Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (ゴジラvsスペースゴジラ, Gojira tai SupēsuGojira) is a 1994 tokusatsu kaiju film directed by Kensho Yamashita, written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara, and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 21st film in the Godzilla franchise, as well as the sixth film in the franchise's Heisei series.
Plot[]
Godzilla prepares for battle with an extraterrestrial creature that was formed from his own particles in space.
Why It's Great[]
- The idea of Godzilla fighting an alien clone of himself is creative.
- It has themes of reconciliation and moving forward with life, even while it talks about revenge, hate and pride.
- Strong acting.
- Awesome monster designs.
- Entertaining monster destruction scenes, as with any Godzilla movie.
- Good cinematography.
- Takayuki Hattori's score is very nice.
- LittleGodzilla and his quirky interactions with the humans are cute.
- SpaceGodzilla is an awesome and sinister villain kaiju.
- Great special effects.
- It reintroduces M.O.G.U.E.R.A. from The Mysterians.
- Epic final battle between Godzilla, M.O.G.U.E.R.A. and SpaceGodzilla.
Bad Qualities[]
- Miki getting kidnapped by the Yakuza and G-Force going in to rescue her adds nothing to the film other than to pad out the runtime, especially since the Yakuza don’t appear again afterwards.
- Though Kawakita‘s effects are still relatively good for the era (such as the final fight and Godzilla’s first appearance for example), it does have noticeable flubs, more so than past Heisei films.
- There could've been a more brotherly connection between Godzilla and SpaceGodzilla a la War of the Gargantuas and show Godzilla trying to convince his alien counterpart not to destroy the world, only for him not to listen and Godzilla being forced to kill him.
- SpaceGodzilla's name just sounds generic.
- While adorable, LittleGodzilla is very inconsistent with his appearance in the previous film, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, since he has a completely different appearance
- The Cosmos giving Miki Saegusa all the credit for SpaceGodzilla’s defeat is laughable, as she doesn't do much to fight against SpaceGodzilla.
Reception[]
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla holds a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 7 reviews with an average rating of 4.2/10.
Box Office[]
The film sold 3.4 million tickets in Japan and grossed around $20,000,000 (U.S) (US$32,000,000 worldwide). As the film's release coincided with the Kobe earthquake, Toho feared that the event would put off audiences due to the film's main battle sequence taking place in the same area, and thus sought to remedy this by lowering ticket prices.