Godzilla the Series - The Monster Wars Trilogy

Amazon.com

Based on the much-maligned 1998 American Godzilla feature (including the revamped creature design), the animated Godzilla: The Series (1998-2000) actually hews much closer to the original films from Japan, as illustrated in this exciting, three-part episode from the first season. The storyline, which borrows heavily from Destroy All Monsters, has alien invaders take control of the mutated creatures that Godzilla and H.E.A.T. (Humanitarian Ecological Analysis Team) tangled with in the previous 13 episodes of the season-including the Godzilla that rampaged through New York in the theatrical feature, but now augmented with robotic parts (shades of Mecha-Godzilla!). The Monster Wars Trilogy manages to pack considerable excitement and suspense in its brief running time (just over an hour), and benefits greatly from a fine vocal cast, which includes Joe Pantoliano, Paget Brewster, and Kevin Dunn, reprising his role from the theatrical film. No extras are included. --Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews:

Godzilla the Series-The Minster Wars Trilogy.......2007-08-26

Enjoyed my DVD. Thanks very much for the quick response.

good story, but, needs the earlier episodes to make sense........2007-06-05

This is a very good story here, but, to fully enjoy it you need to see the earlier episiodes. Why the BIG WIGS chose to release this three part story is obvious. They want to milk this series before releasing the box set of the first season.(There are two seasons to this series. I know because I have almost all, if not all, episodes on tape recorded off of tv(you can never be sure, because, tv execs don't always air all episodes.)
Anyways, I love the series and it follows right after the 1998 american made godzilla movie.(Why are people always slamming the 1998 movie I don't know because I loved it. It was well directed, great story, strong cast, good musical score and fanstasic action sequences!(what more could anybody ask?) So BIG WIGS, if you're reading this review please release the entire series on DVD, because, I'm not going to buy individual episodes since I have them on tape.
As a side point, I have been a fan of Godzilla since I was a kid back in the sixties. I know good Godzilla movies from crap.(i.e. GODZILLA'S REVENGE pure crap! plastering pieces from other movies with a weak story line about a stupid kid is lame milk money.)

"Monster Wars" leaves questions unanswered.......2006-03-16

I've seen this Godzilla cartoon like a hundred times since I purchased it (for my son), and am still plagued with puzzling questions about the storyline. It supposedly takes off where the 1999 "Godzilla" movie staring Matthew Broderick left off; the opening sequince showing bits and charachters recognizable from the movie, and the main charachter having the same name. The credits are decietful. The show opens with Nick Tatopoulos apparently having "tamed," or even acting as a sort of adoptive "parent" to the hatchling child of Godzilla shown in the last scene of the live action film. However, the cartoon takes off with an enormous gap between the film and this new situational setup, making reference to a battle with aliens apparently won by Dr. Tatopoulos and the human race, but not before the aliens implanted mind control devices in several key human scientists and resurrected the original godzilla, assumed dead in the live-action film, via cyborg interface with organic tissue. All of this plot takes place off screen and is only referenced by the cartoon charachters, who I can only gather have been waging an ongoing study of and battle with these alleged aliens, as well as various other mutated creatures in addition to Godzilla that turn up in this animated "series." As well the title "Monster war Trilogy" is an unfit title for this series of animated tidbits. It's more like the middle of a sequil to the 1999 film, where you don't get to see the beginning, and lose interest before the end. I guess the creators felt since the cartoon audience would most likely be attention-lacking youth, and you can't really make a series with no plot, it wouldn't really matter if the one they fabricated made sense or not. There are some good mutant action sequences as a redeeming feature to hold the attention of the aforementioned youth audience, including a giant bat, giant worm, and some cyborg/robot destruction of the world type footage. If you prefer for shows, cartoon or not, to make sense plotwise, this DVD is maddening. If it's less important to know what's going on and you would delight in seeing Godzilla crush the Eiffel Tower...by all means, enjoy.

Good Show, Bad Feature.......2005-11-06

I'm a fan of the animated series. This, sadly, is a horrible take on it. I would definitely buy a box set of the show. This, on the other hand, is pretty much crap. I liked their version of Mecha Godzilla and their aliens were "different", but it was barely a Monster War. Yes, it had many monsters. But the thing is, they didn't do anything. The bat monster was neat, but only him, Godzilla, and Mecha Godzilla even battled. Don't waste your time. Look for some of the "Godzilla: The Animated Series" videos and skip this DVD.

MY 6 year old loves this and watches it daily.......2005-06-03

my son and nephew love the goldzilla movies and so of course they love this cartoon version. It is great for kids.

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