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Godzilla-Mothra-King Ghidorah: Daikaiju Soukougeki

Godzilla-Mothra-King Ghidorah: Daikaiju Soukougeki

Godzilla PosterGodzilla-Mothra-King Ghidorah: Daikaiju Sokugeki, Toho's third new Godzilla movie for the new century, and the 25th Godzilla movie. This movie will feature four monsters: Godzilla (obviously), Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Baragon. Godzilla's appearance has been changed for this movie. The suit used in Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla X Megaguirus has been dropped, and a new suit has been created. It measures 7.2 ft. tall, the largest suit yet. The suit is again the original charcoal gray color, and not green, like the previous suit. The new suit preserves the classic Godzilla, yet has Godzilla look evil and menacing. The most notable feature on the new Godzilla suit is his eyes. Godzilla's eyes are "...white with a smoky black background. There is a fine pattern of dark grey 'veins' surrounding the white eye portion which intensifies the impression that the white part is almost glowing. It looks very evil. The best way to describe it is that it is like a negative eye--black where you would normally see white, white where you normally see black." On a personal account, I like it this way because I do think the eyes play a major role in how you perceive Godzilla. I think the eyes on the previous suit made Godzilla look a little too human, and had audiences (especially American) take Godzilla's terror with a grain of salt.

Godzilla will be taller by five meters taller (60m, 196.9 ft. tall) and will weight 30,000 tons. He is described as a "dark, destructive god." He is also "...the aggregate of the souls of the lives lost in the Pacific War, and a creature that cannot be stopped by conventional weapons." The major battles in the movie will be fought in Shizuoka and Yokohama. In one scene, Godzilla will attack an American nuclear submarine off of the coast of Guam. The character, General Taizo Tachibana, survived Godzilla's original 1954 attack, but his parents were killed. He's been keeping an eye on signs of Godzilla's return ever since.

Godzilla vs. MothraKing Ghidorah will be 50m tall and will weigh 25,000 tons. It grows stronger as he fights Godzilla. King Ghidorah is described as the most powerful kaiju in the movie, besides Godzilla. Mothra will be 75m tall, and will weigh 15,000 tons. In the movie, Mothra will be a cocoon, a larvae, and an adult. Mothra plays a major role in King Ghidorah's growth. Mothra will also sport a stinger, but it is unknown whether he will use it or not. Baragon is 30m tall and weighs 10,000 tons. He lives underground and can burrow swiftly. He is very resistant to Godzilla's breath because he is used to the hot magma underground.

Godzilla vs. K.G.This movie is being directed by Shusuke Kaneko who in case if you didn't know, is the best kaiju film director in the world, no exaggeration. His most notable kaiju work is Gamera III, which I hear (I never saw any of the Gamera films), is absolutely fantastic! The special effects in Gamera III, greatly surpasses every Godzilla movie ever made. Most of the the people who were on the team for making Gamera III, are working on this movie! So no more cheesy model scenes Goji-fans!

Pre-production started in January 2001. The special effects shots will be filmed this May, drama scenes will also be filmed that month. The movie will be wrapped up inin July, production will be completed in October, and it will be released in Japanese theaters on December 15, 2001. Quote from Kaneko: "I have been fascinated by kaiju from my childhood and it seems that my dream comes true. Ten years ago I told Mr. Tomiyama (the producer of this film) if I could direct a Godzilla film but it did not result in fruition. Though I already made three Gamera films, I still did not consider my dream to have really come true without directing a Godzilla film... The direction will be very realistic, but I hope this movie will also be a family fare with a lot of inspiration and dream. The characteristic element of Godzilla is that though he is destructive and a bad guy, but somehow he could be understandable in what he does. Also he has the image of all kinds of warfare with him. I am making the film with the feeling 'This is the (ultimate) kaiju film!' Quote from Shogo Tomiyama, the producer: "This film will be the ultimate kaiju film with the gallant battle between Godzilla, which assaults on Japan and Yamato Seishu (Mothra, King Ghidorah and Baragon), which protect the country. The popular kaiju from the series have been re-created as the deities from the Japanese mythology and they team up to fight Godzilla. You will be thrilled to see if they beat Godzilla or not. The drama will also be interesting with the heroine, who is a news reporter who broadcasts the kaiju battle live on TV and her father, who is a general of the army who fights Godzilla himself. I am quite confident that those strong human characters created by director Kaneko will enthrall the audiences." So let's see here, a fantastic kaiju director who loves Godzilla, the team that worked on Gamera III, a new Godzilla, 3 old kaiju coming back, and a planned ultimake kaiju film. I don't know about you, but I sure can't darn wait for this movie to come out! The future's looking bright folks! Godzilla will come back once again!

GMK: Cast of Characters

Yuri Tachibana: Chiharu Niiyama
General Taizo Tachibana:  Ryudo Uzaki
Mitsuaki Takeda: Masahiro Kobayashi
Haruki Kadokura: Shiro Sano
Maruo ?: Takashi Nishina
Kumi Emori: Kaho Minami
Katsumasa Mikumo: Shinya Owada
Day Nogaki [Masato]:  Kunio Murai
Hirose ?: Hiroyuki Watanabe
Kobayagawa: Shingo Katsurayama
Sakita: Takeo Nakahara
Miyashita: Toshikazu Fukawa 
Chief Cabinet Secretary: Masahiko Tsugawa
Isayama (prophet) Hideyo Amamoto
From: Monster Zero News

The Final Battle SceneA string of mysterious incidents occur in the South Pacific. Communication is lost of an American atomic submarine in the waters off the island of Guam. Then, the last contact from the dredging vessel send to find the missing submarine, reports sighting a huge living creature with dorsal fins, before it disappeared into the murky depths.

General Tachibana, Supreme Commander of the Self Defense Forces, warns his troops that Godzilla could be rising again for another attack on mankind. General Tachibana lost his parents to Godzilla in 1954, and is deeply concerned with the advent of another tragedy. However, after 50 years of silence, the General Staff of Self Defense Forces were so confident with Japan`s readiness, that they dismissed Tachibana`s concerns of imminent disaster. Meanwhile, strange phenomenon start occurring throughout the Japanese islands in spades. Covering the rise in such supernatural occurrences, is a reality television program called "Digital Q" [Kaneko`s reference to the 1966 monster series ULTRA Q]. The show`s main investigative reporter is Yuri Tachibana (Chiharu Niiyama), General Tachibana`s daughter, who has stumbled upon the threads that are tying one such mystery together.

In three separate regions of Japan, Mt. Myoko in Niigata Prefecture, Lake Ikeda in Kagoshima Prefecture, and Fuji Inland Sea -- where supernatural incidents recently occured -- are the very same areas mentioned in the ancient record, "Gokoku Seishu Denki" (Guardianship of the Divine Beasts). It is these areas where the said beasts would be hibernating. According to the ancient text, "In ancient Japan, there existed Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah, three monsters otherwise known in legends of the `Shiro-inu` (White Dog) or the `Yamata-no-Orochi` (Eight-Headed Serpent), the basis for the legends found in the `Kojiki.` The ancient Royal Court repelled them, and rendered them into hibernation for a thousand years, to serve as guardians to hearten their souls."

Happy BaragonWhile unraveling the pieces of the puzzle, Yuri encounters a strange old man named Isayama, who tells her "Godzilla is the embodiment of the vengeful souls lost in the Pacific War. Therefore, Godzilla cannot be killed by mere weapons. The `Guardian Deities of Yamato` must be awoken!"

The avenging demon, Godzilla, finally comes ashore in Japan. General Tachibana is vindicated -- the combined might of the Self Defense Forces is proven ineffective against the leviathan. In order to protect the sanctity of the land, the "Guardian Deities of Yamato," King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Baragon are called forth. They awaken from their 2000-year slumber, and combine their powers to challenge Godzilla in a duel to the death.

In order to defeat Godzilla, even at the risk of his own life, General Tachibana decides to join the "Guardian Deities" in battle against Godzilla, by operating a secret, ultimate weapon with his own hands. Struck with the realization that her father is fighting alongside the "Guardian Deities" for the sake of the land, Yuri decides to broadcast the battle on live television to the bitter end. Entering the battlefield, she goes beyond the point of no return, and even as death looms for her, she continues her report on the decisive battle.

In the end, can the "Guardian Deities" or even Mankind, survive the violent wrath of Godzilla?

GMK Production Team
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Executive Producer: Shogo Tomiyama
Producer: Hideyuki Homa
SPX Supervisor: Makoto Kamiya
Suit Creator: Fuyuki Shinada
CG/Image Processing: Hajime Matsumoto
Art Director: Toshio Miike
Composer: Koh Ohtani
Suit Actor: Mizuho Yoshida
Kaiju: King Ghidorah, Mothra, Baragon
Release Date: December 15, 2001

 

 

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