Godzilla: Final Wars

Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

ゴジラ ファイナルウォーズ

Farewell, Godzilla.

Humanity finally rids themselves of Godzilla, imprisoning him in an icy tomb in the South Pole. All is peaceful until various monsters emerge to lay waste to Earth's cities. Overwhelmed, humanity is seemingly saved by a race of benevolent aliens known as Xiliens. But not all is what it seems with these bizarre visitors. If humanity wishes to survive, they must reluctantly resurrect their most hated enemy, Godzilla.

Date of release
2004-12-04
TMDB
7.1 / 10 (389)
Runtime
2h 5m
Genres
Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller
Director
Ryuhei Kitamura
Collection
Godzilla (Millennium) Collection

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: New York City, Japan, Paris, and Arizona

Godzilla: Final Wars is a 2004 kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, with special effects by Eiichi Asada. Distributed by Toho and produced by its subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 29th film in the Godzilla franchise, and the sixth and final film in the franchise's Millennium era. The film stars Masahiro Matsuoka, Rei Kikukawa, Don Frye, Maki Mizuno, Kazuki Kitamura, Kane Kosugi, Kumi Mizuno, Kenji Sahara, Masami Nagasawa, Chihiro Otsuka, Shigeru Izumiya, Masakatsu Funaki, Masato Ibu, Jun Kunimura, and Akira Takarada, with Tsutomu Kitagawa as Godzilla, Kazuhiro Yoshida as Gigan and Motokuni Nakagawa as Monster X.

Production

Ryuhei Kitamura accepted the offer to direct the film due to being unsatisfied with the Godzilla films of the 1960s, and 2000s, stating, "I loved the Godzilla movies back in the ’70s and '90s, but not so much the ones released in the 1960s and 2000s.

Kitamura has compared Godzilla: Final Wars to that of a musician's "Best of" album, stating "We picked lots and lots of the best elements from the past and combined it in a new way. It's what I love about Godzilla and what I don't love about recent Godzilla movies".

Kitamura initially aimed to cast Jean Reno, who appeared in the 1998 Hollywood Godzilla film. The role was subsequently offered to Christopher Lambert and Sonny Chiba before Kitamura decided to cast a professional wrestler or mixed martial artist instead, a search that led him to Don Frye.

Like previous Godzilla films, Godzilla: Final Wars makes extensive use of practical effects rather than CGI. The special effects were directed and supervised by Eiichi Asada, who also directed the special effects for Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. Commenting on the special effects, Kitamura stated at the film's world premiere in Hollywood, "We stick to the special effects. That’s what we've been doing for 50 years.

Filming included on-location shooting in New York City and Sydney, Australia. Scenes were also filmed in various locations across Japan, including Fukushima, Kobe, and Toho Studios in Tokyo.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended