret facility, and the EDF is defeated. On Mt. Fuji, a hunter, Samon Taguchi, and his grandson, Kenta, discover Minilla, Godzilla's son. They are successful in keeping a low profile and hiding from the Xiliens' assault. Gordon proposes freeing Godzilla to allow the dinosaur to defeat the other kaiju. Using the Gotengo, the EDF goes to Antarctica while being chased by Gigan. After Godzilla is released from his hibernation, he kills Gigan, and follows the Gotengo. The Gotengo returns to Tokyo, hoping Godzilla will unwittingly defeat the Xiliens. The Xiliens send the controlled kaiju after Godzilla, but he defeats them in short battles. While all of the other kaiju are presumably killed, Godzilla apologize Anguirus, Rodan, and King Caesar for beating each other's (breaking free their controls), all of whom he defeated near Mount Fuji. The Gotengo and Godzilla arrive at Tokyo, whereupon the Gotengo enters the mothership. During the battle, Ozaki's friend Kazama destroys the Mothership's shield generator at the cost of his own life. Meanwhile, the asteroid Gorath strikes Godzilla. Monster X materializes and starts to battle Godzilla. Gigan, who has now been upgraded, aids Monster X, but Mothra arrives to engage him into battle. Inside the Xilien mothership, the humans confront the Xilien Regulator. Ozaki is revealed to be a "Keizer", an all-powerful being capable of controlling Earth. Deciding to stay with the humans, Ozaki fights the Xilien Regulator, who is also a Keizer. After an extended battle, the humans are victorious and flee the Mothership's destruction. During their battle, Gigan hits Mothra with a laser beam, causing her to be engulfed in flames. However, Mothra is able to kill Gigan with a kamikaze-style attack. With Gigan and Mothra dead, Godzilla continues his battle with Monster X, who mutates into Keizer Ghidorah. Keizer Ghidorah initially has an advantage over Godzilla using lightning to overpower him, and it drains Godzilla's power through its teeth. Ozaki aids Godzilla by transferring some of his Keizer powers over to the monster and Godzilla prevails over Ghidorah. He then turns to attack the Gotengo, but a much larger Minilla arrives, along with the hunter and his grandson, and blocks his father from harming the humans, which causes Godzilla to realize that he must forgive mankind. The survivors watch as Godzilla and Minilla head back to the ocean, as Godzilla turns and lets out one final roar. During the credits we see that Mothra actually is still alive as she is seen flying back to Infant Island. Cast
Nearly every monster in the Toho Kaiju stable appears in this movie at some point, even those such as Hedorah who were otherwise barred from use by Toho. In addition to being a nod to fans, this was to make the Xilien forces appear as numerous and threatening as possible while keeping the budget under control by using costumes already on hand. Several computer animated monsters were created for use in the film. They consist of Manda, Mothra, Kamacuras, and Zilla. Stock footage from previous films were used for other monsters, such as Varan, Gaira, Baragon, Gezora, Titanosaurus, Mechagodzilla, and Megaguirus. The costumes for Rodan, Anguirus and King Caesar were used for fan events after the plans to destroy them were removed. Production Just like regular Godzilla films, Godzilla: Final Wars makes extensive use of practical effects rather than CG. The special effects were directed and supervised by Eiichi Asada, who also directed the special effects for Godzilla: Tokyo SOS. Commenting on the special effects, Kitamura stated at the film's world premiere in Hollywood, "We stick to the special effects. That’s what we've been doing for 50 years. And that’s why Hollywood don’t do it. So on the first meeting, I told everybody that we stick to the special effects, and the live action instead of CGI. So it’s a CGI-monster-Hollywood Godzilla versus our man-made live-action monsters." 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, though Godzilla's original theme can 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, however neither song was on the film's soundtrack. Filming locations Godzilla: Final Wars began filming in July 2003. The locations of filming included Sydney, Egypt, New York City, Paris, Shanghai, Arizona and Tokyo. Critical reception Godzilla: Final Wars has received extremely mixed reviews from film critics and fans alike. As of May 2011, review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 44% of critics gave positive reviews for the film based on nine reviews. Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique called the film "utterly fantastic" and "a rush of explosive excitement." 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." Drew McWeeny of Ain't It Cool News remarked, "Godzilla: Final Wars earns a special place in my heart. It's fun. Pure lunatic fun, every frame." Sean Axmaker of Static Multimedia said, "Directed by a true fan of the old school, it's lusciously, knowingly, lovingly cheesy." Craig Blamer of the Chico News & Review called the film "a giddy and fast-paced celebration of the big guy." 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." 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." 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." 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." 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." 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." 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." 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." Director Kitamura commented at the film's world premiere that the reason why he agreed to direct the film was because he wanted to update Godzilla and recapture the same spirit seen in the later Godzilla films from the Showa era. He wanted to incorporate the same speed and power seen in films like Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, which he believed was lost somewhere within the series, stating, "The Godzilla series had lost that kind of taste. I think that back in the '70s Godzilla movies had more power and speed. He was very fast and he was very strong. So in my Godzilla, you know, less dialogue and more action. That’s more fun than watching people discuss and what we should do about Godzilla. As a Godzilla fan I want to see Godzilla punching and kicking, beating up all the other monsters instead of somebody talking again, you know, discussing the operation. That's what I wanted to do is to revive that, but not in the same way, I have to update. This is the updated version of '70s, crazy, monster movies." 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 stifled 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 beaten 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, with 1,000,000 admissions. Not only was it the least-attended film in the Millennium series, it was also the least attended film in 29 years since Terror of Mechagodzilla. Home Media Releases (US) Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Released: December 13, 2005 Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.40:1) Anamorphic Sound: Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1) English (Dolby Digital 5.1) Subtitles: English and French Supplements: Behind-the-Scenes Featurette (comparison of B-roll footage to finished film)(17:53 min); 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. Blu-ray will be coming out May 6, 2014 as a double feature with Godzilla: Tokyo SOS. Garuda (in Thailand known as Paksa wayu) is a 2004 Thai Kaiju film. It is considered to be Thailand's first Giant Monster/Kaiju movie by fans of the genre.
Release Garuda was released in North America on Video on Demand in 2007, then later on DVD by Tokyo Shock. Reception
Critical reception for the film is mostly negative. Dread Central awarded the film a score of 2/4, criticizing the film's acting, and special effects. Joseph Savitski from Beyond Hollywood.com gave the film a negative review, stating, "Garuda had potential to be a great monster movie. Most of the film’s faults can be attributed to oftentimes sloppy direction and editing by the writer/director, whose own script barely makes any sense. This is too bad, because “Garuda” has decent special effects, as well as an appealing female lead in Sara Legge. Unfortunately, like most monster movies, “Garuda” ends up treading formula instead of creating new ones, resulting in a film that doesn’t stand out from the crowd". Adam Arseneau from DVD Verdict gave the film a negative review, criticizing the film's poor plot, bad acting, poorly executed special effects, and overuse of action film clichés. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., released in Japan as Godzilla × Mothra × Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS (ゴジラ×モスラ×メカゴジラ SOS Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira Tōkyō Esu Ō Esu), is a 2003 science fiction kaiju film directed by Masaaki Tezuka. It was the twenty-seventh film to be released in the Godzilla series. It is the twelfth film to feature Mothra, the second film to feature Kamoebas, and the fifth and latest film to feature Mechagodzilla. Unlike the Millennium Series and like Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, the film takes place in continuity with other Toho films, notably Godzilla, Mothra, War of the Gargantuas, Space Amoeba and its predecessor, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. Plot Kiryu is undergoing repair modifications after its battle with Godzilla. Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi accepts Lead Scientist Yoshito Chujo's choice to replace the Absolute Zero Cannon with a powerful Tri-Maser. The Shobijin (Mothra's twin fairies) warn the Japanese government that Godzilla continues returning to Japan because they used the original Godzilla's bones in Kiryu's design. If they return the bones to the bottom of the sea, Mothra would gladly take Kiryu's place in defending Japan, but if they do not, Mothra will declare war on humanity. Soon enough, Kamoebas, a giant mata mata turtle, is found washed ashore on a Japanese beach. It is determined by the wounds on Kamoebas' neck that Godzilla killed it. Godzilla and Mothra fight, but Godzilla seems to have the upper hand. With the repairs finished just in time, Kiryu manages to even the odds, but Godzilla manages to knock out both monsters. Meanwhile, on Infant Island, two twin Mothra larvae hatch from Mothra's egg, and rush to help their mother. As Kiryu was being repaired, the larvae try to hold Godzilla off, but Mothra is killed by Godzilla's atomic breath while trying to save her children. Just in time, Yoshito and the humans repair Kiryu, who stabs Godzilla's chest with a drill, causing Godzilla to bleed. Godzilla roars in pain, and the larvae begin to bind him up in web. Just as Kiryu's pilot, Azusa Kisaragi, receives the order by Igarashi to destroy Godzilla before the Kiryu project is scrapped, Kiryu's soul is re-awakened through Godzilla's roar. The cyborg lifts Godzilla and secures themselves with cables. Kiryu then uses its boosters to carry itself and Godzilla to the bottom of the ocean. In the film's post-credits scene, in an undisclosed location, a laboratory is shown, filled with canisters that contain the DNA of numerous Toho kaiju. It is stated in the Japanese version via on off-screen voice giving announcements that a "bio-formation" experiment involving an "extinct subject" is about to take place, implying that the JXSDF plans to create another mecha or kaiju-based superweapon, which could mean that Godzilla or another monster could appear once again. Cast
Box Office Godzilla: Tokyo SOS opened on December 14, 2003 on a double bill with the animated feature Hamtaro: Ham Ham Grand Prix. In its opening weekend, it was third place at the box office with $1,686,009 (U.S). Critical Reaction Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. has received generally positive reviews from journalistic reviewers upon its release on DVD. John Sinnott of DVD Talk gave Tokyo SOS four stars out of five, saying: "There are some problems with this movie, but when all is said and done, I really enjoyed it. .. While this movie seems to be aimed at a younger audience without a lot of plot or characterization, it was still a lot of fun. The fight scenes were exciting and though they took up most of the movie, they never dragged on or got boring." Giving the film a score of three out of five, Stomp Tokyo said "the plot is fairly simplistic and the character relationships are painted in broad strokes," but added that the movie "[features] the best monster action Toho has produced." Joseph Savitski of Beyond Hollywood criticized the film's "uninspired script," which he wrote had "ideas [that] are never fully developed," but added that the film is "well-made" and "makes for an entertaining 91 minutes." Mark Zimmer of Digitally Obsessed gave Tokyo S.O.S. a "B" score, calling it "a fun enough action film with enough explosions and destruction of Tokyo to satisfy die-hards and casual fans alike." Home Media Releases (US)
Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment - 50th Anniversary Released: December 14, 2004 Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) [NTSC] Sound: Japanese and English (Dolby Digital 5.1) Subtitles: English Supplements: Making Of - Featurette [Special Effects] (21:47) Japanese Teaser Trailer Preview Trailers: Steamboy, Kaena: The Prophecy and Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid Case type: Keep Case Notes: Also available in a 3-Disc "50th Anniversary Godzilla DVD Collection" box set; along with Son Of Godzilla [1967] and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla [1974]. Blu-Ray will be coming out May 6, 2014 as a double feature with Godzilla: Final Wars. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, released in Japan as Godzilla × Mechagodzilla (ゴジラ×メカゴジラ Gojira tai Mekagojira), is a 2002 Japanese science fiction kaiju film directed by Masaaki Tezuka, written by Wataru Mimura, and produced by Toho Co., Ltd. It is the 26th installment in the Godzilla franchise and the fourth film to feature Mechagodzilla. Unlike much of the Millennium Series and like Godzilla 2000, the film takes place in continuity with other Toho films, notably Godzilla, Mothra, War of the Gargantuas, Space Amoeba and its successor, Tokyo S.O.S. Plot In 1999, 45 years after Godzilla's first attack, Lieutenant Akane Yashiro, a mazer-cannon technician, is unable to kill a new member of Godzilla's species during her first fight. She is made a scapegoat for the military's losses during the battle and transferred to a desk job. During the battle, it was discovered that Godzilla is immune to mazer fire, rendering all of the Japanese military useless against him should he return. Scientists, including single father Tokumitsu Yuhara, are gathered to build a bio-mechanical robot from the original Godzilla's skeleton. Four years later, the cyborg Mechagodzilla, named Kiryu, is finished and inducted into the Japan Self-Defense Forces along with its human pilots as the Kiryu Squadron. Akane becomes the main pilot for Kiryu. However, memories of Akane's actions during the original fight still linger, and one of her squadron mates, 2nd lieutenant Susumu Hayama holds her responsible for the death of his brother. A while later, Mechagodzilla is shown to the world, and the complete system that controls the unit is explained. Controlled remotely from a control craft that resembles a very large jet fighter with VSTOL capabilities, it can be remotely recharged from the ground using microwaves that are relayed through a power system on one of the command aircraft, and then beamed back down to the robot. For the end of the presentation, its greatest and most powerful weapon, the freezing Absolute Zero cannon, is shown. At the same time, Godzilla shows up once again, and Kiryu is launched into battle. In the midst of the first battle, Kiryu's soul is awoken by Godzilla's roar and brings with it the memories of the original Godzilla's death. As if possessed by the original Godzilla, Kiryu proceeds to destroy the city around it after Godzilla retreats to the ocean floor. Horrified, the Kiryu Squadron can only watch and alarm as the rampaging cyborg destroys more city property than Godzilla did. After 1 hour, Kiryu runs out of energy and is brought back to headquarters for further work. All the while, Akane attempts to settle matters involving Hayama, Tokumitsu, and his distressed daughter, Sara; who sees Kiryu as a being with a right to life and that it should befriend Godzilla rather than battle him. Later, Godzilla attacks again. After repairs are made, Kiryu is released from the air and hits Godzilla with immense speed. At this point, Godzilla and Mechagodzilla face off in a head-to-head battle where each combatant sizes up its opposite and exchange powerful blows that also devastate the cityscape around them. Kiryu gains the upper hand and beats down Godzilla, grabbing his tail and spinning him around, then letting go and sending him flying. Kiryu proceeds to launch the Absolute Zero, but Godzilla fires his atomic breath. During the course of the impact, Kiryu is disabled, and the remote piloting system completely taken offline. In an effort to continue the fight and press what advantage over Godzilla they still have, Akane orders the pilot to land his command craft so that she can make her way to Mechagodzilla and take control from its internal backup cockpit. Now under direct human control, Kiryu rises from the ground one more time and closes in on Godzilla for a final blow, hoping to use the Absolute Zero cannon at point-blank range. The two titans collide, and Akane uses Kiryu`s thrusters to propel it and Godzilla out to sea before the cannon fires, freezing a huge portion of the ocean around them. After the blast clears, Godzilla is shown to be alive but with a huge gash in his chest, steadily walking back into the ocean. Kiryu is heavily damaged, missing its right arm, and the Absolute Zero cannon is devastated. With the Kiryu Squadron successful in defeating the monster,Godzilla retreats. In a post-credits scene, Akane agrees to have dinner with Tokumitsu and Sara and gives Kiryu one last salute for his aid in battling Godzilla. Cast
Production Mechagodzilla is mostly referred to as Kiryu (meaning "Machine Dragon") throughout this film and the next. This was done to differentiate the character from previous versions. Japanese Baseball star Hideki Matsui has a cameo as himself in the film, due to his nickname "Godzilla". As has been done since the early 1970s, Toho had the international version of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla dubbed in Hong Kong. This dubbed version was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2004. Box Office Budgeted at roughly $8,500,000, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla opened in Japan on December 13, 2002, and earned $2,253,231 in its opening weekend. It went on to gross approximately $16,000,000 in Japan, making it the second biggest hit of the Millennium Godzilla films at the box office. It sold approximately 1,700,000 admissions. Critical Reaction Reviews of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla have been positive. Mike Pinsky of DVD Talk gave the film three stars out of five, saying: "While I did have some minor complaints, [this is] a fine entry in the series." Pinsky said "the plot is more interesting than most giant monster movies," and "the battle scenes, which are the main reason anyone watches these films to begin with, were great." Giving the film a "B+" score, Mark Zimmer of Digitally Obsessed said that it's "a good deal of fun and one of the better entries in the series." Digital Monster Island gave the film a "B" score, calling it "a fun and exciting film that should please most kaiju fans." DVD
Sony Pictures - R1 America - Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment Released: March 23, 2004 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic) [NTSC] Soundtrack(s): Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1) English (Dolby Digital 5.1) Subtitles: English (Dubtitles) and French Extras: Trailers: "The Medallion", "Returner", "Tokyo Godfathers" and "Tube" Case Type: Keep Case Notes: American Title - "Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla" "International Version" 88:29 mins, English opening and closing credits (otherwise same as the original Japanese version) Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (ゴジラ・モスラ・キングギドラ 大怪獣総攻撃 Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidora: Daikaijū Sōkōgeki) is a 2001 science fiction kaiju film directed by Shūsuke Kaneko, written by Kaneko, Keiichi Hasegawa and Masahiro Yokotani, and starring Chiharu Niiyama, Ryudo Uzaki, Masahiro Kobayashi and Mizuho Yoshida. It is the twenty-fifth installment in the released in the Godzilla film series as a part of the Millennium series. Set nearly 50 years after the events of Godzilla, the film tells the story of a revived Godzilla possessed by the spirits of the Japanese soldiers that died in World War II. Godzilla returns to destroy Japan. Taizo Tachibana, admiral of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, intends to attack Godzilla. Meanwhile, his daughter Yuri searches for the three guardians, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Baragon. They must stop Godzilla from obliterating the country. The film was released in the United States on cable television on August 31, 2003 then followed with a DVD release in early 2004. Plot In Tokyo, following the giant monster attack on New York City, a meeting of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) is held to discuss the potential return of Godzilla. During the meeting, Admiral Taizo Tachibana briefs cadets about Godzilla's attack on Tokyo 50 years earlier. A nuclear submarine is reported missing, which is later found to have been destroyed by Godzilla. Tachibana's daughter, Yuri Tachibana film a docudrama with her crew at Mt. Myoko, where a mysterious earthquake randomly ensues. The odd earthquake returns later that night burying a biker gang and leaving one surviving trucker who witnesses the monster, Baragon. The next day, Yuri is unable to convince her supervisor Haruki Kadokura to report the incident. The SDF attempts to rescue the buried men using a missile called D-03. The surviving trucker tries to explain to a military official what he saw but can only explain that he believed it was Godzilla. Yuri's friend, Teruaki Takeda, supports her theory that a monster may have been the cause of the mysterious Myoko earthquake by giving her a book on The Guardian Monsters. Meanwhile, a few teenagers at Lake Ikeda in Kagoshima are attacked by an insect monster, Mothra. The Defense Force analyzes underwater footage of what appears to be glowing dorsal fins leaving the destroyed nuclear submarine from before. The conclusion is drawn that the monster is Godzilla. Yuri interviews Hirotoshi Isayama, an elderly man who foretells the return of Godzilla. Isayama explains to her the legend of the guardian monsters, Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah and goes on that they must be awakened before Godzilla destroys Japan. Yuri and her team visit the guardian monsters shrine where she finds a stone. Godzilla comes ashore to Magonote and attacks the Bonin Islands, leaving few survivors. Yuri returns to interview Isayama and discovers that the poor lost souls of World War II are embedded within Godzilla and wish to destroy Japan after the nation forgotten their sacrifices. A few days later, Godzilla and Baragon finally appear in Japan and engage in a ferocious battle in Hakone. Yuri and Takeda are trapped in the midst of the battle when Godzilla mercilessly defeats Baragon with his atomic breath. After the battle, Yuri receives a minor injury to the head. Fearing for her safety, Takeda refuses to take her to Godzilla's location. Angered, Yuri goes alone. Mothra's cocoon is soon immediately discovered in Lake Ikeda. The SDF dispatch several fighter jets to stop Godzilla but are quickly defeated by the monster. Tachibana sets up a defense line in Yokohama. Mothra and a yet-to-be-grown Ghidorah awaken and fly towards Yokohama where Godzilla is spotted. Mothra arrives first and battles the monster. Ghidorah arrives moments later and joins the fray. After brutally pinning down both monsters, the SDF engage Godzilla with D-03 missiles; but to no avail, as the missiles fail. Enraged, Godzilla swiftly destroys nearly the entire defense line using his atomic breath. Mothra rises for a surprise attack, but Godzilla kills her with his atomic breath. Mothra's spirit intertwines with Ghidorah and transforms him into the 3,000 year old dragon King Ghidorah. King Ghidorah injures Godzilla and takes the battle underwater. Tachibana and his colleague join the fight using the Satsuma submarine. Tachibana plans to shoots a D-03 into Godzilla's wound but fails after several attempts, even accidentally hitting King Ghidorah with one of the missiles. Yuri and Takeda report the struggle from a bridge that later collapses from Godzilla's atomic breath. Takeda and Yuri hold on; however, the shrine stone falls from Takeda's pockets and sink into the deep, melting on King Ghidorah's head. Ghidorah's power is strengthened up and takes the battle to the surface once more. Yuri and Takeda barely survive the fall and swim ashore while the monsters continue to fight. Godzilla destroys King Ghidorah with a super power breath and unleashes the spirits of the Guardian Monsters, which sink him down to the deep. After entering Godzilla's body through his mouth, Tachibana successfully plants a D-03 missile in Godzilla's wound. Godzilla surfaces to come face to face with Yuri and Takeda but the monster collapses when the missile explodes. Tachibana exits Godzilla's body through the monster's wound right before the monster disintegrates. Japan soon rejoices at their victory against Godzilla; however, the monster's heart continues to beat on the ocean floor. Cast
Production Director Shūsuke Kaneko's original script originally had Anguirus, Varan and Baragon defend Japan against Godzilla, but Toho told him to replace the former two with the more popular King Ghidorah and Mothra, as Anguirus and Varan were not considered bankable enough to guarantee a box-office hit. Skeptical at first, he managed to work the two monsters into the film. American fans were upset that Baragon was chosen to remain instead of Anguirus but the reason for this was that Baragon was popular in Japan despite only appearing in two kaiju films also distributed by Toho. The film is especially notable for the changes made to the monsters. For example, Ghidorah typically played the villain in previous Godzilla films; this film has him as a hero. In fact, Ghidorah is actually portrayed a few meters shorter than Godzilla; previous incarnations of the character were much larger, and towered over Godzilla. Originally, Godzilla was intended to walk with his back and tail parallel to the ground however, this idea was dropped due to the strain it put on Mizuho Yoshida (the actor playing Godzilla), and Godzilla retains his traditional posture. Mothra was also revamped. Like Ghidorah, Mothra is portrayed as being far smaller than normal and looking more like a Butterfly than a Moth. Her poison powder and hurricane wind attacks were removed, and were replaced with a burst of stingers fired from her abdomen. In addition, Mothra's fairy servants, the Shobijin, are dropped completely, (though a homage exists in the form of twins from Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys who look up in awe at Mothra as she flies overhead). Baragon was also altered. His heat ray was removed, his roar was changed and his horn is no longer bioluminescent. Apparently, the reason behind the changes to Ghidorah, Mothra, and Baragon were made in order to make Godzilla seem stronger. Director Kaneko wanted Godzilla to be the most powerful monster in the film. He originally wanted to use monsters who are notably smaller and less powerful than Godzilla, as his opponents. When advised by Toho to replace them, he compensated by making Ghidorah and Mothra weaker than they normally were. Fuyuki Shinada, who designed the monster suits for the film, was disappointed that Varan (his all-time favorite monster) wasn't going to be in the film, so he compromised by putting Varan's facial features on Ghidorah's three heads. In addition, the radioactive element has been replaced with a more mystical element. Godzilla has origins rooted in Japan's World War II past. Although Godzilla is still a mutant dinosaur created by the atomic bomb, he is also described as an incarnation of those killed or who were left to die at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War. The extent to which his nuclear and spiritual origins balance is never specified. Kaneko, a lifelong pacifist, did this to boost the anti-war angle of the original Godzilla. It was also because he knew that audiences wanted a realistic Godzilla, but there was no realistic way to explain a 60-meter mutant dinosaur, so he thought it worked better with a fantasy element. Box Office Produced with a budget of $9,400,000, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack opened in Japan on December 15, 2001 on a double-bill with an animated film called Hamtaro: Ham Ham Big Land Adventure. In its opening weekend, it grossed approximately $1,900,000. By the end of its box office run, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack grossed a total of approximately $20,000,000, with 2,400,000 admissions. It was the largest-grossing Godzilla film of the Millennium series in Japan. Reception Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack holds a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on thirteen reviews. Troy Guinn of Eccentric Cinema gave the film a score of 8/10, calling it "one of only three Godzilla films I would recommend to anyone besides giant monster-movie fans or sci-fi buffs, the other two being the original Gojira and Mothra vs. Godzilla." Bryan Byun of DVD Verdict gave it a positive review, calling it "one of the most exciting entries in Godzilla's long cinematic history." Stomp Tokyo gave the film a score of 3/5, calling it "one of the better-looking entries in the series, albeit one of unfulfilled potential." John Wallis of DVD Talk felt that "the story is quite weak and somber" and that "this new take on [Godzilla] doesn't really work," while Gemma Tarlach of the Milwaukee Journal said that "GMK is best when it embraces its unabashed cheesiness. But when it tries to make Statements with Meaning, whether on Japan's past aggressions or ersatz samurai ruminations on the duty of a warrior, the movie flounders like a giant lizard hogtied by power lines." Film critic Leonard Maltin gave it three out of four stars, one of only two Godzilla films to receive more than two and a half stars, with the other being Godzilla 2000. English Version After the film was completed, Toho had their international versions of the movie dubbed in Hong Kong. This dubbed version significantly changes the meaning of several lines throughout the film. Sony licensed GMK and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus with the hope of giving both films a theatrical release in the United States. Sony's release of Godzilla 2000 proved that traditional Godzilla films failed to attract huge crowds of moviegoers, so plans to give any newer Godzilla films a wide release were scrapped. Instead, Sony prepared edited television versions of both films. These premiered in the United States on the Sci-Fi Channel on August 31, 2003, during the channel's Labor Day marathon. In February 2004, the uncut international versions of both films were released on DVD with the addition of the original Japanese soundtracks (a first in the US). DVD Sony Pictures Released: January 27, 2004 Awards In 2002, the film won the Best Grossing Films Award - Silver Award. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, released in Japan as Godzilla x Megaguirus: G Shōmetsu Sakusen (ゴジラ×メガギラス G消滅作戦, lit. "Godzilla x Megaguirus: G Annihilation Strategy") is a 2000 science fiction kaiju film directed by Masaaki Tezuka and written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru Mimura. It was the twenty-fourth film released in the Godzilla franchise, and the second film in terms of the franchise's Millenium series. It premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival on November 3, 2000. The film shares the suit used in Godzilla 2000, so it will be a direct sequel because Godzilla rampaging the cities though it was separate continuity. Plot After Godzilla 2000, Godzilla continues to rampage and destroys the entire cities until dives into the sea and waits to the destruction. In 2001, an experimental satellite-based weapon that fires miniature black holes, called the Dimension Tide, opens a wormhole through which a prehistoric dragonfly enters the present and deposits a single egg before exiting through the wormhole. A boy finds the egg and takes it with him when he moves to Tokyo. The egg starts oozing a strange liquid, so the boy throws the egg in the sewer. The egg, actually a mass of hundreds of eggs, splits up and starts growing when exposed to water, hatching into large dragonfly larva called Meganulon that come out of the sewer to feed. They flood a portion of the city and moult on the sides of buildings, becoming adult Meganula. Meanwhile, the atomic dinosaur Godzilla appears, in search of a source of nuclear energy, despite the edict shutting down all such attractants after his three previous appearances. While Godzilla is fighting the G-Graspers (the anti-Godzilla section of the Japan Self Defense Forces) who are assisted by rebellious scientist Hajime Kudo, the swarm of Meganula are attracted in turn to Godzilla's energy, and attack him. Most Meganula are killed, but a few drain some of Godzilla's energy and return to the sewer. With the last of their strength, the Meganula inject Godzilla's energy into a huge, sleeping larva that is in a giant, pulsating cocoon. It molts and appears from the water as Megaguirus, the queen of the Meganula. After destroying part of the city with shock waves generated by her beating wings, Megaguirus heads to the waterfront and faces Godzilla. Being territorial, Megaguirus considers the city to be her hunting ground. As they engage in a lengthy battle, she uses her speed to avoid Godzilla's attacks, but Godzilla eventually uses her speed against her. As she flies toward Godzilla, he lunges forward with his dorsal fins in her path. She flies into the fins, and one of her arms is severed. During the battle, a special ability of Megaguirus is revealed: Having been mutated by Godzilla's energy, she can generate a blast similar to his atomic breath. She fires a huge ball of radiation, knocking Godzilla down. He gets back up, and Megaguirus goes in for the kill. She speeds forward with the stinger on her long tail lowered, trying to stab Godzilla between the eyes. In a climactic moment, Godzilla catches the stinger in his mouth. He bites down, crushing the stinger. Megaguirus rears up in pain, and Godzilla takes the chance to finally blast her with his atomic breath. She bursts into flames and Godzilla blasts her a second time and destroys her. It is revealed that Godzilla was attracted to the energy of a secret nuclear project housed at the Science Institute, in violation of the ban, by Professor Yoshino Yoshizawa. The G-Graspers are now wanting to kill Godzilla (even though he just saved them from Megaguirus), but with the Dimension Tide falling out of orbit they are unable to get a lock on Godzilla, until the vengeful Major Kiriko Tsujimori pilots a ship called Gryphon towards Godzilla, ejecting only at the last second. The Dimension Tide is able to lock on to the craft and fires just before burning up on reentry; Godzilla vanishes and everyone celebrates. In a postlude, however, Major Tsujimori again enlists Kudo to investigate suspicious seismic activity; then in an after-credits scene, Godzilla's roar is heard again as an earthquake strikes Tokyo. Cast The cast of Godzilla vs. Megaguirus are predominantly new faces to the Godzilla series, but the film began a tradition in the Millennium series of casting veteran genre cast members, especially from the Shōwa era, in older, authoritarian roles: Yuriko Hoshi, who played photographer Junko in Mothra vs. Godzilla and reporter Naoko in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, cameos as Professor Yoshizawa, director of the Dimension Tide project.
Box Office The budget of Godzilla vs. Megaguirus is estimated at $8,300,000. It opened in Japan on December 16, 2000, and during its box office run, it grossed approximately $10,000,000, making it the least popular entry in the Millennium Godzilla series in terms of revenue. Total admissions in Japan were approximately 1,350,000. Special effects director Kenji Suzuki reportedly took the blame for the film's weak box office performances. English Version After the film was completed, Toho had their international versions of the movie dubbed in Hong Kong. Originally Sony had licensed Godzilla vs. Megaguirus and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack with the hope of giving both films a theatrical release in the United States. Sony's release of Godzilla 2000 proved that traditional Godzilla films failed to attract huge crowds of moviegoers, so plans to give any newer Godzilla films a wide release were scrapped. Instead, Sony prepared edited television versions of both films. These premiered in the United States on the Sci-Fi Channel on August 31, 2003, during the channel's Labor Day marathon. In February 2004, the uncut international versions of both films were released on DVD with the addition of the original Japanese soundtracks (a first in the US). Reception Godzilla vs. Megaguirus was released on December 16, 2000 to mixed reactions. Ed Godziszewski of Monster Zero said, "While not the best example of filmmaking, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus nonetheless succeeds as an entertaining film." Ben Wagner of Toho Kingdom said, "Run-of-the-mill, mediocre, and sterile are the three words that best describe Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. It is a movie that attempts to be creative and edgy, but somehow fails, leaving one wanting with futility to really try to enjoy the film." Stomp Tokyo said "the music is pretty good" but "this movie isn't a step forward in the ways that it really should be." Mike Bogue of American Kaiju said, "Though not the best of the post-Showa Godzilla movies, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus is one of the most entertaining." Ian Jane of DVD Talk said, "While not the best entry in the Godzilla series, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus ... [is] still a really solid entry with some great special effects and a very memorable monster mash finale." Matt Paprocki of Blog Critics called the film "a true classic in the series," adding: "It's impossible not to be entertained somewhat, whether you're looking for camp value or serious giant monster action. This one has everything that is required of the [kaiju] genre." Andrew Pragasam of The Spinning Image called the film a "flawed, but entertaining comic book extravaganza" that "only partially delivers as a slam-bang monster epic" and suffers from "a lack of likeable characters." Home Media Releases
Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment Released: January 27, 2004 Picture Format: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic) [NTSC] Soundtrack(s): Japanese and English (Dolby Digital 5.1) Subtitles: English and French Extras: Bonus Trailers: Alien Hunter, Godzilla (1998), The Medallion, Returner, and So Close Case type: Keep Case Notes: The English subs are actually "Dubtitles". Blu-Ray will be coming out May 6, 2014 as a double feature with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. |
Release Dates
November 2023
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