Gumnaam (1965)
Article 5695 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-7-2019
Directed by Raja Nawathe
Featuring Nanda, Manoj Kumar, Pran
Country: India
What it is: Musical mystery

A group of people find themselves stranded in an isolated mansion. They are stalked by a killer who wishes to punish them for the roles they played in a murder conspiracy.

This one is rather marginal in terms of fantastic content, but it’s been awhile since I did a new review and I’ve covered other variations of “Ten Little Indians”, so I’ll cover it. And it does have a couple of scenes that have fantastic overtones; one in which a character sees phantoms of the dead, and another where a dead body seems to come to life. This one also has a nice sinister atmosphere – at least, when it’s not engaged in the usual Bollywood song and dance escapades. It has a twist or two that differentiates it from its source story, and it builds up to a decent enough ending. And, at two and a half hours, it may actually be a bit short for a Bollywood movie. Still, I can’t help but notice that if you cut out all the song and dance numbers, it would run probably a little more than an hour and a half, the accustomed length for non-Bollywood movies.

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
aka Gojira vs. Desutoroia
Article 5693 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-7-2019
Directed by Takao Okawara
Featuring Takuro Tatsumi, Yoko Ishino, Yasufumi Hayashi
Country: Japan
What it is: End of the Heisei series

When Godzilla becomes physically unstable, it becomes apparent that he is going to suffer a meltdown. He must do battle with a monster created by the oxygen destroyer, a mutating beast called Destoroyah.

It’s no surprise that this one is a vast improvement over the previous entry in the series (GODZILLA VS. SPACEGODZILLA); once the decision was made to climax this one with Godzilla’s demise, everyone probably knew they had to put their best feet forward. Still, I like the first half of this one better than the second half; the early appearances of Godzilla starting to undergo his meltdown are a bit harrowing, and I think Destoroyah is scarier when he’s a group of human-sized insects terrorizing human characters. The second half starts getting a bit repetitive with new mutations of Destoroyah popping up every fifteen minutes or so to do battle with Godzilla (or his son), and many of the scenes with the human characters are dull. Still, the actual meltdown is worth the wait and is the most memorable scene here. Much of the Heisei series was on the weak side, but it’s nice to know that it ended on one of the best movies for the series.

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
aka Gojira vs. Supesugojira
Article 5692 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-3-2019
Directed by Kensho Yamashita
Featuring Megumi Odaka, Jun Hashizumi, Zenkichi Yoneyama
Country: Japan
What it is: Kaiju

A space monster mutated from Godzilla cells arrives on earth and begins wreaking havoc. Can Godzilla and Moguera defeat him?

I try to be forgiving to these movies when the special effects aren’t quite up to scratch; after all, Toho didn’t have the equivalent budgets of many American movies. However, the scene that remains embedded in my memory for this one is the shot of SpaceGodzilla flying through an asteroid field that obviously consists of a bunch of rocks hanging from strings; it’s so unconvincing that it makes the whole movie look particularly chintzy. A meandering story line certainly doesn’t help (a scene involving the Japanese Mafia has very little to do with anything else in the movie), and the final battle is so protracted that it starts to get quite dull. On top of the creatures mentioned above, we get a fairy version of Mothra making what amounts to a cameo appearance, and a few scenes with toddler Godzilla. All in all, I think this is the weakest entry of the Heisei series.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
Article 5681 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-2-2019
Directed by Michael Dougherty
Featuring Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown
Country: USA / Japan
What it is: American kaiju

A group known as Monarch is tracking the locations of an assortment of giant monsters known as Titans, but the military wants to know the locations so they can destroy them as threats to humanity. But some of the Titans are being revived…

Given what I’ve been reviewing lately, it’s probably no surprise that I’d make a rare foray to a movie theater to catch this one. Or course, there are a few things I don’t like; the hyped-up action-scene-every-thirty-seconds style of the modern American summer popcorn movie tends to exhaust rather than entertain me, and the giant monsters here pay a little too much attention to some of their human planet cohabitors; when they do that, it somewhat reduces them in my eyes. But I rather like the way the monsterverse here is set up, and I especially like the references to the earlier movies in the Godzilla canon and the use of Ikufube’s magnificent musical themes at key moments; I felt the movie sought to satisfy a long-time Godzilla fan like me. Yes, the ending of the movie proper may take its title a little too literally, but it made me smile and feel good, and I emerged from the movie quite satisfied. Nice to have these old friends back on the screen.

Godzilla vs Megaguirus (2000)
aka Gojira tai Megagirasu: Ji shometsu sakusen
Article 5680 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-30-2019
Directed by Maasaki Tezuka
Featuring Misato Tanaka, Shosuke Tanihara, Masato Ibu
Country: Japan
What it is: More monster antics

A new weapon designed to be used to battle Godzilla accidentally creates a hive of insect-like monsters. Who will prevail – the insects or Godzilla?

I rather like some of the touches in this movie from the Millennium series, such as the fake newsreel that fills in the history from the original 1954 movie to the events in this one. Its basic concept of a series of small monsters which eventually give way to a giant one is similar to the one used in GAMERA II: ADVENT OF LEGION, which is a somewhat better movie. There are some arty touches here that don’t quite work (such as the occasional use of a jagged slow-motion technique), and sometimes the special effects are very weak; there are moments where the strings controlling Megaguirus are painfully obvious. The final battle is a bit on the odd sign, and even seems to be playing for laughs on occasion. Though some people seem to hate this one (I saw one ranked list of Godzilla movies that places this one on the very bottom), but I find it interesting and a bit different, though not as good as the subsequent movie in the series.

Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth (1992)
aka Gojira vs. Mosura
Article 5679 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-28-2019
Directed by Takao Okawara
Featuring Tetsuyo Bessho, Satomi Kobayashi, Takehiro Murata
Country: Japan
What it is: Kaiju monster mash

Mothra does battle with his evil twin Battra, but what will happen when Godzilla shows up?

With this movie, I return to the Heisei Godzilla cycle, of which this is the fourth. I sense a real drop-off in quality here, at least with the English dub of this one. For one thing, it’s pretty heavy-handed with its message about taking care of the Earth. The plot also feels somewhat tossed together from various other movies; in particular, I’m a little tired of movies where the Cosmos twins are kidnapped by entrepreneurs hoping to use them to make money. The movie does introduce a new monster in the form of Battra, but this monster is little more than an evil version of Mothra. Fortunately, there’s plenty of monster action during the second half of the movie, so that helps balance things out a bit. However, from a story perspective, the series is getting very lazy here.

Godzilla 2000 (1999)
aka Gojira ni-sen mireniamu
Article 5678 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-22-2019
Directed by Takao Okawara
Featuring Takehiro Murata, Hiroshi Abe, Naomi Nishida
Country: Japan
What it is: Kaiju

An underwater meteorite begins to exhibit unusual properties. Does this have anything to do with the return of Godzilla to Japan?

This movie holds a special place in my heart as the first real Godzilla movie I ever saw on the big screen. I should point out that when I say that, I don’t consider the monster in the 1998 movie called GODZILLA (which I also saw on the big screen) the real deal, and though there may be a special place for that movie, it’s not in my heart. That being said, the other three movies I’ve seen from the Millennium series have all been above-average Godzilla movies; this one is fairly ordinary. In fact, the dubbed American version plays it mostly for comedy, which I consider an unfortunate choice. There’s a few nice touches here and there, but most of the movie is in very familiar territory, and the characters aren’t particularly engaging. So, despite the affection I have for this one, I do have to admit it’s a little disappointing.

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)
aka Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira: Tokyo S.O.S.
Article 5677 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-19-2019
Directed by Masaaki Tezuka
Featuring Noboru Kaneko, Miho Yoshioka, Mickey Koga
Country: Japan
What it is: Kaiju

Mothra’s twin fairies show up and ask Japan to give Godzilla’s bones a rest; they were used in the infrastructure of Mechagodzilla. However, Godzilla reappears, and they man need Mechagodzilla’s power once again…

Unlike the other movies in the Millennium series that I’ve seen, this one is a direct sequel to one of the others – the previous entry GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA. It’s also a sequel to MOTHRA, and Hiroshi Koizumi reprises his role from that one. The human stories aren’t quite as engaging this time around, but that’s probably due to the fact that the main story arc here belongs to Mechagodzilla, an arc that had its roots in the previous movie. There may even be a reference to the Gamera series as well here when a giant turtle washes up on shore. Most of the movie is a battle sequence between Godzilla, Mechagodzila and three Mothras (the adult and two larva). It’s not quite as good as the previous entry, but it’s still quite entertaining and engaging.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
aka Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidora: Daikaiju sokogeki
Article 5676 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-18-2019
Directed by Shuseke Kaneko
Featuring Chiharu Niiyama, Ryudo Izaki, Masahiro Kobayashi
Country: Japan
What it is: Japanese Monster Mash

When Godzilla reappears in Japan, a trio of guardian monsters appear to do battle with him.

One of the advantages of doing a series of separate sequels to the original is that you can safely ignore whatever the other sequels have set up, allowing events and characters a variety of interpretations without being stuck in the mud of canon. This movie gives the monsters a decidedly mystical edge, and it’s nice to see Ghidorah play a hero for a change. This was directed by Shusuke Kaneko, who was responsible for the Gamera movies from the nineties. He does an excellent job with this one; though the characters aren’t quite as interesting as the ones in GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA, and it’s a bit slow to get started, it is one of the most satisfyingly spectacular of the Millennium series. It also has a bit of a sense of humor and takes a quick potshot at the American version of Godzilla from 1998. Godzilla is particularly savage (and savage-looking) in this one. One minor complaint; it’s a shame that Baragon (one of the Guardian monsters) doesn’t get equal billing with the others; he’s no less heroic in this one.