In between director Takao Okawara (left) and actor Yasufumi Hayashi.
Today, I attended a screening of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) in 35mm. The film looked better than ever, but I was still underwhelmed by it. Once again, I got bored to distraction during the climactic battle and lost track of what was going on. This never happens to me while watching a Showa-era filn, but it seems to be the norm among the later Heisei films.
One of the guests of honor for the event was actor Yasufumi Hayashi. Hayashi-san is certainly best known in the West for his role as the young wiz kid Kenkichi Yamane in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. He also appears in Nobuhiko Obayashi's The Drifting Classroom (1987) and Ultraman Cosmos 2: The Blue Planet (2002). Hayashi-san had to leave the event rather early due to filming commitments, but I enjoyed meeting him for the brief time I was able to.
Takao Okawara. Photo by Brett Homenick.
Returning as another special guest was director Takao Okawara, who not only helmed this film, but also Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993), and Godzilla 2000 (1999). One interesting bit of trivia was that the filmmakers sough out Toyoaki Suzuki, who played Shinkichi in Godzilla (1954), for a cameo. But they were unable to find him. To this day, nobody seems to know what happened to him.
Overall, it was a fun event, and I was especially glad to have the opportunity to see Destoroyah in 35mm for the first time. As a result, I've seen every Heisei Godzilla film on the big screen in 35mm. Not too shabby.
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