Thanks to Avery for the heads up!
March of Godzilla Island was the fourth theme month and third Godzilla theme month on TarsTarkas.NET. It is notable for reviewing the entire run of the Godzilla Island series.
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 1 (Episodes 1-5)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 2 (Episodes 6-15)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 3 (Episodes 16-20)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 4 (Episodes 21-30)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 5 (Episodes 31-40)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 6 (Episodes 41-50)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 7 (Episodes 51-63)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 8 (Episodes 64-68)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 9 (Episodes 69-83)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 10 (Episodes 84-93)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 11 (Episodes 94-103)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 12 (Episodes 104-125)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 13 (Episodes 126-128)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 14 (Episodes 129-148)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 15 (Episodes 149-168)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 16 (Episodes 169-178)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 17 (Episodes 179-188)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 18 (Episodes 189-198)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 19 (Episodes 199-208)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 20 (Episodes 209-218)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 21 (Episodes 219-233)
Godzilla Island – Story Arc 22 (Episodes 234-256)
aka Gojira vs Desutoroia
1995
Directed by Takao Okawara
Written by Kazuki Omori
This is the final film in the Heisei series. It is also the final film in March of Godzilla 4. Funny how things work out, almost as if it was planned… So when Godzilla vs. Destoroyah was originally coming out, it hit the press because Godzilla dies. Thus, the entire ending is completely spoiled. Good job, publicists. This was the time when everyone was dying. Godzilla, Superman, Orville Redenbacher, Kurt Cobain, Jonas Salk, and Motoo Kimura. Everyone was dropping dead. It became passe, especially since everyone who died seemed to pop up good as new in a year or so. Originally, Godzilla was to stay dead for ten years so America could have their own Godzilla trilogy. But then Dean Devlin/Roland Emmerich managed to mess that up something awful, and Godzilla had to be rushed into making a reappearance to make up for how terrible the American film was. Even years later, Toho still hasn’t made up for how horrible Emmerich/Devlin’s Godzilla film was.
But enough of complaining, we’ll do plenty of that once we get around to that bastard of a film. For THIS film, Toho decides to connect it to the original film more than any previous Godzilla film. The oxygen destroyer is mentioned often, and is the source of the new villain who appears to fight Godzilla. It seems that no matter what mankind does, it creates giant monsters that destroy Tokyo. Maybe Tokyo should move five miles away from where it is located, that will probably solve all the problems.
Godzilla will be all red and smoking, as he inches closer and closer to nuclear meltdown. So now the poor actor in the suit has to sit around as dry ice is pack onto him before each shot, so the proper amount of steam sprays out. The fact they went and made a new Godzilla suit is probably a good idea, as the older suits were beginning to wear out and it helps emphasize the change in Godzilla is permanent and unavoidable.
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah didn’t hit the US for a few years thanks to the lack of US distribution, so for a while all you could see it on was bootlegs. Then the VHS tape with the dubbing came out in the late 90s, and eventually it got released on a double DVD with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, which is the only DVD release in region 1 so far. So the US has never been able to see this the way it was originally created, unless you get an import DVD.
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Say kids, what time is it? It’s Godzilland time! YAAAAYYY!!
Wait, what the frak is Godzilland? Godzilland was a morning show for the kiddies that aired in Japan around the time Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2 came out. Besides that, I know nothing about the show except for this sample episode that will get documented here. There is little to no information about this show anywhere (at least in English) so join TarsTarkas.NET as we sail into uncharted territory! March of Godzilla 4 had to have some crazy surprise, now didn’t it?
The best part of Godzilland is the stylized cartoon kaiju
They are all over the opening sequence, we have larva Mothra, that human who we will see is the host, Mechagodzilla, Anguirus, Rodan, Baragon, Gigan, Godzilla, Moguera, Mechagodzilla, Mothra egg, and more Mechagodzilla
All of those Mechagodzillas probably mean that film either is about to or just came out. The inclusion of Moguera might indicate they already are working on SpaceGodzilla, but might not as SpaceGodzilla is MIA in the opening credits.
King Ghidorah, Mothra as a Moth, and Mecha-King Ghidorah show up in this frame
The top Kanji translate to “bouhan” which means “an exciting adventure” And Godzilland sure is!
Here is our host, I think his first name is supposed to be Russell but I might be wrong.
Russell hangs out with four Japanese chicks who are big Godzilla boosters
They are the Godzilla Chicks (a name I made up for them) and in the beginning Russell asks them questions from a pile of cards.
Interspacing animation time!
Holy Godzilla vs. Bambi, Batman!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
aka Gojira VS Supesugojira
1994
Directed by Kensho Yamashita
Written by Kanji Kashiwa and Hiroshi Kashiwabara
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Nothing is ever spelled right in a Godzilla film. |
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla was the twenty-first Godzilla film and the second to last Heisei picture. It received mixed to bad criticisms upon its release in Japan and later the US, and now is almost universally scorned. There are some good points, and some nice nods to continuity of the Heisei series. SpaceGodzilla is an old concept from the 1970s (along with Godzilla vs. the Devil, which could have only been born in the 1970s) that got yanked out for modern day after TriStar failed in their quest to make an American Godzilla film. Upon release of the actual American Godzilla film a few years later, one wishes they instead yanked Godzilla vs. the Devil out of the dustbin instead!
The design for SpaceGodzilla stems from an old Nintendo game Super Godzilla, during the game Godzilla could become Super Godzilla, and the sprite design was almost identical for SpaceGodzilla. They, in fact, took the sprites, slightly altered them, and then called is SpaceGodzilla. SpaceGodzilla has never returned to the silver screen, but he returned for several episodes of Godzilla Island, where it was revealed there is a second SpaceGodzilla who is killed in that series. SpaceGodzilla also shows up in video games (fitting due to his design origin): First he appeared in Godzilla: Giant Monster March. He also showed up in Godzilla: Save the Earth, replacing Orga as the final opponent in hard mode. In his biggest role, SpaceGodzilla is the final boss in Godzilla: Unleashed, the game where Godzilla battles against Animal Control for the right to have his pit bulls run free in the streets.
MOGUERA shows up instead of Mechagodzilla because Mechagodzilla was too powerful in the previous film, and having Godzilla and his robot brother fight the space spawn would be too one-sided, even though it could be advertised as Godzilla^3! So they drag out Toho’s other robot creation (no, not Mechakong) MOGUERA! Back when he was Moguera, he was in 1957’s The Mysterians and showed up as an alien agent on a carnage run smashing through cities until he was killed when a bridge fell out from under him (the same fate as James T. Kirk!) A second Moguera then appeared later in the film only to also die by being crushed. Now MOGUERA is built by the UN from the wreckage of Mechagodzilla to fight Godzilla, and is an acronym for Mobile Operation Godzilla Universal Expert Robot Aero-Type. MOGUERA can split into two vehicles, Land Moguera and Star Falcon, because every monster in the Heisei universe has multiple forms, even freaking robots!
Babygodzilla has grown up some and is now Littlegodzilla, who is now Minya-sized and more annoying. I still hate him, but even worse, there was a possibility that he would have gotten his own TV shows spun off of this film. Thankfully, that never came to pass. So instead I will complain about the US DVD release. I can ignore the dubbing, the lack of credits, who cares. The problem is they chop off a good portion of the film in multiple scenes! It is supposed to be anamorphic widescreen, but it is obvious that parts are sourced from a fullscreen print that is chopped off at the top and bottom for widescreen! This is most apparent in the title shot, where most of the word “Gojira” is chopped off. Multiple scenes in the film have characters missing the tops of their heads. I am not going to watch my VHS copy of the film to see if it is filled with chopped off foreheads, I am just going to assume it doesn’t. So “BOOO!” to whoever authored the DVD, you did a terrible job and I hope you die by being crushed by DVDs.
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Xillian raiders forced us to wear these horrible clothes! Help us! |
One thing the movie never harps on is that is SpaceGodzilla was created from Godzilla cells, then he is Godzilla’s offspring (in a round-about way!) We have a cool subplot about fatherly responsibilities, daddy issues, what if you have a son who is genetically defective, all sorts of things that are completely ignored! The human plot could have benefited greatly from a little less of the psychic crap and a little more family turmoil. Maybe Miki has a friend whose father hates her because she is psychic, and thus she begins to act out and be bad. Then dad learns he must love his daughter and take care of her even if she is different, because otherwise she could become a horrible space monster obsessed with crystals! And then…Dad is crushed by a crystal, but her psychic/telekinetic powers save him! Then the whole thing airs on ABC Family.
Speaking of crystals…crystals? Who thought crystals was a good idea? Every time I watch this I think of those New Age wackos who use crystals to get energy and all that other freaky stuff. That’s a little loopy even for a Godzilla film. What is next, WitchGodzilla (excuse me…WiccanGodzilla?) In conclusion, crystals are dumb.
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M&M escalates the War on Skittles. Taste this rainbow, bitch! |
We have gone and nerded out after our last two articles on kaiju commercials, Godzilla Commercials Part 1 and Godzilla Commercials Part 2. Now we present to you the entire cast list, small bios for each monster, and fun facts you may not know. So enjoy this look into the lives of monsters from commercials, because no one else is crazy enough to pull this off!
Over-analysis and comparison of Commercial Kaiju:
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That’s all we got for now, but there is still a bit more of March of Godzilla 4 to go!
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