is a 2004 kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, written by Isao Kiriyama and Wataru Mimura, and produced by Shogo Tomiyama.
An international co-production between Japan, Australia, the United States, and China, the film was produced by Toho Studios, CP International, Zazou Productions, and Napalm Films.
It is the 29th film in the Godzilla franchise, the sixth and final film in the franchise's Millennium series and the 28th Godzilla film produced by Toho.
The film stars Masahiro Matsuoka, Rei Kikukawa, Don Frye, Maki Mizuno, Kazuki Kitamura, Kane Kosugi, Kumi Mizuno, Kenji Sahara, Masami Nagasawa, Chihiro Otsuka, Shigeru Izumiya, Masakatsu Funaki, Masato Ibu, Jun Kunimura, and Akira Takarada.
In the film, when a mysterious race of aliens known as the Xiliens arrive on Earth, the Earth Defense Force find themselves locked in battle with various monsters attacking cities around the world, leading them to revive the only chance to save their planet: Godzilla.
The film coincided with the 50th anniversary of the franchise, and as such, the film features a variety of actors and kaiju from previous films.
Godzilla: Final Wars premiered on November 29, 2004 in Los Angeles, California, and was released theatrically in Japan on December 4, 2004.
Before the world premiere, Godzilla received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Plot
During a battle in Antarctica with the original Gotengo, the monster Godzilla is entrapped under ice by a cave-in caused by a series of missiles fired off from the submarine.
In later years, environmental disasters cause the appearance of giant monsters and superhumans, dubbed "mutants", who are then recruited into the Earth Defense Force (EDF) to battle the monsters.
An upgraded Gotengo, commanded by Captain Douglas Gordon, battles and destroys Manda in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy, but the ship is wrecked in the process and its captain is suspended from the EDF.
Mutant soldier Shinichi Ozaki is tasked with guarding a U.N. biologist, Dr. Miyuki Otonashi, who is sent to study a mummified monster.
They are teleported to Infant Island where they encounter the Shobijin, fairies of Mothra, who reveal the mummified monster as Gigan, an alien cyborg sent to destroy the Earth who was ultimately defeated by Mothra.
They warn that a battle between good and evil will happen soon and that Ozaki must choose a side.
Suddenly, giant monsters attack several major cities: Rodan attacks New York City, Anguirus attacks Shanghai, Zilla attacks Sydney, King Caesar attacks Okinawa, Kamacuras attacks Paris, Kumonga attacks Phoenix, Ebirah attacks Tokai, and Hedorah attacks an unknown location.
The EDF engages the creatures.
The monsters mysteriously vanish at the same moment when an alien mothership appears over Tokyo.
The aliens, named Xiliens, warn that an incoming planet called "Gorath" will soon impact the Earth.
A peace pact is signed between Earth and the Xiliens.
Meanwhile, Minilla, Godzilla's son, is found in the forest by Kenta Taguchi and his grandfather Samon Taguchi.
Distrusting the Xiliens, Ozaki, Miyuki, and her sister, Anna discovers that the Gorath they saw is actually a hologram and that the aliens have replaced several members of the EDF with duplicates.
After their kind is exposed, the Xiliens' Controller, who called himself X during an interview on a radio show, kills his superior to assume command, revealing the plan to use humans as a food source while taking control of all the mutants except for Ozaki through a property in their DNA known as "M-base".
X also has the monsters placed under his control through M-base in their DNA and awakens Gigan to wipe out the EDF.
The group escapes although Gigan pursues them.
Gordon convinces them to travel to Antarctica to release Godzilla, which is immune to Xilien control thanks to his lack of M-base and easily destroys Gigan.
The Gotengo then guides Godzilla into battle with the other monsters and returns to Tokyo to engage the Xiliens.
After penetrating the mothership, the group is captured and brought before X as he summons Gorath to Earth.
Though Godzilla destroys Gorath just before it crashes, it unleashes Monster X and the two monsters' battle.
An upgraded Gigan joins Monster X but is intercepted by Mothra, who is gravely wounded while managing to destroy the cyborg.
In the Xilien ship, X reveals that both he and Ozaki are superior beings known as "Keizers", powerful beings distinct from regular mutants born on rare occasions when human DNA and M-base are combined, before directly taking control of Ozaki to turn him against the group.
A fight breaks out, and X loses control of Ozaki due to the Shobijins' blessing.
X is fatally wounded, but he triggers the ship's self-destruct as the group falls back to the Gotengo moments before the mothership explodes.
Godzilla and Monster X continue their battle, but X transfers his Keizer energy to Monster X before dying, enabling Monster X to transform into its final form, Keizer Ghidorah.
Godzilla is nearly killed by Keizer Ghidorah, but Ozaki manages to provide him with some of his own Keizer energy, giving him the strength to emerge victorious.
Godzilla then shoots down the Gotengo, before turning his ire towards its crew after they leave the damaged vessel.
Fortunately, Minilla shows up at the scene and convinces Godzilla not to kill the humans.
The crew watch Godzilla and Minilla return to the ocean.
Cast
Monsters
Godzilla
Mothra
Rodan
Gigan
Monster X / Keizer Ghidorah
Anguirus
Hedorah
Manda
Minilla
Kumonga
Kamacuras
Ebirah
King Caesar
Zilla
Production
thumb|Godzilla's new design for Godzilla: Final Wars dubbed the FinalGoji.
Ryuhei Kitamura accepted the offer to direct the film due to being unsatisfied with the Godzilla films of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, stating, "I loved the Godzilla movies back in the ’70s, but not so much the ones released in the 1980s and ’90s.
Godzilla movies back in the ’70s were never just monster movies, there were always messages and themes that reflected the time and world within which they were made, and they combined this so well with straight-out entertainment.
They lost that touch in the ’80s".
Kitamura has compared Godzilla: Final Wars to that of a musician's "Best of" album, stating "We picked lots and lots of the best elements from the past and combined it in a new way.
It's what I love about Godzilla and what I don't love about recent Godzilla movies".
Like previous Godzilla films, Godzilla: Final Wars makes extensive use of practical effects rather than CGI.
The special effects were directed and supervised by Eiichi Asada, who also directed the special effects for Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
Commenting on the special effects, Kitamura stated at the film's world premiere in Hollywood, "We stick to the special effects.
That’s what we've been doing for 50 years.
And that’s why Hollywood doesn’t do it.
So on the first meeting, I told everybody that we stick to the special effects, and the live action instead of CGI.
So it’s a CGI-monster-Hollywood Godzilla versus our man-made live-action monsters."
Filming included on-location shooting in New York City and Sydney, Australia.
Scenes were also filmed in various locations across Japan, including Fukushima, Kobe, and Toho Studios in Tokyo.
Music
The film's score was composed by Keith Emerson, Nobuhiko Morino, and Daisuke Yano.
Emerson was offered the job by Kitamura, who was attending Emerson's Japanese concerts at the time.
Emerson's main concern was the potential lack of time before going on tour.
Emerson was only given two weeks to write the score and ended up writing more music than what was used in the film.
The film featured the track We're All to Blame by Sum 41 during the battle between Godzilla and Zilla.
The band received top billing in the opening credits.
Release
Godzilla: Final Wars was distributed theatrically by Toho in Japan on November 29, 2004.
It was released theatrically in the United States on November 4, 2004 and then released to video on December 13, 2005.
Critical response
The film received fairly positive reviews, especially in Japan, but more divided reactions abroad.
Film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 50% rating, based on 12 reviews with a total score of 5.8/10.Godzilla: Final Wars, Rotten Tomatoes
Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique called the film "utterly fantastic" and "a rush of explosive excitement."
Review by Steve Biodrowski, Cinefantastique Jim Agnew of Film Threat gave the film four and a half stars out of five, saying "the good news for kaiju fans is that Godzilla: Final Wars is a kick-ass giant monster flick."
Jim Agnew, Film Threat Drew McWeeny of Ain't It Cool News remarked, "Godzilla: Final Wars earns a special place in my heart.
It's fun.
Pure lunatic fun, every frame."
Sean Axmaker of Static Multimedia said, "Directed by a true fan of the old school, it's lusciously, knowingly, lovingly cheesy."
Review by Sean Axmaker , Static Multimedia Craig Blamer of the Chico News & Review called the film "a giddy and fast-paced celebration of the big guy."
Conversely, David Nusair of Reel Film gave the film one and a half stars out of five, saying that "the battles are admittedly quite entertaining" but felt that director Ryuhei Kitamura "is not a wrong choice for the material."
Review by David Nusair, Reel Film David Cornelius of eFilmCritic gave the film two stars out of five, calling it "the dullest, weakest Godzilla movie I've seen in a long, long time."
Review by David Cornelius, eFilmCritic Ty Burr of the Boston Globe gave the film one and a half stars out of five, saying it focused too much on action and not enough on story, and calling it "35 minutes longer than is necessary."
Review by Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Among kaiju-related websites, J.L. Carrozza of Toho Kingdom "absolutely love[d]" Final Wars, saying "[it's] no masterpiece, but it is such insane fun and meta that quite frankly it's hard not to adore it."
Review J.L. Carrozza, Toho Kingdom Mike Bogue of American Kaiju said "the film is flawed, but nonetheless entertaining," saying there are "too many [Matrix-style] battles" but that the film "makes excellent use of its monsters" and "Kitamura keeps things moving at a brisk pace."
Review Mike Bogue, American Kaiju Japan Hero criticized the "[lack of] character development" but concluded that Final Wars is "a very entertaining movie," saying that "Kitamura did a wonderful job making it an interesting and great looking film worthy of being the final [Godzilla] movie."
Review  Japan Hero
Stomp Tokyo said "the monster scenes are generally well done" but criticized the film's "incoherence," saying: "It's a shame that Kitamaura couldn't choose a tone for the film, instead shifting the movie's mood wildly from scene to scene."
Review Stomp Tokyo Lenny Taguchi of Monster Zero criticized Keith Emerson's soundtrack but gave Final Wars an overall favorable review, calling it a "fun and good" movie that "tries many things, and generally succeeds at almost all of them."
Review  Lenny Taguchi, Monster Zero
Director Kitamura commented at the film's world premiere that the reason why he agreed to direct the film was because he wanted to update Godzilla and recapture the same spirit seen in the later Godzilla films from the Showa era.
He wanted to incorporate the same speed and power seen in films like Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, which he believed was lost somewhere within the series, stating, "The Godzilla series had lost that kind of taste.
I think that back in the '70s Godzilla movies had more power and speed.
He was very fast and he was very strong.
So in my Godzilla, you know, less dialogue and more action.
That’s more fun than watching people discuss what we should do about Godzilla.
As a Godzilla fan I want to see Godzilla punching and kicking, beating up all the other monsters instead of somebody talking again, you know, discussing the operation.
That's what I wanted to do is to revive that, but not in the same way, I have to update.
This is the updated version of '60 & 70s, crazy, monster movies.
I hope that the Americans will not modify the Japanese version too much."
Awards
Home media
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Released: December 13, 2005
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.40:1) Anamorphic
Sound: Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1) English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: English and French
Supplements: Behind-the-Scenes Featurette (comparison of B-roll footage to finished film)(17:53 min); Trailers for Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, Steamboy, Dust to Glory, MirrorMask, and Madison
Region 1
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Violence.
Sony – Blu-ray (Toho Godzilla Collection)
Released: May 6, 2014
Picture: 2.40:1 (MPEG-4 AVC) [1080P]
Sound: Japanese and English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
Subtitles: English, English SDH, and French
Extras:
Godzilla: B-Roll to Film (SD, Japanese DD 2.0, English subtitles, 17:54)
Theatrical Trailer (Japanese DD 2.0, English subtitles, 2:11, HD)
Teaser 1 (Japanese DD 2.0, English subtitles, 0:41, HD)
Teaser 2 (Japanese DD 2.0, English subtitles, 0:41, HD)
Teaser 3 (Japanese DD 2.0, English subtitles, 0:42, HD)
Notes: This is a 2-Disc double feature with Godzilla: Tokyo SOS.
References
Bibliography
External links
Official Site in Japanese
Category:2004 films Category:2004 science fiction films Category:2000s monster movies Category:Alien invasions in films Category:American films Category:American multilingual films Category:American martial arts films Category:American science fiction action films Category:American sequel films Category:Apocalyptic films Category:Australian films Category:Australian multilingual films Category:Australian science fiction action films Category:Australian sequel films Category:Cantonese-language films Category:Chinese films Category:Chinese science fiction action films Category:Chinese sequel films Category:English-language films Category:Films scored by Keith Emerson Category:Films about extraterrestrial life Category:Films about dragons Category:Films about spiders Category:Films directed by Ryuhei Kitamura Category:Films set in Antarctica Category:Films set in Arizona Category:
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Japanese science fiction action films Category:Japanese martial arts films Category:Japanese multilingual films Category:Japanese sequel films Category:Giant monster films Category:Kaiju films Category:Mothra Category:Pterosaurs in fiction Category:Reboot films Category:Submarine films Category:Toho films Category:Australian action adventure films Category:2004 martial arts films Category:Films with screenplays by Wataru Mimura
