THE SAGA OF THE KING OF THE MONSTERS PART 23: GODZILLA 2000 a.k.a. GODZILLA MILLENIUM

Part 23, GODZILLA 2000, was made in response to a false claim that Godzilla had gone Hollywood. One year later after the 1998 fiasco, the real Godzilla returned to theaters in Japan kick-starting the third series of films, the Millennium series. In the year 2000 American audiences were privy to the first real Godzilla film released in American theaters since 1985.

GODZILLA MILLENNIUM a.k.a. GODZILLA 2000 follows baby Godzilla, now all grown up after the fallout of Godzilla Vs Destoroyah. It ushered the Godzilla franchise to another height of special effects, the most realistic looking Godzilla movie yet. And it introduced a new monster for Godzilla to battle, ORGA, a recombinant alien DNA clone of Godzilla.

The plot basically revolved around Godzilla's continual raids of destruction on Japan and two teams of scientists investigating why. One team discovers that the great monster seems to be targeting Japans energy sources, their power plants, dams, and nuclear reactors. The other team is linked with the military focusing on destroying the monster once and for all. Meanwhile a research team in the pacific ocean attempts to recover what appears to be a rock of unknown elemental origin. When the giant rock reaches the surface it begins moving by itself. It literally takes flight.

Meanwhile Godzilla surfaces and is engaged by the military. The battle is interrupted by the appearance of the flying rock. Suddenly a massive yellow ray-beam blasts out of the rock striking Godzilla. The King of the monsters returns fire blasting away chunks of rock revealing a silver alien spacecraft underneath. The battle ends in a draw only to be started again days later in the heart of the city. The alien spacecraft steals Godzilla's DNA and creates a brand new monster on the spot, ORGA.

The film I saw was a recut and English dubbed U.S. version. The dubbing sounded rather comical in homage to the rather humorous dubs of the 60's and 70's. You could take this as insulting or just enjoy seeing a true Godzilla film in theaters. Godzilla is also redesigned to have large pointier plates on his back and more amphibian like face. It's cool and one of the better redesigns I feel. And getting a new monster in the mix too was fantastic. Orga is a curious design but nonetheless original. Orga is a welcomed addition to the roster.

The trailer for the movie featured Rob Zombie's SUPER BEAST song to images of Godzilla. I must have watched the trailer 100 times. I worked at the Rivoli Movie Theater in Seward, NE at the time and was able to attend a sneak peek screening before the film was released. It was one of the best theatrical experiences of my movie going career! Seeing Godzilla finally on the big screen was everything I hoped it could be!

I saw it again after it was released officially and it became the first Godzilla film I owned on DVD. I finally believed that the King was back! And he really was... for another six films at least.

Overall Ranking: 6 out of 10
Category: Transcendence