It obviously wasn't enough for Hollywood to ruin on of its own. After the mid-70's slaughter of "King Kong," eyes turned to Japan and the "Godzilla" series. Numerous scripts, directors, and writers tackled the subject throughout the 80's and early 90's, but it ended up in the hands of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. Coming off the wildly successful "Independence Day," these two took it upon themselves to destroy everything Toho had created.
Dr. Nik Tatopoulos (Matthew Broderick) is called away from his study of giant worms at Chernobyl to investigate something bigger. Numerous large boating incidents have worried authorities and the victims all suffer from radiation poisoning. With the unidentified target now in New York, Tatopoulos discovers this creature, now known as "Godzilla," is pregnant and preparing to lay eggs. It's a race to stop the beat from spawning a new species that could very well end the human race.
The filmmakers here are obviously more intent on preserving a massive ad campaign that kept the new look of the monster secret then making a movie. A full reveal of the new design doesn't come until just past the 45-minute mark. There's a reason for it. This new "Godzilla" is an embarrassment. It wasn't long before audiences began chuckling instead of cowering in fear at this new design. It's even worse considering the design is plastered all over the DVD insert. Sure, it made sense when the movie premiered, but now it's entirely illogical.
This is hardly the biggest insult to the legacy Toho Studios created. This monster is a coward, running from army helicopters and dodging missiles. The original is an indestructible being, a stand-in for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It had a purpose. His shape silhouetted against the nighttime sky, the real Godzilla tramples though numerous Japanese cities leaving nothing standing; his flaming radioactive breath incinerating anything he may miss. This "GINO" (Godzilla In Name Only) runs between New York Skyscrapers while the incompetent army does the damage. This new monster doesn't even feature the trademark fire breath.
Even if the film were called something else, say, "Giant Iguana: The Revenge," this would still be a terrible movie. Matthew Broderick obviously doesn't care and his estranged girlfriend, played by Maria Pitillo, is just flat out terrible. These two are worse than the usually criticized actors who performed the dubbing on most of the real Godzilla films. Remotely interesting is Jean Reno as a Frenchman trying to clean up what his country has caused, but even by the end, you're still not real sure who he is.
Article comments
1 - Ralph Preedy, Hoboken NJ
In my opinion, Godzilla (1998) was a travesty. I went in hoping for something good and came out totally disappointed. Godzilla looked horrible. Devlin and Emmerich should have followed Toho's guidelines for the movie. It probably would have made a difference. If they make another in the future, please stick to Toho's advice and follow the "King's" roots. The Japanese Godzilla will always be No. 1.
2 - Corey Page
You have to keep in mind the target audience. If you think a movie buff would be entertained by this travesty, you are wrong, but for the common people who couldn't tell you who even directed the deal and just want to see a giant monster trample through New York, you are spot on. Although true Gojira Fans are very dissapointed, i can tell you that they didn't see it more than once and left half way through and didn't buy the DVD. The average person just wants to see some good ol fashioned building destroying, rockets flying carnage.
3 - Rage of Godzilla
Forget all you guys Godzilla was freaking awesome and there's other people that like it to and beside all the other Godzilla's suck this Godzilla or should I say his name Zilla was freaking awesome and
his death was also sad but the ending was also awesome cause when that one egg survived and came out Zilla Jr they just ended that was the most bad-ass scene