Godzilla: Final Wars (ゴジラ ファイナル ウォーズ, Gojira Fainaru Wōzu) is a 2004 kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, with special effects by Eiichi Asada. Distributed by Toho and produced by its subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 29th film in the Godzilla franchise, and the sixth and final film in the franchise's Millennium era. The film stars Masahiro Matsuoka, Rei Kikukawa, Don Frye, Maki Mizuno, Kazuki Kitamura, Kane Kosugi, Kumi Mizuno, Kenji Sahara, Masami Nagasawa, Chihiro Otsuka, Shigeru Izumiya, Masakatsu Funaki, Masato Ibu, Jun Kunimura, and Akira Takarada, with Tsutomu Kitagawa as Godzilla, Kazuhiro Yoshida as Gigan and Motokuni Nakagawa as Monster X. In the film, when a mysterious race of aliens known as the Xiliens arrive on Earth, the Earth Defense Force (EDF) find themselves locked in battle with various monsters attacking cities around the world, leading them to revive the only chance to save their planet: Godzilla.
The film coincided with the 50th anniversary of the franchise and features a variety of actors and kaiju from previous films. Godzilla: Final Wars premiered on November 29, 2004 in Los Angeles, California, and was released theatrically in Japan on December 4, 2004 to mixed reviews and it underperformed at the box office. Before the world premiere, Godzilla received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Afterwards, the franchise went on hiatus for ten years until American studio Legendary Pictures revived the franchise with Godzilla in 2014. Its success prompted Toho to revive the Japanese side of the franchise with Shin Godzilla in 2016, which also proved successful. A series of suitmation short films produced for the Godzilla Fest events (2021-2024) would use replicas of the Godzilla and Hedorah suits from Godzilla: Final Wars.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
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