The alien Xilians tap into a genetic code known as M-Base to take control of most of the Earth’s giant monsters. Between their advanced technology and the attacks of the kaiju, much of the planet is laid waste, and remaining humans used as breeding stock for a food supply. The world is doomed!
Godzilla, though, has been trapped in ice in the Antarctic for 50 years. Since he does not have the M-Base, he would be free from the alien influence. A team of mutants led by rogue flying submarine commander Captain Douglas Gordon head to the South Pole to spring the King of the Monsters out of his suspended animation.
Gigan attacks the Gotengo as it awakens Godzilla. The beast evades Gigan’s attack and destroys the alien cyborg. Godzilla chases the Gotengo to the alien mothership. He faces a series of monsters on the way, but defeats them all.
The Gotengo approaches the alien ship and launches a full attack, but it cannot break through a force field. The mutant Kazama sacrifices himself by flying into the ship and crashing into the field generator. Gordon orders the Gotengo to ram into the ship. Before the masers can be fired a group of aliens materialize on the bridge, killing the crew and taking Gordon and Shinichi Ozaki into custody.
Monster X smashes into downtown Tokyo from space. In the ruins of the city, the monsters battle. Monster X brings Godzilla to his knees. Mothra arrives, but a new and upgraded Gigan clips one of her wings causing her to crash to the ground.
Xilian leader X reveals that the human mutants are related to the Xilians through the M-Base, but Ozaki is a Kaizer, more than human and more than mutant. Monster X and Gigan are getting the upper hand against Godzilla, but the wounded Mothra comes to his aid. She sacrifices herself and kills Gigan in a massive explosion.
With his newly awakened powers, Ozaki engages in a hand to hand combat with X. Godzilla blasts at the alien ship, allowing the humans to escape their captors. They also find the humans who had previously been replaced by aliens. They flee, with Ozaki staying behind to continue the fight.
The humans have to shoot their way past aliens on their way out, while Ozaki and X wage a fierce fight. Ozaki’s new powers give him the strength to defeat X. But the ship begins to self destruct. The destruct command also causes the death of the remaining aliens. The humans escape in the Gotengo as the alien ship is destroyed.
Godzilla and Monster X continue their fight. Godzilla’s nuclear blast interacts with the beams from the alien monster creating a massive explosion that rips through the countryside. The two monsters somehow survive, and Monster X transforms into the three headed Kaizer Ghidorah. They unleash fiery blasts at each other, with Godzilla falling to the ground. Ghidorah use his energy beams to thrash Godzilla about. It bites into Godzilla and starts siphoning off his energy. Ozaki channels his new powers through the Gotengo and reenergizes Godzilla. The King of the Monsters makes fast work of Ghidorah, blasting off one of its heads, and using the energy beam from another head to sever the third. He tosses the space monster around like a rag doll and throws it into orbit before destroying Ghidorah with a massive blast of his nuclear breath. He then turns and blasts the Gotengo, bringing down the flying sub.
Manilla, Godzilla’s son, convinces the monster that the time for fighting is over. Godzilla stomps away, with Manilla trailing behind. The few humans left begin the task of building a new civilization.
written by Wataru Mimura & Isao Kiriyama
directed by Ryuhei Kitamura
music by Keith Emerson
Human Cast: Masahiro Matsuoka (Shinichi Ozaki), Don Fry (Captain Douglas Gordon), Rei Kikukawa (Miyuki Otanashi), Kazuki Kitamura (Xilian Leader)
Monster Cast: Godzilla, Manda, Mothra, Gigan, Zilla, Rodan, Kumonga, Kamacuras, Anguirus, King Caesar, Manilla, Ebirah, Hedorah, Monster X, Kazier Ghidorah
Notes: A Monster Mash of Toho Proportions, Godzilla: Final Wars was the most expensive Godzilla movie produced at about $20 million. Despite its title, Toho has hinted they are only giving the series a rest.
Final Wars features a battle in Sydney, Australia between Godzilla and Zilla, which has the same design as the American-made Godzilla. Zilla is destroyed in short order. Generally speaking, the movie features some excellent scenes of global destruction by the aliens and the monsters.
Director Ryuhei Kitamura is new to the franchise, with Versus as his most well known movie prior to Final Wars. His entry in the Godzilla series is wildly different stylistically than any of the previous movies.
Don Fry is an American professional wrestler known as The Predator.
LogBook entry by Robert Parson
Stardate 5710.5: When a landing party investigating Scalos begins to vanish one by one, Kirk, Spock and McCoy try to find out what is happening before more of the crew disappears, until Kirk himself is abducted. Kirk finds the cause to be a group of endangered Scalosians who move faster than human sight or hearing can detect. They need to repopulate their species, and find that speeding human males up to Scalosian speed will meet their needs. Kirk must find a way to get a message to Spock and McCoy, who are working on a cure for the mystery “ailment,” as well as stirring up fighting among the Scalosians, before they have control of the Enterprise.teleplay by Arthur Heinemann
Notes: Though she’s generally better known for her movie roles, particularly those in which she appeared alongside her real-life love interest Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke was a familiar face on early ’70s TV, also appearing in Night Gallery, Kung Fu and Barnaby Jones, among others. The medical infomation in the story – battling malaria by deriving quinine from the bark of cinchona trees – is actually accurate, though that method of battling malaria was phased out in the 1940s with the advent of more reliable medicines.
written by Ronald D. Moore
Notes: Writer and series co-creator Ronald D. Moore, who got his start writing for television after submitting a spec script to