Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)

I quite like the original Gojira. I feel as though it's probably one of the best giant monster movies out there, I mean yes it can be hokey at times but that kind of comes with the genre. I decided to dig up more of these movies to look at to see if I can watch more when the original has a bleak tone to it all that none of the movies share. I decided to look at this and while I could handle the tonal shift just fine it doesn't stop this movie from having problems.After Godzilla's last attack on a Japanese city that ended with him falling into a volcano, scientists manage to find a cell of Godzilla. with the scientific possibilities this opens a lot of people want their hands on it and when someone does have ownership an accident happens in a science lab that leaves the daughter of the head scientist dead. 5 years later he decided to take up studying flowers and catches wind of a kind of... school of psychics (I'll buy that... Considering the title characters are 300 foot tall radioactive flowers and lizards psychics are pretty easy to buy) and they predict that Godzilla survived being dropped into a volcano and is going to leave soon. We also see scientists talk of prospects of using the Godzilla cell to create a bacteria that eats radiation and gives it to the head scientist from earlier who decides to fuse the cell with a flower (... Okay!) and after a while Godzilla does emerge and it's up to the military to stop him before he destroys cities.My biggest problem is that there is way too much of the human characters. The stuff of how Biolante was created I'll admit was necessary and I do like the idea of introducing telepathy into this series. However, I really don't think the bacteria or the corporate espionage for the Godzilla cell is really needed considering how much time is devoted to both. It takes about an hour for Godzilla to finally make an appearance and he fights Biolante twice in the movie... Okay, I'll admit the fighting is pretty fun to watch and delivers exactly what you would want in a fight between Godzilla and a giant version of Audrey from Little Shop Of Horrors. But I really don't think half the stuff with the humans is necessary. One other side-note I don't think the acting when they speak English is good at all. Half the time it sounds like all the English the actors know is their lines, I don't know if this is the same when Hollywood does it with other languages but in short, it's not very good.Right well, what's good about this movie? The action. Seriously the military fighting Godzilla is pretty good (except for a scene where Godzilla actually manages to sneak up on a guy) the fight between Godzilla and the new hardware the military has to get him is actually pretty good but the stand-outs really are the fight scenes with Biolante. It's a creatively designed monster fighting Godzilla and while the special effects aren't all that great by the standards of 1989, there did seem to be a lot of effort thrown in.I would suggest watching for a big hardcore Godzilla fan to watch this. I guess I was expecting a little more out of a movie implying 2 giant monsters fighting, while the fighting is pretty good there is so much to wait through in order to have that happen with a corporate espionage subplot that goes nowhere and another subplot about giving Godzilla a radiation-eating bacteria as a means of killing him that also barely goes anywhere. I wouldn't mind watching more of these but this movie on it's own does have it's share of problems that keep me from liking it.

Dr. Shiragami (an excellent performance by Kunihiko Mitamura) creates a form of indestructible plant life out of both his deceased daughter and Godzilla's cells called Biollante. When Godzilla gets reawakened and shows up to destroy Japan, it's up to Biollante to stop the lethal behemoth. Writer/director Kazuki Ohmori relates the engrossing story at a snappy pace, maintains a serious tone throughout, stages the monster fight set pieces with thrilling verve, and delivers the expected large scale mondo destructo carnage along with a smart and thoughtful environmental message about the dangers of man messing around with the natural order of things. The special effects are quite funky, lavish, and imaginative, with Godzilla looking more believable than usual and Biollante rating as one beautifully grotesque creation. Moreover, it's well acted by a sturdy cast, with especially commendable work from Masanobu Takashima as the shrewd Major Sho Kuroki, Megumi Odaka as sensitive psychic Miki Saegusa, and Turu Minegishi as the hard-nosed Lt. Goro Gondo. Takehiro Kato's polished cinematography delivers several striking poetic visuals. Koichi Sugiyama's dynamic and dramatic orchestral score not only hits the rousing spot, but also boasts a hauntingly melancholy main theme. One of the best and most satisfying entries in this popular long-running series.

The movie about Godzilla has been remake with different "enemy" for so many years. The first Godzilla was made around 1950s. Since then Gojira (as the Japanese are calling it), has been fighting with all kind of "human protectors" and always on the loosing side, yet nothing seem to be able to kill it. After more than 50 years of trying to kill Gojira, the Japanese director are still using the traditional method of bombs, bullets, fire, laser. Of course all these are useless against the Gojira. The same thing happens again on this Gojira vs Biorrante. The Japanese army must be very dumb and stupid to attack the lizard with the weapon that has proved to be ineffective. Okay, a movie does not always follow the human logic, but let's think.... this is the sequel of the previous Gojira movie. If during the previous one the army can not kill or wound the lizard by using normal weapon, where is the logic for them to use similar weapon again on the next bout ?The acting on this kind of Gojira movies is always on the low quality. This is something which I can not understand. On other title, the Japanese can have a good performers, but for whatever reason, they do not seem to be able to improve the quality of the actors. The acting is so bad that it is almost like a play and not a movie. I would expect an improvement on the quality, but sadly I am very disappointed with this one, but maybe this is just for the kid's consumption.....

This is a good movie. It's no masterpiece, but it is a good film. The plot to this movie, although weird, is very original, especially compared to a few of the Godzilla that had come before and after this movie. Scientists find some of Godzilla's cells and combine them to that of a plant. Why you would want to do something like that is beyond me. Then these weird Venus fly trap like things start appearing and eating people, and then a giant rose/monster creature appearers in the middle of some lake, the creature then gets named Biolante. So sure enough Godzilla then comes out of the volcano that he fell into in the film GODZILLA 1985. Godzilla goes to lake and battles Biolante. He actually ends up wining, to no ones surprise, and moves on and destroys Osaka. But then on his way to the beach, Biolante comes back and takes on a new form. This time she, oh Right I forgot to mention that in this flick they say that Biolante is a female, so she takes on the form of a plant/crocodile/Venus fly trap thing. So there's the whole synopsis. The acting in this movie is good. The effects in this movie are great. Which is good because of the fact that a lot of times in a Godzilla movie the special effects seem rushed. But here, thankfully, you can see that a decent amount of effort got put into this movie. This is a decent addition to the series and I do recommend it.