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Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is a 1995 Japanese kaiju film directed by Takao Okawara. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 22nd installment in the Godzilla franchise, and is the seventh and final film in the franchise's Heisei period. The film features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Godzilla Junior and Destoroyah, and stars Takuro Tatsumi, Yōko Ishino, Yasufumi Hayashi, Sayaka Osawa, Megumi Odaka, Masahiro Takashima, Momoko Kōchi and Akira Nakao, with Kenpachiro Satsuma as Godzilla, Hurricane Ryu as Godzilla Junior, and Ryo Hariya as Destoroyah.

In the film, Godzilla's heart, which acts as a nuclear reactor, is nearing a nuclear meltdown which threatens the Earth. Meanwhile, a colony of mutated creatures known as Destoroyah emerge from the sea, changing form and terrorizing Japan, forcing the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to devise a plan to eliminate both threats.

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah received global publicity following an announcement by Toho that the film would feature the death of Godzilla. It was the final film starring actress Momoko Kōchi, produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, and scored by composer Akira Ifukube before their deaths, though Ifukube's themes would continue to be used in subsequent films. The film was released theatrically in Japan on December 9, 1995, and received a direct-to-video release in the United States in 1999 by Columbia TriStar Home Video. It was the last Godzilla film to be produced by any studio until the 1998 film, and was the last Godzilla film produced by Toho until the 1999 film Godzilla 2000.

Plot[]

In 1996, following the defeat of SpaceGodzilla, Miki Saegusa of the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center (UNGCC) travels to Birth Island to monitor Godzilla and Little Godzilla, only to find the entire island destroyed and both monsters missing. Godzilla, now covered in lava-like rashes, subsequently appears in Hong Kong and destroys great swathes of the city with an empowered version of his atomic breath. The JSDF hires college student Kenkichi Yamane to unravel the mystery of Godzilla's condition. Yamane, a grandson of the same Dr. Kyohei Yamane who had encountered the first Godzilla, suspects that Godzilla's heart, which acts as a nuclear reactor, is undergoing a nuclear meltdown as a result of the monster absorbing the energy released from a volcanically triggered uranium deposit on Birth Island. Yamane theorizes that when Godzilla's temperature reaches 1,200 °C, he will explode with enough energy to ignite Earth's atmosphere and reduce the planet's surface to ash.

The JSDF deploys the Super X III, an aerial combat vehicle outfitted with ultra-low temperature lasers, in an attempt to reverse Godzilla's self-destruction. While Godzilla's meltdown is not stopped, it is halted long enough to temporarily render Godzilla unconscious. Meanwhile, a colony of Precambrian organisms mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer used to defeat the original Godzilla are awoken during the construction of the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line. The creatures combine into several man-sized crab-like creatures and engage the JSDF in several deadly skirmishes. The creatures, dubbed "Destoroyah", are revealed to be vulnerable to subzero temperatures, and are temporarily held at bay with low-temperature lasers. The creatures respond to the threat by merging into a larger Aggregate form which destroys the lasers and takes to the skies in its Flying form.

Godzilla awakens, his condition having worsened to the point that his meltdown could potentially destroy the planet through a China syndrome-like incident. Miki locates Little Godzilla - renamed Godzilla Junior on account of his increased size - and telepathically lures him to Tokyo, hoping that Godzilla will follow and be killed by Destoroyah. Junior arrives and battles Destoroyah's Aggregate form, who absorbs his DNA before being seemingly defeated. Godzilla arrives at Haneda Airport and reunites with Godzilla Junior, only for Destoroyah, bolstered by Junior's DNA, to reappear in its final, Perfect form. Destoroyah kills Junior by dropping him onto Ariake Coliseum and blasting it with his Micro-Oxygen beam. Godzilla manages to drive off his adversary and unsuccessfully attempts to revive Junior.

Godzilla's bereavement accelerates his meltdown, which is further worsened by a second attack by Destoroyah. In the ensuing battle, Godzilla loses control over his radioactivity and gravely wounds Destoroyah with a further empowered heat ray. Destoroyah tries to retreat, but the JSDF fires its low-temperature lasers at its wings, causing it to plummet onto the superheated ground and dissipate.

Godzilla succumbs to the meltdown, but the JSDF is able to minimize the damage with it freezer weapons. While successful in preventing Earth's destruction, the JSDF is unable to prevent the resulting nuclear fallout from rendering Tokyo uninhabitable. Suddenly, the radiation levels plummet and Godzilla Junior is revealed to have absorbed his father's radiation and grown into an adult.

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