Godzilla - Final Wars

I absolutely LOVE Godzilla and all the monsters! For the first half of the movie, there are english subtitles. This is OK because the movie went slow. Thankfully, when it actually started to be real good, everything changed over to English. It is worth knowing this before hand as I did not. It is also worth buying.

The latest entry into the long standing Toho Godzilla series, "Final Wars" packs so much into the two hour film, fans of the giant lizard are bound to find something in here to love.

The film opens with Godzilla being buried in ice by the latest group of human assigned to stop these rampaging monster, the EDF (Earth Defense Force). Only this time, these guys may have the edge because they aren't simple human beings, they are mutants. Not sure how this gives them an edge against towering monster...but it does provide for some awesome kung-fu fight scenes sprinkled throughout the film. When an entire slew of monsters begins attacking major cities around the world, it seems even the EDF might have too much to handle...and that is when the aliens show up. Are the aliens here to help....what has caused the monsters to suddenly begin attacking at once?

This movie is a lot of fun! If you love Toho's kaiju films, you MUST see this film. Almost all of Godzilla's former foes make an appearance, from Manda to Ghidorah and even Hedorah (The Smog Monster) makes a brief cameo.

Sure, the storyline is kind of a re-hash or mish-mash of earlier films (specifically "Invasion of Astro Monster" aka "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero"), but that is part of the fun. If you are looking for a deep storyline, with a heavy plot and character development look elsewhere. The storyline serves it's purpose in putting almost all of Toho's giant monsters in play. And they look great! Enhanced with some CGI, but still clearly Toho's "Suitmation" special effects. The budget was much bigger for this film and it shows. The scenery looks great, the action non-stop and the special effects are great. There is some decent character development, and the actors do a great job in not getting completely overshadowed by the mutant beasties.

If you haven't seen the newer Godzilla films, give this one a shot. There is a good reason this film series has now stretched over 5 decades.

As a huge Godzilla fan,I pretty much collect everything that involves that giant radioactive-breathing leviathan including G-FAN
magazine!What is G-FAN?It's every Godzilla's fan's dream come to life in the form of a magazine founded by J.D.LEES that deals with
everything GODZILLA,GAMERA,Japanese Sci-fi and fantasy oriented!It
sometimes even gives you coverage on Japanese superheroes like
ULTRAMAN for a good example.So,needless to say I was horrified when J.D.LEES and other main G-FAN scribes and subscribers
had completely already had it set in their minds that this was a bad movie just because they found out that Ryuhei Kitamura was going to direct instead of Masaaki Tezuka who had helmed 3 of
the previous entries in the Shinsei(aka: Millenium)Godzilla series!
And as I continued to read further issues as they came out,especially when GODZILLA:FINAL WARS had its premeire in
Hollywood rather than in Japan,like Toho usually does with their
kaiju eiga epics,the reviewers for G-FAN pretty much gave this one
completely BAD REVIEWS!But when I finally got a chance to see the
film myself on DVD,I was TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY by the awesome scope of this movie!This is without a doubt,one of Godzilla's GREATEST ADVENTURES IN THE MONSTER'S ENTIRE FILM LEGACY!And it has an all-
star giant monster cast that also includes: RODAN,ANGUIRUS,EBIRAH,
KING CAESAR,KAMACURS,KUMONGA,MANDA,HEDORAH,MINILLA,GIGAN,MONSTER X,
the American GODZILLA,and KEIZER GHIDORAH!And not only that the
film has plenty of action,story,and monsters that more than likely
should please any GODZILLA enthusiast.Like it did with me.Should
you want to subscribe to the Godzilla fan magazine(G-FAN)just write
to J.D.LEES at:
DAIKAIJU ENTERPRISES LTD.
530 WILLOW CRES.,STEINBACH,MB
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or just visit their website at [...]

Calling Godzilla: Final Wars a disaster is a bit of an understatement. With a $20 million budget, GFW was Toho's most expensive "Godzilla" film to date, and it shows. Visually, GFW is easily the most impressive film of the Millennium Series (which isn't saying much). But is it really a Godzilla film? Out of this 125-minute sci-fi epic, Godzilla gets a whopping...13 minutes of screen time! This is absolutely inexcusable, especially for the big guy's 50th Anniversary grand finale.

Perhaps the problem was with director Ryuhei Kitamura, who was obviously more interested in copying The Matrix, X-Men, Independence Day, and various other Hollywood movies than making a kaiju film. While the monster scenes we do get are fun and visually spectacular, they're incredibly brief. The worldwide destruction scenes last maybe 10 seconds each, and are usually followed by kung fu sequences or dialogue scenes that drag on for far too long (and are far too campy).

In defense of Kitamura, he was easily the most talented director of the Millennium Saga. Unlike Tezuka and Kaneko, who have no real artistic sensibilities, Kitamura crafts GFW with arty camera angles, color filters, quick editing, and flashy music video-style visuals. Unfortunately, this isn't enough to hide GFW's unoriginality, its awful, scene-ruining performance by Don Frye (whoever allowed him to star in the film should have their head examined), and all-too-brief kaiju sequences.

GFW bombed at the box office, pulling in the worst numbers since the 70s (barely a million tickets sold, resulting in about $10 million in revenue). Its failure was deserved, because it's a lousy film. While its visual flair and (sometimes) clever nods to previous Godzilla and Toho films lift it up above the rest of the Millennium films, GFW is one giant mistake in the end. After being Toho's top draw for five deacdes, Godzilla deserved better than this.

I really do not know how to rate this movie. At first I really did not care for the movie but recently it has begun to grow on me and it has become a guilty pleasure to enjoy. Therefore, I can see both sides of the issue of whether this was either a spectacular and extravagant way to end the Godzilla series or was it a catastrophic dud and cinematic train wreck?

This is basically a remake of the late 60s Godzilla classic "Destroy All Monsters" with hyped up special effects and nods to such modern day popular movies as The Matrix and X-Men. This movie has the flavor of the late 60s Godzilla movies which tended to be campy and way over the top while still being enjoyable. This tone marks a departure from the manner in which more recent Godzilla movies were made which tended to have the level of camp toned down to at least a digestible level.

This movie does play like a Saturday morning episode of Power Rangers hyped up on cough syrup with Godzilla and all of his friends thrown into the mix along with Law of Physics defying Ninja mutants and Matrix style aliens all vying to destroy the world and each other. So if that sounds like an enjoyable way to spend 2 hours then you may like this movie. If that doesn't sound like fun, then I suggest staying away.

Yes, this movie is silly, over the top with pretty good special effects, bad acting and cheesy corny dialog with an implausible story and many monsters fighting and trying to out maneuver one another with professional wrestling tactics which would make Hulk Hogan proud. As I said this movie has grown on me and falls under the category that it is "so bad it is good." This movie appeals to my inner nerdiness and I can accept it for what it is: a 50th Anniversary all-star campy Godzilla extravaganza.

This is one of the best Godzilla movies of all-time, in my opinion. It's got everything including a surprise visit from GINO (Godzilla In Name Only), the American version of Godzilla. It also has Kung-Fu Fighting aliens, Super-Powered Mutant Humans, Star Wars inspired space battles, Giant Monsters galore, and even a cute little baby Godzilla. Any movie that packs all of that into one package is okay in my book. This movie is just one big zany, fun-filled, action-packed giant monster slug-fest perfect for a Saturday Night monster movie marathon!

I write this review as warning and because I spent two
hours of my life viewing a film that I hoped would improve.

It evolved from Godzilla into the fifth unofficial Matrix
sequel. Someone should have reminded the director of exactly
what he was directing.

So, who's mocking who? Apparently, the U.S. was mocking
Japan's revered creature with their weak-fest, CGI version
starring Mathew Broderick and some terrified giant iguana.
Now, supposedly, Japan has ended their cash cow with this
sporadic mess, in which the director was possibly seeking
revenge by mocking the Matrix? We'll do to Neo what you did
to Godzilla? I don't think this is the case. I would say
the director reveres The Matrix series and sought to outdo
the Wachowski Bros. with a lesser budget of course.

All of the essential, aesthetic ingredients are here: black
attire, emotionless acting and gravity-defying martial
arts. Instead of the Japanese Neo stopping primitive bullets,
the director had him freeze lazers in mid-air... I was waiting
for him to grasp one and stare at it dumbfounded. These
things make up about an hour and a half of "Godzilla
Evolutions", and it is done ineffectively. The remaining 30
minutes is spent on what we paid for: monsters. The cameos
they have are rushed and comical to the point of cringing.
The only highlight being the climactic end battle between
Godzilla and King Ghidorah, the scenes that the director
probably did grudgingly.

Every once in awhile I enjoy a good campy Godzilla flick,
watching model buildings being destroyed and people running
around frantically is good quality entertainment...
unfortunately this movie isn't it.

Ryûhei Kitamura (Versus (Director's Cut)) drops the ball with this, the 50th anniversary Godzilla film. First - and I hate to say this because I love a good monster mash as much as the next monster geek - there are way too many monsters in this film. With so many creatures battling for screen time, things get cluttered very quickly. It reminded me of the "monster rally" films that Universal made at the end of their monster series. While I loved seeing Hedorah for the 3.1 seconds that he was onscreen, I have to question whether he even needed to be there in the first place (Yes, I know that I am in the minority for my love of Godzilla Vs Hedorah but that's another story!). I also have to question why Ebirah (Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster) gets a big scene when he was never a big player in the Godzilla universe. Also, Kitamura works hard to "update" the Godzilla formula by adding slick Hollywood-style visuals and employing MTV-ish editing that just doesn't work. While the Godzilla films have taken elements from American films in the past (Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah / Godzilla & Mothra: The Battle for Earth), they seem a bit more prevalent here and, as such, are all the more irritating. The story also lifts elements from numerous Japanese sci-fi films of the past (Gorath, Destroy All Monsters & Invasion of Astro-Monster (aka Monster Zero)to name a few) but adds virtually nothing new to the mix. The music is also sub-par. I am a big fan of Keith Emerson's soundtrack work (see Inferno) but his style does not mesh with the kaiju eiga (monster film) genre at all. I am not familiar with the other composers but the same goes for their contributions to this soundtrack. The Sum 41 song that plays over the battle with the American G & the Japanese one seems out of place as well. The acting & dialogue are nothing to write home about (the whole Matrix-y "chosen one" thing is wearing a bit thin). This includes Akira Takarada (Gojira / Godzilla Deluxe Collector's Edition (Gojira/Godzilla [1954] / Godzilla, King of the Monsters [1956])) and Kumi Mizuno (Frankenstein Conquers the World / Frankenstein Vs. Baragon). On the plus side, Godzilla looks good as does Monster X. The new Ghidorah at the end of the film is decent but not as impressive as his past incarnations. Some of the all-too-brief battle scenes are staged well but having Godzilla beat the enemy monsters in a matter of minutes gets tiresome after a while. All in all, this is a wasted opportunity & a sad goodbye for an old friend. In my own opinion, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah - Giant Monsters All-Out Attack would have made an infinitely better 50th anniversary G film. Note: the two stars that I gave this film include a half of a star for the scene of the American G getting pummelled by the real thing.

This movie is OK for what it is. If you want action packed popcorn entertainment and some monster fights get it. Personally, I would have liked to see the movie take itself a little bit more seriously, but really, the only serious godzilla movie I've seen in the first. It is true there could have been more monster fighting, but I think part of the problem if the movie length. If we had the same amount of monster fighting in a 90 minute movie I don't think there would so much complaining, but this film is 2 hours. Another issue is that the movie rips off the Matrix and Star Wars, and is full of cliche...(if they took that out and made it more dramatic). Don Frye is as badass as as anyone could be, otherwise the other characters didn't interest me too much...they were too cliche.
Look, it's a fun action movie, if you are going to enjoy it on that level you'll be happy.

I should probably give this 4 and 1/2 stars. Some of the characters are a bit derivative but the action ramps up and just keeps going. What does my title mean? After 2 viewings it occurred to me that Don Frye's character of Capt. Gordon is the human incarnation of the Big "G": a foreign monster who just won't stop. Fortunately for the Japanese, this monster is on their side. In one scene, Gordon looks at the oncoming monster and states that: "He just won't stop." There is a very understated admiration and recognition of a kindred soul in that statement. I also got a big grin out of the surviviors' discussion around the table as to what they need to do to win the war. Gordon minces no words and everyone just has to swallow a very big pill if they want to defeat the aliens. Don Frye has a wonderful supporting role in the new Dillinger movie. Doesn't say much, but every word counts.

Sony has now released "Godzilla: Final Wars" with thier '5oth Anniversary' collection, along with "Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." and several of the Showa (classic for the non-experts) films. The menu is unexciting, having no music or clips what so ever, but overall the quality is good. The end credits are included, translated, something I'm grateful for. Plus the original Japanese dialouge is an audio option, another great feature. Special features kind of lack, the only real one being the very cool behind-the-scenes featurette. Though an audio commentary wouldn't hurt, this DVD is great.

This movie had a script that seemed to have been written by a particularly shallow twelve year old, less acting skill than a fast food level dinner theater, and the special effects expertise of the original $50 budget and a super8 camera borrowed from my parents, films. I feel ashamed for having watched it to the end.
In short, it was everything that I'd hoped it would be.
I grew up watching Godzilla, and this movie took me back to those days. I loved every painful moment of it.

This movie is more about the poeple rather than godzilla who only appears at the beginning and end. But thats okay because theres alot of action going on. The human fights resemble that of power rangers sort of and the monster fights are collosal. With the exception of one goofy scene between Godzilla and king ceasar that I wont even dignify with a reveiw the rest of the movie is good.

What else can be said about a Godzilla movie. You either love 'em or hate 'em. Toho was once asked why they never decided to make Godzilla a C.G.I. Monster, they replied that Godzilla will always be a "guy in a rubber suit". That's the charm of a Godzilla movie, but if you have never seen any of the Godzilla films made after 2000 you are in for a very big suprise! This flick, claiming to be the last in the saga, is a fitting end, if this is truly the case (we hope not). The plot is simple, Aliens, who claim to be friendly at first, come down to earth only to wreak havok by briging back all the world's monsters to destroy mankind. A special breed of "super humans" with great powers are sent to fight them off. When they can't do it alone, they have no choice but to awaken the sleeping Godzilla to help defend earth. Plenty of fast action, in fact the first 15 minutes of this film's sets the stage for what is to come. If you are a godzilla fan, I'm sure you will find your fav monster here. One great scene has the Amercian version of Godzilla appear, and our Japanese counterpart nails him with one quick blow of the tail (are the Japanese trying to tell us something?). Anyway, you will love the film, the action, the monsters, the soundtrack is very fast paced, perfect for a modern Godzilla movie. A great view by all. Highly reccomended!

Fun movie with all of the monsters. The kids loved it. There are a few bad words, so have the mute button ready.

In the first few minutes of this movie,you get to see a cool submarine type ship with a drill bit nose battle a dragon,then nice martial arts fight,and a ghetto pimp,and cop get blown away, by what I think is Rodan. Not a bad start!This movie is very fun, I never got bored. I wish there had been more Godzilla and less Human/Alien drama, but still beats anything that has come out over here in a while. Lots of action,lots of creatures,and a decent sci fi plot. Our sci-fi channel could take some serious lessons,and make some man in suit movies rather than that lamer than lame CGI swill they pump out every other month! And Hollywood wouldn't touch a movie like this! What do us Americans get in the line of big screen fantasy.......TWILIGHT.....Oh be still my beating heart!

EARTH INVADED BY ALIENS. ALIENS CONTROL ALL MONSTERS EXCEPT GODZILLA AND MOTHRA. MANKIND NEEDS HELP. MANKIND GETS HELP FROM GODZILLA AND MOTHRA. I HAVE SEEN JUST ABOUT ALL OF THE GODZILLA MOVIES AND THIS IS MY FAVORITE. IT HAS PLENTY OF MONSTER ACTION WITH GODZILLA TAKING ON ALL OF HIS PREVIOUS FOES. THE HUMAN RACE IS BEING INVADED BY ALIENS WHO WANT TO RAISE THEM AS CATTLE AND THE ALIENS CONTROL THE MONSTERS. MANKIND NEEDS HELP BECAUSE THEY CANNOT DESTROY THE MONSTERS SO THEY REAWAKEN GODZILLA TO DEFEND THE HUMAN RACE.THE MONSTER BATTLES ARE GOOD ALTHOUGH SOME ARE TOO SHORT. THE SPECIAL EFFECTS INCLUDING THE COMPUTER GRAPHICS ARE GOOD AND FIT IN NICELY WITH THE STORY. ALL IN ALL, THIS MOVIE IS A FITTING WAY FOR GODZILLA TO END HIS STORY. ONE LAST THING--WHERE WAS KING GHIDORA?

I really liked the first Godzilla movie, But during the 60's and70's they made a joke of the Great Lizard. Now they are doing the movies over and they are spending a lot more on effects, The movies are very good again and I am atempting to get all the ones from Biolanti, thru the latest one up next, so if you liked Godzilla , but became disenchanted , Its time to give him another look, I did and Iam glad I did...

WOW! WHAT A WAY TO CLOSE THE SERIES. GODZILLA AND DON "THE PREDATOR" FRYE ROCK HARDCORE BABY! EVERY MONSTER IN TOHO HISTORY EXCEPT GOROSAURAUS, UNFORTUNATELY, EVEN HEDORAH, AND EBERAH SHOW UP. ALL ACTION ALL THE TIME. ITS LIKE EVERY SCIENCE FICTION ENTITY THAT I LOVE ALL ROLLED INTO ONE FILM. V, STAR TREK, STAR WARS, POWER RANGERS, EVEN GIJOE. WHAT A MOVIE. I HAD A HARD TIME BELIEVING REPORTS ABOUT THIS BEING THE BEST OF ALL. BUT IT REALLY WAS. "2 THINGS YOU FORGOT ABOUT THIS PLANET, ONE OF THEM IS ME. THE OTHER IS GODZILLA" GODZILLA FOREVER!

The best Godzilla movie ever!!!! He is unstopable. He is after all Godzilla the king of Monsters.

I thought this was the worst Godzilla movie of all time. Even with all the monsters, SPFX. First the monsters werent on screen long enough. 2nd the music was totally out of place. 3rd the characters are totally unlikeable. 4th Godzilla takes forever to show. 5th this movie just sucked. There were a lot of Hedorah fans who got to see their monster come back, looking different, and a screen time of 1 minute. Who was this Hedorah I would have liked to have known more. Ebirah gets a minute in the movie. King Caesar(sp) why ?? Minya Why ??? Gigan, Rodan and Mothra were cool. Monster X was neat, and became Kaiser Ghidorah at the end... Being a G fan to the fullest, I was thoroughly disappointed with this piece of junk. Nothing traditional about this.

but in a mindless fun way. the whole movie is pretty much pointless and pretty much goes no where. some of the scenes in this movie are so ridiculous that its hilarious, like when the leader of the army raises his sword like hes gonna fight godzilla. keep in mind that he is a normal human and isnt even as big as godzillas toe. the fight scenes are all very flashy and unrealistic and the plot is almost nonexistent. but there in lies the magic of this movie. its plot may be stupid. but i guarantee u this movie is never boring. i a must watch for fans of movies that are pure fun.

This is a great film the actors are awesome the fights are cool and the special effects are the best yet. The main character is a mutant and plays his role amazingly. The story starts as aliens invade earth claiming they're peaceful. After earths protection force exposes their scheme to use humans as a food source, they must unleash godzilla (they froze him two years ago.) Then godzilla kicks all other monsters butts and fights the aliens unlimate weapon,Monster x. Later in that fight monster x evoles into monster x two. After a huge face off godzilla wins. During this the mutant fights a vey cool karte fight and just by a split second survive. This movie is great but has some flaws such as short fights (only beggining ones) to much humans not enough monsters and gigan has chain saw hands at a point. But overall this is a good movie and a very good choice for any godzilla fans if you don't mind waiting for monster action. I highly recomend it.

Excellent delivery service and well packaged. I actually gave the film away as a gift. Pleased overall with this and would certainly recommend other shoppers to you.

Godzilla: Final Wars features the green giant going up against all his former enemies - though to get to that point, one has to sit through an interminable opening hour that couldn't possibly be more dull. When the various monsters from Godzilla's past (including Rodan, Gigan, and even Roland Emmerich's Godzilla) begin simultaneously wreaking havoc, all seems hopeless - until a group of seemingly friendly aliens effortlessly take care of the problem moments after arriving on the scene. As it turns out, the aliens are - in fact - even more dangerous than the monsters, leaving the surviving humans with little choice but to revive Godzilla and send him on an abomination-killing rampage.

Given that Godzilla is almost entirely absent from at least half of Godzilla: Final Wars, it's certainly possible for the viewer to forget that they're even watching a Godzilla movie. Kitamura seems far more interested in imbuing the film with wildly over-the-top action sequences and Matrix-inspired shenanigans than offering up anything resembling a traditional Godzilla flick, which lends the proceedings a dated, unrelentingly tedious vibe.

Having said that, the battles - when they finally arrive - are admittedly quite entertaining, though they invariably wind up overstaying their welcome by going on far longer than necessary (however, it's hard not to get a kick out of the sequence that finds the old-school Godzilla dispatching the American Godzilla with a flick of the tail). But Kitamura's inexplicable need to revel in excess (there's a space battle, for crying out loud) will undoubtedly alienate Godzilla neophytes and most likely irritate even the most die-hard fans of the legendary creature.

I have been a Godzilla fan ever since I was a little kid, watching badly dubbed and edited versions on early morning Sunday TV. Get a couple of guys in big suits beating each other up, and I am happy as can be.

"Godzilla: Final Wars" was the first Godzilla flick I ever actually saw in a movie theater. I was living in Japan when it was released, and there was no way I was going to miss the chance to see the big green guy battling away on the big screen. Man, was it cool.

This flick is the end of the Millennium series, which was one of the best of all the Godzilla incarnations. I loved how they established some continuity, including paying homage to the original (and best) 1954 Godzilla. Modern special effects were used to enhance the man-in-suit action, without ever giving in to CGI and taking away everything that makes Godzilla cool.

Paying homage is what "Final Wars" is all about. Pretty much every big boy that Godzilla has faced down makes an appearance, with the notable exception of Mechagodzilla, who disappeared at the end of Godzilla - Tokyo S.O.S.. Even the obscure ones like Ebira get a turn on the stage before getting dispatched. Sure, some of them fall a little bit too quickly, but that is a lot of monster to pack into a 125 minute flick.

Supposedly, this was going to be the true "final" Godzilla flick, but you just can't keep a good monster down. I am looking forward to 2014, the 60th anniversary of Godzilla, when the waters will boil again and that fantastic scream will come booming out at meaning, signaling that Tokyo better watch out because some buildings are about to come tumbling down.

Great effort to make an interesting human side to the story and the monster fights are well done and look relaly cool but it seems to drag a bit in the middle as godzilla is absent from most of the film.

Alright when I bought this movie I was expecting a movie that had big Kaiju battles, but I was I my expectation was wrong. Instead we get the ultimate Toho tribut featuring references to the movie Gorath and Atragon.
Final Wars is not a Godzilla movie, infact Godzilla is used as the last solution against the Xillians, so don't start watching this film thinking it's going to be another Godzilla movie.

The film mainly focuses on human,mutants, and of course the Xillians but the story will keep nonkaiju and Kaiju fans interested with interesting but cleary inspired by the Matrix battle scenes. Well even a little of the plot is inspired by the Matrix, but that will only bother you at first. Anyways when Godzilla finally appears he takes on all 12 monsters, but even though the battles are quick it still entertains and makes you forget about the humans for a bit. The only monster battles the last long is the battle between Godzilla and Monster X, which is pretty awesome by the way.

Anyways ways this movie is excellent film, it features tons of sci-fi elements and it also features the very cute Minilla. I bought this movie to my English class in school and it was recieved well by the students and teachers, this is defintly a movie to show to your friends, so they could start getting into Godzilla too.

Awesome movie! All the monsters are in this movie! Fun for the whole family! The kids love it! Easy menus, english dubbing available as well as original Japanese version! Worth the money for a classic movie lover!

You may've heard this was a stinker.... DON'T LISTEN!
Hey, If you are a Godzilla fan, you already have a great imagination!
15 Monsters! Old school fights (albeit short ones!)And Godzilla whups every last one!
Good character developement too...so you don't mind that you'd like more Godzilla. Many differnet views and the music is modern and even tho it's not Ifukube, fits this picture. It's just a lot of fun!

Well, like the others who put three star reviews and lower I am a huge Gozilla fan, I collect the figures, buy the movies and I worshiped him since I was a little kid. But this movie was a disappointment. I had a hard time giving it three stars, it should only deserve two or lower. I don't see how people found this movie good? I don't care about the acting, the plot, the character development, special effects. I just want to see some awesome monster fighting! And I only get about twenty some minutes of monsters!!!! The rest of the movie is god awful kung fu, karate, matrix crap. The movie has so much great monsters in! All the forgotten monsters such as manda, hedorah, king caesar (though he looked awful),Kumonga, Kamacura, ebirah, rodan, mothra, and the awesome anguirus. And gigan is in the movie and he looks incredible! The chainsaw hands are over the top and awesome. Monster X looks great and so his transformation to Kaiser Ghidorah. But the movie has minilla the down syndrome son of Godzilla. And the american godzilla 'zilla' appeared and he/she? got killed within two seconds which was pointless and they had to play sum 41 to make the atmosphere of the movie even worse and stoopid. The monster battles were from thirty seconds to three minutes. And the karate crap was sucking up the whole movie time. And the CGI was awful to, even though I said I didn't care about special effects. You might as well not make the monster if you cant make it look like it came out of a game cube game. The idea of the movie sounds fun like the classic destroy all monsters but its down with godzilla vs megalon and godzilla's revenge or all monsters attack, the worst godzilla movies ever.
So if you are a hardcore godzilla fan, buy this. But if your not, you should skip this movie and wait for another 5 to 9 years for another hopefully good godzilla film.

Being one of those kids who were introduced to Godzilla at the height of the popularity in the mid 1970's, when my local video store got in the new "Millennium" collection, I couldn't help but check this title out. The last "Real" Godzilla movie (Toho production over the American debacle) in the series I got to see was Godzilla 2000". Though the stories and dubbing were still wanting, I was impressed by the new Godzilla suit and much improved effects (still not up to U.S. film standards, but a vast improvement over past entries). Not seeing anything more recent on the vast trash of modern cable channels, I feared that the rumors of the Godzilla series might be over. I was delighted to see I was wrong!
From the very first moments this movie began to play, I realized that this was indeed, THE MOST ENTERTAINING Godzilla movie of all time! Everything from past to present we all love, with the best Godzilla suit so far, and upgraded versions of the entire calliope of Toho studio monsters. Godzilla fan or not, this film is all out fun!
We begin with the explanation of Godzilla being sealed in ice, from a craft reminiscent of "Captain Harlock". We then shift to all the monsters (sans Godzilla) attacking the major cities around the world (including a monster poking fun of the American travesty of Godzilla)! The most priceless scene during this time is a New York cop trying to arrest a pimp! From therein, we get 90 minuets of filler story, but the one thing I guarantee is that you are going to have fun seeing both throwbacks to the '70's movies and plying "From what movie did they lift that material!"
Highlights include: A "scientist" straight out of "Inframan", aliens in plastic / plastic armored trench-coats and wearing Devo shades, a group of mutants that resemble grey suited "Power Rangers" (and at times, dressed in Hugo Boss Nazi officer uniforms, and the first non-dorky American character (the captain of the battle ship who is a Sergeant Slaughter characterature). What keeps the 90 minuets alive is the fun of guessing from what other movies were the action scenes lifted (The Matrix, Mission Impossible, Die Hard, Independence Day and a number of Japanese movies / Anime, just to name a few).
Finally, we get down to the monster mash, which is the best yet! Godzilla, in his best incarnation yet, is unfrozen and unleashed to take on each and every monster. The spider and the preying mantis have new abilities and are much improved over their appearance on "Monster Island". Godzilla makes quick work of them, as he does with Zilla (American version of Godzilla, done with much tong and cheek), Hidora, The Lobster, Gillera, Rodan and King Cezar. The final battle takes place between Godzilla and Gigan / Gigan II and a monster right out of Alien, with a little intervention by Mothera. I won't spoil the fight, other than the Alien monster turns into the best version of King Ghidora yet! Oh, yes, and Godzilla has a new "wind up" and delivery of his atomic breath! Not only that, but aside from the standard WWE moves, Godzilla, even though a guy in a rubber suit, now fights with "Monster-Fu" and moves more like a character out of Anime, making for much better fight scenes!
Over all, two big thumbs up to the folks at Toho for producing the BEST Godzilla installment yet! No matter who you are, this movie is going to keep you entertained for the entire 2 hours and 5 minuets! I'm just surprised this one didn't make it into American theaters,,,this one was definitely good enough, and the big green guy definitely has the fan base. Oh, and one other thing...I was delighted to see a movie that didn't contain all the smut and debasement contained within every modern Hollywood feature. Keep it up, Toho, you're definitely on the right track, and keep the Godzilla dynasty going!

I don't know why some people are complanning about this movie. It's like a upgrade version of the seventies Godzilla films. You get all the monsters you could think of, as for not seeing munch of Godzilla. What about monster zero and sea monster He didn't apair munch in these films. But there fun to watch. Godzilla needs to be upgraded, it would be pretty boring to keep doing the same thing over and over again.

My 8 yr old son loves Godzilla movies and he has watched this one over and over again. It's worth the time to watch. hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

this is an awesome godzilla movie. everyone shows up and the fights are awesome. you need to see this, anyone who has not seen this and loves godzilla.... you must watch this!

The film can be viewed with original japanese language or american dubbed. It is good that Sony pictures gives the viewer that option.

Extras include: -previews of other Godzilla films that are available
(mostly from the "Millenium" series)

The battle scenes are enjoyable but some of the Godzilla pairings against other monsters is short and disappointing ie., Godzilla vs. American Godzilla, Godzilla vs. giant insect(forgot name)-looks like a wasp/bee to name a few. The movie concentrates an awful lot on the xliens than the monsters and their battles itself. This may be disappointing to fans who really want to see more of the kaijus.

The fighting sequences between the mutants-persons who posess the "M" gene and later the lead mutant character against the xliens and their eventual leader appear to be very "matrixy." These subplots detract from the main feature-our beloved kaijus.

All in all, "Final Wars" is a very entertaining, no holds bar, out with a bang ending for Godzilla. Until 2012 that is...

Having seen ALL of 'G's movies, I have come to accept Final Wars for what it is, The sign of the times, a new generational era, Matrix, Mutants, CGI's, (computer generated images) loud heavy metal sound tracks. I enjoyed final wars, but I was looking for Closure!! a fitting end to 50 years of pure enjoyment, excitement and mesmorizing entertainment. We must always remember the 4 men who were responsible for 25 of the 30 Godzilla films. 1- Inoshiro Honda (Director & Scripts), 2- Eiji Tsuburaya (Special Effects Master) 3- Akira Ifukube (Musical Genius) 4- Tomoyuki Tanaka (Head of Toho Studios) last but not least 'New Yorks Titra Sound Studios' responsible for Dubbing and voices". The aforementioned ensemble exists No More. May they all rest in peace, Final Wars is a product of Japans 'Hollywood' young film makers catering and reaching out to their movie going patrons, We baby boomers should accept & embrace this new artistic expression that allows the 'Greatest' movie monster ever conceived to continue to be apart of our lives, our childrens lives and our grand children's lives. Thank you Toho for a wonderful 50 years of treasured memories. Godzilla deserves a rest, and perhaps in 10 years or so the saga will begin again. 'Godzilla Final Wars' was a good starting point for my grand kids. I hope to be around to watch many more 'G' films with them.

In 2004, it was announced by Toho, that yet again, they would be retiring their famous star monster, Godzilla. Fans such as I were disappointed, but excited to hear that big shot director of Versus Ryuhei Kitamura would be helming the film, which would have the biggest budget of any previous Godzilla film, with an all star monster cast. It looked as if Godzilla was gonna go out with a bang. Godzilla: Final Wars was meant to be a collage to all previous films, especially the showa era. While it had some good concepts, the film kind of let me down. It is a decent enough pic, but wasn't good enough to be the final godzilla film...

NEGATIVES:
First off the biggest problem with the film was that Kitamura didn't seem to understand that this is a KAIJU film, not an action/martial arts film. There is far too much human action. Yeah it was cool, and in limited amounts it would have been find. But it was far too excessive. There seems to be more human fighting than monster fighting, and i often find myself having to fast forward through it to get to the good parts. Secondly, some of the simple matte shot effects look like they were done in the 60's. They are of such poor grade. It's disappointing. Also, this film brought back some of the camp (notably the whirling noise effect in the new york scene when the cop and gangsters hats blow off). This movie had the chance to show that godzilla was more than just campy cheesy sci fi and real entertainment. Also, the monster battles are so short. Especially Hedorah, who doesn't even fight Godzilla. I was most excited to see Hedorah, one of my favorite monsters return, and was sad that he got about 2 seconds of screen time. How is it that one of Godzilla's toughest opponents is killed so easily?

POSITIVES:
We get a ton of classic showa monsters, an international approach at Godzilla, Anguirus!, an awesome new monster, a creative updated approach at King ghidorah, an awesome performance from the actor who played The young lead Xian, a return of the Xians, awesome monster choreography, Don Frye has a cool character, cool style, three veteran showa actors, Updated monster designs.

As you can probably tell, the movie unfortunately is outweighed by the negatives. The movie had so much potential, but was a great let down. While I respect Kitamura as a director, I just don't think he was right for the film. They probably should have just brought back Kaneko, our modern day Ishiro Honda. It's really too bad...

A funny thing happened a few years ago: Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin made a big-budget "re-imagining" of the 1954 Japanese classic, "Gojira." It made $400 million dollars at the box office, and yet a few years later, if you ask 80% of internet fanboys about it, they'll scream and whine about how "It's not really Godzilla," "It sucks! Man in suit forever!" or "It's Godzilla in name only!". And if you even hint that you might slightly LIKE the movie, they will tear you a new one.

So it's quite funny that a few years later, Toho decides to send the franchise back into hibernation with "Godzilla Final Wars." Despite what you may have read, this isn't really a Godzilla movie, or at least no more so than the 1998 re-imagining was. Godzilla is in it, sure, but it's not his movie. The movie is actually about a unit of elite genetically enhanced soldiers who have to wage battle against evil aliens, who concoct a James Bond-esque plot that somehow involves giant monsters instead of having their finger on a button. It's true that there are A LOT of monster battles in this movie, but unfortunately, they're all crammed into a montage that lasts all of five minutes.

No, the real bulk of the action scenes in the movie are centered around the super soldiers. And for what they are, they are very cool. Ryuhei Kitamaura definately knows how to assemble a good action scene involving HUMANS, no matter how ridiculous in concept they may be, and that is where the movie truly shines. It's just a shame that the monster battles, which are supposed to be the highlight of a Godzilla film, end up getting completely overshadowed by the battles featuring the human stars. While the human action scenes are fast, energetic, and acrobatic, the monster battles are for the most part slow and hokey just as they would be in any run-of-the-mill Godzilla film, which is a disappointment coming from an action director. It's as if Kitamaura just wanted to make a sci-fi karate movie, and the only way he could get the budget for one was by going through the Godzilla franchise.

In all, if you go into Godzilla Final Wars expecting a derivative chop socky sci-fi movie with really flashy martial arts fights, you'll get what you came for. But if you are one of those internet fanboys who called the American re-imagining an abomination, you should by all means despise this with almost as much mis-directed passion. Personally, I'll take both films for what they are-- decent, but flawed action flicks that don't really go out of their way to re-capture what made the first 'Zilla flick special. Grab some popcorn, unplug your brain, and don't expect to see much of big G, and you might just enjoy yourself. But remember, this is a Matrix-wannabe action movie first, and a monster movie last.

If you really want the best Godzilla movie of the past 10 years, go and get the newest version of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. That movie actually had some great new ideas in it, and has just about everything that make a good Kaiju film. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it over Final Wars if you just want to see a recent Godzilla movie.

OK LISTEN I LOVE GODZILLA MOVIES, AND HAVE BEEN A DIE HARD FAN SINCE I WAS A LITTLE KID. BUT THIS LAST MOVIE...WELL? IT WASN'T VERY GOOD! IF YOU'RE THINKING IT'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER GODZILLA 2000 YOU ARE VERRRRY WRONG! TRUE GODZILLA FANS LOVE ACTION, AND CORNY COSTUMES. NOT COMPUTER ANITMATED CREATURES AND SUPER HUMAN PEOPLE (wich was what the movie was mainly about). I WAS REALLY DISAPOINTED IN THIS MOVIE AND I HOPE IT ISN'T THE LAST. BUT IF YOU'RE A FAN...WELL? YOU MIGHT AS WELL GET IT OR WATCH IT.

DAVID

Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, famous for such movies as Versus & Azuma, Godzilla-Final Wars is a movie that celebrates Godzilla's long history(50 years) and proves why Godzilla is 'King of Monsters'. The story begins with many giant monsters being created as a result of Nuclear Tests. During this time, a group called The Earth Defense Force was created to do battle with these monsters, one of which was Godzilla. In the 60s, the Earth Defense Force used a Machine called the Gotengo to battle against Godzilla in Antartica. Ultimately winning by burying him under the ice. Move forward to a day in 2004, when all at once, the many monsters the Earth Defense Force once battled began attacking major cities all over the world. As the Force begins to battle them, the monsters begin to disappear in a flash of light & UFOs rush away from the scene. At the Force's Headquarters in Tokyo, the UFOs mothership appears and a group of aliens known as the Xilians introduce themselves to the world. They proceed to tell them that a planet is headed for Earth but, only with their help, will it be saved. Only you find out later that their intentions weren't like that at all. When the Xilians began attacking the Earth with the giant monsters it had previously saved the Earth from, the Earth Defense Force realizes the only way they can save the day is by releasing Godzilla from his icy tomb. Save the day, Godzilla does, as he goes onto fight the likes of Gigan-Zilla(our american Godzilla, which wasn't Godzilla at all)-Kumonga-Kamacuras- Anguirus-Rodan-King Caesar-Hedorah-Ebirah-MonsterX- & finally Kaiser King Ghidorah. Mothra tries to aid Godzilla, as he does in many Godzilla movies, by fighting a new improved Gigan. While Mothra is hurt by Gigan, Mothra still manages to beat Gigan. Without giving away too much about the rest of the movie, let me just say that this movie has to be the most intense and serious Godzilla movie I've seen in years. Departing from the normal Godzilla movie fare, Final Wars is nothing but wall-to-wall action scenes. After seeing it in original Japanese language with English subtitles, I'll probably never watch another Godzilla movie with English voiceovers(which is a good thing, anyway, as most of the English voiceovers make it seem too campy). Sadly, Godzilla-Final Wars marks Godzilla's last appearance on these shores(or Japan's for that matter) for-at least- five to ten years to reignite interest in the franchise. What a way to go out, though. This has to be my most favorite Godzilla movie of all-time next to Godzilla-King of Monsters. It's a movie that gives me hope that Toho will take Godzilla in a new and exciting direction(with new monsters & storylines) when they do decide to bring the franchise back. Who knows, maybe Godzilla will last another 50 years. You never know. Even though there have been great movies as well as crappy movies in the franchise, Godzilla has lasted this long. There's something to be said for that.

If you're a diehard fan or someone who hasn't seen a Godzilla movie since the 70s when he was hugely popular here, you've got to see this movie. It will renew your interest in the series. Trust me.

A convoluted plot line that doesn't make sense some of the time, cheesy aliens, over the top acting, and more rubber suit monsters than "Destroy All Monsters". In other words, a classic Godzilla film that shouldn't be missed. It has everything in it that makes Godzilla films great, and as the "last Godzilla film", it's a fitting final tribute to the big guy.

If you loved the original series (1954 - 1974), or ever wondered what would happen in a fight between Toho's Godzilla and Sony's Godzilla, then this is a must see film.

I've been a Godzilla Fan since I was 4yrs old (I'm in my 30's now), and I have to admit, after all the hype about this movie from Toho, including the premier at Man's Theater in LA, and the star on the Hollywood Walk of fame, this movie was a big disappointment.
The film that marked the 50yr anniversary of Godzilla turns out to be at the same standard (story, special effects, etc) as watching the Power Rangers tv series. The only thing going for this movie is some of the updated designs of some of the monsters, but their appearance on screen is so short and fleeting, that it makes you annoyed by the main story, which highlights a band of mutant special forces (amalgamated rip-off of X-Men, Matrix, & Power Rangers) that fight an alien invasion. Very Cheesy.
Oh, and it's hard to forget the terrible score (using mostly irritating organ music), as much as you might want to.
Toho USED to be innovative with Godzilla and the other Kaiju (monsters) back in the 50's and early 60's, but the studio is still stuck in believing they still live in that era in their glory days. Godzilla and the rest of the monsters definately deserves upgrades and more innovation that these monster films have the potential to be, but Toho definately dropped the ball on this one. Plus, they claim this is to be the LAST Godzilla movie. What a huge disappointment.

Sincerely,
Dennis Mace

I dont normally review things unless they are REALLY GOOD or REALLY REALLY REALLY BAD.

I just rented this movie. After watching this movie, I became very religious, just so that I could thank God that I did not waste my money to buy this dvd.

I do not know the director personally, Mr. Ryuhei Kitamura. However, I really truly honestly sincerely from the bottom of my heart wish that this man had never been born. I feel this way because he made absolutely no contribution to mankind at all. Instead, he took something great and decided to "fix" it because he did not like the way it was done in the past. Apprently, in the past, there was too much time spent on Godzilla and monsters in general. This man felt it was his mission to make a Godzilla movie that had little or nothing to do with Godzilla, and to only focus attention to his action packed martial arts trained human characters.

So, for the last Godzilla film known to man, he took out all the ingridents that make a classic Godzilla film, and replaced them with his attention deficit disorder inducing toxic filling.

The saddest thing about this guy is that he doesnt realize what he has done. He thinks he is so cool. He actually thinks what he made is great. He doesn't think that his film is bad at all, in fact, he thinks it is the best Godzilla film he has ever seen. According to him, Godzilla: Final Wars is the shizzle.

The CEOs at TOHO are most likely kicking themselves in the arse for allowing this guy to walk through the front doors of Toho in the first place.

Oh well... it is just a movie... I hope it really isnt the last Godzilla movie ever. And next time I want to see the best Godzilla film ever, I will just watch Giant Monsters All Out Attack. Now THAT guy knew what he was doing.

I never check my reviews for typos, so whatever spelling mistakes I made, oh well... i will try better next time.

The best ever in a long line of Godzilla movies and hopefully not the last

I really hate that this movie is as bad as it is. I'm a huge Godzilla nut (have been since I was 4) and have even gone so far as import Godzilla DVDs from Japan and Hong Kong in order to see films before they were released stateside. In fact, I originally saw this film in the form of a ::cough:: archival copy from Thailand. Rest assured, however, that I also have the U.S. release, so I'm not basing my review on a bootleg version.

"Final Wars" is Godzilla's 50th anniversary film and was intended to blend the best aspects of the Godzilla series into a single movie and allow the character to bow out in style. Instead what seems to have happened is that Ryuhei Kitamura was making a cheap Matrix rip-off and was then hired to paste a few scenes with Godzilla in them into his lame martial arts film. Rest assured that though there are more than dozen monsters in Final Wars, most of them are around for mere minutes before being obliterated so we can quickly get back to the badly scripted, poorly choreographed human action. Bizarrely, GODZILLA HIMSELF barely makes an appearance until the final act of the film. Beloved monsters such as Hedora, Anguiras, and King Seesar really, truly, have maybe 8 minutes of screen time total between them. All the while, however, Kitamura's cookie cutter heroes drone on and on and fight battle and unimpressive battle.

When the monsters do finally get to fight (And it's rare- There's about 30 minutes of monsters in this 2 hour long film), the action is solely based on the goofy, "Showa era" films of the 60s and 70s, with monsters smiting each other with pro wrestling moves, doing comic takes and pratfalls, and even having goofy sound effects like tries sqeualing when they come to a stop. This movie was not made for Godzilla fans: It was made, to all appearances, to cater to the stereotypes about giant monster films as silly kiddie fare. If you actually want to see a good modern Godzilla film, I would recommend "Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack". You'll enjoy it far more than this farce. If you like goofy monster wrestling, then buy all means look into the classic Godzilla films like "Godzilla vs. Gigan" and "Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster"- they're far more entertaining as well.

"Godzilla Final Wars" is a terrible film, doubly so for actual Godzilla fans. I recommend it only for the morbidly curious or completists who absolutely have to have every Godzilla film.

The Computer-Generated monsters are a little fast for their size but the story is great and the acting is excellent! I wish that the monster fights were a little longer but overall- as a godzilla fan - I find this movie to great.

This has to be one of the worst Godzilla movies in the series. I am one of those old-school fans where the action was well paced. This movie is really an action movie and not a monster movie. They rip off the Matrix in several places with over-the-top stunts. The main villian is just goofy and cheesy with his fits when the monsters lose. The plot is horrible, the acting is the cheesiest I have ever seen, godzilla doesn't even really show up until the end. Then they just throw in every monster they could think of to finish off their stories. If you really like the power rangers then you will like this film. This movie would really appeal to 10-15 year olds which is where all the good ratings are coming from. I don't consider this part of the Godzilla series.

Take every good Godzilla monster from the past 30 years, throw them in a wrestling ring with Godzilla in one corner and everyone else in the other, and you've got Godzilla - Final Wars.

My Godzilla collection is expansive, and almost complete. Out of the new breed of Godzilla movies (the ones I didn't grow up on), this is clearly one of the best, with perhaps Godzilla 2000 claiming that prize...but maybe that's because I got to see it in the theater...salivating...

My favorite scene in Final Wars has to be when the Americanized Godzilla (gag) shows up and dukes it out with the real deal. I think the guys in Japan were trying to make a statement when, with little effort, Godzilla puts an end to the little American runt. I was clapping.

Over all, Final Wars is fairly fast paced and very stylized. In many ways this smacks of Manga/Japanimation cartoons, but that's fine by me, because those are beautiful movies too. So, five stars for Final Wars. There's nothing better than popping in a Godzilla flick and working on novel ideas.

Like my title says, this is a great movie.. But I certainly don't think that it is suitable as the "Final" Godzilla movie.

This movie is very controversial with Godzilla fans, but ultimately, it will make its way into all of our collections.