With the Heisei films, they generally sacrificed mobility for bulk and size, which has its positives and its negatives.
The monsters in the Heisei series look a lot more imposing and convey their size a lot easier than the monsters of the Showa era. I mean Destroyah, Mecha Ghidorah, Biollante, and Spacegodzilla look awesome to me and rank among some of my favorite designed kaiju in the entire franchise. But, you also lose a lot of the more intricate action you'd get from hand to hand combat and rely more on beams. But at the same time, it is slightly more realistic to have these slow moving bulky creatures and this avoided cheesier moves like Godzilla leaping all the way across the screen or doing a gravity defying dropkick. So again, six in one, half a dozen in the other.
Its a personal taste thing, as well as relating to the time they were made. Things like Godzilla's dropkick kind of fit in the 70s, but would get laughed off the screen in the 90s. The beam wars kind of fit in the 90s, but nowadays, people want something a bit more physical.
Monster Discussion #61: Destoroyah
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GojiDog
- G-Grasper
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Re: Monster Discussion #61: Destoroyah
White Male Genocide is necessary.
Kill all white men.
Kill all white men.
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kamilleblu
- G-Grasper
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Re: Monster Discussion #61: Destoroyah
Kawakita ran into a slightly less severe case of the Ultraman Powered effect. Impressive designs or suits with extremely limited practicality. He course-corrected too far from the Showa films and his excessive light shows were probably an attempt to distract from how dull his fights would have been otherwise.
Last edited by kamilleblu on Sat Dec 28, 2019 8:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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godjacob
- Futurian
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Re: Monster Discussion #61: Destoroyah
Easily the best Kaiju introduced in the Heisei canon and one of the best Kaiju in the entire franchise.
His design is fantastic, and even if his bulky appearance hinders its fighting somewhat they did try to work around it as best they could. With flight and a long tail on top of an energy horn to not make him totally useless in hand to hand combat. Especially compared to previous Kaiju in the canon a la SpaceGodzilla & Mechagodzilla. The multi-form evolution is a cool concept and each one is unique with the final form a truly imposing figure.
His backstory was genius, tying into the OG Godzilla in an organic way and being a fitting closure to the Heisei story tying the last film in that canon with the first film in the franchise.
His abilities are cool, basically a weaponized Oxygen Destroyer and he was a worthy foe even with Godzilla having a meltdown boost. A cruel personality and sadistic style made him all the more memorable and added that emotional punch to the fight after he killed Junior and later attacked Godzilla while in morning.
Just...a fantastic Kaiju. One of my favs of all time.
His design is fantastic, and even if his bulky appearance hinders its fighting somewhat they did try to work around it as best they could. With flight and a long tail on top of an energy horn to not make him totally useless in hand to hand combat. Especially compared to previous Kaiju in the canon a la SpaceGodzilla & Mechagodzilla. The multi-form evolution is a cool concept and each one is unique with the final form a truly imposing figure.
His backstory was genius, tying into the OG Godzilla in an organic way and being a fitting closure to the Heisei story tying the last film in that canon with the first film in the franchise.
His abilities are cool, basically a weaponized Oxygen Destroyer and he was a worthy foe even with Godzilla having a meltdown boost. A cruel personality and sadistic style made him all the more memorable and added that emotional punch to the fight after he killed Junior and later attacked Godzilla while in morning.
Just...a fantastic Kaiju. One of my favs of all time.
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Follinollante
- Interpol Agent
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Re: Monster Discussion #61: Destoroyah
Just thought I'd comment on each form in particular, from least favorite to favorite.
5 (Micro Form): Not much to say here. We do get some really cool, suspenseful moments, though, involving these little dudes, not least of which is when they chew out of the beaker.
4 (Flying Form): Not too exciting. It just doesn't really do a whole lot. Props to Destoroyah, though, for being able to almost instantaneously swap between a grounded battle form and an airborne, agile form.
3 (Final): Sadly, it's too bulky to do itself justice (as others have pointed out, the poor man can barely move), but it's cool nonetheless. While I would have hoped for more of the Laser Horn, I'm glad it wasn't overused. That being said, he totally screwed himself over in not using it to finish Godzilla. It also would have been nice to have the Stomach Beam, as its absence makes the suit design feel like it left a lot out; it might have been too many abilities, though.
2 (Juvenile Form): Very cool. It was quite refreshing to have a more human-scale kaiju for once. I haven't seen Aliens (that's what everyone seems to compare it to) but the scene where they have overrun the building is absolutely fantastic. These guys are just plain cool.
1 (Aggregate): I actually like this form the best, mainly because it's not just a suit, and it's not just a prop; it's a combination of both ala Biollante. Its mobility and power are also quite frightening if you think about it. It looks like it shouldn't be able to jump the way it does, and as for power, this isn't his final form, after all. The effects for Aggregate are probably the best that Destoroyah gets throughout the film, and it's just a cool design, with a really fun fight to boot.
'Twas a fun kaiju overall, and my first taste of Godzilla's Heisei opponents (yeah, I watched the last film first).
5 (Micro Form): Not much to say here. We do get some really cool, suspenseful moments, though, involving these little dudes, not least of which is when they chew out of the beaker.
4 (Flying Form): Not too exciting. It just doesn't really do a whole lot. Props to Destoroyah, though, for being able to almost instantaneously swap between a grounded battle form and an airborne, agile form.
3 (Final): Sadly, it's too bulky to do itself justice (as others have pointed out, the poor man can barely move), but it's cool nonetheless. While I would have hoped for more of the Laser Horn, I'm glad it wasn't overused. That being said, he totally screwed himself over in not using it to finish Godzilla. It also would have been nice to have the Stomach Beam, as its absence makes the suit design feel like it left a lot out; it might have been too many abilities, though.
2 (Juvenile Form): Very cool. It was quite refreshing to have a more human-scale kaiju for once. I haven't seen Aliens (that's what everyone seems to compare it to) but the scene where they have overrun the building is absolutely fantastic. These guys are just plain cool.
1 (Aggregate): I actually like this form the best, mainly because it's not just a suit, and it's not just a prop; it's a combination of both ala Biollante. Its mobility and power are also quite frightening if you think about it. It looks like it shouldn't be able to jump the way it does, and as for power, this isn't his final form, after all. The effects for Aggregate are probably the best that Destoroyah gets throughout the film, and it's just a cool design, with a really fun fight to boot.
'Twas a fun kaiju overall, and my first taste of Godzilla's Heisei opponents (yeah, I watched the last film first).