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TheBack to the Futurefranchise has been successful in more ways than one. On top of breaking records and shocking audiences in the direction that the science-fiction genre can go, the film was also massive when it came to cultural significance. The first film was single-handedly able to completely change the way the genre would go in the future.
However, the rest of the films weren’t far behind. The second film, for example, ended up being responsible for quite a big shift in another classic fantasy series. During an interview, the director ofGodzilla vs. Biollante, Kazuki Omori, revealed how the film ended up influencing theGodzillafranchise.
Back to the FutureWas Ahead of Its Times?
One of the most oversaturated tropes in the science-fiction genre has to be the time travel trope. For decades, fans have seen every possible approach to it. Almost every franchise has had a go at it and several stand-alone films have come out with their own take on the concept. While it has become quite tedious now, this wasn’t always the case.
One of the first introductions of the trope to mainstream audiences was throughBack to the Future. The film series managed to make fans hooked on the concept, loving their approach, and helped revolutionize the genre. So much so, that its influence was felt all the way in Japan. During an interview withMedium, Kazuki Omori talked about how the film ended up influencing theGodzillafranchise.
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It would seem thatGodzilla vs. Biollantewas released around the same time as the sequel toRobert Zemeckis’classic. With this in mind, it is not surprising that the former of the two was finding it difficult to outperform the classic. Omori confessed that the producer of the project, Tomoyuki Tanaka, ended up getting quite confused about the performance of the film.
At the same time as ‘Godzilla vs. Biollante,’ ‘Back to the Future Part II’ was playing in cinemas. When my producer Tanaka actually went to a movie theater, he noticed that this film was better attended. He asked: ‘Why’s that?’ I told him: ‘Yes, there are elements of time travel in it, which probably appeals to young people.’
When he asked Omori about it, the director mentioned that since the movie had a time travel trope in it, it was able to appeal to a younger audience better. It would seem that these words struck Tanaka a little too deeply.
When Frustration Strikes Inspiration
Kazuki Omori went on to reveal in the interview that Tomoyuki Tanaka had never been a fan of the time travel trope. He believed that far too much was possible when creators put the trope into their films. However, his thoughts on the matter drastically changed after he realized thatBack to the Futurewas capitalizing a lot through the approach.
Tanaka was originally not into time travel, it was too much for him. He said, ‘If you allow time travel, anything is possible.’ Until then, Tanaka didn’t want to do anything with time travel. But when he saw how well ‘Back to the Future Part II’ was performing, he changed his mind.
After seeing that the trope was getting popular among younger audiences, he decided to take a new approach when he was making the next film in the franchise,Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. Rather than stick to his previous ways of thinking, Tanaka decided to bend to the new wave of science fiction and add the trope to his new film.
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He said, ‘Okay, let’s try this thing with Godzilla and time travel.’ I immediately followed Tanaka’s words; I was like that at the time. Among the Godzilla movies, ‘Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah’ is the only one that features time travel.
Rather than objecting, Omori was quite interested in the idea, agreeing to the new concept wholeheartedly. Out of all of theGodzillafilms to have ever come out, the 1991 film is the only one to feature time travel.
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorahis available for streaming on Prime Video.
Ananya Godboley
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2219
Ananya Godboley is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows, with over 2,000 articles published. She has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years. Currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in psychology from K.R. Mangalam University, Ananya also likes to fangirl as a full-time job. She covers news and analyses on anything from Rick and Morty to Hannibal and even Arcane. In between these lines, she also enjoys superheroes and Taylor Swift.A philosophy enthusiast, Ananya enjoys digging deeper into the media she consumes, trying to understand the root of her favorite characters' behavior.
