Godzilla vs. Destroyah (or Destroyer as it was released in the west) is the seventh and final film in the Heisei-era Godzilla films, but not the last of the Toho Godzilla films (more on them next week).  Godzilla vs. Destroyah was released in the US in a twin DVD along with Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla.  Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla is a pretty fun movie, but ultimately it didn’t live up to its potential.  One bit of cool Godzilla trivia from the Space Godzilla film is the return of the battle robot Moguera.  Script writers originally called for MechaGodzilla to return in this film and fight along side Godzilla in the final battle.  But after realizing that Godzilla AND the one and only creature to ever kill him as a tag team would simply be too much for our antagonist to handle.  So they resurrected Moguera, a drilling robot first seen in the 1957 classic “The Mysterians.”  But enough of that, let’s look at this classic film.

The film starts out with shots of Big G doing what he does best, plundering the countryside and destroying Japanese architecture.  However, one this is perfectly clear, all is not well with our favorite lizard.  Patches of his skin now glow a bright red and scientists suspect that Godzilla has absorbed too much atomic energy and is having a nuclear heart attack.  Now this is both good and bad news.  It’s good because Japan would finally be rid of this terrible menace.  It’s bad news because his death would trigger an atomic explosion that would take Japan and most of the Earth with him.  G-Force (gotta love that…Thanks Japan) deploys their new Super X III combat vehicle that is equipped with cold weapons to stall the big Godzilla boom.  

Meanwhile, strange life forms begin to appear where the original Godzilla from 1954 died.  These creatures are nicked named Destroyah after the oxygen destroyer machine first used to kill Godzilla.  Eventually these baddies mutate and grow beyond the means of the Japanese defense forces and scientists are forced to call on Godzilla, and his son (now much bigger and named Junior) to destroy this new foe.  The monster known as Destroyah is a unique one as he takes several forms throughout the movie.  Even the larger version of himself can split into smaller Destroyah and wreak havoc on our hero.

There are several reasons why you should check out Godzilla vs. Destroyah.  The first being that the movie itself has a much more grown up look to it.  It’s not quite as cheesy ,or goofy as fuck, as the other Godzilla movies in the series.  The acting is more than passable, especially from the monsters.  Yes I said the monsters.  There are emotional scenes here from Godzilla as he deals with his own demise and the perils his son faces in combat.  Secondly, this is a passing of the torch from a very successful Heisei-era film series to the new Millennium series of Godzilla.  In the Millennium series, Godzilla gets yet another makeover, and the storyline is far less linear.  In order to accomplish this, Godzilla would need to perish once more, and his son would become the new king of monsters.  Finally, we see the culmination of some recurring Godzilla characters, mainly psychic Miki Saegusa who was in every Heisei-era film after Godzilla vs. Biollante.  Saegusa has come to look at Godzilla as more than just a monster, but rather a creature with emotions and feelings just as we have.  In the end she is one of many who say farewell to Godzilla.  

Godzilla fans will definitely enjoy this film, and non fans may appreciate the honest and real approach to dealing with the end of my favorite series of monster movies ever!