If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Once again swarmy aliens (this time from Earth's future) show up, make promises involving monsters, and then turn out to be up to no good. "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah" takes place in three time periods, Lagos Island in 1944, Tokyo in 1992, and somewhere near what was Japan in 2204. Like most time travel stories, the plot does not bear close scrutiny (despite some fans' best explanatory efforts, the story is riddled with inconsistencies and paradoxes), but is imaginative and allows for a variety of kaiju action. Briefly, the 'Futurians' plan to eliminate Godzilla from the time-line by preventing his 'genesis' (by teleporting the dying proto-Godzilla dinosaur to the bottom of the Bering Strait where it won't be exposed to the 1953 H-bomb tests that turn it into the monster) BUT sneakily, they leave behind three little creatures that, when exposed to the radiation, become King Ghidorah who is under Futurian control and will be used to threaten/blackmail 1992 Japan BUT, as you apparently can't go anywhere on Earth without being exposed to radiation (our bad), Godzilla-genesis occurs anyway, producing a larger, meaner monster who defeats Ghidorah, sending him to the bottom of the ocean battered and minus one head BUT, in 2204 "We have the technology, we can rebuild him". The monster action in this outing (the 18th) is excellent, with the new 100 m tall Godzilla looking mean and predatory, while his adversary is a beautifully realized vision of vast wings and writhing golden snakes. The only thing lacking (IMO) with this iteration of the three-headed dragon is the original three-tone electro-chirpy calls ("three heads, two tails, and a voice like a bell"), which have been replaced by a more generic, less interesting, roar. The increased size of the monsters limits the details of the buildings that they trash, but the destruction scenes are still very good, especially the final showdown in Tokyo. On the downside, the dubbing on the version I watched (Tristar DVD) is weak, with random Shatneresque pauses in awkward sentences and some terrible lines such as "Take that, you dinosaur" (perhaps a feeble attempt at comic-relief). The film also liberally 'borrows' images from other works, such as a cyborg that runs fast in slow-motion and who, at one point, emerges from a fiery car accident with the underlying metal showing (the cyborg is a gimmicky character the movie could have done without). Overall: despite the derivative and implausible plot, mild peachiness, and (allegedly) rampant anti-Americanism, the film's pacing, excellent visuals, and great Akira Ifukube score make it a fun entry into the long-running franchise.

Let's be honest, the plot makes this one of the best entries in the entire franchise. Aliens come from the future (goddamn, taking it up a notch are we?) and warn Japan about the arrival of Godzilla's demise on Tokyo and offer to help get rid of him. As they proceed, they set a new monster in his place and it becomes King Ghidorah: Godzilla's biggest, baddest foe in the saga. When Godzilla gets reborn, he destroys it but then proceeds to not only destroy the time travelers, but devastate Tokyo too. See where this is going? A vicious pattern. Luckily, King Ghidorah is repaired and sent to kill Godzilla in a giant climatic battle that makes King Kong fighting the snake in 1976 look like a sizzle stick. For a Godzilla movie, this one really pulls out all the stops and goes for an awesome story. Still set within the Heisei era films, it dives deep not only in the origin of Godzilla, but also fascinating ways to bring fantasy within the realm. The idea of time travel meant Toho decided that it was time for new ideas and to integrate a clever story around the concept of how the creation of Ghidorah could be related to Godzilla in a certain aspect. The film does have a controversial view point of the Japanese side of WWII, but it is overlooked by the awesomeness of the movie itself. If I could recommend any Godzilla film to a newcomer to the series, this would definitely be at the top of the list. It represents the franchise as a whole. Cheesy but inventive.

The Achilles heal of these filmed has always been the humans who by default can never be as interesting as the monsters. 'Godzilla vs King Ghidorah' makes up for this somewhat with a goofy but sincere look at time travel that tries to delve into the origins of the big green guy. The faults are as one might expect, the monsters are under utilized for a great deal of the film and those wanting to see the film in the US have to suffer through a pretty awful dubbed version. The strengths? This Godzilla film has an interesting look into the past of the monster even in it's diluted time travel plot. Godzilla films are nothing if not ambitious. So many of these films try their absolute hardest to deliver layers of exposition of how each entry relates to the monster and how the citizens of Japan try to stop it. The problem is that there is so much repetition of the ideas over and over again. 'Godzilla vs King Ghidorah' deserves some level of praise because of it's time travel plot. The time travelers themselves seem like they've come out of 'Plan 9' but I really like the idea of the monster originating in a World War II subplot. It is an ambitious idea that sort of finds that balance of making up for the fact that Godzilla can be a hero amidst his total destruction of Japan. You do get a satisfaction once Godzilla is brought back to life because this film does sort of have a sense of stakes behind it.Ghidorah on the other hand does not have a character behind him. We don't really get to grasp why Ghidorah is Godzilla's greatest arch nemesis. The creatures Ghidorah spawns from are beyond ridiculous looking and so any sense of menace the character might have had is greatly limited in the long run. The actual time travelers seem to have complete control over him and so Ghidorah is never able to become his own entity. I imagine a great many Godzilla fans might have been disappointed by this characterization.The monster battles are all golden. The suits look realistic and menacing and a great deal of destruction is thrown on the screen. This thing has an epic quality that the lesser giant monster films sometimes lack. Unfortunately once we get past the monsters this film is inhabited by goofy humans. Like I said earlier the time travelers remind me so much of characters from 'Plan 9'. It isn't even the disconnect from adapting the film for Americans, these characters have legitimately bizarre dialogue that is meant to sound poignant but comes off as laughable. Godzilla gets some decent treatment here. He is the main reason to see this film. Ghidorah and his handlers leave a lot to be desired.

The third entry in the Heisei Godzilla series, and a great one at that. One reason to love it if you're a fan, as myself, is that King Ghidorah returns!! Just as maniacal and evil as he was in the Showa films. Unfortunately, King Ghidorah would be a 'good guy' the next time him and Godzilla face off, in GMK, in ten years. This film is famous for revealing the Monster King's origin. More on that later...Akira Ifukbe also returns to score the film, bringing back Godzilla and Ghidorah's original themes, which both sound spectacular. The human characters are pretty throughout,but the action sequences sub-par. One major problem with this film is simply that Kazuki Omori's screenplay called for too much human action that the budget was definitely not big enough for. However that wasn't the point in this film, at least most of the time, with its political statements and essentially deep plot, if you look at it in a satirical yet intricate perspective. In fact there are quite a bit of themes in this film if you dig deep enough and don't dismiss the film for Toho's expected budget. Moving away from that, Ghidorah not only has a new look, but a new origin. I could explain it, but you'll get it after seeing it a few times I assume. The King of Darkness looked great and his rampage scenes look awesome. The only thing I didn't like about him was that he wasn't given his original roar ( or shriek, whatever you want to call it) and instead a modified Rodan-cackle. Whatever....Godzilla looks incredible and I love his roar. He doesn't appear till the last 38 minutes but once he does he gets plenty of action scenes that were well done for the most part. The Godzillasaurus was a cool monster and its fight with the Navy vessels was great. It wasn't till later I realized they used Gamera's roar as the creature dies, I guess a bit of a spoof of some sort. I guess Toho had no idea Gamera would return in 1995 with a new series of films that would challenge Godzilla as the Monster King. Mecha-King Ghidorah was a nice edition as well and the final battle was top notch. To me, however, the battle between the two title monsters was the best and one of the best in the Heisei series. I admire it for its creativity and for its physical side. The part where Ghidorah uses his python like necks to strangle Godzilla was my favorite moment.Mr. Shindo and Godzilla's confrontation was actually a bit moving. But when a story involves time travel, there are bound to be flaws. To go into this continuity catastrophe with great detail would be too much for this review. So despite the continuity of the Heisei series now ruined, this film deserves respect for great monsters and its other aspects and I still find it enjoyable to watch. You'll literally rate it two stars lower if you watch the Sony Tristar dub, seeing as it was f*ckin terrible to say the least.