Godzilla vs. King Ghidora (1991) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Godzilla vs. King Ghidora
Year: 1991
Director: Kazuki Omori
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese

Unfortunately the first two films of the Heisi period of Godzilla films didn't pan out too well. The Return of Godzilla (1984) and Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) were financial failures that didn't make much of an impact in or out of the Japanese market. With the latter, fans of the series gained some hope however, as the monster was given a new suit and a more science fiction style. Gone was realism, which perhaps held back the previous films, and fantasy would take hold. 

In this film, time travelers use Godzilla in their scheme to destroy Japan to prevent the country's future economic reign.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is a highpoint of the Heisei years. Director Kazuki Omori returned, and again borrowed liberally from American blockbusters. This time he took some tips from James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future. Although it might not intentionally be reflective of Japan at the time, the director does hint at some of Japan's anxiety regarding its early 90's prosperity.

Despite some time travel paradoxes, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is fun and easy to follow and the effects are the most spectacular of all the Godzilla pictures. Rhe new King Ghidorah introduced in the movie lacks the hyper-kinetic power of the Showa era creature—its new roar is especially disappointing—but it drops your jaw later when transformed into Mecha-King Ghidorah!

The actors all give memorable performances and the composer Akira Ifukube churns out quite a memorable score. Overall this is a really good Godzilla-film and definitely should be re-watched as it is quite enjoyable.