Godzilla vs. Destoroyah | Through the Shattered Lens

Here are ten films that I recommend checking out this weekend. These films are all streaming so, if you’re stuck inside due to weather or crippling depression, give them a shot!

In Memory of My Dad

This Memorial Day is going to be a difficult one for me because it’s also going to be the one-year anniversary of the car accident that eventually led to my Dad passing away last year. These first two films, I’m recommending in his memory. One of them was a favorite of movie of his. The other movie is one that makes me think about him and my mom whenever I watch it.

First off, National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) was one of my Dad’s favorite movies. He saw it in theaters when it was first released and, whenever he would come across the film on television, he would get the biggest smile on his face. I love this film, too. I reviewed it a few years ago but, for here, I’ll just say that this film works as both the quintessential college comedy and also as a surprisingly touching portrait of friendship. As Dean Wormer, John Vernon set the standard for heartless authority figures for years to come. Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, Tom Hulce, Stephen Furst, Kevin Bacon, Karen Allen, Bruce McGill, James Daughton, Mark McGill, BELUSHI! For the record, my favorite member of Delta House was always Hoover. Animal House is currently on Prime.

Secondly, I have to mention Dazed and Confused (1993). Richard Linklater’s portrait of life in 1970s Texas has long been a favorite of mine. There’s a lot of reasons, from the clever dialogue to the genuinely funny moments to the performances of the truly amazing cast. Matthew McConaughey may have been the one to become a star but the film is full of great performances, from everyone from Jason London to Parker Posey to Wiley Wiggins and Michelle Burke to Cole Hauser and Ben Affleck to Adam Goldberg and Anthony Rapp to Nicky Katt …. well, you get the idea. Linklater has sometimes said that he regrets that the film didn’t have more “serious” moments but I think he’s being a bit too hard on himself and the film. There’s a definite sense of melancholy to Dazed and Confused. These characters have no idea what’s waiting for them in the future. This film always makes me think of my Mom and Dad because it’s about their generation. (My Dad once told me that the film was very accurate.) Whenever I watch this film, I’m reminded that everyone was young once and, eventually, everyone gets older. Dazed and Confused is on Prime.

For Memorial Day

Memorial Day is an often misunderstood holiday. It was first celebrated after the Civil War and it’s meant to be a time to honor those who sacrificed their lives defending the United States. It’s mean to be a time of sober reflection but that’s not currently our nation’s strong suit.

I’m not a huge fan of war films but I do like Battleground (1949), a simple but moving portrait of a platoon of soldiers fighting during the Battle of the Bulge. Battleground, made when World War II was a very fresh memory, is a touching and realistic portrait of combat, one that focuses on the humanity of the soldiers involved. No one is presented as being superhuman or as an indestructible action hero. Instead, they’re vulnerable, frequently frightened, and often frustrated. At the same time, they’re also putting their life at risk for their country and battling one of the greatest evils that the world has ever known. Battleground is a tribute to American soldiers and those who sacrificed their lives to battle the Nazis. Amongst the ensemble cast, young Ricardo Montalban stands out as a tragic soldier. For now, Battleground can be viewed on YouTube.

The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946) won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1946 and, while I would have given the Oscar to It’s A Wonderful Life, The Best Years Of Our Lives remains a powerful portrait of returning veterans and their struggle to adjust to life during peacetime. Fredric March, Dana Andrews, and Harold Russell return from combat and find themselves surrounded by friends and family who have no way of understanding what they experienced while serving their country. Wonderfully directed by William Wyler and featuring a brilliant cast, The Best Years Of Our Lives is a moving film, one that reminds us that the scars of war don’t disappear once the shooting stops. The film is streaming on Pluto and Peacock.

For All You Car Fans

The Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for this Sunday. Personally, I like cars and I like the people who aren’t afraid to drive fast.

Fast Company (1979) is one of the many 70s films to be made about racing. It’s certainly not the first to feature William Smith as a driver who loves speed and taking risks. What sets Fast Company apart is that it was directed by David Cronenberg. It’s a film that Cronenberg did for the money and it was also the first time that he worked with two important future collaborators, actor Nicholas Campbell and cinematographer Mark Irwin. Even though there’s not much of Cronenberg’s signature stye here, he does show himself to be an adroit genre director. The cars are fast, the races are well-shot, and John Saxon shows up as the villain. Fast Company is on Tubi.

Used Cars (1980), an early film from Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter Bob Gale (who celebrates a birthday tomorrow), is one of my favorite films, a hilarious and shameless comedy that features Kurt Russell, Jack Warden, and Gerrit Graham at their absolute best. Russell, at a time when he was still struggling to establish himself as something more than a Disney star, gives a wonderful and charismatic performance as a used car salesman with political ambitions. This film is worth seeing for his suit alone! Jack Warden plays twin brothers, one good and one bad. Never look away when Gerrit Graham is in a scene because, even when he’s in the background, he can make you laugh. This ends with one of the greatest chase scenes ever directed. Used Cars is on Tubi and you definitely need to watch it if you haven’t already.

Odds and Ends

Of all the films that I’ve ever seen at SXSW, Shock of the Future (2019) remains my favorite. Starring Alma Jodorowsky as a musician living in 70s Paris, Shock of the Future pays tribute to the female pioneers of electronic music. Needless to say the soundtrack is wonderful but, beyond that, Shock of the Future is a film that captures the joy that comes from creativity and artistic expression. It’s a film that will leave you wanting to create something wonderful. Shock of the Future is on Tubi.

Terminal Bliss (1992) is a portrait of teenagers with too much money, too many drugs, and not much of a conscience. It’s a film that wears its influences on its sleeve but, at the same time, director Jordan Alan (who was 19 at the time) does a good job of capturing the ennui and detachment that dominates his character’s lives. This is a flawed film but worth seeing for Luke Perry’s performance as a young sociopath. After years of only being available in a French-language dub, the English-version of Terminal Bliss is currently on YouTube.

Ruggero Deodato’s Raiders of Atlantis (1983) may not be as well-known as Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust or The House on the Edge of the Park but it’s still an entertainingly weird mix of Atlantis, Miami Vice, Mad Max, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Atlanteans return to land of the living and, for some reason, they’re riding motorcycles and dressing like wannabe punk rockers. It makes no sense but Deodato keeps the action moving and the cast is a who’s who of Italian exploitation, featuring Christopher Connelly, Tony King, Ivan Rassimov, Bruce Baron, and George Hilton! The soundtrack is wonderfully over-the-top. It can be found on Tubi!

Godzilla vs Destoroyah (1995) is one of the best Godzilla films and, unfortunately, it’s one that often seems to get overlooked. Godzilla is at his most fearsome and destructive and Destoroyah is a more than worthy opponent. The members of the Godzilla Task Force all get to wear cute uniforms. Godzilla vs Destoroyah is available on Tubi.

Have a wonderful weekend!

With the new Godzilla film scheduled to be released in just two more days, we’ve been taking a look back at some of Godzilla’s previous adventures. We’ve looked at everything from Godzilla vs. King Kong to Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster. We’ve even taken a look at Godzilla’s adventures in the Marvel Universe. Today, we consider the 22nd Godzilla film, 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.

As Godzilla vs. Destoroyah opens, the task of monitoring and managing Godzilla has been entrusted to a military organization known as G-Force. To be honest, my first impulse was to mock G-Force because their headquarters is known as G-Center and I kept expecting to see a tour group walking through the building while their cheerful guide explained, “This is the spot — the G-Spot.” However, I have to admit that if I ever somehow found myself as a member of the military, I would want to be a member of G-Force, just because some of the female G-forcers get to wear a really nice uniform with a cute black skirt and a beret. Seriously, I’d enlist just to get the beret.

It’s all about the beret.

Anyway, G-Force may have cute uniforms but they’re apparently not very good at doing their job because they’ve lost track of Godzilla. When last seen, Godzilla and his son — Godzilla, Jr. (yes, that’s what they actually call him) — were living on the charmingly named Birth Island. However, Birth Island has been destroyed and when Godzilla, Sr. finally resurfaces, he’s glowing red and destroying Hong Kong.

Yes, Godzilla, Sr. has some issues. As the G-Force scientists eventually deduce, Godzilla’s heart — which also acts as a nuclear reactor — is on the verge of a meltdown. Not only is Godzilla dying but his death will probably cause a nuclear chain reaction that will lead to the end of the world. As silly as this particular plot twist might sound, it actually works pretty well. It’s a much-needed return to Godzilla’s roots, a reminder that, before he became a film star, Godzilla was meant to be the living embodiment of the atomic nightmare. As well, the fact that Godzilla is slowly being destroyed by the same thing that brought him to life gives him a certain tragic dignity. You may not believe that you could feel sorry for a big rubber lizard but you would be wrong. Once it becomes clear that Godzilla is using his last remaining strength to search for and protect his son, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by his plight.

Unfortunately, G-Force is apparently full of men with hearts of stone and, instead of trying to make that father-son reunion happen, they instead decide to trot out the old Oxygen Destroyer that was used to defeat the original Godzilla back in the 1954. (In the 90s, the series was retconned to explain that the first Godzilla was destroyed in 1954 and that all the subsequent Godzilla movies featured the original’s successor.) However, what G-Force has failed to take into account is that experimenting with the Oxygen Destroyer will also create a giant mutant crab known as Destoroyah.

Destoroyah, despite having a bit of a name problem, is actually pretty scary and, at times, feels like something that could have sprung from the imagination of H.R. Giger. An extended scene, in which Destoroyah menaces a woman trapped in a car, is particularly well done.

Since this is a Godzilla film, all of this inetivably leads to a gigantic fight between Godzilla, Junior, and Destoroyah that manages to destroy Tokyo for the hundredth time. Of course, even as Godzilla steps up to save the world from Destoroyah, he still remains a ticking atomic bomb…

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah was meant to be the final Japanese Godzilla film, a final hurrah for the series before the American version (directed by noted Shakespearean scholar Roland Emmerich) was released. As such, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is very much a tribute to Godzilla’s long history (clips from the first film abound) and an attempt to give Godzilla a proper and heroic send-off before he would be reinterpreted by the Americans. There’s an elegiac feel to much of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah and it works a lot better than you would have any reason to expect. If this had been the final Japanese Godzilla film, it would have been a perfect chapter to end on.

However, as we all know, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah was not the final Japanese Godzilla film. Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla was a notorious flop and continues to be reviled by good people everywhere. Toho bought back the rights to the character and went on to produce 6 more films starring Godzilla. And now, in just a few more days, a second attempt at an American Godzilla film will be released.

Will it be as good as Roland Emmerich’s film?

Yes. Of course, it will. How couldn’t it be? Roland Emmerich is basically just Uwe Boll with a bigger budget, after all.

Will the new Godzilla be as good as Godzilla vs. Destoroyah?

That’s a question that remains to be answered.