twobaglife Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S takes place shortly after Godzilla against Mechagodzilla, with MechaG still being repaired from the last battle. As they do, the twin fairy goddesses of Mothra appear to, in a nice touch, the person who helped them in the original Mothra movie in the sixties. "People made a weapon out of the bones of Godzilla. That was a mistake." They say, and then warn them that unless MechaG, who uses the skeleton and DNA of the first Godzilla, is dumped into the sea Mothra will declare war on the human race.It's a nice start, but the middle is somewhat dull, as we follow the man's relative,who is one of the mechanics of MechaG. Millennium-series Godzilla films tend to have a very formulaic plot: person in military has issues, Godzilla appears, military tries to fight him off with the help of other monsters, they win. Person resolves their issues. This doesn't break the trend, and honestly you'll wish they just dropped the mechanic altogether at times.What saves it is some very nice direction. Tokyo S.O.S. has some striking shots for a Godzilla movie. Mothra, outside on a mountain as the snow falls, MechaG ducking behind a building to fire its missiles at Godzilla, who retaliates by firing his breath through it. Mu favorite is just a simple long shot of mechaG with all three white heron craft hovering overhead, staring down Godzilla. The designs are also nice. The White Heron craft and MechaG are nicely made, and this version of Mothra seems much better than in other movies, like Mothra and Godzilla: the battle for earth. The battle is okay, but like in Godzilla against Mechagodzilla, Godzilla is a bit too immobile and nonreactive. Though he is better here than in that film. That sense of polish is why I rate it a 7 rather than a 5, as apart from it, it really is an average Godzilla film unlikely to convert anyone into being a G-Fan.

OllieSuave-007 Godzilla: Tokyo SOS is the only film of the Millennium series that is preceded by another film. Picking where Godzilla X Mechagodzilla left off, the Japanese Defense Force is in the process of repairing Mechagodzilla after his last outing with Godzilla. Yoshito Chûjô, played by Noboru Kaneko, is an mechanic working on Mechagodzilla and was visited by the tiny twin fairies of Mothra, the Shobijin. They warned him that the people must return Mechagodzilla to the sea, for the dead must not be disturbed (Mechagodzilla was created from the bones of the original Godzilla). If the people do not heed to their warnings, Mothra will declare war on mankind, which I think is a departure from Mothra because she has always been depicted as a benevolent creature. But, without Mechagodzilla, Japan has no defense against Godzilla.This film provides many references to previous Toho films, including bringing back the two character leads from Godzilla X Mechgodzilla, containing footage from the previous movies and even bringing back Kameba, the gigantic turtle from "Yog, Monster from Space" (1970). Perhaps the most notable mention is the return of Professor Shinichi Chujo, played by Hiroshi Koizumi, from the original 1961 Mothra movie. Koizumi reprises the role he did 42 years earlier, and delivers drama about Mothra's previous attack on Tokyo and referenced photographs from his trip to Infant Island in the original Mothra film.The movie is filled with drama and heroism. The part where Chujo's grandson made the Mothra sign to call her for help was one of my favorite scenes. Michiru Ôshima gave another brilliant music score and Eiichi Asada did an awesome job on the special effects. Mechagodzilla's rockets and Mothra's wing attacks were among my favorite special effects in the film - all contributed to exciting action-packed monster mayhem. Some downsides to this movie is that as this movie also serves as a sequel to the original Mothra movie, Mothra and her larvae were not emphasized enough. Godzilla was also portrayed as very weak - in some of the battle sequences with the robot, Godzilla just stands there as if he is letting Mechagodzilla attack him. And, Godzilla rarely gets any chance to do some city stomping. As with most films in the Millennium series, this movie focuses on the military - an element that gets repetitive. But, on another note, the cast of characters are likable for the most part and Mothra's design is this film is my favorite of the monster, though she is really overused by this time. Grade B-

r-c-s This one spots the most mobile and actually threatening mecha-godzilla since the original 1974 one. Perhaps because the bones of the 1954 Godzilla lie inside the cyber armour of the robot. As with late G movies, this spin is present: Godzilla is summoned by its "relatives"...with Spacegodzilla it was G's cells coming back from the outer space; with Biollante it was the G's cells cross-bred into the giant weed; this time the bones of the original Godzilla cry for resting in peace. The miniature Mothra priestesses are there, and this represents an ideal sequel to the 1961 Mosura, with one leading character reprising his role 43 years later! The little girls want humankind to drop the project Kyriu (= mechagodzilla ), otherwise Mothra would have no choice but to fight humankind, being else ready to fight for it against Godzilla. This subplot is rather obscure. The grandchild of the returning character "draws" the Mothra symbol (another 1961 legacy ) using his school's desks, and Mothra re-appears to fight Godzilla, but in vain. Logically, Kyriu is sent to Mothra's rescue... Lethally wounded, Mothra had -on the other hand- previously forecast her demise, thus laid an egg on a neighboring island. Twin Mothra larvae are then born, and proceed to attack Godzilla that -seriously wounded by Kyriu- can be enveloped with their web flakes, thus made powerless. At this point a rather bizarre plot spin takes place, but let's see the movie. In the background a few minor characters. A nice movie & the logic sequel to the 1961 Mosura. The cast is good and acting is as well, genre-wise ( again that is a monster movie, not Kafka ). Special effects are definitely 2000ish and let nothing to be desired in an Hollywood comparison (budget-wise). Mothra is once again the most sympathetic of all Toho monsters. Godzilla is still a big beaver with green scales (looks a bit more threatening & lizardish, though ). Some music reminiscent of more famous Ennio Morricone.

Aaron1375 I liked this Godzilla movie, but it does share a few to many similarities with the previous Godzilla movie. On the plus side there was a longer fight sequence in this one, but in the end you really end up knowing the outcome of the fight well before it is over. Especially when they add Mothra to the equation, Godzilla was considerably weaker than MechaGodzilla in the last movie so I don't see why they felt he needed another opponent. They really should have added Godzilla some help instead. As it is, Godzilla gets his shots in, but not enough to make the outcome of the fight ever be in doubt. They do add a rather different ending to this one slightly reminiscent of "Godzilla vs. Mothra", with a twist. In the end though this Godzilla is just not nearly as tough as the demon Godzilla of the movie before the MechaGodzilla movies. In fact, this one isn't as tough as the two before that either. To bad it was not more like the demon one though as that one you could really pull against it, this one you feel sorry for. There are some returning stars in this as the pilot of the previous movie has a little more than a cameo, but this time the focus is more on a mechanic of MechaGodzilla. Good movie, but nothing new.