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Film: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (Gojira vs. Kingu Gidorâ)
Year: 1991
Director: Kazuki Ohmori
Writer: Kazuki Ohmori
Starring: Kosuke Toyohara, Anna Nakagawa and Megumi Odaka
Review:
This film begins in 2202. There is a submarine in the water looking at the body of a dead monster, King Ghidorah. It is missing one of its heads and we learn from two people talking that Godzilla did this to the monster.
We then shift back to 1992, which is the present. Godzilla is still alive, but it is under the water sleeping after it had fought Biollante. There is then a spaceship that appears that catches everyone’s attention. The country is in a panic and the government mobilizes its military to check it out.
It should be pointed out that this film explains Godzilla’s back-story. It is believed that there was an island in the Pacific that the United States was preparing to invade when a dinosaur attacked. It helped the Japanese soldiers defend the island, but was wounded. The soldiers fled the island and then nuclear testing on a nearby island caused the dinosaur to mutate into Godzilla.
The aliens on board the spaceship are actually time travelers from the future. They are led by Chuck Wilson, who apparently is playing himself. His second in command is Richard Berger. They also have a Japanese woman played by Anna Nakagawa. They ask for 4 individuals to come to their ship for a mission.
One of them is a science fiction writer that wants to do something different, played by Kosuke Toyohara. There is Megumi Odaka and Akiji Kobayashi that come to the ship. While there they meet with an android, played by Robert Scott Field. Wilson explains that in the future, Japan does not exist because of Godzilla. He proposes go back into time, prevent Godzilla from being created and they can save Japan. Before they take off, we see these cute little creatures that have bodies and wings similar to King Ghidorah.
They travel back to 1944 in the middle of World War II. They confirm that the dinosaur would become Godzilla and they transport it into the Bering Strait. Nakagawa lets the three little creatures out as well. What she ends up doing is creating King Ghidorah from the creatures she left behind. They fuse together and take the radiation that Godzilla would have gotten. He begins to destroy Japan. The problem is that we learn it is being controlled by Field with Wilson telling him what to do.
The time travelers lied. Japan is actually the most powerful in the future and they are trying to prevent this. Kakagawa is not happy about being misled. A professor is consulted, played by Katsuhiko Sasaki. He believes that Godzilla can be recreated. The only nuclear weapons Japan has are on a submarine and they send it to where Godzilla was left back in 1944.
Godzilla comes out of the ocean bigger and meaner. He does battle with King Ghidorah and kills it. It falls into the ocean. The problem is that Godzilla is now on rampage and headed for Tokyo. Nakagawa comes up with a plan to stop him though that requires her going back to her time.
Wilson and Berger realize that their plan has worked if Godzilla is not defeated. They are preparing to return to their time when Toyohara sabotages their ship with a bomb. There is a failsafe that will still send them back. Nakagawa does come to the rescue with a half robotic King Ghidorah.
Can Godzilla be stopped? Can Wilson and Berger be prevented from returning to their time? Will Japan and mankind survive?
I want to lead of saying that I love films that involve time travel. It is a hard concept to wrap your head around as it can create a lot of plot holes that are difficult to fill. I do like that this film does give a plausible explanation for Godzilla, why he is a guardian and why he is destructive. I felt the battle scenes were good and the monsters destroying the cities. The acting that supports the fights and mayhem isn’t bad. I even like the idea of the future being harder to accomplish their goal so they come back into the past to change things.
Now I do have some issues this film. The first issue being that the time traveling aspect creates plot holes that really bother me. They prevent Godzilla from being created and then return to the present. The problem is that everyone still knows who Godzilla is. If he isn’t created, no one should know who he was. This film ignores that continuity issue and allows everyone to remember, even though it has undone everything Godzilla should have done. The other is that when the dinosaur is encountered in the bottom of the ocean, it already looks like Godzilla. It was supposed to a non-mutated form, but they didn’t create another look, so they are just hoping that is ignored. Also how could Godzilla breathe at the bottom of the ocean before its mutation? This film is also kind of boring; there are big gaps of giant monster destruction or fighting. There aren’t a lot of them doing battle either.
With that said, I would still say give this one a viewing if you like giant monster films. This one is not the best, but it isn’t that bad. It does have some good destruction and fighting scenes, but they do get spaced out a bit. The acting isn’t bad and I like the time traveling aspects. Now this does create some glaring holes, but if you can overlook that, it is pretty solid film. Can be watched individually or part of the larger series as well.
My Rating: 6 out of 10