Godzilla VS King Ghidorah (1991)
Produced and Released by: Toho Co. Ltd.
Director: Kazuki Omori
Some images come from Godzilla Stomp (check them out!)
By Dr Kain

Introduction

Godzilla made his big return to the Japanese silver screen in 1984, which was followed by a sequel in 1989 called Godzilla vs. Biollante. Biollante was a new monster born from the combined cells of Godzilla and those of a plant. In 1991 Toho released yet another Godzilla movie, this time resurrecting an old nemesis, King Ghidorah, but this time with a new origin.

The Story

It is the year 1992 and a UFO has been spotted around Mt. Fuji, where it's greeted by the military and government officials. Three humans emerge from the UFO, two English men and a Japanese woman by the name of Emmy Kano (Anna Nakagawa). They tell the officials that the UFO is really a time machine and that they have come from the twenty-third century to warn them about Godzilla destroying Japan. They request to have three people go on a trip with them into the past to stop Godzilla from being born. This group includes Kenichiro Terasawa (Kosuke Toyohara), who wants to write a book about Godzilla, Miki Saeguas (Megumi Odaka), the psychic we met in Godzilla vs. Biollante, and a paleontologist named Professor Mazaki (Katsuhiko Sasaki).

The group travels back in time with Emmy and an android by the name of M-11 to the Marshall Islands in 1944 where they run into a battle between the US navy and Japanese soldiers. A dinosaur that looks like a Tyrannosaurus-Rex tramples on the American soldiers until it's shot by the Navy’s cannons and dies shortly after. M-11 and Emmy transport the “Godzillasaurus” to the Bering Sea so it will avoid being hit by nukes and not transform into Godzilla. Before leaving, Emmy places three creatures called Dorats outside of the ship.

When the group returns to Japan in 1992 they find out a three headed monster named King Ghidorah has appeared and is attacking everything. As it turns out King Ghidorah used to be those three Dorats that were left behind, but now they were hit with the nuclear explosion on the island, which caused them to fuse into the three headed monster. The men from the future have King Ghidorah under their control, and they planned it that way because they do not want to Japan to become the world’s biggest nation in the future.

Then, without warning, Godzilla is born again, only bigger and stronger than before due to being exposed to even more radiation than he was originally. Godzilla and Ghidorah meet each other and fight to the death, with Godzilla coming out as the victor by blowing off one of Ghidorah’s heads. Ghidorah crashes into the ocean and sinks never to be seen again. Emmy and the reprogrammed M-11 help Terasawa destroy the plans of the future men and transport the time machine in front of Godzilla, where he blows it up. Both M-11 and Emmy travel back to the future for a while and return with a revived Ghidorah called MechaGhidorah. The battle is successful as Godzilla is defeated, but MechaGhidorah is destroyed as well. Japan is safe, for now.

Review

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is one of the most controversial movies of the Heisei series due to its awkward time travel story. Some people think it killed the movie, while others think it helped make the film more interesting. As for me, I am in the one category of thinking it made the movie more interesting. I liked the concept and how elements from it are used in later movies (such as the creation of MechaGodzilla), and I loved the battle between Godzilla and Ghidorah. While it does lack some screen time for Godzilla, the concept of his origin has been improved upon. A dead dinosaur was resurrected and mutated from nuclear radiation.

The costumes were really cool, especially Ghidorah’s, which was a vast improvement over the Showa’s costume. As for Godzilla, while he also looked great, it was not as good as the one used in the previous movie. Now the costumes for the future men were ridiculously silly and dumb, at least for the males. Emmy’s looked somewhat normal.

Also, if you watch the English dubbed version, the worst voices are the English people, but no matter what, it is not as good as watching the original Japanese version. It is also funny to watch it in Japanese because some of the characters, such as M-11, speak in English at times, and they do a much better job than the dubbed actors.

Conclusion

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is an enjoyable movie, even compared to the newest Godzilla movies. It is one of my favorites for the Heisei series, even with its inconsistencies. If you are a Ghidorah fan, and have yet to see this movie, what are you waiting for?

I give it a 4/5 stars.

Dr Kain