Responding to rumours, I recently took it upon myself to visit Toho's web-site, and explore the truth surrounding "Mothra 3". Not knowing any Japanese beyond recognising kaiju names, I was unable to make out much detail about the third film in the new Mothra series, but there were downloadable trailers, which confirmed beyond all reasonable doubt that the adversary for the Insect Goddess of Infant island will be none other than KING GHIDORAH. Not Death Ghidorah, not Mecha-King Ghidorah - KING GHIDORAH!

From the trailer (I had no problems downloading the AVI version, or the RealVideo stream), one can determine that dinosaurs are involved, and are seen to come off worse when they meet this latest incarnation of Ghidorah. Whether this story involves time-travel, or a present-day "Lost World", I cannot say - G-FAN will certainly fill in the gaps.

This move - directly reincarnating a Godzilla opponent for the Mothra films - can only be good. We hope! "Mothra 2" apparently struggled seriously at the box-office, and reintroducing such a much-loved kaiju villain is clearly an attempt to reverse the trend. Ghidorah looks pretty good, if the trailer is anything to go by, with a more realistic wing design and more believable wing-flapping than seen with other Toho monsters. This Ghidorah also spits fire rather than the more usual lightning-like gravity bolts, which may suggest a more mythological origin than the previous incarnations.

December the 12th will certainly be a day worth waiting for in Japan, but for the rest of us, the trailer, and the rest of the Toho web-site may be all we get...

See for yourself at

G-FAN #33 (May/June 1998), as expected, fills in plenty of gaps, and introduces the intriguing concept of TWO Ghidorahs, one ancient, one modern. The setting (the distant, prehistoric past) seems to indicate that city-destruction will not be on the menu once again, which is a bit of a shame - but until The One, True King Of Monsters returns, we should savour everything we get (even if we're hardly likely to see any of it in the "enlightened West"...

AMEN, sister! The response from the REAL fans (as opposed to the casual "one movie and you've seen them all" fans) has been pretty universally negative. Surprise, surprise...

To be fair, some liked it, and have given well-reasoned explanations for their feelings. I myself HAVE seen worse big-budget films, even though I can suspend my disbelief more and for longer than others. MY primary complaint is that THIS DAMNED BEAST IS NOT GODZILLA. This film is like making a movie about two high-school sweethearts who go up to "Lover's Leap" or somesuch, witness a UFO crash, then spend the rest of the film looking after a baby alien...and calling it "THE X-FILES". It's like making a movie called "LASSIE", and it's about a boy and his guinea-pig. IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.

YES, I know that an original Godzilla movie looks pretty weak by today's standards, and that you have to move with the times, giving people a creature that's going to wow them in the aisles, but if you're going to use such a well-known name, at least give the viewer something he can recognise, in actions as well as appearance. And don't palm me off with "JURASSIC PARK 2 1/2"!!!

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A GODZILLA II THE FANS WILL LIKE

1 : Update Godzilla for the '90s, by all means, but remember that Godzilla movies have actually been made this decade, and people in the West DO know about it.

2 : Remember what makes Godzilla popular - invulnerability, fire breath, city-trashing...get the idea?

3 : Lose Matthew Broderick. Please.

4 : Don't, DON'T just poach a whole mess of scenes from other movies (usually ones with "Park" and "Jurassic" in the title) and throw them together, hoping we'll miss the fact that there isn't a proper script.

5 : DON'T waste millions on a failed attempt to keep the monster secret. It didn't work, and attempts to deny that the monster looked like the leaked material (which it did), just make you look stupid.

6 : No matter what your personal feelings about your audience may be, DON'T TREAT THEM LIKE IDIOTS.

Feeling that the site is a bit empty, I've now started a personal reviews page, in which I shall cast a critical, but not necessarily impartial eye over whatever Godzilla goods drift my way. Sadly, there's not a lot to choose from in the UK, even less if you have no intention of further fuelling the NOTZILLA Hype-Machine (Mecha Hype-asaurus?). Some companies are, however, climbing on the bandwagon by releasing the original material, be it repackaged or previously unseen, so there is yet hope...

So, for my first offerings, just click on the title above and go to the new REVIEWS page!

COMING SOON - "THE DRACONIC KINGDOM salutes GODZILLA" reviews one of the strangest SOUTH PARK episodes ever - "Mecha Barbara Streisand"!

 

This page hosted by - Get your own Free Home Page
Tested with   Last Update : 05 February 2004	This site (c) DRAGON VISIONS ONLINE 1998-2004 MADE IN SCOTLAND