Godzilla is literally the longest running film series in history, so it's hard not to see so many movies and treat them like long episodes of a TV show. Hey, it worked for "Mystery Science Theater 3000"! All the Godzilla movies feature either him destroying a city or him fighting another monster and this film goes the extra mile by having both occur! What's better is that we get to see the most frequently appearing human character in the entire Godzilla franchise, Miki Saegusa. She has a psychic link with Godzilla. As the franchise is known for its monsters, it's quite unique for a human character to be important.We get great setup to the creature Biollante and in a lot of the movie and we even get great action scenes from the actual human characters, especially when Biollante's vines are attacking people in the beginning. It seems pretty lame for Godzilla to fight a giant plant, but it certainly gets better. There's actually two huge fights between these two characters. In the second one, Biollante takes on a much cooler and more crocodile like form. At the very end, Godzilla is still alive, but decides to stop attacking. It's really a good story that should please all fans. ***

There are somethings you watch as a child that can bring in new insights and perceptions on viewing as an older teen or an adult, and then there are some things which just don't add up or present itself that well as before. Biollante is among the latter. I had such fond memories of it as a big monster-loving kid, and heard almost instant praise from others of my same ilk. The day soon came when FINALLY the kaiju gods answered my prayers and released this film in the US on blu-ray and DVD. I bought it on blu-ray, making it my first blu-ray purchase. I giggly skipped to my room to place this bad boy on my PS3, feeling ten years old again! Oh goody goody!!! Sat down, and began to let the fond memories come rolling back to my conscience. About ten minutes in... am I still ten years old inside?? Just as soon as the line "kiss you guys" echoes from the my sound projector, I knew this was NOT a trip down memory lane, rather a stinging sharp bite in the rear from realization and reality.What happened? All that wonder and mysticism this film used to give me is gone. Gone are the days where monster fights and nice music are sadly not going to cut it anymore. Now lets break down the reasons this film is a big mess....The plot - So basically, the film picks up exactly where Return of Godzilla left off. Some factions want to posses Godzilla's cells. One is an American company called Bio-Major, another is some fictional Middle Eastern country called Saradia. Shiragami is a scientist mourning for the loss of his daughter while they were in said country. While the military builds Super X. And there is a psychic girl too. Yes, it sounds like nonsense, cause it is! It seems Toho couldn't decide what kind of plot to go with in this film. An internal drama? A spy film? A military film? A MONSTER film? "I know!!!"; Toho exclaims "Why don't we just forcefully squeeze all four into one without any kind of intelligence or coherency!! Who needs character development!? Lots of explosions and flashy effects will be all the suspense we need!!" The writing - This film just teases you by presenting in something that COULD be of interest and a nice break from the dull blandness that this sad picture is, but oops!! Not this time, its back to drivel again!! Characters that could potentially be interesting and serve the story better, are shoved aside in favor for the generic and boring military personals, who only just seem to be there to spout techno and political babble. I could forgive this film more if they had some actual DEVELOPMENT and were treated like actual characters!! Not just plot forwarding machines. Because of a lack of sensible directing, whatever happens in this movie, is simply just an event that happened. For no other purpose then to just keep the movie going. This film does not allow you the time to take in or appreciate the atmosphere surrounding the "characters". No feelings of accomplishment, no reason to give hope, just nothing at all to care for. No consistency whatsover. Just poorly done subplot after poorly done subplot.The acting - Perhaps the only difference the audience would tell between these "actors" and cardboard boxes with simply drawn facial expressions, would that emotions would be conveyed better with the latter. I know this is a Godzilla film, but they expect us to believe that a reaction to Godzilla approaching would to to simply say " Godzilla is coming", check your watch and calmly walk away? Even Megalon was more believable!! Where these human beings they casted into this movie, and not malfunctioning robots? Not even planks could make a performance this wooden! The special effects - Maybe finally I can say something complementary this decaying draggy bore fest. Of course, this being a Godzilla flick, I don't expect top notch Hollywood style effects, but for 80's Japanese tokusatsu fare, its pretty neat. This might be the only thing improved form the previous "Return of Godzilla" (I haven't seen it for a while, I might reconsider). Godzilla looks great, and so does Biollante, especially her final form, with her vines, numerous sharp teeth, and the ooze that foams from her jaw that gives quite the impression of a savage beast. Model cities seem to be well crafted and designed. At least SOMETHING was given an effort in this movie.The score - Another positive for this movie. The film uses a nice blend of classic Ifukube and a new selection of melodies from the famed composer of the Dragon Quest game series Koichi Sugiyama. I just love the style he brings to this film, more majestic compared to early soundtracks in the series, also conveying horror, mysticism, herosim, and romance. Its too bad such music had to wasted on this soggy mess of cinema. Its like writing a beautiful song or poem about a dried up turd.Overall, Godzilla vs Biollante was a film I REEEEAAALLLLLY wanted to like. Like it as much as I did as naive, stupid, no-nothing child. But I just can't let nostalgia cloud my judgment. It had the potential to be one of the finest entries in the series, but in spite of how good the art direction, the effects (for Godzilla anyway), and the soundtrack might have been. it just can't completely save this film from bad directing, a muggy script, bland "characters" (who are less characters, but more like situation-explaining exposition machines), and just overall, greed, rushness, and, a complete lack of passion. Someone at Toho NEEDS to get fired.

What? a Godzilla movie on Blu-ray, well about time. Well of course destroy all monsters came out on Blu-ray, but was discontinued. I would love it if they re-released all the films on Blu-ray, that would be a dream come true.Blu-ray disc: The picture quality is much better, but I can only compare it to my VHS tape. Whats one thing that Godzilla movies have a lot of, explosions. What does Blu-ray enhance, explosions. Well unfortunately the sound wasn't on par with most films, what I mean by that is, the explosions lacked base, and there for didn't rattle the walls. That was my only complaint. And for the first time I actually get to watch how one of these films is made, it includes a behind the scenes bonus feature. The MPAA rating in the opening states that there is the usual Godzilla violence, I thought that was funny.The film: This film is a big leap forward for the series. The action scenes look great, and the special effects are outstanding. The final form of Biollante looks incredible. Some of the musical scores are great too. Take note this film is actually pretty violent, lots of blood spraying, and there is more swearing than usual, man there's even a sexual reference at the end. Not really PG material, but oh well.Overall it's pretty entertaining, with the fight scenes being the highlights. Although Biollante served a small part, it's still worth watching.

Despite its less than stellar performance at the box office in Japan, I actually think this is one of the better Godzilla films in the entire 29 (as it stands currently) movie series. For one thing, the plot is a lot more interesting and topical than the traditional beings from outer space or what have you. The character development isn't note worthy, which admittedly is one of the weaknesses of Godzilla films. Special effects work was quite good, on the other hand.Biollante herself is a wonder all her own, and she just might be the most original creation that is featured in a Godzilla movie. Her second/final form is amazing looking, although something other than a giant rose would've be preferred for the initial form. Her final form continues to hold the record for largest Toho monster. As a bit of an aside, it's a darn shame that Toho perceived Biollante's box office performance to indicate that audiences wanted to see almost exclusively Showa series monsters that Godzilla has already fought (multiple times in some cases).Downsides? Well, there is arguably too much going on for the humans. The new young military general heading the Super X II and greater anti-G mission seemed to be unnecessary for this film. It's just something that could've been trimmed being that it didn't add to the film in my opinion. Conversely, I wish they'd have explained a bit more regarding the agent following the agents following the G cells (did you catch that?). It isn't confusing in the film, but it could've been finished/explored a little better.Garnering an 8/10 from me, this is one of highest ratings I give any Godzilla film. A must see for anyone interested in giant monster movies, not just Godzilla. Perhaps that's the real message I'd like to convey. It's actually a good giant monster film, with no need to follow it up with something like "for a Godzilla movie". The real downside with this movie has nothing to do with the movie itself. You will only find official VHS copies if you're a region one consumer (American or Canadian). That's a real bummer in a world that upgraded to DVDs years ago. I still have my VHS copy (in widescreen!), but I'd really like them to offer region one DVDs and Blu-Rays.