Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)

It wasn’t until the late 90s that I was even aware Toho was still producing Godzilla movies. As a kid,I grew up on Godzilla movies, but had always assumed that Godzilla 1985 was the final movie in the series. I came across a VHS copy of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah while browsing through the local Wal-Mart and initially believed it to be a reissue of Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster, but on closer inspection I realized it was a completely different movie. Why hadn’t I heard of it before? Naturally, being a huge Godzilla fan, I had to buy the damn thing.  After watching it for the first time, I thought to myself, “What the hell was that?” Even by the standards of Godzilla movies this one was completely insane.

At first glance, the movie seemed like a loose remake of Invasion of Astro-Monster (or Monster Zero as it was released as in the United States).  In both movies an advanced civilization (the Xilians in Monster Zero and the Futurists in King Ghidorah) come to Earth with seemingly benevolent intentions. However, this proves to be a complete ruse as their intentions turn out to be sinister; both the Xilians and Futurians use King Ghidorah as weapon for conquest. Their attempts are thwarted by a handful of earthlings and Godzilla. However, while Astro-Monster  ends with Godzilla and Rodan successfully fighting off King Ghidorah, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah has Godzilla defeating King Ghidorah and then setting his sights on Tokyo.  He is one pissed off monster!!! The remaining Futurist, Emmy, travels to the future, salvages the remains of King Ghidorah, and turns him into a weapon to fight off the bigger and badder Godzilla.  Will she succeed? Or will she be vaporized by Godzilla’s atomic breath?  

The movie has some glaring plot holes: The Futurists come from the year 2204 and travel back to 1992 to warn the Japanese about their dire future. Their country will inevitably be destroyed by Godzilla and the Futurists want to prevent this by removing Godzilla from Japan’s timeline. Their solution: travel back in time to 1944 to Lagos Island (Godzilla’s home island when he was merely a dinosaur) and teleport the dinosaur to another location, thus preventing the creation of Godzilla. It is revealed that in 1954 Lagos Island was a sight of a hydrogen bomb test, which resulted in the dinosaur mutating into Godzilla. Are you following me? The time travelers, with the help of present day experts (the science fiction writer, Terasawa; the noted scientist, Professor Mazaki; and the telepath, Miki), are successful in their mission. However, before teleporting back to 1992, Emmy leaves behind three cute critters (called Dorats) on Lagos Island.

The Dorats are exposed to the radiation from the hydrogen bomb, fuse together, and become King Ghidorah. Even worse, King Ghidorah is controlled by the Futurists, who want to level Japan to the ground.  If the Futurists goal is simply to destroy Japan, then why put on the ruse of friendship? Why not just land directly in 1944 and carry out the mission without Japan’s knowledge? Why is it so pivotal that Terasawa, Mazaki, and Miki travel back to 1944 with them?  The three of them are merely spectators and don’t do anything. Also, if the Futurists have successfully removed Godzilla from Japan’s timeline, then why does everyone in 1992 still remember Godzilla?  Why teleport Godzilla to the Bering Strait? It turns out that all the Futurists really did was delay the creation of Godzilla; in the 1970s a Russian nuclear submarine sinks in the Bering Strait and the radiation creates a much nastier Godzilla monster.  Also, is the Godzilla on Lagos Island the one that destroyed Tokyo in 1954 (and was destroyed by the Dr. Serizawa’s Oxygen Destroyer) or is it the one that pops up in 1984? Did Toho forget that there were two different Godzillas? The Futurists would have to know this information, so how do they know they got the right Godzilla? A few plot holes are easy to overlook, but the entire second act of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is one big plot hole. It rarely makes any sense. 

On the other hand, Emmy is one of the more interesting protagonists in the Godzilla series. Though, her character arc is handled in a fairly half assed manner: She is complicit in the Futurists plans and is the one most responsible for King Ghidorah’s creation, yet all of a sudden she is appalled by their actions. Did she believe that King Ghidorah was merely a deterrent? Was she ignorant of the Futurists true agenda? The movie never really delves into any of these questions. Emmy’s character arc is parallel to that of Miss Namikawa in Invasion of Astro-Monster; except that Emmy is a much more interesting character. Miss Namikawa betrays the Xilians out of love for the astronaut, Glenn. The problem is that the movie does a poor job of establishing their relationship – they only share three brief scenes together and it isn’t until a half hour into the movie that it is established  they are a couple. Namikawa’s sacrifice ultimately proves to be hollow, because there is no investment in the character. 

 Emmy is essentially the main character of King Ghidorah and we see first hand the bond she develops with Terasawa.  Before she returns to the future to salvage King Ghidorah’s corpse, she tells Terasawa that she likes the present solely because he is there. Even with the terrible dubbing, this is a pretty nice moment between these two characters.  It is easy to believe that Emmy would bond with Terasawa, because he is a fun and likable guy. The two Futurists males that Emmy travels with, Wilson and Grenchiko, are very robot-like and view the world in a business-like manner; even time travel is a slice of the ordinary for them.  Terasawa is a fresh breath air for Emmy, because of his glaring contradictions: he often behaves in a child-like fashion, yet is also fairly smart and extremely observant.  Based off a few eye witness testimonies, he is able to come to the conclusion that the dinosaur on Lagos Island later mutated into Godzilla – The Futurists are able to prove they’re from the future by showing the Japanese government a book (“The Birth of Godzilla”) that Terasawa has not yet written. Though, their elaborate (and big) time machine should have been enough proof in itself.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is the second movie to feature the character of the young telepath, Miki Saegusa (Megumi  Odaka); her first appearance being Godzilla vs. Biollante. Miki would appear in six Godzilla movies and her role varies from movie to movie. It is established that Mike can connect with Godzilla on a telepathetic level and can often use her powers to manipulate him; in Biollante she is able to alter his course so he doesn’t destroy the city. While the rest of the characters view Godzilla as a monster, Miki sees him in a much more sympathetic light. As the series progressed, Godzilla became less of a villain and more of a force nature, which depending on the circumstance can either be bad or good – he is a villain in King Ghidorah and the hero in SpaceGodzilla.  Megumi Odaka had a likable screen presence and is really the heart of the series.  She deserves a lot of credit for constantly giving her all, even though a good portion of her screen time consists of having to react to an off screen threat. If I had a nickel every time there was a close up of Miki shouting, “Godzilla,” I would be a rich man. Unfortunately, she is given very little to do in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. Miki’s telepathic powers don't really factor into the story. The only reason include Miki in the cast is because she is a familiar figure to the audience, but the filmmakers could have easily replaced her with a more generic character. 

While Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is a throw back to the Toho monster fests of the 1960s, it is the beginning, of an unfortunate trend, by Toho to make American-like blockbusters (this is even more obvious in the follow up Godzilla vs. Mothra – the first twenty minutes of that movie blatantly rips offs the Indiana Jones series …er I mean pays homage to). The previous movie, Godzilla vs. Biollante, was a disappointment at the box office and the Toho execs pinned its failure on two things: It didn’t feature a familiar opponent for Godzilla and it had the misfortune of going up against Back to the Future, Part II. Director/writer Kazuki Omori tried to correct these “mistakes” by bringing back King Ghidorah and devising a Back to the Future-like plot; though, he never goes into the alternate timelines that makes Back to the Future, Part II so interesting. He also seems to have been inspired by The Terminator - the android, M-11, bears a superficial resemblance to Arnold Schwarzenegger. The scene where M-11 chases after Emmy and Terasawa recalls the highway chase in The Terminator. Whether or not, Omori saw Terminator 2: Judgment Day is unknown, but there is a scene where Emmy reprograms M-11 to obey her commands.  

The movie was fairly controversial for its supposedly anti-American sentiments – there is a scene where the Godzilla-Saurus kills a squad of American soldiers on Lagos Island. Even Ishiro Honda, the director of the original Godzilla thought this scene was a bit over the top. However, there is a vast irony that the very monster that the Japanese veterans regard as their savior ends up destroying the very city they helped built. The businessman Shindo, a survivor of Lagos Island, completely resigns himself to this fact and gets vaporized by Godzilla (after having a seemingly touching reunion with his lizard overlord). 

I will add that the Godzilla of the Heisei era (1984 – 1995) is by far my least favorite incarnation. While the suit is significantly better than various ones featured during the Showa era (1954 – 1975), Godzilla is devoid of any personality. Sure, the rubber suit in the Showa Era was complete rubbish, but Haruo Nakajima brought a lot of personality to that role – his Godzilla could be both menacing and funny. The Godzilla in the Heisei era is a bit too mechanical for my taste (at least, in the films from the 1990s. I actually like the suit that is feature in Godzilla 1984 and Godzilla vs. Biollante).  However, for all my quibbles, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is a fairly entertaining movie. It rarely makes any sense, but then again very few of the Godzilla movies actually do. It’s fairly amusing to see it try to emulate bigger (and better) American movies and fall completely on its ass.

Credits
Cast: Anna Nakagawa (Emmy Kano), Kasuke Toyohara (Kenichiro Terasawa), Megumi Odaka (Miki Saegusa), Katsuhiko Sasaki (Professor Mazaki), Akiji Koboyashi (Yuzo Tsuchiashi), Tokuma Nishioka (Takehito Fujiio), Yoshio Tsuchiya (Yasuaki Shindo), Chuck Wilson (Wilson), Richard Berger (Grenchiko), Robert Scott Field (M-11), Kenji Sahara (Minister Segawa), Kiwako Harada(Chiaki Moriyuma), Kôichi Ueda(Ikehata), Sô Yamamura (Prime Minister), Kenpachirô Satsuma (Godzilla), ‘Hurricane Ryu’ Hariken (King Ghidorah), Wataru Fukuda (Godzilla – Saurus).

Director: Kazuki Omori
Screenplay: Kazuki Omori
Running Time: 103 min.