Many people praise this as one of the best Godzilla films. As expected, we get great allusions to the original 1954 film. They refer to it as the original Godzilla attack so it's kind of ambiguous as to whether or not they're aware it was a different Godzilla that time. We get to see the return of some of our favorite monsters in a massive all-out attack. Glad this made American theaters as it deserved to be seen. Godzilla's look is quite unique especially with his dead looking eyes. This was an attempt to get back to the roots of the original film.A pity that original film didn't have Godzilla fight other monsters. I especially like the ending here. Godzilla defeats Mothra who ends up sacrificing her energy to help Ghidorah. It was interesting to see Ghidorah on the side of good this time. Apparently, I've been pronouncing that guy's name wrong too. Ghidorah is also beaten by Godzilla! It takes direct help from the human character to plant bombs in Godzilla's body to do him in. It's rare you see Godzilla fighting other monsters and also destroying cities. I think even the 1998 Godzilla movie is alluded to here. ***

This film is now ten years old and it still retains its popularity. For this edition of its greatest movie series, Toho decided to take chances and do something quite different for the King of the Monsters and that chance basically paid off. The result was GMK.Plot: After about fifty years since Godzilla's rampage, a Japan where some have either forgotten or don't believe in the monster began having a series of mysterious events. A mystic old man warns that Godzilla, resurrected and possessed by souls lost during WW2, will once again go on a rampage, so he awakens the so-called Guardian Monsters: Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah to combat the dinosaur.An interesting story, epic action scenes, and wonderful music are what keep this film going. However, some of the decisions made for this movie are my biggest problem. I didn't like how Anguirus and Varan, who were absent from a movie for SO long, got replaced by Ghidorah and Mothra, in the process making Ghidorah a good guy! What?! Mechagodzilla is one thing but Ghidorah?! The guardian monsters are smaller and weaker too (ex. Baragon doesn't have his fire breath in this movie!).Despite this, GMK is still a worthy addition to the series and worth a watch.

Godzilla movies are a lot of things. As someone that grew up on the franchise, I can admit that character development, special effects, and cohesive plots aren't naturally among the list. But this Godzilla movie is very watchable, even if you're with a pal that isn't much into giant monster movies (and certainly isn't into something like the Showa series of Godzilla flicks). Toho didn't get the Millennium series of G films off to a good start. Godzilla 2000 had some annoying pacing issues and a dry basic plot. The second movie, Godzilla vs Megaguirus, was again a bit slowly paced. But they really must've gone to work with GMK, because this one came out much better.First, the standard movie business. We see some great special effects work here, with few flaws. The characters still don't connect that much to the audience, but they are more than tolerable; I found myself more into the military characters' scenes rather than the main character and her BS Digital colleagues interestingly enough. But again, you won't leave the movie thinking the characters were bad. The music is awesome and sounds both menacing and mythical, which is important for the film's premise. The film is overall devoid of pacing issues.So what about the monsters? Godzilla looks fantastic, especially with those dead white eyes. His atomic heat ray also looks appropriately special. Some viewers have commented that it looks like he has a bit of a pot belly, but I don't think it detracts from any of his scenes. Baragon looks good, and he is only presented to be a tooth-and-claw kaiju (a monster without any special powers like Godzilla's atomic ray); back in the Showa this was not the case. Mothra looks better here than any other appearance I've seen her in. Even the following appearances in Godzilla: Tokyo SOS and Godzilla: Final Wars don't have a Mothra that looks this good and moves around this well. Her character as a guardian monster hero also is very fitting. King Ghidorah, though, is probably the weak point among the monsters. In terms of quality and detail, make no mistake, KG looks great. But to someone who's seen King Ghidorah (or other Ghidorahs) before, this one seems a little small and weak. He constantly needed this boosts, first to fly and then to fire his electric bolts. The biggest problem I have is the fact that he's portrayed as a hero monster here. King Ghidorah? Hero? What? That was a mistake in my opinion, but I've grown to care less as the years pile on.A great giant monster movie, I give this a very solid 8/10, beaten in raw numbers by only one other Godzilla movie (because nothing with be as iconic, serious, or game changing as the 1954 original).

I am an avid Gojira and Kaiju fan for over 30 years now. I totally disagree with the other review that is posted for this film. "GMK", as it is known, is one of the best Gojira films in years thanks to the prolific director Shusuke Kaneko ("Gamera" 90's trilogy, the "Death Note" films, "Pyrokinesis"). What makes this film so special is Gojira's haunting hatred for mankind. His all-white eyes make this film even more sinister. Gojira purposely takes human life and has a deep-rooted grudge towards humanity. Look for a scene with a girl in the hospital looking out the window as Gojira approaches. The film has a modern day feel to it with the added elements of destruction and mankind's struggle to survive an "atomic age" type of disaster. The monster battles are fun to watch as well. Also in this film, Gojira has no interest in beating up the other monsters. It wants to kill them. One of the best Gojira films ever made.