Favourite Era

[Steve]

Which era do you find yourself liking the most overall, Showa, Heisei, or Millennium? What do you think of each one?

I think the Showa series was the best rounded... I can only name one film in it I actively dislike, (Mothra vs Godzilla), compared to a bunch I'm neutral towards (Monster Zero, Sea Monster, Son of Godzilla) and several that I love immensely, (Godzilla vs Hedorah, Godzilla vs Gigan, Godzilla's Revenge, Godzilla vs Megalon, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla)...

The Heisei series, I'm kinda "meh" towards. The whole era is just one big ol' shade of grey to me. I don't hate any of them per se (...oh, wait, Spacegodzilla. Nevermind. xp) but I don't *love* any of them except for vs Destoroyah. In the end, I can't say I hate or love the Heisei series.

My feelings towards the Millennium series are very peculiar, mainly because I absolutely *love* Godzilla 2000, Godzilla vs Megaguirus and Final Wars, yet I detest GMK, GaM and Tokyo SOS. (I know, I've got the ones I'm supposed to like and hate all mixed around. Bite me, fandom xp) Such highs and lows... I'm not so damn polarised towards the Showa and Heisei series the way I am with the Millennium series.

All up, I'd have to say I like the Showa series best due to the sheer volume of movies in it I like.

[EternalMothra]

I adore the Heisei series. Hmm, i could have sworn there was a topic about this already, I'll check around.

[Zigra]

Heisei, most definetly. It stayed true to Godzilla's original character, didn't lowere itself to the stupidity of the latter Showa films, and didn't do any ruinous "experimentation" with Godzilla's character like in the Millenium films. It had more of my favorites (Godzilla vs. Biollante, G84, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla '93, Godzilla vs. Destroyer), and some of the very best Godzilla designs.

[Orga777]

Well lets look at the movies in the era.

Showa Era: Everything from Gojira to Destroy All Monsters are worth watching except Sea Monster. But then that is where things go bad. Godzilla's Revenge, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Sea Monster, Godzilla vs. Hedorah are all some of the WORST movies of the series if not of all time. Now that I think about Son of Godzilla isn't that great either. With only a few really good films, there are just as many at the bottom of the barrel of Goji films. Mecha-Godzilla wasn't enough to save it in the end either.

Heisei Era: Things started real good for the Heisei Era. Godzilla '84, Biollante, King Ghidorah were all top teir movies. But in the middle things got... well, bad. Battle for Earth was horrid. Too horrid for Battra to save that is for sure. Besides, they gave Mothra a beam. Then came MG2 which was average at best and not that great of a movie. Especially since they gave Rodan a beam... Then THE absolute worst movie of the era came. Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla. I can't even bring myself to watch this movie anymore. Bad script, bad acting, bad graphics, bad story, boring characters, stupid characters, the list just goes on. But SG can be forgiving with the release of Godzilla vs. Destroyah which is most definitely the best movie in the series since Gojira.

Millennium Era: G2K was average at best. Orga was awesome as hell, and the new Goji design was pretty cool, but the characters... stink. Then came Megagurius... Why they decided to bring back the horrors of the later Showa films is beyond me. GMK came after that, and that was definitely the best of the entire era. The Kiryu saga was cool as well, but they could have done a whole lot better than what we got. Then came the horrid, sorry excuse of a 50th Anniversary film. GFW was BAD. Very BAD. Talk about a waste of potential in this film. The cool kaiju designs could not save this film at all. Especially since you only see them for... a few seconds before Goji totally blows them away.

Conclusion: The Millenium Era was ok, but GFW was so bad and disappointing that I can't put this series better than average. Showa had at least six movies at the bottom of the whole entire Godzilla universe. So I can't have that as my favorite either. I will have to go with the Heisei Era. Only two were totally horrifically bad, and one was average to ok. But with three of the films being at the top of most lists of fan favorites, I would have to say Heisei Era for me.

[EternalMothra]

hehe, some people believe the downfall started at King Ghidorah in the Heisei series, Orga. *sarcasm*

[kent]

^ I, personally, believe that. Anyways...

Showa- Started off serious and great then got a little goofy and kiddy-fare as things progressed. Despite the obvious lack of any budget towards the latter part of this era, the movies are still extremely fun to watch. Popcorn movies as I like to call them. No real logic behind most of them and the stories are way out there and the characters are not fleshed out well...I think you get the point. I still think the best kaiju battles lie in this era where the actors were able to just go all out instead of trying to act more "realistically" in the latter two eras (except for a couple films). Yeah some of the kaiju may have moved too fast for their size but the battles were more fun to watch I thought.

Heisei- Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla Vs. Biollante started the series off great. However, I am almost to incline saying the series went "wrong" during the early portions of Biollante. But things didn't get as quirky until KG came along. Don't get me wrong, I love these movies, it's just that things started off so serious and dark that I was expecting it to continue throughout much of the era. Of course I should have looked at the Showa era as an example of how the series would end up. But it redeemed itself with Mechagodzilla, some in Spacegodzilla, and with Destoroyah.

Millennium or Shinsei- Absolutely love Godzilla 2000! Although I will admit the characters seem a bit quirky at times but that is something I can easily overlook. I almost completely despised Megaguirus the first time I saw it. But with repeated viewings, like most movies, it is slowly growing on me but I believe it is one of the worst of the Shinsei era. GMK was a good film but I didn't think it was as grand as what Kaneko did with Gamera. Probably because Gamera had never been portrayed in a dark manner prior to his handling of the series. Where as with Godzilla, we had seen it several times prior to GMK. GXM I was not thrilled with for a while but am slowly warming up to it. I felt it was better than Megaguirus. Tokyo SOS threw characterization out the window and focused more on the action. I felt this was a double-edged sword but I loved the action and felt it made up for a lot of missed potential in the previous film. Superior to the previous film I think. GFW I had mixed feelings on when I first watched it but it is now becoming one of my favorites in the series. Yeah I wish the kaiju still had more screen time but what are ya gonna do? The human drama grows on me more and more and I just am enjoying the film more overall. Just wish the final battle had been focused on more than it was.

Overall, I like all three eras for different reasons; and also think they lack in certain areas as well that the others make up in. But for me, it has to be the Showa. I grew up more on those films and I just find them to be overall more enjoying. With a fandom like this, in my opinion, it's okay to have the movies not take themselves seriously all the time.

[Orga777]

Originally Posted by EternalMothra

hehe, some people believe the downfall started at King Ghidorah in the Heisei series, Orga. *sarcasm*

Which is odd since it had good action, more interesting characters, and even though the plot CAN be confusing to some, eventually you should be able to figure it out which makes the film better once it is figured out. Besides, who can hate the awesomeness of Mecha-Ghidorah who has to be the coolest looking mech ever made.

[EternalMothra]

Originally Posted by Orga777

Which is odd since it had good action, more interesting characters, and even though the plot CAN be confusing to some, eventually you should be able to figure it out which makes the film better once it is figured out. Besides, who can hate the awesomeness of Mecha-Ghidorah who has to be the coolest looking mech ever made.

I do not deny the awesomeness of Ghidorah lol, the only thing I dislike is the horrific plot holes.

[Orga777]

Originally Posted by EternalMothra

I do not deny the awesomeness of Ghidorah lol, the only thing I dislike is the horrific plot holes.

Find me a plot hole, and I will fix it for ya.

[EternalMothra]

Originally Posted by Orga777

Find me a plot hole, and I will fix it for ya.

It just seems like there were bits and pieces left out. They may not necessarily be plot holes, just gaps you could say.

[Orga777]

Originally Posted by EternalMothra

It just seems like there were bits and pieces left out. They may not necessarily be plot holes, just gaps you could say.

Find them for me, and I will fill in the gaps. It really isn't that complicated of a movie once you think about it.

[EternalMothra]

Originally Posted by Orga777

Find them for me, and I will fill in the gaps. It really isn't that complicated of a movie once you think about it.

I'll have to watch the movie again (it has been like a year since I watched it). And I'll let you know.