Godzilla’s Most Formidable Enemies

Godzilla-vs-the-Sea-Monster-atomic-radioactive-breath

Here’s My Top 10 list of Godzilla’s Most Formidable Foes

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10 – The Sea Monster/Ebirah one film, several battles, a cameo in later films

Ebirah Ebirah-Horror-of-the-Deep-Godzilla-vs-the-Sea-Monster

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9 – King KongOne film, but defeated Godzilla in the end.

King Kong v Godzilla pic 4 King-Kong-vs-Godzilla

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8 – Destroyah – One film, but defeats Godzilla Jr. then nearly defeats Godzilla in a big finale battle.

godzilla-vs-destoroyah-destroyah- pic 1 Godzilla vs Destoroyah pic 4

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7 – Megalon – One film, the Space Beetle/insect caused much harm to Godzilla in several battle scenes.

megalon giff godzilla-vs-megalon 1973

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6 – Hedorah/The Smog Monster – One film, spit pollution goop into Godzilla’s Eye and covered his hand in slime which burned like acid.

Hedorah the smog monster pic 1 Hedorah the smog monster pic 3

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5 – Gigan – 3 films, space creature with an assortment of powerful weaponry, Lazer shooting eye, razor-like belly spikes, hook hands.

gigan pic 3 gigan pic 4

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4 – Biollante – One film, Biollante feeds off the energy of Godzilla and continues to grow larger than Big-G. When Biollante opened it’s mouth and nearly swallowed Godzilla whole, I thought it was over…I thought wrong.

biollante godzilla v biollante pic 2

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3 – Mothra – 8 films with Godzilla (plus 4 others), battles Godzilla in several films when Big-G is the bad guy, but is also on the same side as Godzilla in some films. Biggest battles, Godzilla vs. The Thing, Tokyo SOS, All Out Monsters Attack.

Tokyo SOS -mothra fights Tokyo SOS Mothra pic 3

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2 – Mechagodzilla – 5 films, went from bad guy in the 1970’s to Government weapon/good guy in the 1990’s and 2000’s. In the Millennium Series he is also called, Kiryu.

mecha godzilla pic 1 Mechagodzilla Tokyo-SOS - pic 2

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1 – Ghidorah /Ghidrah/ King Ghidorah – 8 films, No matter how you spell it, this space monster/dragon is never truly defeated. Ghidorah always returns, shooting electric beams from its three heads and causing chaos in Japan. Often, Godzilla must recruit other Kaiju to defeat this  foe.
ghidrah pic 2 ghidrah pic 3

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Do you think MUTOs should replace any of these in my Top 10?

godzilla 2014-vs-muto

 

Godzilla anguirus

My Top 10 Godzilla Movies – (6 thru 10)

godzilla eye 2004

Top 10 Godzilla Movies – 6 thru 10

I was going to put all my picks in one post, but I’m such a Godzilla geek, I couldn’t stop writing and make these reviews shorter. So if you haven’t checked out 1-5 of my fave Godzilla movies, the link is at the bottom of the page. These are in chronological order by year they were released – not by which ones I like best.

6 thru 10 – the later years

6) Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)

Godzilla’s radioactive cells are found in a riverbed. These cells are infused with a plant by a scientist looking to create a weapon against Godzilla. The plant is an animal/plant hybrid made of Godzilla’s own DNA and grows to monstrous proportions in a nearby Lake. When Godzilla shows up they battle. This film also introduces, Miki, a young lady with psychic abilities. She is able to feel the thoughts of Godzilla. She will be a recurring character in several of the Heisei era films. Godzilla and Biollante break into a battle in the center of the city which causes much destruction. Biollante continues to mutate as it absorbs more of Godzilla’s DNA and grows much larger than Big-G, making it a formidable enemy. Toho finally got back to its roots in having the battle scenes in city landscapes rather than off in some countryside area. The buildings and skyscrapers provide the scale proportions that tell us we are watching giant monsters. Without the cityscape, were just watching wrestlers in monster costumes. This is highly regarded by Godzilla fans as one of the best modern G-films.

7) Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)

This is another favorite amongst Godzilla fans, introducing a newly reconstructed Mechagodzilla to defend Japan from Big-G, and a newly revamped, Rodan. Also introduced is a baby Godzillasaurus who will grow in consecutive films until it reaches adulthood. The film starts with a battle between Godzilla and Rodan on a small Pacific island. They both seem obsessive about a large egg recently unearthed by scientists. As they battle, the scientists remove the egg from the island. Back at a scientific headquarters the egg hatches to reveal a baby Godzilllasaurus. It’s not long before Baby-G feels threatened and calls out telepathically to both, Godzilla and Rodan. G-Force (the Godzilla fighting military unit) will use Baby to lure Godzilla out of hiding and attack him with the new weapons of Mechagodzilla. However, Rodan shows up first and Mecha-G must fight off the heat-ray shooting Pterosaur, before concentrating its energies on big daddy. There’s a heavy duty brawl on the edge of the city, which includes Big-G stomping a baseball stadium, Rodan being buried by the ruble of a giant skyscraper and Godzilla throwing Mecha-G into a cluster of office buildings. Mecha-G is armed with some ingenious new weapons and it seems they have taken down Godzilla, until he is helped by an unlikely partner.

8) Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

This is the 2nd film in the Godzilla Millennium series and a sequel to Godzilla 2000. ‘G-Grasper’ (a new team of scientists and pilots assembled to fight Godzilla) is developing a weapon that opens a black hole in space for a short span of time. They plan on using it against Godzilla, forcing him through, to rid the earth of his menacing attacks. When they test the weapon in the remote countryside, unbeknownst to the scientist, a small creature similar to a dragonfly flies through to land on earth. It starts out small and reproduces, invading the sewer systems and attacking humans discretely like a classic horror movie. The swarm, in a need for more and more energy is attracted to Godzilla for his high concentration of power. They swarm around him and drain his radioactive energy in a fantastic scene on a pacific island. Having absorbed much power, the swarm flies off to feed the mother dragonfly, a giant winged beast. It awakes. It flies, it attacks Japan, and it fights Godzilla in a monster Kaiju rumble. Fun stuff! I love the creature design of Megaguirus. The ‘science’ in this film is actually plausible and Godzilla’s heat-ray is a blazing white-hot special-effect.

9) Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Monsters All Out Attack (2001)

Seriously, this is one bad-ass Godzilla in this film! This film (aka: GMK) takes the Japanese mythological approach to the monsters, addressing them as Demon, Dragon, and Butterfly (Godzilla, Ghidorah, and Mothra respectively). Godzilla has no eyeballs with this design; only whites, which make it look demonic for sure. Its body is more like the original with the unique multi-spiked fins of the early films. Here, Ghidorah, the dragon is more a force of good (it was hard for me to wrap my head around that) and protector for Japan. Along with Mothra and Baragon, they try to save Japan from the demon. There’s actually a very good sub-plot about a young filmmaker, Yuri. She makes pseudo-documentaries about ghosts, myths, and legends, which is equivalent to a filmed version of ‘strange but true’ tabloids such as “News of the World.” When she gets a hunch about a real story developing–the earth tremors and deaths caused by the waking of Baragon deep in the earth–her boss rejects her investigating plans and tells her to stick to the assignment. She ignores him and hunts down the trail that leads to the monster’s big battle with Godzilla. You really want to see Godzilla in this film taken down. The film shows innocent people getting injured and dying, better than all other Godzilla films. There are great camera angles, not usually shown in Kaiju films, to depict this. A terrified mother in her home as Godzilla’s foot comes crashing thru and an injured young woman in the hospital screaming as the place is destroyed by the beast’s tail are just a couple of examples. You have to commend director/co-writer, Shūsuke Kaneko, for that. I like the realism in this aspect of the film. The film is also loaded with fairy dust, golden rays, and spiritual connotations, but if you can accept these fantasy aspects, the film is a real treat. The fairy twins usually associated with Mothra films are not part of this tale but the film does have an homage appearance of the twins as normal citizens (regular size).

10) Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003)

A new Mechagodzilla was (in the previous film, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla), constructed upon a unique frame – the skeletal bones of the original Godzilla (Gojira – 1954), which had been lying dead upon the seafloor for over 50 years. This 3rd generation Mechagodzilla is a formidable weapon. It has a Hyper-maser in the center of its chest, a rocket launcher on its back and it shoots lightning bolt lasers from its mouth. Mothra comes to defend Japan as the princess fairies try to warn the military not to use the new Mechagodzilla. They don’t trust those bones and the spirit of the dead in the bones stops Mechagodzilla from killing Godzilla early in the movie. Mothra is a beautiful creature in this film, the best looking incarnation I’ve ever seen of this Kaiju. Its design is magnificent. Its wings flow with a natural grace and its flying, (fast or slow) is believable with realistic movement. Godzilla gets the best of Mothra, smashing her through buildings (impressive scenes) and damaging her wing with his fire-breath (a fast, blue stream that also looks fantastic). But, on a small Pacific Island an egg hatches revealing two Mothra Larvae which come to the aide of the dying Mothra and Japan. There is a much bigger military attack by Japan’s Defense systems in this film than there has been in many years, featuring Naval War ships, tanks, Maser cannons, and more. The scale city and building models are more detailed than they had been in many years, too, as the shots taken from street level are numerous. The 3-way battle devastates Tokyo, toppling the Tokyo Tower and eventually destroying the Capitol Building – previously destroyed in Gojira. In the end Godzilla is alive, but truly defeated, wrapped in a cocoon and sunk to the ocean floor with Mechagodzilla. This would have been a good send off for the Toho Godzilla franchise. Unfortunately, Toho did one more film, “Final Wars” which wasn’t nearly as good. This film is one of the only films with a detailed special effects featurette. It is an impressive behind-the-scenes look at what makes Toho special-fx. No narration, it just documents the set-up and execution of the big sequences of the film. They immediately show the final mastered clip after the docu-clip, with the slo-motion adjustments, editing and sound. All the secrets of their filmmaking are laid bare in these clips.

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Honorable Mentions

Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla (1994)

Awesome special effects of the crystal ‘lightning’ and electric arcs exploding across the screen make this one a great action-packed entry.

godzilla v space godzilla pic 1

Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (1966)

This film is small in scope compared to other Godzilla films but the giant shrimp/lobster design of the Sea Monster is awesome and the Godzilla/Sea-Monster battle if fun. One of the highlights of the film is Godzilla’s jump off the cliff into the water as the massive bomb counts down to destroying the entire island. As a kid, this scene made me nervous. This is one of the first films to have Godzilla portrayed as the good guy or hero of the film.

godzilla-vs-the-sea-monster-1966

Godzilla vs. The Thing (1964)

Godzilla fights Mothra in a Kaiju showdown. However after sitting though Mothra (1961) you wonder why we have to watch the complete Mothra origin story again, in this film.

mothra vs godzilla

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My Top 10 Godzilla films – 1 thru 5 – the later years
plus introduction

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Okay, I got a huge photo Gallery here because I’m sure some of you haven’t seen some of these newer movies. I think when you see the modern special FX, you may be interested in checking out some of these fantastic newer Godzilla flicks.

First Gallery:
Godzilla Vs Biollante, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla vs Megaguirus

 Second photo Gallery:
GMK: All Out Monsters Attack. Godzilla: Tokyo SOS

 

My Top 10 Godzilla Movies – (1 thru 5)

godzilla-1954

My Top 10 Godzilla Movies

My ‘Top 10’ are the films that are the least hokey and have a more serious tone…that is, as serious as you can get with plot elements like: mental telepathy with a giant monster, aliens destroying the world with a three-headed space dragon, and two mini-fairy princesses singing to a giant butterfly. So while I love some of the 1970 Godzilla films (Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, in particular), I can’t wholly recommend them to someone not fully indoctrinated to the world of Toho Kaiju; there are too many cringe-worthy scenes. If you didn’t grow up watching those 1970’s films, you probably wouldn’t appreciate them today. The films listed here are ones I can recommend, however, aside from the original film, you will have to be open to fantasy elements and a generous amount of suspension-of-disbelief.

Aside from the original which will always be 1st in my book – the rest are in no particular order, aside from chronological dates. I had to break this into 2 posts.

Top 10 Godzilla films

1 thru 5 – the early years

1) Gojira (1954) – Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956)

Directed by Ishiro Honda
Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects by Eiji Tsuburaya
Music by Akira Ifukube

This is obviously the most serious and grim film in the franchise, so much so, it seems like a different category altogether. It contains the science-fiction without the fantasy elements of its successors. Its allegory message about the destruction and devastation caused by the atomic bomb is both sad and frightening. It’s one of those films that you can watch today and still be affected by it. Most of us grew up with the American version starring Raymond Bur as the reporter relaying all the detail of the giant monster attacks. All of this footage was shot afterwards and while it was spliced in rather seamlessly, once you see the original Japanese version, the splicing becomes obvious. The original version (Gojira) focuses more on the love triangle of three characters (Emiko, Dr. Serizawa, and Hideto Ogata) and the new oxygen destroying weapon created by Dr. Serizawa. He decides this weapon should never have been created and takes his knowledge to his watery grave. In doing so, he also gives up his love of Emiko to his rival suitor, Hideto. The Godzilla roar sound effect was created by composer, Akira Ifukube. After many attempts at recording animal sounds by the effects team, Ifukube rubbed a string from a Contrabass with gloves soaked in pine tar.

2) King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Kong is found on a Pacific Island with Asian natives. There he fights a giant octopus and is taken to Japan for the usual financial gain of his captors. Godzilla escapes from an iceberg for his first appearance in a color film. The two meet up in Japan, smash some buildings then duke it out in a more rural area while being bombarded by rockets and bombs from the Japanese military. Toho actually experimented with shooting the entire film in stop-animation but decided it would be too costly. However there is a scene in the final edit that uses the animation footage during a battle on a hillside. There had been a rumor circulating for years that the Japanese version of this film had Godzilla win the battle in the end. But Ishiro Honda stated clearly in a later documentary that Godzilla was perceived as the ‘bad guy’ and felt Kong had to win. Both he and effects master, Eiji Tsuburaya entered filmmaking because of seeing King Kong (1933) and being awed by it. They wanted to let Kong win out of respect. This film is more hokey and silly than other films I reviewed here, but it is the only movie that will pit these two iconic monsters against each other. For that reason it had to be on my list. Interestingly, Toho wanted to film another King Kong vs. Godzilla in the 1990’s but had difficulty securing the rights to Kong.

3) Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster (1964)

This film is the first appearance of Ghidorah and the first time Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra shared the screen in the same film. Rodan had its own film previously (1956). Mothra had its own film, Mothra (1961) and earlier the same year appeared in Mothra vs. Godzilla (aka: Godzilla vs. The Thing – 1964). Princess Selina, in Japan for protection against assassins, sees a UFO during her flight to Tokyo and hears a voice that tells her, “Leave this plane, now.” She opens the emergency exit and jumps (at 30,000 feet). Seconds later the plane explodes. Meanwhile, a meteor crashes into a mountainside and hatches in flames revealing, Ghidorah. The princess returns in a trance, claims she is from another planet, and warns the people of Earth that Ghidorah will destroy Earth as it did her planet. Meanwhile the fairy twins call to Mothra to battle Ghidorah. Godzilla and Rodan are in their own battle with each other in some classic Kaiju brawling. Mothra attempts to convince Godzilla and Rodan to join the fight against Ghidorah. Eventually they do and send the three-headed, two-tailed monster packing. The English version changed the spelling to Ghidrah. There are a few minutes cut from the English version and it makes for some continuity errors in the edit. However, this is still a fan favorite from the early years of Kaiju films.

4) Destroy All Monsters (1969)

This was like the Superbowl of giant monster films. All giant Kaiju previously introduced in other Toho films share the screen in this mega-battle for earth. 1969 ain’t no ‘summer of love’ in Japan, its all out worldwide destruction. This was originally conceived as the final Godzilla franchise film. This was definitely the end of an era with the original Godzilla team splitting up after this film. Eiji Tsuburaya would go on to the Ultraman television series and Ishiro Honda would stop directing Godzilla films after the next film, Godzilla’s Revenge. He did return however several films later to direct The Terror of Mechagodzilla. This would also be the last film with Akira Ifukube composing music for some time. In this film, the giant monsters appear all over the world attacking famous landmarks in France, Russia, London, Beijing and New York (where Godzilla blows up the UN Building). They are being controlled, via metal implant device, by an alien race looking to take over Earth. Scientists discover the aliens are broadcasting control over the monsters from the moon and a battle ensues to knock out their communications. With no choice left, the aliens release Ghidorah to attack earth. However, the monsters join together to defeat Ghidorah for a final battle. (note: In the US trailer they mislabel one Kaiju as Baragon when it is in fact Gorosaurus)

5) The Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

The first 20 minutes of this film is a recap of Godzilla history, reusing footage from previous movies. And it’s not wholly accurate. Later in the film there’s also a recap of the previous film, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Most of the 1970’s films were shot with a much lower budget than the previous era, made evident by stock footage, reused clips and battles taking place in the less detailed country areas (what amounts to a few dirt hills). Also gone is the massive Ocean Pool set where Godzilla would make his dramatic entrances. The film introduces a new Kaiju, Titanosaurus, who is not as convincingly made as most previously constructed monsters. Its long neck is rubbery and reveals some of the shortcomings of suitmation. By this time, special effects leader, Eiji Tsuburaya, was producing Japan’s Television show, Ultraman, and special effects were taken over by his underling, Teruyoshi Nakano. However, even with all the budgetary constraints aside, there are some excellent Mechagodzilla attacks Japan scenes and a big countryside Kaiju rumble in the film. Godzilla is cut by Mecha-G’s laser-beams and spurts blood out of the side of his neck–a first for any Godzilla flick. An original Japanese version was never released but was edited because of too much blood and brief female nudity (non-sexual in nature). This would be the last Godzilla film directed by Ishiro Honda. ** I could easily swap this out with Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (see honorable mentions) which was a better written and plotted film, but was slow moving in some aspects.

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First check out the Photo Gallery below, then click the link to continue my Top 10 list

My Top 10 Godzilla films – 6 thru 10 – the later years
plus honorable mentions

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Godzilla thru the years – The many ‘looks’ of Godzilla

Godzilla-2001

Godzilla thru the years – The many ‘looks’ of Godzilla

aka: my big-ass Godzilla post!

A little known fact is that by the end of shooting any Godzilla film, the suit is quite damaged and has to be rebuilt. This is partly the reason that in every film, Godzilla looks a little different when using the same design. At other times the suit designer and film team purposely change the look of Godzilla.

Shōwa series (1954–1975)

godzilla-1954

The original Godzilla (Gojira 1954) was a slow moving giant reptile. The suit weighed over 200 pounds which made it difficult to maneuver. In the second film Godzilla Raids Again (Gigantis the Fire Monster 1956), the suit was streamlined for greater fluidity but was made with the same design.

godzilla raids again pic 2

Godzilla Raids Again

The first big change came in 1962 with the design for King Kong vs. Godzilla.

king kong vs godzilla 1962

King Kong vs Godzilla (1962)

Godzilla had a flatter head, a more snake-like face. He also had very wide legs with an overlap in the knee area. The design was only used for this one film but is one of the faves of Godzilla fans. It was also the design copied for the Aurora Godzilla model kit.

In 1964, Mothra vs. Godzilla (Godzilla vs. the Thing) had Godzilla’s face with heavier eyebrow bones which were also a bit smoother than the rest of his skin texture. Toho kept this design for the film, Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster (1964).

godzilla 1964

Mothra vs Godzilla

1966 saw a softer face for Godzilla as he became the good guy in films, not the enemy. Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster and Godzilla vs. Monster Zero/Invasion of the Astro Monster (1965) had him with bigger eyes and less angry features.

godzilla vs sea monster - 1966

Godzilla vs The Sea Monster

Similar suits carried through to Son of Godzilla. He also had longer human-like arms. Toho was aiming for more children to watch as they realized they had lost interest of the adult sci-fi audience. In these films, Godzilla looked closer to the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street than a dangerous radioactive mutant dinosaur. Destroy All Monsters (1968), Son Of Godzilla (1968), Godzilla’s Revenge (1969).

godzilla 1975 - terror of mechagodzilla

Godzilla vs Gigan

The 1970’s had a new look with Godzilla once again sporting a heavier brow, but his face looked almost like a puppy dog in these films. Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), Terror Of Mechagodzilla (1975).

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Heisei series (1984–1995)

godzilla 1991 - 1999

Godzilla vs Biollante

Godzilla wasn’t seen again until Godzilla 1985. He returned as a negative force in this one and his face was meaner looking but still resembled the 1970’s Godzilla style.

godzilla 1985

Godzilla 1985

It was 1989’s Godzilla vs. Biollante that saw a completely new design that would take Godzilla through the 1990’s in some of the best films since the early days. Godzilla was bigger, with more fierce features, smaller eyes and a double row of teeth.

g89doubleteeth

godzilla_1989 - Godzilla vs Biollante

Godzilla vs Biollante

In Godzilla vs. Destroyah, Godzilla was going through a radioactive meltdown and glowed orange. His fire-breath was red/orange and changed during the course of the film for some fantastic Godzilla-breath special-fx.

godzilla vs destroyer

Godzilla vs Destroyah – Meltdown Godzilla

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Millennium series (1999–2004)

godzilla-2000 film

From 2000 – 2004, Godzilla saw several changes.

In Godzilla 2000 (1999), we had a completely revamped Godzilla design. Most notable were its blade-like spike fins. This design was used for a total of 4 films, including: Godzilla x Megaguirus (2000), Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002), Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003).

godzilla-tokyo-sos 2003

Godzilla Tokyo SOS

In between those films was a completely different film and storyline in Godzilla, Mothra And King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001). This film took on a mythological approach equating the monsters to dragon, butterfly, and demon (Ghidorah, Mothra, and Godzilla). The Godzilla costume in this harkened back to earlier days with a more bulky look and old style fins. He had demonic eyes which showed only whites. This film is one of the favorites amongst Godzilla fans.

godzilla 2001

Giant Monsters: All Out Attack

With the announcement of another film, fans bombarded Toho Studios with what Godzilla should look like. One of the main sticking points for fans were his fins. Fans told the studios that the old style fins is what made Godzilla what he was. For the final Godzilla film the studio created one last costume which combined the look of the ‘1990’s’ films with the ‘Millennium’ films, making sure it had the old style fins. The Film, Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). was a modern day Destroy All Monsters. Godzilla even fights the American Godzilla (which they dubbed ‘Zilla).

godzilla 2004

Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

Always Sunset on Third Street (2007) – featured a wonderful CGI Godzilla in a short sequence. The movie was a drama but Godzilla fans clamored to see the short monster sequence. It is at the very beginning of the film if you’re interested in catching it.

Godzilla_CGI

Always Sunset on Third Street

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Other Godzilla incarnations

The 1st ‘other’ Godzilla to be shown was Baby Godzilla – Minilla/Mingya – films: Son of Godzilla, Godzilla’s Revenge, Destroy all Monsters (ending stock footage only).

Baby godzilla 1968

Baby godzilla

In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) we get a in-depth look at the actual Dinosaur that went thru radioactive mutation. He was dubbed Godzillasaurus.

godzillasaurus - godzilla vs king ghidorah

Godzillasaurus

In Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II and Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla, we get a look at a new baby Godzilla that would grow up in sequential films. We also find Space Godzilla which was formed by Godzilla’s DNA combining with material from a comet.

baby g in space godzilla space godzilla 1994

In Godzilla vs. Destroyer we have Godzilla Jr. the Baby Godzilla from Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla has grown up quite a bit. At the end of the film the radioactive isotopes are passed from Godzilla to Godzilla Jr, who then becomes the adult Godzilla.

godzilla jr pic 2

Godzilla Jr.

In Final Wars (2004) we get the American Godzilla, here dubbed, ‘Zilla.

Final Wars - 2004

the American Godzilla in Final Wars (2004)

Mechagodzilla

mecha godzilla pic 2

Mechagodzilla was the robot version of Godzilla, thought to be the only formidable weapon against the monster. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, The Terror of Mechagodzilla, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II, and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

 

And Finally, Godzilla 2014

Godzilla-2014-Movie-Image

 

Robots in Film – A Complete Pictorial History

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Calling All Robots!

Robots in Film – A Complete Pictorial History

*If you want to see my top 10, click here: Top 10 Robots in film and TV

1900 to 1960’s

1960’s to 1980’s:

1980’s to present:

The BIG list of film and TV robots:

(more or less in alphabetical order)

Ash from Alien

Astro Boy (anime – Japan)

The Astro-Creeps (unnamed robot w/Bela Lugosi 1940)

Alfie – Barbarella

Bishop from Aliens

BOX in Logan’s Run

Blade Runner – Roy & Rachel

B9 – Lost in Space – Robot B-9

Cylon from Battlestar Galactica

Chani – in The Devil Girl from Mars

The Colossus of New York

CP3O from some obscure sci-fi film 😉

Data from Star Trek: Next Generation

DV8 – from Crash & Burn

Destroyer from Thor

Ed209 and Robocop from RoboCop I & II

Fembots in Austin Powers and Dr. Goldfoot films &
TV shows The 6 Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman

Gog – from Gog

GORT from The Day the Earth Stood Still

Goliath in Virus

Giant Alien Robot in Monsters vs. Aliens

Giant Robo (Japan)

Gigantor (1969 animated – Japan)

The Gunslinger- Westworld

The Golden Army – Hellboy 2

Huey, Dewey, and Louie – Silent Running

The Iron Giant

 Johnny 5 – Short Circuit

John the Robot in the films:

  • Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
  • Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968),

Johnny Sokko and Flying Robot (Japan – 1968)

Jet-Jaguar from Godzilla vs. Megalon

Kronos

Mark13 in Hardware

Mogera from the Toho film, The Mysterians

Mecha-Kong

Mechagodzilla

Maria Futura – Metropolis

Maximilian – The Black Hole

Marvin – The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

Moon Trap – alien robotics

Proteus IV in Demon Seed (1977)

Pacific Rim (2013) various including Gypsy

RoMan from Robot Monster

Robot Boxers in Real Steel

R2D2 from some 70’s flick

Robbie the robot from The Forbidden Planet

Rosey – The Jetsons

Robot in Heavy Metal (1981)

Robot Teachers in Class of 1999 (1990)

Rapist Robots in Flesh Gordon (1974)

Seven of Nine, from Star Trek: Voyager

Sonny from I-Robot

Screamers assorted killer robots

The Sentinels – The Matrix films
Saturn 3 – Robot

Star Crash – assorted Robots

The Shape of Things to Come – various robots

Surrogates – replacement robots

Twiki from Buck Rogers

Target Earth
– Invader robots

Tripods from War of the Worlds (2004)

Terminator Robots:

  • T-800
    T-1000
    Terminatrix – TX
    Harvesters
    Skynet ‘Tank’ Robot
    T-600

Transformers various including Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee

Tobar the Great

Ultraman (Japan)

Wall-E – Wall-E

War Robot – Judge Dread (1995)

Zathbot  – Zathura (2005)

Of course there are a slew of robots in TV and Films such as Dr. Who and the Star Wars saga but I think I’ve mentioned the most memorable and widely known.

If I have missed anybody important, let me know. I will add it to my list!

My Top 10 Robots in film and TV

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My Top 10 Robots and Killing Machines in film and TV

As a preface of Pacific Rim, I’d just like to take a pictorial look at some other famous robots through the years. I know the machines in Pacific Rim are technically not Robots, but they are Robotics.

My Top 10 Movie and TV Robots:

1) The first lady robot in film and the first lady robot of film, Maria Futura from the silent movie classic, Metropolis.
metropolis-1

2) Most famous is Robbie the robot from The Forbidden PlanetAfter that film, Robbie, appeared in the film, The Invisible Boy (1957) and in guest spots on several TV shows, Twilight Zone, Addam‘s Family, and The Man From UNCLE, to name a few.. Robbie was the first Robot to demonstrate Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, in film.
Robbie-Robot-Screen-Shot

3) The television series, Lost In Space had the wonderful computerized think-tank robot, aptly called Robot. He would give words of wisdom like, “That does not compute,” and “Danger, Danger, Will Robinson.” Actually, the robot’s name is B-9.  (this pick goes out to Markmc2012)

robot pic 1

4) Mechagodzilla was modeled after Godzilla. He appears in 5 Godzilla movies: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993), Godzilla against Mechagodzilla (2002), Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2004)

mecha godzilla pic 2

5) Terminator Robots – Naturally, we have the Terminator Robots, T-800 and T-1000 and the Terminatrix (T-X). In Terminator Salvation, we have The Harvester, a gigantic robot war machine sent to seek and destroy the human resistance. That is one awesome giant robot – the whole film should have centered around The Harvesters, IMO. Also in the film was an earlier model, the T-600.

terminator-salvation_Harvester robot

6) The Gunslinger played by Yule Brenner was the original Terminator in the film Westworld (1974). Based on a Michael Crichton story.

westworld5

7) Mecha-Kong was a giant robot modeled after King Kong in the film, King Kong Escapes. (Toho Films)

mechakong 2

8) War of the Worlds (2005) Tripods – despite the successful 1950’s version of the film, the war machines in HG Wells’ classic were not saucers, but giant 3 footed pods. They came to life in Spielberg’s 2005 version of War Of the Worlds.

wow tripods 1

9) Sonny from I-Robot (2004). He was smart too. I felt bad for Sonny. The film’s many robots struggled to adhere to Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics.

i-robot-pic 1

10) Fembots have been in quite a few films, Doctor Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), Doctor Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966), Austin Powers (1997), The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and GoldMember (2002)

fembots austic powers pic 2

Related articles:
Creature Features – Giant Robots

Robots in Film – A Complete Pictorial History (coming soon)