toho godzilla

Despite good intentions and decent box-office returns, the latest American attempt to reboot Godzilla (2014) was a self-important dud. Director Gareth Edwards got the monster right, but saddled him with human sub-plots that were worse than just about any film in the series to date. Even the 1998 Matthew Broderick version at least cracked a smile now and then. Almost forgotten in the annals of Godzilla history is Godzilla: 2000 (or Godzilla: Millennium in Japan), the big guy’s onscreen comeback that kicked off a new series of releases in his native country before he officially “retired” in 2004.

Part of Sony’s hi-def Toho Godzilla Collection, the film gets a spiffy new blu-ray edition that includes both the longer Japanese cut and the re-edited, re-jiggered American version which made its way into a limited theatrical release across the U.S. Neither version of the film manages to elevate the material above average, but it’s a treat to see both edits finally pop up…on hi-def, no less!

The plot mixes and matches elements from previous films in Godzilla’s history: an alien invasion kickstarted with a giant alien “egg” that attaches itself to a skyscraper in downtown Tokyo. The big G senses a threat and comes to town just as the thing hatches to become an oversized Godzilla clone (unnamed in the film but labeled Orga after the fact). The monster-on-monster action is withheld until the last 15 minutes, just one of the frustrations in a film that takes itself far too seriously, a flaw in many of Godzilla’s post-2000 films.

One exception is the brilliantly executed Giant Monster All-Out Attack (2001), directed by Shusuke Kaneko who’d already reinvented the flying turtle Gamera in an earlier trilogy. Here he essentially restarts the franchise from scratch, making a direct sequel to the 1954 original and turning Godzilla into a legitimate bad guy up against three “guardian monsters:” Baragon, Mothra and King Ghidorah (who usually has the bad guy role locked up).

Somehow managing to be a realistic-minded throwback to the floppy, rubber-suited monsters of films past, Kaneko’s film is the first to show the real-world consequences of giant kaiju stomping their way through a heavily populated city. In fact, his white-eyed representation of an entirely evil Godzilla might be the first that’s not safe for kids. But for grown-up fans, the film is a revelation of the highest order.

Not so Godzilla against Mechagodzilla, which is mired down in the boring Millennium mythology. The rebirth of Mechagodzilla, renamed Kiryu and gifted with the super-speed of a spiritual Japanese defender, leads to a couple of impressive battle sequences, but again seems bogged down with an overly serious tone without the script to back it up.

The second wave of Mothra films is the perfect antidote. Much like the original Gamera series, this is purely kids’ stuff, putting child heroes front and center along with pint-sized fairy action. All three Mothra adventures (with Mothra 3 making its North American debut) are collected on one blu-ray, introducing a gaggle of new monsters and some old favorites. Even though the films are more ridiculous than Godzilla fans are used to, there’s great appeal for the younger set here.

Why lump all these releases together? Chances are if you’re a giant monster fan, you’ll buy even the questionable ones. And Sony rewards your patience with a nice set of hi-def upgrades from the previous DVD editions, along with a new features you probably didn’t see coming.