Godzilla: Final Wars
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| Godzilla: Final Wars | |
|---|---|
| Image:GodzillaFinalWarsPoster.jpg Poster | |
| Directed by | Ryuhei Kitamura |
| Produced by | Shogo Tomiyama |
| Written by | Story: Wataru Mimura Shogo Tomiyama Screenplay: Isao Kiriyama Ryuhei Kitamura |
| Narrated by | Kōichi Yamadera |
| Starring | Masahiro Matsuoka Rei Kikukawa Kazuki Kitamura Don Frye |
| Music by | Keith Emerson Akira Ifukube Nobuhiko Morino Daisuke Yano |
| Cinematography | Takumi Furuya Fujio Okawa |
| Editing by | Shūichi Kakesu |
| Distributed by | Toho |
| Release date(s) | December 4, 2004 |
| Running time | 125 min. |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | ¥4,000,000,000 (est.)[citation needed] $33,000,000 |
| Preceded by | Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Godzilla: Final Wars (ゴジラ ファイナルウォーズ Gojira: Fainaru Wōzu?) is the fiftieth anniversary film and the twenty-eighth film in the Godzilla film series.
The movie was released theatrically in Japan on December 4, 2004, grossing an estimated ¥1,200,000,000 ($10,000,000[1]. Godzilla: Final Wars has the largest budget ever used in the Godzilla franchise, around ¥2,000,000,000 ($20,000,000)[2] outgrossing all the other Godzilla movies. The film was released on DVD and VHS in Japan on July 22, 2005, and in the United States on Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD on December 13, 2005.
It was directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. As a 50th anniversary celebratory film, a large group of actors from previous Godzilla films, both classic and recent, made appearances as main characters or cameo appearances. This goes for the monsters as well, as most of the monsters in the film had been missing from the screen for more than 30 years. The MPAA gave the film a "PG-13" rating for intense sequences of violence.
Despite the title, this is not the final Godzilla film —Toho has decided to temporarily "retire" the character for a period of 5-10 years (possibly around 2013 or 2014 [3]) in order to renew interest in the series as Godzilla's 59th or 60th anniversary.
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[edit] Plot
Endless warfare and environmental pollution has brought forth vicious monsters, which are a grave danger to the world. As a result, the Earth Defence Force (EDF) develops, protecting humankind. The organization is consisted of the best of technology and weapons, warships and soldiers, as well as mutant humans with superpower abilities. This combined force even defeats Godzilla, burying him deep in the Antarctic ice in 1964.
In 2004 (40 years after Godzilla was buried deep in ice beneath Antarctica), the EDF discovers a mummified monster known to be from space. At that precise point a handful of kaiju suddenly appears at major cities, including Sydney, Shanghai, New York City, Paris, and Okinawa, giving the EDF a tough task to do. Then after destroying much of their cities, the monsters vanish quickly. Thereafter an enormous spacecraft hovers over Tokyo. Aliens from outer space reveal themselves to be friendly and warn the Earth's governments about impending danger in the form of a meteor. Several of the main characters distrust them. Finally the aliens, called the Xilians, turn out to be evil and unleashes the monsters they have captured to annihilate the world. The mummy also is an Xilian monster, Gigan, and it joins in the frenzy. The EDF ultimately loses and Earth is decimated.
The protagonists, the leftover crew of the EDF, have all but one choice: free Godzilla. The Monster King escapes his icy prison and, while chasing the Gotengo battleship from the South Pole all the way to Japan, battles and defeats the controlled kaiju, finally squaring off with Monster X in the ruins of Tokyo. The remaining humans enter final confrontations with the Xilians, and at long last defeats them. Godzilla emerges as the victor as well, and, as he leaves for the ocean with Minilla (whose origin is unknown), lets out a roar marking 50 glorious years of triumph.
[edit] Reaction
Godzilla: Final Wars received mixed reviews from fans. It was intended to be a "monster mash" to celebrate Godzilla's long history, but due to the large cast of monsters, each was only allowed limited screen time. Furthermore, the movie departed from previous films in the series by introducing elements of human-focused action — an addition that was variously praised and condemned.
[edit] Cast
- Masahiro Matsuoka as Shinichi Ozaki (EDF Soldier)
- Rei Kikukawa as Miyuki Otanashi (UN molecular biologist)
- Don Frye as Douglas Gordon (Gotengo captain)
- Maki Mizuno as Newscaster Anna Otanashi (Miyuki's older sister)
- Kazuki Kitamura as Xilien Leader
- Kane Kosugi as Katsunori Kazama (EDF Soldier, Ozaki's partner)
- Kumi Mizuno as Akiko Namikawa (EDF Commander)
- Kenji Sahara as Hachiro Jinguji (EDF Paleontologist)
- Masami Nagasawa and Chihiro Otsuka as Shobijin (Twin Fairies)
- Kenta Suga as Kenta Taguchi, the boy
- Shigeru Izumiya as Samon Taguchi, Kenta's grandfather
- Masakatsu Funaki as Kumasaka (M-Unit commanding officer)
- Masatoh Eve as Xilien General
- Jun Kunimura as Major Kumoro
- Akira Takarada as Nataro Daigo (UN Secretary General)
- Godzilla......... Tsutomu Kitagawa
- Gigan ......... Kazuhiro Yoshida
- Rodan & Minilla ......... Naoko Kamio
- Anguirus, Ebirah & Hedorah ......... Toshihiro Ogura
- King Caesar, Monster X/Keizer Ghidorah ......... Motokuni Nakagawa
[edit] Box office
Any hopes Toho had of Godzilla: Final Wars ending the series with a box office bang were smited when the film opened in Japan on December 4, 2004. In its opening weekend, it came in third at the box office, with a mild $9,874,559 gross. It was beaten at the box office by The Incredibles but successfully, it crushed Howl's Moving Castle, coming in second. It ended its run with a not so profitable $17 million in North America.
[edit] 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, angering some fans.
[edit] Landmarks Shown
- Sydney Tower-Destroyed at the first seconds of Zilla's attack on Sydney
- Empire State Building-Visible when Rodan stands on a building near it, roaring.
- Sydney Opera House-Destroyed when Godzilla trips Zilla and he lands in it, then blown up by Godzilla's atomic breath.
- Mt. Fuji-Where Godzilla fights Anguirus, Rodan, and King Caesar; also visible when Godzilla roars after defeating them.
- Oriental Pearl Tower-Destroyed when Anguirus knocks the Karyu into it.
- Chrysler Building-Visible when Rodan was flying around in New York City.
- Eiffel Tower-Visible when Kamacarus flies around it, not seen destroyed.
- Jungle Of Papua New Guinea-Where Kumonga fights Godzilla.
- Statue Of Liberty-Chopped in half by Rodan offscreen (the audience only sees the torso of it lying near the lower half)
- Sydney Harbour Bridge-Destroyed offscreen by Zilla. The ruins are seen when Godzilla approaches Sydney to confront Zilla.
- Grand Canyon-Visible when Kumonga crushes a trailer.
- Tokyo Tower-Bent, presumably by the Xilians. Seen when Mothra fights the upgraded Gigan for the first time.
[edit] Locations Shown
- Sydney, Australia (Attacked by Zilla)
- New York City (Attacked by Rodan)
- Shanghai, China (Attacked by Anguirus)
- Paris, France (Attacked by Kamacuras)
- Papua New Guinea (Where Godzilla fought Kumonga)
- Tokyo, Japan (Attacked by Monster X and Gigan)
- Okinawa City (Attacked by King Caesar)
- Arizona (Attacked by Kumonga)
- Vancouver, Canada
[edit] Filming Locations
Godzilla: Final Wars began filming in May of 2004. The locations of filming included:
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Egypt
- New York City, New York, USA
- Paris, France
- Shanghai, China
- Tokyo, Japan
[edit] Appearances
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Kaiju |
Non-Kaiju Stock footage
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[edit] Concept arts for Godzilla redesign
- Before production began, director Ryuhei Kitamura wanted a new Godzilla costume, particularly one that was slimmed down to allow more agile moves. Four concept arts of Godzilla were very altered-looking. The first three shows that Godzilla is very slender and more demonic-looking. The fourth one is very similar to the one in the film, but with spiny scales, very different dorsal spikes, longer claws and red markings on its chest. [4]
[edit] Notes
- This is the second time a Godzilla series has ended with a "disaster-across-the-world"-like film, the first being Destroy All Monsters (the 1968 film took place in 1999).
- This film beat the record for most kaiju shown in a Godzilla film. The second was Destroy All Monsters with 11 monsters.
- The first time Godzilla confronts his American counter-part, Zilla. Because of the outrage many fans expressed about the "Americanized" Godzilla, director Ryuhei Kitamura named Zilla, claiming Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin took the "God" out of Godzilla.
- MMA fighters Gary Goodridge and Ray Sefo appear in the film as EDF employees at Area G in Antarctica.
- During the scene where a cop and a pimp get into an arguement, the F word was originally used multiple times. The word was edited out and replaced with the word "hell". This may have been done to avoid a possible R rating. Most Godzilla films have been rated PG, G, and NR (Not Rated). Godzilla: Final Wars is the only film in the franchise that is rated PG-13.
[edit] DVD Releases
Sony Pictures
- Released: December 13, 2005
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.40:1) anamorphic
- Sound: Japanese (5.1), English (5.1)
- Supplements: Behind-the-Scenes featurette (comparison of B-roll footage to finished film); Trailers for Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Steamboy, Dust to Glory, MirrorMask, and Madison.
- Region 1
- MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence.
[edit] External links
- Godzilla: Final Wars at the Internet Movie Database
- Godzilla: Final Wars at Rotten Tomatoes
- Official Site in Japanese
- Godzilla: Final Wars at Toho Kingdom including several reviews
- ゴジラ ＦＩＮＡＬ ＷＡＲＳ (Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
nl:Godzilla: Final Wars ja:ゴジラ FINAL WARS no:Godzilla: Final Wars pl:Godzilla: Ostatnia wojna sv:Godzilla: Final Wars
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