THE SAGA OF THE KING OF THE MONSTERS PART 25: GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH ~ GIANT MONSTERS ALL OUT ATTACK

Godzilla only ever had one rival in all the kaiju universe and his name was GAMERA. First flying onto the scene in 1965, Gamera ignited another series of films and created a loyal fanbase that continues on today. But even then there was a clear difference between Gamera films and Godzilla films. Godzilla's movies always had better special effects, better monster suites, and better budgets. And Gamera's films were clearly aimed at children, a trend Godzilla would follow, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of both franchises.

In 1995 Gamera returned with a movie that truly rivaled Godzilla in quality and special effects. The second Gamera series was born and it is debatable which films were better. The director of the Gamera Trilogy, Shusuke Kaneko, made perhaps the greatest kaiju films of the modern era, making Godzilla a distant memory.

In 2001 Toho studios asked him to direct a Godzilla movie. The result was the best Godzilla movie of the Millennium series, Part 25, GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL OUT ATTACK. The director had a grand film in mind, Godzilla would be the ultimate threat to Japan (as he originally was meant to be) and the only way to stop him would be through three mythical guardian monsters, BARAGON, VARAN, and ANGUIRUS, three of my favorite monsters in all the kaiju world. But something happened, the studio stepped in and said no. Like with Spider-Man 3 the studio forced the director to use more recognizable monsters like Mothra and Ghidorah instead of his favorite monsters Varan and Anguirus.

The greatest kaiju film became only a good kaiju film because of stupid studio executives. The film has its problems, like Mothra coming out of a lake (clearly a role meant for Varan) and Ghidorah being a good guy (a role meant for Anguirus) along with others, but to the testament of the director he still pulls out a wonderful film. And thank heaven the studio let him keep at least one monster from his original trio BARAGON (the only monster that feels correct aside from Godzilla).
Overall this is the high point in the third series and a Godzilla film that should not be missed!

Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10
Category: Transcendence