Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)

In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, a UFO brings four visitors from the future. They claim that Godzilla will eventually destroy Japan, and they’ve come to prevent that. But …

Synopsis

In Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, four people have travelled from the future — The Futurians. They claim that, in the future, Godzilla will destroy the nation of Japan. So, they intend to go back in time to 1944, and prevent the creation of Godzilla in the first place.

Original timeline

In the original timeline, a dinosaur somehow survived into the 20th century, on Lagos Island. There, it rescues a group of Japanese soldiers from American troops during World War II. But, it’s gravely wounded in the process.

Major Yasuaki Shindo: [to the injured Godzillasaurus] We deeply regret that we must leave our savior behind. We pray that he will never hold it against us in his heart. Please forgive us, for we are helpless. There’s nothing that we can do. We can’t carry you, we cannot take you to safety. We hope your wounds heal quickly, and that you’ll recover full health. We, the Lagos Garrison of the Japanese Army will never forget how you saved our lives. Never!

in 1944

Some time later, an atomic bomb test was done near there, mutating the injured dinosaur into Godzilla.

The Futurians have travelled into the past, to change it. They transport the injured dinosaur to another location, and leave three cute creatures behind – Dorats.

Back to the Future

Beware of time travelers bearing gifts, however. The Futurians have a hidden agenda. Not only have they prevented the creation of Godzilla, they have caused the creation of King Ghidorah! By leaving behind those cute little Dorats — to be mutated and merged together. And they now control it!

Kenichiro Terasawa: The Equal Environment Earth Union?
Emmy Kano: Its sole purpose is to equalize the power of all nations on Earth. All types of people joined our organization, modest ones and aggressive ones, mostly very liberal and some of them radical. We stole the time machine. We had to have it in order to carry out the plan we had for Japan.
Kenichiro Terasawa: What did you plan for Japan?
Emmy Kano: Actually, we made up the story about Godzilla. He never does destroy Japan.
Kenichiro Terasawa: I see. And what about the nuclear pollution that destroys Japan?
Emmy Kano: It’s all a lie. Later on, Japan will become even stronger, the richest nation of the 21st century. With all this wealth and great power, it will buy up nations, South America and Africa, and then in the 22nd century, Japan will be bigger than China, America and all of Europe. No nation will compare to it.
Kenichiro Terasawa: My God. So they’ve come here to destroy Japan before all this happens. Why did they have to come back and destroy Japan this way?
Emmy Kano: There’s no other way. At the end of the 20th century, all nuclear weapons are banned, and because of that, no organization or government could control Japan, not even the Earth Union. So Wilson came up with his own plan to make a monster he could control and get rid of Godzilla so he couldn’t defend you. Then he’d begin to destroy Japan.

But Emmy has been lied to by her “teammates” as well. They have no interest in making all nations equal in the future. Only in the destruction of Japan as an economic power. So Emmy reprograms the android M-11 to obey her, so she can undo the harm that she’s done. But Godzilla is still created, courtesy of a Russian nuclear submarine that crashed in the 1970’s, mutating the sleeping dinosaur. And another sub, sent by Shindo, gives it even more radiation to mutate, causing it to be larger than it was in in the original timeline.

And then the battle’s on!

Shout-outs to

• Back to the Future (the entire plot about traveling into the past & changing the future)
• The Six Million Dollar Man (whenever M11 goes running)
• The Terminator (when M11 is chasing Terasawa and Emmy – the very distinctive “burnt Terminator” look)
• Dirty Harry (“Go ahead … make my day”)
• The Dorats have a striking resemblance to Gremlins.

Review

I have to say, I truly enjoyed Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah for multiple reasons. I enjoyed the human element very much, as well as the backstory of Godzilla, and the soldiers that he rescues during World War II. And, I genuinely enjoy Emmy’s heel-face turn, and how she not only feels bad, but does something to make things right. I also enjoy the reveal that she gives to Terasawa at the end of the movie — no spoilers.

Cast

• Kōsuke Toyohara (Godzilla vs. Biollante) as Kenichiro Terasawa. The science fiction writer, making a novel about Godzilla.
• Anna Nakagawa as Emmy Kano. One of the four Futurians. She holds a strange attraction for Terasawa.
• Megumi Odaka (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II) as Miki Saegusa. The psychic who helped confront Godzilla in the previous film.
• Katsuhiko Sasaki (Godzilla vs. Megalon) as Professor Hironori Mazaki. Dinosaur expert, one of the three taken by the Futurians back to 1944.
• Akiji Kobayashi as Ryuzo Dobashi
• Yoshio Tsuchiya (Godzilla Raids Again, Invasion of Astro-Monster) as Yasuaki Shindo. Now a wealthy businessman, during World War II, he commanded the Japanese troops that were rescued by the pre-mutated Godzilla.
• Chuck Wilson as Wilson. One of the four Futurians.
• Richard Berger as Grenchiko. One of the four Futurians.
• Robert Scott Field as M-11, an android Futurian
• Kenpachiro Satsuma (Godzilla vs. Gigan) as Godzilla
• Hurricane Ryu (Godzilla Vs Destroyah) as King Ghidorah
• Wataru Fukuda (Godzilla Vs. Space Godzilla) as Godzillasaurus, Godzilla’s un-mutated form

Editorial review of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

Godzilla vs. King Ghidora involves some western folks in a flying saucer from the future who come back to warn Japan of its imminent demise by Godzilla. But their real aim is to aid in that destruction, thus keeping Japan from becoming an economic powerhouse. Along the way, some cute little creatures they’ve brought with them are transformed into King Ghidora, the not-so-cute nemesis of Godzilla, and the two inevitably battle it out as unwitting champions of their times. The special effects are tops, the action is silly and pulpish, and the plot is lifted partially from Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1968). If you don’t watch this film with a silly grin on your face, you just aren’t a Godzilla fan.