The War of the Gargantuas is really the story of unfulfilled potential, dreams dashed and a sinking back into slimy obscurity. While the film ostensibly focuses on the titular gargantuas (and rightfully so because who doesn’t love watching grown men in ratty-looking hairy ape suits push each other around), it is the sad tale of Giant Octopus that lingers long after the last model tank has been thrown and the last smug line has been spoken by a clearly unhappy Russ Tamblyn. Continue reading “The War of the Gargantuas (1966)”
Category: Toho
Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)
Frankenstein Conquers the World is yet another example of why it was such a bad idea for the Japanese to team up with Germany in World War II. In the waning days of the conflict, the Germans decide to do their Axis ally one last “solid” and deliver a mysterious briefcase to them. The case is opened once it is safely in a Japanese lab. Inside is a mint condition eternally beating Frankenstein heart! Thanks for that, Fritz! Continue reading “Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)”
Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002)
Is the 26th time the charm for Godzilla? Experience had taught me not to expect a whole lot from this movie, especially since Godzilla was going to be hammering on his metal twin, Mechagodzilla. Three times previously, someone had the bright idea that all it would take to defeat him is a really big, clunky robot that other than looking slightly like Godzilla really had nothing going for it. Continue reading “Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002)”
Virus (1980)
Meteor strike, nuclear war, zombie outbreak. All ways our world could end horribly where the dead are the lucky ones (as the various movie posters would undoubtedly exclaim). But there is another apocalypse we should add to the list. To the top of the list that is. Big budget foreign end of the world movie riddled with actors familiar from mainstream domestic film and TV cashing easy paychecks. Continue reading “Virus (1980)”
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)
Godzilla‘s appearance in his twenty-fourth movie is distinguished chiefly by him pretty much standing around biting a big dragonfly.
Toho, having been at this for something like forty years, knows just how to stretch such an obviously lackluster premise into a movie that is well in excess of an hour and forty minutes. How do they do it? With the liberal use of what I call “Godzilla Helper.” Continue reading “Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)”
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
This is actually the third movie that features Godzilla‘s chrome Doppelganger, though it is the first time humans and not aliens have piloted it. They don’t have any better results than when the aliens were in the cockpit, but they do manage to send Godzilla back to the ocean and award him custody of a cutesy baby Godzilla, so we can pretty much call Godzilla the loser in this one. Continue reading “Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)”
Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla (1994)
This is another in the new series of Godzilla movies that Toho began making in the 1990s. These were supposed to be bigger and better, with cutting edge special effects, souped up monsters, and exciting plots. These flicks were supposed to tear a Godzilla-sized hole in your butt and in its own way, Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla did just that! Continue reading “Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla (1994)”