Godzilla 1985 (1984)

Original title: Gojira

Directors: Koji Hashimoto, R.J. Kizer

Writers: Tomoyuki Tanaka, Tony Randel, Lisa Tomei, Straw Weisman

Composer: Reijiro Koroku

Starring: Raymond Burr, Ken Tanaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Yosuke Natsuki, Shin Takuma, Keiju Kobayashi, Eitaro Ozawa, Taketoshi Naito, Kenpachiro Satsuma, Warren J. Kemmerling, James Hess, Travis Swords, Crawford Binion, Justin Gocke

More info: IMDb

Tagline: There goes the neighborhood.

Plot: Thirty years after the original monster's rampage, a new Godzilla emerges and attacks Japan.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I've seen a few Godzilla pictures in my time and I don't remember one that had as much Godzilla action and screen time as this one does.  It takes a good half hour before he shows up but he's not off screen long for a lot of the next hour which is great.  You don't watch these movies for the acting or even the ground-breaking special effects (this one is still, thankfully, a man in suit Godzilla) except maybe for those of us who REALLY appreciate the great model work these films usually deliver.  The familiar Ifukube music is absent as he turned down the opportunity but the score works well enough.  In the final ten minutes when Godzilla is being driven away to his possibly impending doom, the music is heartbreaking.  I couldn't believe it.  After seeing all of the destruction this mofo had wrought over the 50 minutes I'm feeling sorry for the guy and that's all due to the beautifully tragic theme.  That theme changes into something less sad when he gets to the island and that thing happens.  My big complaint is one that unfortunately gets said all too frequently and that's the monster action happens at night.  They do this to hide the flaws in the effects and it pisses me off.  If this were a CGI Godzilla it would've been raining as well at an attempt to disguise the flaws.  But it's still an entertaining movie and a good enough direct sequel to the film that started it all 30 years earlier.