Kinley
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Kayden
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
WakenPayne
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.
gavin6942
After rising from his volcanic grave, Godzilla is threatened by a mutated rosebush.I think the story to this film is pretty decent, and maybe I should give it a better rating. You know, maybe. The idea is that Godzilla's cells are in a lab and the scientists want to use them for things -- one guy thinks it will help his rose bushes live longer. He was probably right, but it also transforms the bush into... Biollante! (Or Biorante, if you prefer.) And that is just silly! Godzilla fights giant monsters, not giant bushes... what a crazy idea. I mean, I guess after you have made fifty or so Godzilla films you are ready to try just about anything, but I feel like this might have been a misstep.
ciarandino
I am a big fan of this movie. The Godzilla fan base is fairly divided on this film, but personally, I love it. It has wonderful cinematography, acting, themes, music, special effects, characters and all around brilliant.The characters are likable and well written, they are believable. The music, while you cannot compare it to the work of Akira Ifukube, is still excellent and goes very well with this film. It is very well shot, with many wonderful scenes with a great atmosphere. The special effects are done, as per usual in this series, with great skill and talent. Suitmation is very underrated and all too often the subject of disdain. This film shows just how excellent suitmation can be, as well as all the other practical effects, which come together to create a believable and stunning world.The themes were well handled, not forced violently down your throat as they were in the 1992 version of Godzilla vs Mothra (which is still a good movie, but the environmental message gets to be rather preachy and forceful at times).The buildup to Godzilla's arrival is excellent, and when he does show up, it is a spectacular sight seeing him rise out of a volcano (however, going back to the 92 Godzilla vs Mothra film, I think the very similar scene from that film does it much better). The film contains two excellent monster battles, in which Godzilla goes up against the very creative monster Biollante, a combination of rose, human and Godzilla DNA. It's an artful movie, and shows that Godzilla movies are not just cheesy crap like most people seem to think they are (I personally think most of the films are good).
TheUnknown837-1
Out of the twenty-eight entries in the long-running Japanese Godzilla series, one of the more artistic and welcomingly imaginative ones is the unfortunately overlooked "Godzilla vs. Biollante", a film that is so-so in its story and characters (although that is a standard for most Godzilla movies), but tremendously entertaining in its premise and its visual style. The movie follows the majestic monster movie masterpiece "The Return of Godzilla", in which Godzilla is released from his volcanic prison on Oshima Island and begins to wreck the countryside of Japan again around the same time that a scientist's (Koji Takahashi) experiment to preserve his dead daughter's spirit in an immortal plant species goes awry."The Return of Godzilla" was not only a great Godzilla movie, but one of the finest monster movies, Japanese or otherwise, that I have ever seen and I do like to sometimes pretend that "Godzilla vs. Biollante" and the not-so-special sequels that followed never existed, that it ended with Godzilla falling into Mount Mihara and being imprisoned there forever. But although this movie does kind of ruin that feeling, it's quickly forgiven once its slow beginning departs and its truly majestic middle begins.As I mentioned earlier, this is one of the more artistic Godzilla movies there is. Most entries in the series are formulaic and repetitive. And although this is okay for the fans, it is refreshing to see one that tries something new and original. And "Godzilla vs. Biollante" most certainly is original. Basically everything except the human characters tries something new. The movie boasts a battle between Godzilla and his new monstrosity of an opponent, but it's not all about their clash, it's really more following the spirit of the preceding movie with military trying to eliminate Godzilla. What's more, the movie boasts some incredibly visionary and impressive special effects. Godzilla's appearance is one of his finest yet. There are a few shots where he didn't look very good, such as this one where the way he was positioned reminded me more of a bear than a reptile, but other times the mobility that he had in his jaws and his neck provided some surprisingly convincing movements. The miniatures for the destruction scenes are thoroughly impressive, and the effects used to create Biollante are a pure triumph without a single weak shot.Even the music score is something new. The movie reuses three classic Godzilla themes by Akira Ifukube, but most of the score, as with the first film, is done by a new composer and he does it with a completely new style. Now Koichi Sugiyama's score is not incredible as Reijiro Koroku's was for the preceding movie. There are some weak moments and some parts are recycled too much throughout the movie. In addition, after having reviewed the whole soundtrack on CD form, I discovered that the best of Sugiyama's score was left out. Why Toho opted to do this, I have no idea. But as for what we do here, it's mincemeat of visionary triumph and minor letdowns.I do have some complaints about the movie, however. It does take a while to get started. Whereas "The Return of Godzilla" had great characters and a strong story so that I could stay interested even when Godzilla was not on screen, this movie struggles a little more. And again, some parts of Koichi Sugiyama's dare-deviling soundtrack simply don't work as well as they should have. And the ending of the final battle between Godzilla and Biollante was a flat letdown.However, despite its flaws, "Godzilla vs. Biollante" is a more unique and interesting and certainly enjoyable entry in this deservedly famous long-running motion picture series. Now I don't think Godzilla will ever be considered art by any major organization. But there are three films starring the big lizard that do stand out pretty strongly due to either their strong allegorical content or their tremendous style. This is one of them.
