Gojira: Fainaru uôzu (2004)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Ryûhei Kitamura

Writers:

Isao Kiriyama (screenplay)
Ryûhei Kitamura (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 December 2004 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Earth: Out-numbered, Out-monstered, Out-done.

Plot:

Godzilla's 50th Anniversary project, in which Gojira (Godzilla) travels around the world to fight his old foes plus a new, mysterious monster named Monster X.

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Godzilla | Tokyo | Paris | Gojira

Cast

Masahiro Matsuoka	...	Earth Defense Force Soldier Shin'ichi Ôzaki
Rei Kikukawa	...	UN Molecular Biologist Miyuki Otonashi
Kazuki Kitamura	...	The Controller of Planet X
Don Frye	...	Douglas Gordon (Captain of the Gôten)
Akira Takarada	...	UN Secretary General Naotarô Daigo
Kane Kosugi	...	M-Facility Soldier Katsunori Kazama
Maki Mizuno	...	Newscaster Anna Otonashi (Miyuki's older sister)
Masami Nagasawa	...	Shobijin (Twin Fairy)
Chihiro Ôtsuka	...	Shobijin (Twin Fairy)
Kenji Sahara	...	Paleontologist Hachirô Jingûji
Kumi Mizuno	...	Earth Defense Force Commander Akiko Namikawa
Masakatsu Funaki	...	M-Unit Commanding Officer Kumasaka
Masatô Ibu	...	The Xilian General
Masanobu Takashima	...	Major Kita
Mick Preston	...	New York Cop

Also Known As:

Godzilla: Final Wars (International: English title)
The Godzilla (Japan) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence.

Runtime:

125 min | Argentina:125 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Japan | Australia | USA | China

Language:

Cantonese | English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Germany:16 | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Toho Film (Eiga) Co. Ltd.

Trivia:

When picking the monsters for the film, Kitamura originally had Gorosaurus from _Kingukongu no gyakushu (1967)_ and Kiriyu (Mekagojira) from Gojira tai Mekagojira (2002) to appear in Gojira: Fainaru uôzu (2004).

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: The New York cop's mouth and speech are badly mismatched. This is because actor Mick Preston used the F-word repeatedly during filming and was later required to dub over his original dialog with less-offensive language. Viewers can still see him mouthing the F-word in certain shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Wars and pollution, relentless fighting and environmental destruction, have all awakened vicious monsters. Humankind therefore joins forces with one another in order to drive off the monsters, instead of killing each other. Thus, the Earth Defense Force is born...
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Chikyû kogeki meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan (1972)

Soundtrack:

Godzilla Theme

A mixed bag.

I attended the world premiere of GODZILLA: FINAL WARS in Hollywood tonight, and I must say the experience was incredibly exciting. The film itself, however, was indeed a "mixed bag" of greatness and mediocrity, and I left Grauman's Chinese Theater a bit conflicted.

I found the film's much anticipated title sequence to be too rushed and erratic, much like the film itself. The titles were not easy to read as they literally flashed on and off of the screen on top of distracting clips from classic Godzilla films.

The film's script was as confusing and scattered. The film started with a good, deliberate pace but quickly degenerated into an orgy of images and scenes spliced together in such quick succession, as one person I talked to put it, it was like you were channel surfing between several sci-fi and kaiju films playing at the same time.

The special effects were at times spectacular and beautiful...at other times they looked as if they had been executed in a rather hasty fashion. Some notable effects sequences: the Earth Defense Force's battle with Ebirah, Rodan's attack on New York, Godzilla's battle with Kumonga in New Guinea. Deserving special recognition is Zilla's daytime attack and night time fight with Godzilla in Sydney, Australia. Zilla's CGI was very well executed. There were a handful of effects shots that were not totally bad, but could have used some fine tuning. Manda attacking Atragon could have used some more work, for example.

Keith Emerson's electronic and pulsating music must be the most unique ever heard in a Godzilla film, but well done and intriguing.

As mentioned earlier, the pace of the film is so fast and erratic, it is hard to keep up with. Without giving away specifics, this must be one of the most out-of-control, if not THE most out-of-control script in the series.

It will take me a few days to figure out my true feelings about this film, but I imagine, with its high points and its flaws, this will be one of the most controversial films in the series among fans.