Movie Review: Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla (1994)
Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla (1994) is the most pure Kaiju film of the Heisei series. Sixth of seven films, this film features some real growth by franchise regulars. Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla pulls from the past films in multiple ways, to forge their villains and to provide the backdrop of their heroes’ motivations.
I believe this film was made to be a four quadrants film, and as such, takes on characteristics of a more middle way film. This is a decent date film, it is a solid Godzilla film to show children, it has some of the best action in the franchise, and SpaceGodzilla is the first monster threat who could endanger the whole Earth simultaneously. Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla ups the stakes for the monster fights, but the human drama is less macabre in exchange; in fact the human drama is in total reverse of the macabre. Instead of deceased children and a war full of regrets, this film is ultimately about two romance stories that I find agreeable and authentic.
This film is a comedy in the Aristotelian sense, and not a tragedy like the rest of the Heisei series. It is an important distinction and makes Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla quite different from the other Heisei movies. There is a character — Yuki — whose progression is one that could have fit inside the other Heisei movies. However the production clearly intended to disarm that progression.
Yuki is the greatest human threat to Godzilla, and a man of pure lethal focus. Yuki is something like the pistol up the sleeve of national defense forces. It is an informed characteristic that Yuki is the best at violence in their armed forces; and while he’s a quality special forces guru, he is unpredictable, and thus not often entrusted with responsibility.
His fascination with bullets and anatomy, as well as he’s not shy touching another man with the barrel of his gun, tells you he seems comfortable as a killer. Yuki is very threatening, with a knife near the throat of a supporting protagonist in Yuki’s introduction. He has magic bullets of his own creation, with which he can slay Godzilla. He’s a craftsmen of death.
Emoto playing Yuki is convincing as a man who could and would slay Godzilla, and trade all his morality to do so. Perhaps like Ahab who hunted the white whale? Except, all of that is completely wiped out by the fact that Yuki is babysitting Baby Godzilla!
Yuki beams like a dad at Baby Godzilla. As if the man who has a Godzilla puppy is going to kill Godzilla! I never once believed Yuki would do Godzilla any harm. Unlike just about any human in any other Godzilla movie, Yuki seems like he has the ability to hurt Godzilla. However it is just not meant to be. This movie could be darker than it is.. and perhaps just cutting 30 seconds of Baby Godzilla and Yuki interacting would radically change this movie towards the other Heisei films.
However that’s not what this film is about. Yuki still comes across as threatening to Godzilla, but it was intentional on the part of the production to show him loving towards Baby Godzilla. While the men Yuki fights alongside with, in addition to the audience, have doubts about the eagerness to kill Yuki presents himself as having; Dr. Chinatsu Gondo does not see through that well earned facade. The development of drama is in these interpersonal relationships: Dr Gondo and Yuki, Miki and Koji Shinjo.
Yuki’s Apocalypse Now demeanor is something of a red herring for what this film is about. Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla is not built on inner turmoil like Godzilla VS Biollante and Godzilla VS King Ghodirah. In many ways one would expect Yuki to take on a role like Shindo in Ghidorah or Dr. Genshiro Shiragam in Biollante. However his path in the film is completely altered when, within minutes of his introduction, you see straight through Yuki’s transparent demeanor and lay bare his soul as he fawns over Baby Godzilla.
Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla is about reconciliation and moving forward with life, even while it talks about revenge, hate and pride. Because of Godzilla, so many characters in this movie, and in Japan at large presumably, are stuck where they are in life. Yuki cannot ease the pain of his friend’s death. Dr. Gondo spends all her efforts trying to manage the living disaster, and working feverishly helps her not dwell on the loved ones she lost. Miki tirelessly works, trying to find a peace between humanity and Godzilla, but the rest of her life goes nowhere. So many characters are in a constant state of panicked working, they don’t make time for friendships based on anything other than shared trauma.
Over the course of this film, these characters learn to move forward in their lives. The human portion of the story is very different from the other Heisei films. Knowing that this film is a romance film going in can help you enjoy it more; because the film doesn’t present itself as a romance. It caught me by surprise! Though none of the romantic scenes were were unnatural, I just invariably expected everything to end tragically.
In the other Heisei films, much darkness and brooding is brought about by individuals who refuse to confide in others; and Yuki seems close to that. However every character in this movie comes to depend on others over time, and ultimately teamwork and cooperation is triumphant, which makes budding romance possible.
SpaceGodzilla is the first planet-wide threat in the Heisei film series. SpaceGodzilla’s appearance is heralded by the terratransformation of the Earth. Crystal spires erupt as SpaceGodzilla remakes our world to be like his, an asphyxiating outer-space realm. SpaceGodzilla has a discernible contempt for humanity, and is either going to destroy the Earth or change it in ways that are inhospitable to humans.
The lack of authentic human malice courses through the movie, with Yuki’s character being the most undermined by it. For better or for worse; the better is that this is a fine movie to watch with kids. SpaceGodzilla is an awesome threat and the characters are all decent people. Nobody dies on screen and there isn’t any monster blood.
The Heisei series in regards to kids is generally hard. It’s filled with terror. Godzilla VS Mothra (1992) is exceptional and kids could love it but definitely earns something like a Parental Guidance rating. Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla is less gruesome than that. There is some great violence in it! But that violence is at monster scale, like us knocking over towers of foam blocks. There is not any monster gore, though though there is dismemberment.
There is something great about showing your kids Godzilla flicks, and then building cities of foam blocks and knocking them over! This film is the easiest hang with children. You never know what kids will love, I think they could love Mothra the most, but there is some convincing monster gore in that movie, with Battra’s blood weeping over Godzilla’s burrowed maw. There is good monster gore in Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla but it is of an unearthly quality and not going to upset your kids.
As franchise fans there is much to enjoy. Head psychic Miki Saegusa, a contributing character through all the Heisei films, gains new powers, and acts great while part of my favorite romance in the film. Humanity contributes significantly in these monster fights. Even though SpaceGodzilla races through Earth’s orbital defenders, we also learn that Earth of the Heisei universe has a far greater presence in space. Mothra communicates with Miki even while Mothra journeys through space, developing the Cult of Mothra meta plot.
This movie tells us that the governing forces of Humanity have come up with two separate plans for how to address the problems Godzilla creates:
— Project T: control Godzilla via telepathy
— Project MOGERA: destroy Godzilla
However Mothra posits something different. Mothra says Godzilla is key to defending Earth, and that without Godzilla, Earth will be too easily conquered by space monsters. Simultaneous to this, there is a human who could kill Godzilla for the first time in the Heisei series; there is also a space monster barreling down.
The emotional climax is based on teamwork, while the emotional catharsis is in romance. Notorious lone wolves say “Let’s finish him together!” And while that line immediately applies to cooperating with his human allies, it also applies to the 3rd act where Humans and Godzilla cooperate to defeat SpaceGodzilla.
At the end of the movie Miki reaches her hand out shyly, and touches Koji Shinjo’s hand. Feeling her hand graze his, he opens his fingers and gently catches hers. They begin to hold hands. Miki smiles, so does Koji. I hope when my kids begin to date, their expectations in dating are set by the standards of Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla. That holding hands exchange is a great example of establishing physical intimacy at a pace both people are comfortable with.
Fukuoka Tower is a centerpiece of the final act; nothing in Acts 1 or 2 suggested a tower, or this tower, would be important. But, the need for a tower seems realistic enough. I just didn’t get why Fukuoka caught the monster’s attention so I altavista’d it. The film makers were relying on their mostly Japanese audience to be familiar with big headlines from their country. Fukuoka Tower is the tallest seaside tower in Japan, and when it was finished in 1989, it was the tallest such tower in the world. It is a major tourist destination, and a safe bet that a tourist minded government encourage Toho to use it. The whole city and definitely the tower get destroyed, but the area is implied to be very nice and peaceful before hand; there is another shot of a cool looking amusement park, with Godzilla in the background. While it’s not too heavy handed I suspect this is a paid spot by the Fukuota Tourism Board. Honestly I’ve never heard of Fukuoka before and now I want to visit. Sunset at the Fukuota tower is said to be exceptional.
Were it not for the Kaiju, I’m sure Fukuoka Tower would be a great place for romance. It weirdly fits in with this movie as “Date night, and your kids are coming along too.”
- SpaceGodzilla is a convincing monster. The Earth is terraformed in SpaceGodzilla’s presence, assuaging you to SpaceGodzilla’s awesome threat. As soon as SpaceGodzilla arrives, spires of crystal jut through mountains and cities alike, destroying buildings and causing landslides. I wonder if King Ghodirah in Godzilla: King of Monsters (2019) were imagining this terraforming as they wrote in ways to increase the demonic threat King Ghodirah represents in that film.
- The human contribution to the fight was tangible. Yuki seemed like he belonged in that match up as one of the monsters. The humans put it all down on the battlefield and what they did paid off. The actions of human warriors are the means by which Godzilla defeats SpaceGodzilla.
- The armpit Chekov’s Gun has a payoff but it’s very subtle; the pay off is when MOGERA is nearly destroyed and Yuki crawls out with what looks like a recoilless rifle, but he is unable to make accurate aim through the smoke and ruins; burning fires blind him. He crawls back into MOGERA and jury rigs one last attack. This scene shows us that though Yuki is a total badass, he would still need everything to go right and a massive dose of luck to hurt SpaceGodzilla. It’s an unusual payoff, showing his lack of power as a man in a monster world. But with him as the pilot, the heavily damaged MOGERA can still wreck shop and take SpaceGodzilla’s eyes off his main foe. Yuki the rifleman is a loner, but Yuki the pilot is a team player. And it is Yuki as a team player where he makes a difference in the fight.
- The subtitles spell his name “Yuki” but his name tag on his military uniform says “Yuuki”… is this some difference between anglicized name tags meant to be read by Japanese people and then comporting the same name for American English speaking audiences? Why “Yuuki” for Japanese readers (written in those letters) but “Yuki” for English readers?
- Mothra: this girl fucks. Think about how many babies she’s bequeathed. It’s a safe bet there are Mothra and Battra sets of eggs are on Earth. After Mothra leaves, Godzilla has a baby. Mothra is traveling through space, space has a baby. Mothra: DTF. SpaceGodzilla in my opinion more resembles Biollante, but lets face it, the void wasn’t getting knocked up until Mothra traveled through it.
-In Godzilla VS Mothra (1992), Godzilla was satanic. In Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla (1994), after Godzilla VS MechaGodzilla II (1993), Godzilla has completed his Heisei Heel-to-Face turn and goes from arch villain to Earth’s defender. Quite a character development over 3 films, as mediated by none other than Mothra.
- The flameless zippo lighter Yuki gives his love interest, asking her to fuel it? Near the end she lights his cigarette with it, and he renounces his desire to kill Godzilla. He keeps the lighter, and asks his romantic counterpart on a date. Was this some sort of test Dr Gondo passed, administered by Yuki? I don’t know how she found time to fuel the lighter, but it was the 90s, that stuff was everywhere. What would happen if she didn’t have the lighter? Would Yuki pledge his soul to King Ghodirah in exchange for the power to defeat God?(zilla). Was it a test? I don’t think it was a test, I think its meant to convey metaphors. Yuki has no capacity for love, the lighter doesn’t burn. On a lark he asks the one person whom he knows shares his exact pain to do something symbolic. Yuki gives the lighter to Dr. Gondo, and she returns it full. Now with lighter in tow and a cigarette lit, Yuki can admit to his forgiveness of Godzilla and capacity for intimacy again.
- Why do the elevator doors in MOGERA each have two compact discs adhered to them? Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla was released in December of 1994; every person who would see this movie knows what compact discs look like.
The movie posits for its characters the principle dynamic between the will to kill (MOGERA) opposed to the will to control (Project T). All the characters save Miki initially ascribe to some level of commitment to one of those two ideologies; Godzilla must be destroyed or Godzilla must be enslaved. The characters ultimately reject that false dichotomy and Godzilla runs free. The characters dedicated to MOGERA all turn out good, ultimately rejecting their goals of killing Godzilla. The characters invested in Project: T — telepathy and control — end up hoodwinked by the project’s evil leader, who is unabashedly evil in reveal, and is implied to die off screen soaked in lightening.
Though it is a false dichotomy — control vs kill — it is intriguing how the characters evolved. Every good person in Project Control was duped, and the real goal was ultimately to use Godzilla as a weapon: in this case a weapon for terrorists. Every person in Project MOGERA the movie depicts heroically, and as heroes at the end. The participants of Project MOGERA act like decent martial enforcers, using force judiciously in spite of their personal grievances with Godzilla.
Mind Control is inescapably evil, and while it does not ever help the evil head of Project T, he lives an evil life and suffers a movie death for it. This is not a nerd VS man of action trope, as clearly nerds built and pilot MOGERA just as nerds built Project T. As we get to know the members of Project MOGERA we learn they are essentially conservationists, who engage in violence reluctantly. In contrast the head of Project T was eager to engage in mind control — a very violent thing — but with its violence hidden. The evil administrator could profit in secrecy — a secrecy MOGERA would never be capable of. I suspect this is an intentional swipe at epiphenomalism but the evidence is quite circumstantial and mostly my conjecture.
This movie confused me when I first saw it. It is distinctly different in meta-plot from the other Heisei movies in the series thus far. It is a natural evolution of the Heisei series trying new things. Knowing that this film is at heart a comedy as opposed to a tragedy helps me enjoy it more. The first time I saw Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla I felt very confused because the prior Heisei movies are tragedies of great magnitudes. There’s like 12 Hamlets per movie.
Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla has all the other familiar elements of Heisei Godzilla films: strong acting, awesome monster designs, rampant destruction. As the credits rolled, a song of a distinctly 70s flavor kicks in, and I couldn’t help but think of some of the later Showa elements that were stronger in this film: an ending where people come together to recover from tragedy rather than spiraling in anguish. Think about the end of Godzilla (1955): a man is filled with dread for the future. Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla is much further along on an emotional journey, characters were traumatized long ago but are now learning to heal. Furthermore, with or without Godzilla, humanity proves that they have a role in the monster fights of the future, perhaps a decisive one if the work packed into MOGERA continues to advance.
When Shinjo talks to Miki about love, he hurt her; not through his words, but by reminding her of her loneliness. Its fairly clear to us the audience that Shinjo has moved past war all the time — after all he stayed at the island in an act that removed him from the present war grind — but Miki in a bit of emotional non-sequitur logic confronts him with his unrelenting will to fight that he exhibited in the past.
Ultimately the character she is most criticizing is actually SpaceGodzilla, a being who solely comes to Earth to kill Godzilla and then do who knows what to Earth. SpaceGodzilla is so evil he has a kick-the-dog moment when he thumps Baby Godzilla. SpaceGodzilla is the character who thinks of nothing but fighting all the time, and we see how unrelentingly dangerous such a disposition is when coupled with power.
This scene also shows how Miki is not moving forward in her life. She can’t even see how Shinjo is moving forward in his. You see in her emotional reaction that she is not content to live her life for work, while not knowing what else to do. There is something subtly subversive about Japanese work culture there.
I had to watch this movie several times to make sure I got it straight, because I watched it initially with very different expectations, and the things that went counter to my expectations I didn’t pick up on quickly.
When I first saw this movie, my notes talk about how strange a choice it was for Yuki to interact with Baby Godzilla so fondly, how that undermined his walk in darkness, and I had a note about what I thought were sweet romances that took me by surprise. Clearing my head and watching it again, I realize that the romances are the most important part of this film. The characters in this film start off emotionally wounded, and get better. It is unlike any other Heisei Godzilla film in this regard, and sets the stage for tragedy again in Godzilla VS Destroyah (1995).
