Movie Tournament Rounds 1-5 Archive

Well, this round is interesting. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus is a film that is almost universally looked down upon by the fanbase, while Final Wars is in my opinion the most divisive film, and fans either seem to rank it as their favorite or the absolute worst in the series. I personally tolerate both films, and have no extremely strong feelings for either film one way or the other.

But I'd have to go with Final Wars. GxM is just sort of mediocre to me, and I'd rank it among my least favorite entires in the series just because it's really nothing special or innovative, aside from Masaaki Tezuka's first crack at the franchise as a director. Final Wars, on the other hand, is certainly memorable, for better or worse. I personally like the film, though I definitely wouldn't call it one of my favorites, and I'm always entertained by it. I tend not to look at it as a traditional film, more of as a tribute to the series done in the style of an action-comedy. It's extremely fun to watch for me, because when there aren't ridculously over-the-top monster fights going on, there's ridicuously over-the-top human fights, space battles, and acting going on. I also give Final Wars points for featuring tons of Easter eggs and references to other Toho films, plus bringing back tons of actors from all three eras. Not to mention the excellent fan service provided by the Godzilla vs. Zilla battle.

Final Wars all the way on this one.

Both are terrible films. Godzilla X Megaguiras is the more traditional kaiju film, but it's entirely forgettable and dull. Final Wars is awful in that it displays the worst suits of the entire franchise and goes right into into Power Rangers cheese territory. Out of the two, I'll go with Final Wars in that it's at least balls on crazy and memorable.

Gonna go with Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. The special effects were fairly better and the monster fights were fun. The swarm attack was great but not the best. Both films were considerable the worst of the millennium series. However, final wars is a cheap knockoff of destroy all monsters and destroy all monsters was and still is better than the both of these films. 

Glad that the return of Godzilla won though.

I'll go with Final Wars. Did not enjoy the cheesiness including the actor who channelled Sgt. Slaughter (sorry, cannot think of the actor's name at the moment). But I did enjoy seeing updated versions of several of the monsters missing in action up until that point including Anguirus, King Seasar, and Gigan. The humor though unintentional was okay. 

G x MG had an excellent score and some creative ideas such as the Dimension Tide and the scene where the protaganist is literally riding on top of Godzilla's back as he's rising out of the ocean. There was something missing though with the direction and writing. 

Wow well any fans of Return of Godzilla got good news. Their movies is most likely going to the quarter finals of the bracket since I doubt either of these will beat it.

This is basically the best of the worst, or at least some of them. I'm gonna go with Final Wars because as bad as it was it was at least entertaining, whereas Godzilla vs Megaguirus was pretty boring, with only two or three scenes that really stand out.

Admittedly GXMegaguirus is one of the weaker Millennium films, but I'm probably one of the few fans here who doesn't hate the movie! I actually like it.

And judging from the tide and popular vote so far, I think I will be in the minority by a long shot in that category as well.

I get the whole "it's so bad it's good", or "it's so over the top it's entertaining" thing about GFW, but it's just a movie that is hard for me to get through. I find it such a jumbled mess with it's X-Men meets Matrix meets DAM  and we'll throw in the kitchen sink sensibility. I think the monster designs are mediocre, with the G design being one of my least favorite ever. Just all in all not one of my favorite movies in the series, and it's a shame the series had to go out (on it's 50th anniv) with this mess of a movie.

Anyway, I know I'll be grossly out-voted, but so be it.

Koldwar,
To be fair I'm including twitter votes as well, so you never know. Makes things more interesting.

GMan - Thanks! ;)

Koldwarkid I can agree with most of the things you say about Final Wars(with the exception of the godzilla suit while not being my favorite I didn't find it all that bad). Against almost any other Godzilla movie I too feel it's appropriate that a movie like it go out in the first round. The only problem is Godzilla vs Megaguirus is pretty much is the same boat.

The design was the Miregoji from the movie beforehand so I can't really give it credit for a good design, and Megaguirus was pretty bad. The actual prop was so stiff basically being on the same level at the Mothra puppets from the 90s and I think we all know the scene were you can see literally every single string attached when she first appears. The design itself is pretty counteractive while it looks menacing the whole schtick for Megaguirus is supposed to be how fast the monster is and just looking at the design there's nothing that really points that out. It looks more like a flying brawler than some superspeed monster. So while it's true Final Wars did give us the awful experience of seeing Keizer Ghidorah, and its version of Minilla, it also had a lot more monsters it had to work on than Godzilla vs Meguirus so I can forgive it if a few don't look that great.

In terms of story I think the're pretty even, Godzilla vs Megaguirus might have a slightly more coherent story, but not by much. The characters are similar too with the exception of the ones in Final Wars filling their screentime with fighting while the one from GxM just being bad. I mean the whole revenge plot for the main pilot is pretty halfbaked. The plot was done better later on in Godzilla against Mechagoodzilla, but in this one at no point ever did I sympathize with the girl and her revenge for Godzilla due to something she was fully reponsible for. The guy who's name I also can't remember doesn't really do much until the very end when he fixes the DT.

Overall I think both these movies should go out in the first round and I'm sure it's going to kill me later on when two good movies get matched up and one goes out in round one while one of these two gets a free pass on the ground of being the better worse movie. It comes down to whether you want a slightly better story or more action really.

I hope you're not planning on including the original film in this debate, because I can already tell you what will win this tournament if it is.

(Can't edit my post)

It'd also be interesting to see non-Godzilla Toho films, or even non-Toho films included. I have no idea what your plans are, and considering you're an intelligent guy, I'm sure you've thought about it. But considering the first four battles have been Godzilla-only films, I thought I'd at least bring it up.

@Wolfguy

I see where you're coming from with regard to having the first and original Godzilla film in the tournament but I believe you have to include it and just let it play out. There's no guarantee that the original will win. People's tastes tend to change over time. A movie you might not have enjoyed the first around might seem more likeable after repeated viewings. 

What would be a nice curveball in the tournament is the inclusion of the Americanized version of Godzilla with Raymond Burr. Their like two different films and I've spoken with some g-fans who like the American version very much. 

I enjoy Godzilla, King of the Monsters too. But it's missing alot from the original film and quite a bit is lost in translation. The fact is, objectively, Gojira is the best film of the series. The story, the characters, the actors, the making-of, the effects on pop-culture... it's what started it all. And asking a Godzilla fan to vote against the film that started it all is just rather unfair.

I'd prefer to see the original Mothra or Rodan thrown in, or Gamera trilogy, Gorgo... so on, so on.

"And asking a Godzilla fan to vote against the film that started it all is just rather unfair."

Depending on the movie it's up against, I'd do it.

At the moment, Wolfguy, this bracket only contains Godzilla movies and yes the original will be included. I've thought about future versions of the game and may tinker further with it in a way that previous winners not be included and other Toho or daikaiju or general toku be in it.

But for now, and for those who have yet to enjoy all those other films, it's simple-- Godzilla movies only.

@Gman2887,

You're not telling me that you actually think any film is better than the original japanese masterpiece are you?  Given the fact that it's documentary style realism, the 2 most powerful messages, and it's dark atmosphere can be outclassed. I'd love for this to come up next in your debate unless you got other plans. 

The only other film I can think of, as a whole, that might be better is Mothra vs. Godzilla. So, in a tournament of only Godzilla films with the original included - Spoilers... Gojira wins.

Well, since that's been said people will probably vote against it. But still, now that I know that, there's no real suspence to this anymore.

Wolfguy,

You'd be surprised by how many would vote against it. Stick around, you'll find out for yourself.

And I also know a lot of people are imbeciles.

"The fact is, objectively, Gojira is the best film of the series. The story, the characters, the actors, the making-of, the effects on pop-culture... it's what started it all."

Someone needs to learn the difference between objectivity and subjectivity. While I also find that the original is easily a top 5 movie, I don't think it's the clear cut winner most people make it out to be, things you might find amazing might not impress others and depending what they like in a movie I could very easily see other movies surpassing it.

And those imbeciles may think of you as a jerk, or a jackass. I'm not trying to start a fight or an argument, just be a little bit more respectful to the members here as some of us are a bit older than others. If you have taken me the wrong way with the jerk and jackass statement then I apologize. At the end of the day, we are all Godzilla fans and that's all that matters.