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Aliens attempt to take over the Earth with their monster army, but a single flying battleship manages to free Godzilla from his icy tomb.  The King of Monsters goes on a world tour, killing every rival that dares oppose him.

Im going to just say this there was too much time spent on the mutants.The whole movie played like a bad saturday mourning cartoon.They didn't need the corny  Ebirah vs Mutant scenes or the borring Minya scenes what was needed was longer exciting Godzilla battles.I am disapointed that the last GODZILLA movie was directed by an idiot.  

You know, with as many people poking at all the Easter Egg references, and at the 'Soccer Match' scene... I'm surprised no one's brought up this connection yet.

December of 1992, Banpresto released a game for the Super Famicon system called "Battle Soccer." This game let people play with teams made up of super deformed icons from multiple companies. There were teams for Kamen Rider, Ultraman, Mobile Suit Gundam, and yes, Toho Kaiju.

And what was Godzilla's team?

Godzilla, Rodan, King Caesar, and five Jet Jaguar clones.

Suddenly makes you groan at that scene in a whole new way, doesn't it?

A couple of things I noted in your review, good all around and amusing, but you didn't understand a few things. Markzilla is right, that thing, Monster X2 isn't King Ghidorah at all. it has four legs, and though it bears a striking reselmblance, that could be due tot he influence of the Xillians. Recall that the original incarnation of King Ghidorah is monster zero, and that might have a connection with some far gone relic dealing with the Xillians. Also, you mentioned that he was frozen in ice in the 50's yes? No, the original godzilla was killed with the oxygen destroyer and godzilla himself has returned across Japan's history to plague it. He was only ever frozen in ice (to my knowledge) in this movie, and that intro takes place only years before the actual plotline, not decades.

I love this movie! There's lots of parts that I like, like when Godzilla threw Kamacuras into that electric tower and when Ebirah's claw popped out Hedorah's eye. My most favorite part was the fight between Godzilla and Keizer Ghidorah. The ultimate battle! YEAH!

Too bad there wasn't much sex scenes, but lots of long-legged Japanese babes!

In the "sounds and speech" wave files you have there, you should have an example of the statement the young Xilian leader says about the "deanzilla" (your name for him and a good one too, by the way)
He says, "I didn't think that tuna head was up to much"

He, he, he, he

This movie is goofy, but still very enjoyable. I like the part when Gigan gets blown to pieces by Mothra, who has been set on fire. That's an original way to kill the bad guy, just blow him to bits with a gigantic flaming insect!

Wow, refrences to The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, Dragonball Z, Edward E. Smith, Warhammer 40K, and Final fantasy.
Good thing I am a nerd or I would have gotten lost. I have yet to be disappointed, please keep the reviews comming.

"If a prehensile furry tail had popped out the back of Ozaki's pants, then he had grown into King Kong... " was the best.

Final Wars is currently my favorite Kaiju film and my favorite Godzilla movie overall. I remember thinking, "What's this? They actually did that in a Kaiju movie?" A couple of times during the bike chase and some of the monster battles. The 'Godzilla plays soccer using Anguirus as a ball' is priceless, my favorite scene on the movie.

I'm glad to see a review for it on your site.

Oh dear God.....those sound files totally display just why i hate dubbing so much!

"He says, 'I didn't think that tuna head was up to much.'"

The real translation of that line is "I knew that tuna eating monster was worthless."

Funny how Tristar consistently dulls the biting sarcasm of the Japanese line translations when talking of GINO.

I saw this movie last year. It was okay. The monsters weren't that cool. It wasn't that good of a movie. I liked Anguirus though. The movie was also quite clunky. I'd probably give it a 6/10.

Wow, all those other notes, but you totaly missed some of the greatest parts of it... with Gordon being played by a pro fighter and is dressed up as a Hussein with a Katana, or that he is the (almost) only english-speaking actor in the cast and yet there are no linguistical problems between them even though he never speaks a word japanese and vice versa...

this could be because you seem to have watched the dubbed version and where left out on all those nice quotes...

"Sorry I'm a vegitarian"

"Take this X-MAN!"

WHAT? No mention of the 30 second flat knockout of ZILLA? (as he's called by the director Kitamura, because the americans had taken the "God" from godzilla)...

What? no mention of the random acts of violence against the polar ice crew that gets blown away by big-G first thing he wakes?

this is probably my favorite kaiou movie and I was on the brink of writing my own review some weeks ago and submit it. I reguraly check in here to read your reviews... but I think you left out far too much fun stuff on this one...

  The movie rules,for Toho really went all out with this film that features more monsters than "Destroy All Monsters",and is the serie's best film since "Godzilla,Mothra,King Ghidorah(GMK):All-Out Giant Monster Attack". And plus,it's got plenty of Matrix-esque martial arts showdown and stunts,and both ex-UFC fighter Don Frye and Kane Kosugi(Son of the Ninja[Sho Kosugi]!!!),as well as old school Godzilla beating down Tri-Star's CGI Godzilla to the tune of Sum 41 playing in the background:Yeah !!!!

Ugh. Way too much "Hollywooditude" and stuff we've seen before in both Godzilla movies and American films...and certainly not enough monster action for the overwhelming roster of kaiju. Ridiculously short rubber-suit squabbles nearly buried in plodding "Matrix Meets Destroy All Monsters" rehash make this considerably less fun than even miserable farts like "vs Gigan."

I do hope all the fanboys who endlessly b***hed about the Heisei series are happy now. The Millenium series has been (with the obvious outstanding exception) a bust; "Godzilla 2000" was embarassingly bad from start to finish; Tezuka's three entries were technically brilliant and beautifully scored, but sloppy in script and execution (...A swimming pool? Get bent, Tezuka); yet none of these achieved the mindbending suction of "Final Wars."

An entertainingly over-the-top baddie and VERY welcome appearances by the long-missed Angurius, King Caesar, Manda and Goten/Atragon are spoiled by "soccer goalie" Godzilla, Don Frye's sub-Hulk-Hogan acting, way too many "because it's in the script!" moments, kaiju fights over in seconds...and that MUSIC! God!

Oh, look, Mothra's on fire! AGAIN! And Gigan just...oh, come on, that's just humiliating.

Remember the fight between Godzilla and Kumonga in "Son Of Godzilla?" Compare it to the match in "Final Wars." Therein lies the very definitions of "suck" and "fail."

(And for his exploding/burning/electrocuting nearly-unreadable credits, one Mr. Cooper should be beaten with a cane.)

I guess I am a member of Happenstance's camp.  The worst Godzilla movie made in a very long time despite the budget.  For a kaiju fan.....zzzzzzz

Too much human emotion and human drama, not enough kaiju classing.  The new Gigan design is great...but not used enough.  Worst of all, Hedorah finally makes a reappearance after GvsHedorah in the 70s and he's barely in the movie at all.  I felt like screaming at the screen..what was the point of redoing his suit!!!!!  A waste of money!

All the kaiju fights are over way to quickly and I refuse to believe Godzilla just hands all the other monsters their asses.  The director does not "get" Godzilla at all.  Sure he's a power house but if your going for an all out fight you need to know it's Godzilla's "never quit" attitude that makes him the king of the monsters.  If your going to pay tribute to a series about a giant monster, the giant monster better be the focus not the stupid humans...

Sorry I'm too annoyed by the whole movie to continue!

Reviewer error alert! (i want to make the correction about our 3 headed costar NOT being present in this flick-it been awhile since i've only watched it once...*my bad* and my sincerest apology to our king Ghidorah!!!

Of all the entries of godzilla films, this 'Destroy All Monster rendition(as it seems)falls notably short. I wish Inoshiro Honda was around to direct this one or at least viewed it preproductionwise. His films always had a unique 'touch-n-feel' that sci-fi fastasy is all about-an absolute escape on those rainy Sat. afternoons i recall as a kid(the same holds true for Gammera movies). First of all,the fight scenes are at a minimum at best, thanks to human actor overexposuring.-the star power belongs to the monsters!!(hello..)the 2 Gigan idea is ok here;Manda,Aspiga,Anguirus,Minya,Hedora and gimantises fit the bill, too. But this time they didnt fully update this as the all-out monster bash it should've been.(the absence of king Ghidrah says you cant have a final fight w/o our most enduring Toho 'baddie' in all his 3headed glory.)and where's Mechagodzilla?(Honda would've had it back in remote mode via aliens control for the plot). Finally, adding Kong,Varan, a tougher Baragon,Megalon and Titanosaurus surely could've helped and my only other 'bonepick' is how they made king Seesar into a teen diva aberration(he even has relaxer in his hair!!

I have never been so disapointed in a GODZILLA movie in my life.To me the best updated monters were Angillas,Kamacuras,Gigan,GHIDRAH.It was great seeing DEANZILLA getting his butt kicked IT was the best fight in this whole stupid movie.To make my commit

* The Jecht Shot is not only for Blitzball any more.

* If your name happens to be 'Captain Gordon,' you can always find work in an Atlus/Nippon Ichi game.

* Ghidorah needs to lay off the cloves and the World of Darkness game books.

Don Fry? :thumbup: Villian? :thumbdown: What, i need more Matrix?
More monster mayhem, please! Give Daenzilla a nuclear enema! Angilis gets respect, for his "Rollerball" trick.
A good flick, when your in a riffing mood. Oh, the strait lines...

This one is fun, but I have to agree it's not anywhere near as good as it could have been.  All the Power Rangers meet the Matrix stuff was annoying, and the acting and script were just about as bad as kaiju flicks get.

While I will admit it wasn't the masterpiece that Toho wanted everyone to believe it was, it certainly wasn't horrible, IMO.  Seeing Godzilla and Mothra team up again was pretty cool.

I found it reasonably entertaining.  A lot of the humans/mutants stuff was dumb, but it was still better than in most of the older productions.  I quite enjoyed Don Frye's character, his wooden acting seemed deliberate to me.  I mean, I have no doubt he's a terrible actor, but that was exactly the kind of performance the character called for. 

I also quite liked the monster fights.  I just wish there'd been more of them and they'd been longer.  I liked seeing Godzilla just show up and beat ass for once, rather than having the crap kicked out of him over and over til he randomly wins for some reason at the very end (well, ok, that isn't what happens in EVERY Godzilla movie..  Just like 10 of them).

That was actually one of the better features of this one, he was a monster on a mission and he didn't have time to let them beat on him!  The other kaiju were pretty cool in this one also, except for Kumonga, who was still a bit silly-looking.  But yeah, there could have been longer fight scenes.   We did get to see a lot of Gigan and his dysfunctional head though. 

I liked it but there was one thing that was forgotten in the "Stuff to watch for thread". When Captain gordon is sitting down at the meeting table discussing a plan with Ozaki, Miyuki and that other dude, If you look behind him on the board with names... it will say Johnny Johnny at the bottom of the list. Not kidding. It actually says that.

I thought Final Wars was okay but I kept getting the impression throughout the film that it was a Godzilla film made for people who don't like Godzilla films. There were just so many things stolen from Hollywood action movies and whatnot. I thought the motorcycle chase scene was incredibly groan-inducing; like I want to be reminded of a Tom Cruise movie while watching a Godzilla movie. The Matrix references didn't help either, since I hate the Matrix with a passion. Overall, it was a rather disappointing movie with too few Kaiju scenes. I thought the "making of" footage on the Tri-star DVD was more interesting than watching the movie itself!

GODZILLA FINAL WARS (2004) (http://imdb.com/title/tt0399102/) - Good film even though there may have been two films here. I mean the whole thing between the mutants and the aliens was distracting me from the monsterfest a bit. The Godzilla film has been brought into todays filmmaking style of humans engaged in fast paced martial fight scenes and oh yea we also get monsters. Some of our old favorites are back including Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, and a brief appearance of the smog monster. One of the wilder looking ones was that hairy headed creature that ran around trying to beat Godzilla. Another character I got to like little by little is the caucasian ship commander with the sword and that air ship. All in all a good film, but not in the tradition of Godzilla and not as good in my opinion as GODZILLA 2000 (2000).

(7 out of 10 Stars)   :thumbup: :thumbup: I like the old and ominous Godzilla approaching the city films better.

(http://www.pennyblood.com/godzilla1.jpg)

[youtube=425,350]http://youtube.com/watch?v=be-xYRKXiHE&mode=related&search= 

I loved Godzilla: Final Wars.  I thought it was much better than Godzilla 2000, but not as good as Destroy All Monsters.  Final Wars is sort of a return to the campy style of the 60's and 70's Godzilla flicks, and those have always been the most fun for me, even though I've enjoyed every era of G-flicks.

I thought Godzilla Final Wars was okay, but a little too long and spastic.  Then again, I wasn't largely impressed with the Millennium series as a whole.  Sure, I liked it, but I think Toho went a little far doing a new film every year. 

Honestly, I don't see Toho doing a fourth series any time soon.  They said 2013, but they've said they have absolutely no interest in doing any more daikaiju films for a long while.  I hope when they do do one that they actually take their time to write and produce Godzilla films rather than crank a new one out yearly. 

I liked it.  Of course, it's a film with advanced technology, crazy aliens, and lots of monsters.  I do wish that more care had been taken with some of the battles.  They were too cartoony for me.

http://www.badmovies.org/movies/godzillafinal/index.html

The movie has grown on me but I did like it initially.

Hopefully the next monster movie Toho makes will have the same crafting as Godzilla 1985 and Biollante got. Took them four years and they did those right.

I totally agree with you, "Godzilla: Final wars" could have been even better, if they had had more time to concentrate on the special effects, especially all the monster scenes seemed pretty shoddily made to me. Don't get me wrong, folks, I love this movie, but with more time it could have been a masterpiece of Kaiju genre like GMK.

I was really happy with this movie.  I think it moves a little too slow for my liking and spends way too much time on the mutants, but there's a fight on two moving motorcycles, for crying out loud!

The mid-movie smackdown when G finally faces down all the monsters (and roasts American Godzilla) was awesome.  That big American guy also sold me on the movie big time.

Overall, I like this movie.  It's not a question to me of if the film is good, but rather what is good about it and what isn't.  This was the big G's 50th anniversary movie, and Toho tried to pull out all the stops on this one, with mixed success.

Almost everyone complains along the lines that the monster fights are too short and too silly.  I agree with this assessment, but one must realize that for every monster that appears in this movie, that's either that many more minutes that must be added to the running time or that many more that must be removed from other monsters' fights.  Still, if the human (and alien!) part of the film were shortened, that would open up time for the monsters.

Much of the human part of the film was obviously influenced by other recent movies (e.g. The Matrix) and it shows.  I feel this is the weakest part of this movie.

What does work well in this film?  The monsters.  This is a (Godzilla) daikaiju film.  It's supposed to be about the monsters.  Is there any other film that has as many as this one?  Mostly, they are well done with only a smattering of CGI (e.g. Anguirus when he's a bowling ball).  (I had a hard time figuring out who Zilla was supposed to be until the Real Godzilla put the smack down on him.)

I don't watch daikaiju films for the 'kung-fu action', but the fighting action that was in this film was pretty good.  (Yeah, even the <cough><Tom Cruise><cough><Mission Impossible><cough> motorcycle scene wasn't bad, if unbelievable.)

I would not recommend this film to be someone's first Godzilla film, but I would recommend it as a 3rd or 4th.


I'm showing my American ignorance here, but just out of curiosity what kind of films other than daikaiju does Toho even make?

Finally, just one quick anecdote.  Above, RapscallionJones says "That big American guy".  One must never assume that a Caucasian in an Asian film is an American (although in this case the actor is and I'm sure RapscallionJones knows this).  When I was in Singapore (in the U.S. Navy), I came across a typical redneck type family waiting for the subway.  I couldn't figure out for the life of me why a family of rednecks would want to go to Singapore, or for that matter how they could afford it.  Then I heard them talk and everything became clear to me.  They were from Australia (which is right near Singapore).

There was way too much of the Matrix- style stuff and not enough monster action.  I loved the part where big G drop kicks Roland Emmerich's CG monstrosity into the Sydney opera house.

I would agree with that assessment. I like the film, but it really needed more time spent with the monsters.

I would have to call Final Wars a failure as a Godzilla movie.  Honestly, it felt like they were making an alien invasion movie when, all of a sudden, Toho bosses called in and said, "Throw some Godzilla scenes in here!"

The monster scenes were very rushed and you could edit them out without really changing the movie much.  And, hell, Godzilla himself basically just makes a cameo appearance!

So, yes, a failure as a Godzilla movie.

However, as a big dumb action movie, they don't get much better than this!  Watching Final Wars was like listening to a little kid tell a story: it didn't make much sense, story threads came out of nowhere and went back in a hurry, but there was always something happening!

"Godzilla was fighting a tank and got buried in ice and then -- Oooh!  And then Manda was fighting a submarine except it was really a plane and then there were aliens and mutant people and -- and --!!!"

Aside from that, there were just enough scenes that were right.  For instance, when Godzilla faced off against Angilas, King Caesar, and Rodan, you could tell he was wondering why his old buddies were trying to fight him.  And he simply beat the hell out of them instead of killing them because, hey, they're his buddies.

The ending was pretty crappy.  Aw, look, the damn kid and Minya are stopping Godzilla and the humans from fighting.  Awwwwwwwwbarrrrrrrrf.

Fortunately, before that, we had the Planet X guy going "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" while things blew up around him.  No movie that includes and image like that can be that bad.

I enjoyed it, but it should have had twice as much Godzilla and about a half hour of people crap cut out.

Check out Toho Kingdom (www.tohokingdom.com), and on the right click on "Movies."  Nowadays, it seems they do more comedies, drama, and action flicks than anything else, but they also do a lot of fantasy, horror, and samurai films.  In fact, most, if not all, of Kurosawa's old samurai films were produced by Toho.  They also distribute a lot of films in Japan that other studios make like Reincarnation (of Horrofest fame) and Ringu.

Interesting fact: Toho produced the film Milo and Otis.

The working title was Milo vs. Otis.

The one part I didn't like about this movie was how all the monster fights scenes were way to short. Other than that, I thought it was pretty good.

...not only that, but they seemed more like references to other things in Japanese cultures, in a way:

The "Godzilla vs. Angiurus, Rodan & King Seesar" fight, where Anguirus rolled up in a ball and got kicked around reminded me of Shoalin Soccer...

...and the "Godzilla vs. Ebirah & Hedorah" fight reminded me of Neogensis Evangelion when Godzilla's beam blasted not only his foes, but moved the entire building behind them as well!

I liked the final match between Godzilla & Monster X was pretty good, even with the intervention of Gigan and Mothra- I just wish the rest of the monster battles were as good.

I don't care what others say, THIS IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE GODZILLA MOVIE.  :teddyr: The fight with King Ghidorah is spectacular and Gigan's new makeover was awesome. VIVA FINAL WARS!

GFW is one of those Godzilla films where you either enjoy it or you don't. You have very few fans who are in between.

Personally, I didn't really know what to make of it when I first watched it back in December of 2005. After a few more watchings, the human drama is growing on me and the movie, as a whole, has as well.

I still have a problem with the short kaiju battles and the hit and miss coverage of the Godzilla Vs. Monster X battle.

Still, it isn't perfect, but it's a fun movie.

Gets a  :thumbup: from me.

I recently downloaded this in a german dub. I was talking to a friend on AIM when i started it and within 5 minutes i was just repeating "WHAT IS THIS MOVIE!!!!".

I hated it at first but its growing on me (be that good or bad). I mean For 2004 they really could have done a better job on the CGI and effects. Its not like japan is the most technologically advanced nation on the planet or anything.

Still, seeing "zilla" obliterated in roughly 30 seconds (to Sum 41??!!?) was satisfying. seeing the rest of the seven monsters before the big final rumble go the same way wasn't. Kaiser King Ghidorah was a joke. And minilla just didn't need to be in this, or any movie made after 1970.

However i end up viewing this movie Kazuki Kitamura is my new favorite actor. If it hadn't been for his fits as the xilian leader on my first view i probobly would have burned a stack full of copies just so i could throw them off the roof of my house onto the driveway and then light them on fire.

Toho can do better than that.

So, hmm, I see a very small number (very small) of blatant rip-offs from numerous movies and shows.  Let's see...Independence Day....Independence Day....Matrix....oh, that's DEFINITELY a Matrix....The Shining  (come on, two freaky twin girls appearing out of nowhere and talking in unison?)...Star Wars  (the Force clearly isn't with this guy, so instead of proton torpedos he just becomes a kamikaze)...Dragonball Z...Power Rangers  (just LOOK at the mutants' fighting stances in the intro!)...Matrix...Matrix...Matrix...

Did I mention Matrix?  I might have, I'm not sure. :lookingup:
This movie had me in tears the whole time, I was laughing that hard.  If I had a dollar for every time one of my friends or I said "WTF" I'd be able to pay off my tuition.  Especially when they started to play a Sum-41 song in the background while Godzilla fought his first round. What a riot!! :teddyr:

Watch this movie with a group, and you'll have one fun night!

I can agree with all of the ideas ripped-off from other movies, except "The Shining."  The Shobijin date all the way back to the original "Mothra" (1961).  The film definitely took a lot of ideas from "The Matrix."  Heck, the main guy is, as I said, almost a perfect Asian rendition of Keanu Reeves.

OK,forgive me my short comings on writting,when I do a job I do the best I can,however when it comes to writting,especially creative writing,I've always had trouble,my writing can't keep up with my thoughts,and that's why sometimes I forget words,then too sometimes I'm rushed for time.

Now I'll try to do this just once,and get it right!.

First this was $23.00s wasted,meaning it should of been better than it was!.This is a remake of the a fore mentioned Destroy All Monsters, at least it brings our good ship Atragon back into action(oh when Andrew are you going to have an Atragon sight!?),this time under the command of former wrestler Sargent Slaughter,oh I mean Capt.Gordon,who looks a lot like Sargent Slaughter!.

Basically it goes like this,for some reason monsters are everywhere,G-Force & Atragon are trying to stop them,then yet another ufo full of aliens comes to Earth,at first there friendly,humm hum,seems we've been down this road before,Xians say.

They get rid of all the monsters,then tell everyone Gorath's comming back!,they blast that,however trouble begins during the TV interview,it seems the young alien's intent on world conquest,he actually kills his leader before the stunned horrified viewers,and then has a physiological fit,unleashes the monsters again,and were right back where we started.

What follows is Capt.Gordon and crew plan to release Godzilla,our only hope to save Earth from destruction,my question is,where's Gamera!.

More time is spent dealing with the alien punk rather than good old monster fighting,even Godzillas son gets in on the act and befriends an elderly hunter and his grandson who are traveling the monster ravaged world.

Atragon bores through the ufo,and the big fight between good and evils on again,meantime,Godzilla disposes of all his foes with lightening speed!.

Truly this generation of Japanese seems to be quite different from the good old days of the original Creature Feature,they change Gameras looks and must of taken a cue from the 39 made for America Ultraman episodes,we want to see monsters fight!,on wonder they decided to put Godzilla on hiatus for a while.
I'm sure even David would agree with me on that.

Finally with the help of the only good alien left,the punk leader meets his deserved fate.Now it's back to the same old problem,Godzilla,this time his son actually raises his hands,meaning,you've done a lot of good so why not be like Gamera,sure Gamera comes back to Earth every once in a while,but like the Duke Boys he's meaning no harm to anyone,so why can't you try it for once in your life?.For some reason this time Godzilla's really touched so he and his son return to monster island in peace.

We are then treated to the end credits with clips from the movie,the them sounds  like the end of of your evening news show.

This has been Godzilla: The Final Wars!.

  I am not going through 7 pages to find Out but did anybody else realized that all they did basiclly is to remake Destroy all Monsters?
   DG

This movie made me soooooooo sad. I was really excited to see it, especially after the BAD ASS mechagodzilla and ghidora reboots that came out right before it. But it FREAKING SUCKED! Could they have picked a more goofy and awkward token white actor!?!?!

I understand why some people don't like the inconsistent tone (is this serious or a comedy) and the kitchen-sink approach of this film, but I take it as what I think it was intended to be: a homage to all the previous Godzilla films and incarnations. It might not be great (except for certain cool bits), but I've seen worse. Ohhh, I've seen worse...  :drink: