Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Leofwine_draca There's rubbery mayhem a-plenty in this 1989 addition to the Godzilla series, which casts a newly-reborn Godzilla as the menace and the genetically-engineered super-plant, Biollante, as the heroine of sorts. It's an episodic film whose plot meanders all over the place, drawing together the usual army-vs-massive-monster action, mucho destruction, lots of cool special effects and a sub-plot involving bio-engineering, loss and evil foreign agents.Despite the overload of plot, GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE fails to be one of my series favourites, purely because it feels dragged out to a degree. There's never quite as much destructive mayhem as you hope to see, and some of the sub-plots involving the human characters are pretty dull. The whole making-up of a Middle Eastern country to supply some human menace is nothing more than a piece of xenophobic propaganda. Not that I have a problem with that, but the action is pretty dull as it stands.Thankfully, the good news is that Godzilla himself is at his vindictive best, stomping all over Osaka in his bid to destroy mankind. However, Biollante is a rather unwieldy menace and it must have been tough to animate this giant, tentacled plant, so there's a slight lack of monster action limited to just a couple of titanic showdowns. Despite the progression in FX technology I just didn't enjoy this movie as much as the brighter, more colourful '60s Godzilla flicks.

DustinRahksi 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.

gigan-92 This has got to be one of the hardest G-films to acquire. Neither Sony or Classic Media have released on DVD, among the few that haven't been that fortunate. However, a real fan would know those Heisei double-features Sony Tristar have are crappy editions at best. This DV-R copy of the actual Toho DVD is spectacular. It's in 5.1 audio, re-mastered and is in the original Japanese language. Not only that, but it comes packed with bonus material, though they aren't subtitled. The only way to purchase this, and other unreleased films (like the original uncut versions of "Godzilla 1985", "King Kong vs. Godzilla", and "Godzilla vs. Megalon") is to buy them online. Trust me though it's definitely worth it."Godzilla vs. Biollante" is a close contender for my second favorite Heisei G-film, even surpassing "Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla" (1993). Numer one will always go to "Godzilla vs. Destroyah". How shall I begin? Well I'd like to amend Kazuki Omori for his directing and marvelous screenplay. He may not be the original author of the story, but he made it what it is. Entwined with the usual sudo science, there is also a great espionage aspect to it all. Some say the characters are stale, but this is only a fool's utterance. There doesn't need to be American-style over done acting here just to make it work, as some suggest all Godzilla films need. No, in fact it is this dark atmosphere that makes this G-film undoubtedly one of the best. The relationship of Shirigami ( Koji Takahashi) is the most beautiful and twisted character in the whole movie. I can not refer to him without bringing up his daughter/creation: Biollante. The human aspect to it that some may not get is that Shirigami obviously injected some of his deceased daughter's blood or simply a few cells into those roses. Inorder to 'perserve' her, essentially to preserve her soul. When that earthquake hit, he felt she was in danger of finally dieing all together, and so he rushed to save her via the G-cells. I've read so many ignorant reviews stating that this film's story is "convuluted". No, it just needs a little reading in-between the lines is all.Of all the monsters I have ever seen in these films, Biollante has the most original origin. It's not a simple mishap with some chemicals or dimensions ( i.e. SpaceGodzilla...), but within that aggregation of Godzilla and a delicate rose is the soul of a man's long dead daughter. Killed by the heat of radical politicians and over ambitious scientist. The real antagonist portrayed in this film; when science runs amok and the government is only eager to exploit it even further, there is often hell to pay. Kazuki Omori has a talent for creating intricate stories, and it is in this film that talent is brought out to the fullest.Indeed Biollante is an incredible monster, in both forms. Erica's soul is allowed to have a sad and mysterious theme to it, compounded by the creature's tragic echoing wail across the lake. A mixture of beauty that is fragile, and yet in the final form is transformed into behemoth ferocity that has incredible power. Shirigami wanted to make Erica's soul immortal, and believes that he somewhat failed. But in reality, his mission succeeded. Another delight is the composer Kôichi Sugiyama. And yet as good as his score is, he knows the true Godzilla master is Akira Ifukube. To this I'm sure any fan is grateful. Godzilla looks bad-ass, a lot like the suit seen in 1964's "Mothra vs. Godzilla". It has the same dark eyes, that mammal-like muzzle and thin look to it. The dark tone is still prevalent from the last film, much to my liking. The SFX in the movie are top notch, and even has a horror element to it at times. The actors are excellent as well, and viewers won't fell disconnected with them. In fact, they're heavily involved far more than some other heisei films. Or thankfully not to ridiculous and annoying levels like in "Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla". Miki Sasegusa's first appearance, and I love her portrayal of a woman's who's estranged relationship with monsters, specifically Godzilla is only beginning.As exciting as all that is, the highlight of this film is inarguably that finale battle between Godzilla and Biollante. Mazaaki Tezuka, director of "Tokyo S.O.S.", should've been paying close attention here. The fight is brutal and bloody, and we actually see Godzilla pierced through!! (!!!)!! Who knew a plant could put up such a fight? A small joke but a terrific fight that ranks among the best. Koichi Kawakita is definitely proving his worth here. The film ends on a somber note, as Shirigami finally is layed to rest, and Erica's soul is at peace."How long have we have been living in such an age? Maybe it started when man first stepped out of the Garden of the Eden, and left his innocence behind. Man would do well to remember this day, forever."

TheUnknown837-1 Out of the twenty-eight entries in the long-running Japanese Godzilla series, one of the more artistic and welcomingly imaginative ones is the unfortunately overlooked "Godzilla vs. Biollante", a film that is so-so in its story and characters (although that is a standard for most Godzilla movies), but tremendously entertaining in its premise and its visual style. The movie follows the majestic monster movie masterpiece "The Return of Godzilla", in which Godzilla is released from his volcanic prison on Oshima Island and begins to wreck the countryside of Japan again around the same time that a scientist's (Koji Takahashi) experiment to preserve his dead daughter's spirit in an immortal plant species goes awry."The Return of Godzilla" was not only a great Godzilla movie, but one of the finest monster movies, Japanese or otherwise, that I have ever seen and I do like to sometimes pretend that "Godzilla vs. Biollante" and the not-so-special sequels that followed never existed, that it ended with Godzilla falling into Mount Mihara and being imprisoned there forever. But although this movie does kind of ruin that feeling, it's quickly forgiven once its slow beginning departs and its truly majestic middle begins.As I mentioned earlier, this is one of the more artistic Godzilla movies there is. Most entries in the series are formulaic and repetitive. And although this is okay for the fans, it is refreshing to see one that tries something new and original. And "Godzilla vs. Biollante" most certainly is original. Basically everything except the human characters tries something new. The movie boasts a battle between Godzilla and his new monstrosity of an opponent, but it's not all about their clash, it's really more following the spirit of the preceding movie with military trying to eliminate Godzilla. What's more, the movie boasts some incredibly visionary and impressive special effects. Godzilla's appearance is one of his finest yet. There are a few shots where he didn't look very good, such as this one where the way he was positioned reminded me more of a bear than a reptile, but other times the mobility that he had in his jaws and his neck provided some surprisingly convincing movements. The miniatures for the destruction scenes are thoroughly impressive, and the effects used to create Biollante are a pure triumph without a single weak shot.Even the music score is something new. The movie reuses three classic Godzilla themes by Akira Ifukube, but most of the score, as with the first film, is done by a new composer and he does it with a completely new style. Now Koichi Sugiyama's score is not incredible as Reijiro Koroku's was for the preceding movie. There are some weak moments and some parts are recycled too much throughout the movie. In addition, after having reviewed the whole soundtrack on CD form, I discovered that the best of Sugiyama's score was left out. Why Toho opted to do this, I have no idea. But as for what we do here, it's mincemeat of visionary triumph and minor letdowns.I do have some complaints about the movie, however. It does take a while to get started. Whereas "The Return of Godzilla" had great characters and a strong story so that I could stay interested even when Godzilla was not on screen, this movie struggles a little more. And again, some parts of Koichi Sugiyama's dare-deviling soundtrack simply don't work as well as they should have. And the ending of the final battle between Godzilla and Biollante was a flat letdown.However, despite its flaws, "Godzilla vs. Biollante" is a more unique and interesting and certainly enjoyable entry in this deservedly famous long-running motion picture series. Now I don't think Godzilla will ever be considered art by any major organization. But there are three films starring the big lizard that do stand out pretty strongly due to either their strong allegorical content or their tremendous style. This is one of them.