GODZILLA
May 19, 1998
I remember sitting in a movie theater, watching the trailers play. What movie was I seeing? I cannot remember what it was for the life of me. Then one trailer came up showing an old man fishing while being heckled by two bums, he gets a bite that he tries to reel in but fails and the pole is yanked into the water. Suddenly, a set of large fins appear above the surface of the water heading towards the pier, the man runs away as the pier is destroyed and after a flash of green light, one word appeared on screen. The message was clear:
Godzilla was coming to America!
The idea of an American produced Godzilla movie actually originated in 1983 when horror director Steve Minor proposed a project with Toho's approval. But due to a large budget and little to no studio support, the idea died within a year.
The idea of an American produced Godzilla movie actually originated in 1983 when horror director Steve Minor proposed a project with Toho's approval. But due to a large budget and little to no studio support, the idea died within a year.
The film wouldn't really start to gain traction until 1992, when Sony acquired the rights from Toho. By 1994, a script was completed by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot. Jan de Bont, hot off the success of 'Speed' was set to direct the film and concepts for Godzilla's design were submitted by Stan Winston.
In the movie, Godzilla was going to be a monster bio-engineered by the ancient people of Atlantis and he would fight an alien monster called "The Gryphon."
(A giant monster being created by Atlantis? Why...does that sound familiar?)
But both the film makers and the studio kept fighting over the budget and eventually the project died once again.
In the movie, Godzilla was going to be a monster bio-engineered by the ancient people of Atlantis and he would fight an alien monster called "The Gryphon."
(A giant monster being created by Atlantis? Why...does that sound familiar?)
But both the film makers and the studio kept fighting over the budget and eventually the project died once again.
If you want to take a deeper dive into the journey Godzilla took to America, I recommend this article here from ScifFI Japan: http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2015/06/07/godzilla-unmade-the-history-of-jan-de-bonts-unproduced-tristar-film-complete/
Unfortunately, the task of making a Godzilla film for the US fell into the hands of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, who were wrapping up their 1996 blockbuster hit 'Independence Day'
Emmerich himself admitted he was not a fan of the original Godzilla and only accepted the project if he could do it "his way." First red flag.
The rest is history...
Emmerich himself admitted he was not a fan of the original Godzilla and only accepted the project if he could do it "his way." First red flag.
The rest is history...
In many ways, reviewing Godzilla 1998 feels like a rite of passage for anyone in my position. But if you're reading this, chances are you probably know why this movie is not a good representation of the character, how it fails to meet even the basic requirements, how it disrespects the legacy and apparently how there is a large quantity of fish involved.
I really don't know what more I could add.
A common statement from people who review this film state that it is not a good Godzilla movie, but as a basic monster movie, it fares a lot better.
So that's how I think I'm going to approach this. I'm going to look at this movie as your standard giant monster movie, with my Big G goggles placed to the side, and see how it holds up.
I really don't know what more I could add.
A common statement from people who review this film state that it is not a good Godzilla movie, but as a basic monster movie, it fares a lot better.
So that's how I think I'm going to approach this. I'm going to look at this movie as your standard giant monster movie, with my Big G goggles placed to the side, and see how it holds up.
The first bit of praise goes to the score by David Arnold, which is strangely whimsical most of the time, but it fits the tone of the movie oddly well.
Our main cast consists of your common monster movie archetypes.
Personally, I think Matthew Broderick feels perfectly cast as our biologist, Nick Tatopoulos. Any guy who studies worms for a living has to be a quirky individual and Broderick is in fact, a quirky individual.
As for our military people, Kevin Dunn plays the very entertaining Colonel Hicks and I do like the character of Sergeant O'Neal played by Doug Savant. Although I feel like there was a missing arc to the movie involving O'Neal constantly trying to prove himself and impress Colonel Hicks.
But not even good military characters can change the fact that in this movie, the military is REALLY bad at their job. The fact that they can't take their fingers off the machine gun triggers and proceed to hit everything BUT the thing they're aiming at is infuriating.
And the less said about the mayor and his aide, two characters based on the director's petty grudge against a couple of well known film critics, the better.
Now let's talk about the creature itself.
It is a very nice design. It's sleek, muscular body is instantly unique and it's huge jaws and curved fins are a nice touch.
The creature also possesses a curious innocence to it. He isn't out to destroy humanity or cause havoc, all he wants is to gather food and lay eggs, the city of New York just happens to be in his way.
But for the majority of the movie, the creature is brought to life via CGI, the results of which are mostly good. The creature does look great for most of the movie, but in some moments, the CGI looks like it could have used an extra bit of shading. There is one shot that stands out to me as bad when you see the impact of the Helicoptor bullets hitting the buildings while trying to hit the creature. (Remember, the Army sucks in this movie.) There's also one close up of the creature's eye which looks like it was ripped right out a video game.
The creature itself is capable of asexual reproduction, not unlike a real life Komodo Dragon, and ends up laying hundreds of eggs which end up hatching and pursuing our main characters.
While the sequence is overall good, it can't escape the stigma that much of the scenes borrow too many elements from the Velociraptor scenes from Jurassic park. Shots of the eggs in the movie are also reminiscent of Ridley Scott's 'Alien.'
The Hatchlings are portrayed both through guys in suits and CGI that varies from good to unfinished.
This is a ridiculous movie, but it can be enjoyed because of that.
That being said...
None of the praise I've given this movie can alter the fact that this movie was supposed to be an adaptation of Godzilla. The King of the Monsters and the living embodiment of nuclear destruction was reduced to an ordinary creature that is easily killed by modern weapons.
I am not ashamed to admit that I liked this movie when it came out. I was young, easy to please and didn't have the understanding of the series I do today.
I remember one time I was shopping in Walmart and I overheard some people talking about this movie and they said something along the lines of "Well, if they had just made the creature look like Godzilla, the movie would have been so much better." I just about had an aneurysm. The design of the creature is a big point of contention, but there is a bigger laundry list of problems that would still exist in the movie even if they did change the design.
None of the praise I've given this movie can alter the fact that this movie was supposed to be an adaptation of Godzilla. The King of the Monsters and the living embodiment of nuclear destruction was reduced to an ordinary creature that is easily killed by modern weapons.
I am not ashamed to admit that I liked this movie when it came out. I was young, easy to please and didn't have the understanding of the series I do today.
I remember one time I was shopping in Walmart and I overheard some people talking about this movie and they said something along the lines of "Well, if they had just made the creature look like Godzilla, the movie would have been so much better." I just about had an aneurysm. The design of the creature is a big point of contention, but there is a bigger laundry list of problems that would still exist in the movie even if they did change the design.
Needless to say, Toho was not pleased with the results. Suit actors Haruo Nakajima and Kenpachiro Satsuma were especially critical of the creature's design. Satsuma even reportedly walked out of a screening shouting "This is not Godzilla!"
Godzilla's reputation had been damaged, but thankfully, this would not be the final word in the Godzilla saga.
But that's a story for another time.
There is one silver lining to all of this though. During the build up to it's release, many Blockbusters started carrying many more of the older movies, some even had an entire kiosk dedicated to them and those are some of my fondest memories of going to Blockbuster. I still remember when the area had suffered a blackout and it took a while for the guys working there to figure out how I could check out 'Terror of Mechagodzilla.'
Honestly, it doesn't feel worth it for longtime fans to get angry over this movie anymore, especially since America would eventually get it right and most of us have made peace with this movie. Even now I can still say it is an enjoyable film by itself, separated from association to Godzilla. It's no masterpiece, but you can still have a good time watching it.
It's nowhere near Roland Emmerich's worst film, that would be '2012.'
Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and thank you for joining me here in my lair.
So long...
I hope you have enjoyed reading this and if you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, be sure to give my Facebook page a 'LIKE' to see updates and other related stuff.
Thanks for reading!
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