Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Recently Bryan Carey, Epinions superstar and all round good guy, announced his first Write-Off. Bryan, one of our top authors, is an Advisor in Movies and Restaurants & Gourmet, as well as a Top Reviewer in Online Stores & Services, Personal Finance, Restaurants & Gourmet, Books, and Magazines & Newspapers. Bryan, who had to buy a new wardrobe just to hold his blue and orange hats, is trusted by about a billion people and writes reviews that get more reads daily than a Playboy in a boy's prep school. What event could possibly big enough to motivate him to take on a task as time consuming as a Write-Off? Why it was the fast approaching (since passed) occurrence of his 2000th review.

As an Epinionator myself, one who has been a member almost as long as Brian has, I remember only recently posting my 200th review and thinking that was a big deal. Writing 2000 reviews is mammoth, it's gargantuan, it's... er... really, really BIG. For this event Bryan came up with the New Millennium Write-Off in which writers must review something in some way concerning the New Millennium or containing the number 2000.

Now while some may have been daunted by this task, for me, the perfect product was sitting in my DVD draw all wrapped in cellophane, waiting for the perfect day, the perfect time to be opened, enjoyed, and then lovingly reviewed. This perfect movie not only contains the number 2000 in its many titles, but also the word millennium and that oft used catchphrase 2K.

Not only that, but its star is big, really big. In fact, he is one of the few movie stars who comes close to matching Bryan in productivity with 302 titles in release, and is a star who can match up to Bryan in stature and status. Not only that but, like Bryan, he likes beer and his views tend toward the libertine. He distrusts big government, works tirelessly for urban renewal, actively opposes commercial over-fishing, and is beloved by young folks everywhere. I speak, of course, for one who looms as large in movies as Bryan does in Epinions. I speak of the one, the only, Godzilla and his ground breaking return to Toho Studious with the movie known in Japan as Godzilla 2000: Millennium.


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Back in the late 90s, Toho Studios were hurting. In the 1995 movie Godzilla vs. Destroyer, they had... er... retired their big star and ended the second series of Godzilla movies that began with The Return of Godzilla in 1985. The much anticipated 1998 release of the Tri-Star Godzilla was pretty much hated by the fans and labeled GINO (Godzilla In Name Only), and was unlikely to spawn a host of sequels and licensing dollars. To make matters worse, in 1995 brilliant director Shusuke Kaneko released Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe which was one of the best big monster movies ever made, and a huge financial success. He followed it with two successful sequels, Gamera 2: Assault of the Legion (1996) and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999). Toho could not let their biggest star get his butt kicked by, of all things, a giant turtle. They had to do something.

In 1999, Toho re-entered the big monster sweepstakes with the release of Godzilla 2000, the first Japanese Godzilla movie to go into US General Release in well over 20 years. Here, finally, was the Godzilla everyone knew and loved. This was the REAL Godzilla complete with detailed miniatures, bad dubbing and glorious rubber suits.

Godzilla 2000: Millennium (Gojira ni-sen mireniamu) as it was called in Japan signaled not only the return of Godzilla, but the start of the third Millenium series. Like its 1985-1995 predecessor, it returned to the moment after the original 1954 Godzilla, and continued on as if all the other movies had never happened.

Godzilla looks pretty much the way he has looked in the past. His back fins are a bit larger and more impressive, and he has a much toothier grin, all the better to bite you with. He is also a bit greener rather than his old green-grey compromise. Oh yes, before I forget. His breath weapon is orange now not blue. That came as a bit of a surprise. At first I thought it was the bad guy firing. The special effects are all you could hope for: miniature cities, wire-guided UFOs and tons of rubber. They are quite a bit better than the 1995 movie, but still the same technology. The use of CGI has been kept to a minimum, thank goodness. We don't need no cowardly iguanas running around here. Godzilla is also cast as somewhat of an anti-hero for the new series. He is not exactly protecting mankind, more asserting his rights to be the only monster allowed to destroy Tokyo.

The humans are a lot more interesting and a lot less annoying than usual. Takehiro Murata, who appeared in Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) and Godzilla vs. Destroyer (1995), plays Yuuji Shinoda, who runs GPN (Godzilla Prediction Network) with his daughter Io (Mayu Suzuki). They try to predict Godzilla's appearances to protect people, and believe that Godzilla needs to be studied not destroyed. Unlike all of the little-boy brats that preceded her, cute little Io is actually likable. That was a BIG surprise. The attractive Naomi Nishida plays O-Parts magazine photographer Yuuki Ichinose, who teams up with the GPN to get some candid shots of Godzilla. Japanese movie star Hiroshi Abe is excellent as totally the ruthless Mitsuo Katagiri, who runs the Crisis Control Intelligence Agency (CCI), and wants Godzilla dead at any price.

The plot is pretty good, though not enough to overpower the extensive monster fights. Godzilla shows up for his morning workout, doing a few laps, some fishing boat lifts, and step-ups on a small coastal town, before heading down for a nice game of missile catch with the Japanese Army. Meanwhile, CCI scientists discover an ancient solar-powered flying saucer. During the course of the movie, the UFO, named Organizer G1 by the scientists steals and replicates Godzilla's DNA and goes through many mutations, before becoming the unnamed GINO-like beast known to fans as Orga . (The UFO is renamed Regenerator G1 in the US version but the Orga name still stuck.) The various incantations of Orga kick Godzilla's butt several times, but only manage to make him madder. During the mayhem, the various humans find themselves up close and personal with one or other of the monsters, with various satisfying and sometimes messy results. (Never argue with Godzilla because you are crunchy and taste good with concrete.) The grand finale is all a Godzilla fan could hope for. It made me so very happy... sob...

The original Japanese version of the film which I have not seen, is longer, has a good score, but is slow in parts, and the second half editing appeared rushed as they tried to release it before the world ended on December 31, 1999. The US version has much tighter editing, and is reputedly faster and much more exciting. However, it does get a bit confusing at times, and it was not until I read the on-line gossip that I figured out every nuance of the plot.

The dubbing is delightfully adequate and rather campy, though for some reason, they remove all references to the millennium. They also added some colorful euphemisms that appear quite realistic under the circumstances. To whit the word a-----e: a slangy reference to the part of the human anatomy most prominent when bending to touch your toes. The US score has about 70 percent of Hattori's original score, with added music by J. Peter Robinson, which is cheesy and appears to be recycled from the 1998 Fox TV movie, Gargantua. Parts of the original Ifukube Godzilla theme are patched in where appropriate.

While not being the greatest Godzilla, it is much better than GINO, and better than any movie in the second series, except perhaps for the first. Fans should watch out for tons of visual and script/dubbing digs at GINO, including the famed taxi scene. It also set the stage for sequels, the first of which, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000), which I have not yet seen, is rumored to be the best Godzilla ever. In any case, it is a welcome return of our giant hero to the silver screen. The slightly confusing plot limits it to four stars, but it gets a huge recommendation as a highly entertaining movie. Watch it for scares or watch it for laughs, either way, you won't be disappointed.


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Rating:

Godzilla 2000 is rated PG for monster violence and mild bad language. Personally, I would lets kids 10 and up watch. In fact, it would make a perfect stocking stuffer or birthday present. Good viewing habits start early.


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Godzilla 2000 (1999)

Also known as:
Gojira ni-sen mireniamu
G2K: Millenium (International)
G2K: Godzilla 2000 (Canada)
Godzilla 2000: Millennium (Japan)
Godzilla Millenium (UK)
Gojira 2000


Directed by Takao Okawara

Written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru Mimura
US Version by Michael Schlesinger

Cast:
Takehiro Murata - Prof. Yuji Shinoda
Hiroshi Abe - Mitsuo Katagiri
Naomi Nishida - Yuki Ichinose
Mayu Suzuki - Io Shinoda
Shiro Sano - Prof. Shiro Miyasaka


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See also:

Godzilla vs. Megalon
Godzilla: The Ultimate Collection
Godzilla: Five Rampaging Movies

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Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD