Godzilla 1985

Nearly ten years after his last screen appearance (in 1975's Terror of Mecha-Godzilla), the Tokyo Terror stomps again -- albeit awkwardly -- in Toho Studios' highly-publicized bid to reestablish the Green Guy's popularity in Japan and overseas.

More a remake of the 1956 classic Godzilla: King of the Monsters than a continuation of the series, Godzilla 1985 represents an attempt to re-vamp the Big G with Star Wars movie technology and a more serious approach.

Unfortunately, Toho's efforts may have gone astray, since the film resorts to exactly the same cheesy conventions which had endeared the series to bad-movie buffs around the world: flimsy cardboard buildings, inconsistencies in the monster's size from one scene to the next, and the same mock-profound commentary from Raymond Burr.

The only notable additions consist of some interference from those evil superpowers, America and the Soviet Union, who both want to nuke Godzilla before he decides to direct his rage somewhere other than Japan.

Though the film did manage to jump-start the franchise, spawning several high-tech sequels (continuing with Godzilla vs. Biollante and concluding with 1995's Godzilla vs. The Destroyer), its cheesiness spelled certain doom for the series in overseas markets, with minimal legitimate U.S. distribution until their arrival on video amid advance hype for Sony-TriStar's mega-budgeted 1998 version.