Godzilla vs. Destoroyah review
Arguably the greatest monster vs. monster movie ever made. I’m ready to make the argument.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
Directed by Takao Okawara
Written by Kazuki Omori
Starring Takuro Tatsumi, Yoko Ishino, Yasufumi Hayashi, Sayaka Osawa, Megumi Odaka, Saburo Shinoda and Momoko Kochi
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Review
Godzilla Day should be a national holiday. I don’t care that it’s in celebration of a Japanese franchise. Or that it’s insane to give a movie character a national holiday. Think of everything this character has given us for over seven decades. The true king of the monsters. Godzilla has delivered countless hours of enjoyment worldwide. From its genre defining original to our 2023 Best Picture winner…Godzilla has been a consistent presence in film. Sure, not every outing is a classic. Yes, the US once humiliated the franchise with Matthew Broderick and a terrible CGI lizard creature. But the hits far outweigh the misses for Kaiju lovers everywhere.
This Godzilla Day I want to look back at what is, in my opinion, the best monster vs. monster movie ever made. 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. It arrived 41 years after Godzilla but feels more like an anniversary celebration than any other movie in the series. A Godzilla movie did come out for the 40th anniversary (Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla) so who knows what was going on with missing the moment. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah turns back to the original masterpiece in a few ways. It brings back an original character (Emiko) and takes its plot directly from the fallout of that first story. Dr. Serizawa’s Oxygen Destroyer has unintended consequences…just as Dr. Serizawa knew it would. The result…one of the best foes the king of the monsters has ever had to face. And, because this movie is incredible, not even his biggest problem.
Godzilla is experiencing a bit of a meltdown. The world ending kind. When he blows…he will ignite the atmosphere and burn the Earth. The human characters (who are not annoying in this movie) have a plan to freeze him and contain the blast. They can do it…but his core is still going to rise, and the meltdown will burn the planet to its core and end life as we know it anyway. So, there’s that. Destoroyah’s emergence (due to some tunneling unleashing creatures affected by Serizawa’s weapon) is almost a Godsend for the planet. It shoots an Oxygen Destroyer beam that may be able to stop Godzilla before it’s too late.
Which brings us to Godzilla vs. Destoroyah’s exceptional B-plot. Godzilla Junior. Formerly known as Baby Godzilla or Little Godzilla…Godzilla Junior has grown up since last we saw him. But he isn’t exactly like Godzilla. He hasn’t absorbed the radiation that his bigger counterpart has…he doesn’t have his powers or his abilities. When G-Force finally catches up with the guy…a plan is hatched. They will lure Junior into battle with Destoroyah in hopes the big guy will follow. They know it means sacrificing Junior. He simply isn’t capable of holding his own against Destoroyah. But they need Godzilla to battle the new monster in town.
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah finds a way to make its monster showdown the most important one in series history. There’s more meaning behind their fight than any other one the king of monsters has been a part of. The entire world is at stake…and getting the necessary result is a long shot. It also helps that Destoroyah is awesome. Smaller creatures combine like Voltron into a larger forms. Their mid-size form allows them to battle humans. There’s an entire sequence in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah that plays out like the movie Aliens. And it’s awesome. When the humans, and their cryo-lasers, get the better of them…they simply combine into an unstoppable, larger form. Unfortunately for Destoroyah (who quickly dispatches Junior), Burning Godzilla is even more powerful.
Their final battle takes place in three stages. Godzilla, on the verge of meltdown, defeats Destoryah’s kaiju form as well as their counterattack in their smaller forms. As Godzilla looks over the fallen Junior…Destoroyah returns in his kaiju form to be defeated…by the humans. That’s right…a rare win for the humans in a Godzilla movie. They freeze Destoroyah’s wings as he attempts to flee Godzilla’s imminent explosion…and falls to his death. The humans rush to try and contain Godzilla, and manage to, leaving Tokyo full of radiation and completely uninhabitable.
Which, honestly, would have been a fine way to end Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. The movie is the end of the Heisei Era of the franchise. With the rights being given to Hollywood for their terrible 1998 movie…it could have been the end of any Japanese installments for some time. The minds behind Godzilla vs. Destoroyah had a much better ending in mind. Radiation levels begin to drop in the city. The camera moves through a thick mist to reveal Junior, now bigger and complete with his Godzilla spikes. He absorbed Godzilla’s radiation leak. The king of the monsters was dead. Long live the king of the monsters.
As of this writing, I am of the belief that the two best Godzilla movies are the first one…and the last one. Both Godzilla (1954) and Godzilla Minus One are fantastic man vs. monster movies. Neither features a kaiju battle. They’re survival movies. Ruminations on the destructive force of modern weaponry. They’re also pretty close to perfect and the best versions of that type of story you’re likely to find anywhere.
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah isn’t a man vs. monster movie. But it gets so many of those beats right that its monster vs. monster plot is elevated several levels. Characters struggle with the same choices Serizawa did in the original. Weapons continue to beget unpredictable destruction and danger on levels never seen before. Three different member’s of 1954’s Yamane family are involved in this plot…tying it to that masterpiece like no movie before or since. Whether it’s Junior, Destoroyah, Burning Godzilla, a scientist wrestling with his own creation or the Godzilla Force taking their final bow…everything in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah works to a level no other monster vs. monster movie has ever reached.
Scare Value
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is top tier Godzilla. Everyone has their favorites…and this should be among them. The most direct sequel to the original that Toho has ever produced, everything in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah works. This is a special movie. The end of an era and, I argue, the best monster vs. monster movie this (or any) series has ever produced. Celebrate Godzilla Day by revisiting this 1995 classic. Actually, go ahead and do that any day of the year.
4.5/5
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Links
Get it on VOD from Fandango at Home and Amazon
