Godzilla vs. Biollante

Godzilla vs. Biollante is a 1989 Japanese science fiction tokusatsu kaiju film featuring Godzilla, produced and distributed by Toho Company. It is the 17th film in the Godzilla franchise and the second film in the Heisei series. The film is written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori and stars Kunihiko Mitamura, Yoshiko Tanaka, Masanobu Takashima, Megumi Odaka, Toru Minegishi, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Toshiyuki Nagashima, Yoshiko Kuga, Ryunosuke Kaneda and Koji Takahashi. The film was released in Japan on December 16th, 1989 and was released direct to video in the United States in November 25, 1992 through HBO Video. The film was selected as the best Godzilla film, based on a vote by fans and judges, in July 19th, 2014.

The film originated from a public story-writing contest, and set a trend common to all Heisei era movies of Godzilla facing off against opponents capable of metamorphosing into new, progressively more powerful forms. Although it was very positively received and maintained the dark, anti-nuclear atmosphere of its immediate predecessor, The Return of Godzilla, it was a disappointment at the Japanese box-office, thus prompting Toho to make a shift from a realistic science fiction line to a more family-oriented set of films featuring more iconic and familiar monsters.