I still don't understand why the '98 film is regarded as so terrible. Have people seen the originals? These were not high concept art films, they were a bloke in a rubber suit knocking down model buildings. The '98 film updated that to a CGI monster knocking down New York. What's not to like?
I think the complaint was that they wimped Godzilla down. They turned him from this unstoppable radioactive juggernaut into this thing that hid from fights and could be taken down by mere anti-ship missiles. Well said.
Is about what Godzilla represents, A metaphor of natures revenge when mankind defies it, the metaphor of the atomic bomb!! I had seen all of the original Godzilla films, I liked them(there are some that were plain terrible) & are fun to watch!! In Japan this old style of rubber monster suits & scale model buildings is considered an art, since it's largely dead in the rest of the world!! But is no about CGI or a rubber suit, Godzilla IS suppose to be an unstoppable force of nature because nuclear energy not only mutated him, but also gave him extraordinary capacities of survival!! Aggressive when provoked!! The 1998 Godzilla film DIDN'T portrayed Godzilla like that, fans were disappointed & the Japanese felt insulted, Toho received a lot of rant because of it!!
That was the technology they had back then. Either that or the classic stop motion technique pioneered by Harryhausen in the early 1900's. The problem is that the 1998 film was just plain campy. It didn't have that feel to it that the original Godzilla film had. I loved the therapod design, but it just wasn't played off right. Something about it just irks me. I hope the remake is a bit more true to the original. I'm all for new concepts and ideas in the Big G franchise. I don't just want a GOOD remake, I want a good reboot of the series. Well said my good man, well said.
I totally agree with these statements. Now I like the 94 script okay thats a lie I haven't red it, but the idea of Godzilla vs the Gryphon. And seeing a comic about it drawn up by Todd T on the americankaiju website is pretty cool. As for whatever Legendary Pictures as in store for this remake/reboot I hope its stays true to what Godzilla is and so forth. As for sfx I like the suitmation from pass Godzilla movies like I stated in another thread, but its time for a change.
I'm pretty sure it did, just not quite to the levels of the orginal '54 film. Godzilla was still born of the atom bomb. Every Godzilla movie after the original '54 film and before the '85 reboot didn't really strike me as representing what Godzilla meant 'metaphorically' either. It was just some dude in a suit fighting monsters that were other guys in suits. That's all it was until the '85 movie and 90's series came around and tried to strike a balance. The only thing that urked me about the '98 film's Godzilla was that he didn't shoot lasers and wasn't indestructable. That would've been cool to see with that faster, more agile version of Godzilla. However, I also thought the '98 movie could've done without the romance drama and annoying blonde chick, and focused more on the humans efforts to combat Godzilla. IMO, Godzilla 2000 came closest to a "perfect" Godzilla movie. It had him as the unstoppable force of nature, the folly of man's creation of nuclear weapons, and it gave him someone to fight as a bonus. Plus it has the best visual representation of Godzilla to me.
Me neither. I still enjoy Godzilla '98. And the sequel cartoon was fantastic. My only qualm is that I wish he were closer in the film to what he was in the cartoon like his earlier designs.
The cartoon was awesome, that I'll admit!! They truly respected Godzilla, the Love story was barely touch & gave that good old feeling like seeing the Showa era films!! My brother is a huge Godzilla fan, he hated the film, but love the animated series!!
Yep, that pretty much covers my dislike for the American Godzilla. As I'd pointed out elsewhere, it really doesn't matter how much you change his look (truth be told, I would have preferred a design that looked even more dinosaur-like, like a bipedal stegosaurus, and less like a muscular iguana with a Dick Tracy chin) - if you're gonna call the giant lizard Godzilla, it better damn well act like Godzilla. The original Toho Godzilla took on tanks, jets AND electrical towers, turned an entire major metropolis into a funeral pyre, left thousands in his wake either crushed or burnt to death or condemned to radiation poisoning, and required extermination via a special weapon so horrendous in power its inventor had to sacrifice himself in the process to ensure it would never be used again. By contrast, Tri-Star's Godzilla bumped into some buildings, ran away from helicopters, hid behind skyscrapers, got tangled in a bridge and shot dead with a couple of missiles. The most damage it did was when it filled Madison Square Garden with babies...which had to be blown up by the Army. And Dean Devlin said he drew upon the former for inspiration. (Yes, folks, he did. In a behind-the-scenes special on Showtime, complete with Harry Shearer in-character as Charles Caiman recounting Godzilla's history) Even amid the increasing silliness of the later Toho films, the most prominent aspect of Godzilla's characterization remains largely intact: he may get his big scaly butt whipped in the first round, but he always comes back swinging - and he NEVER runs away from human forces. EVER. Tri-Star's monster was the exact opposite (and given natural animal instincts, having babies should have been even more reason for it to smack around the Armed Forces). As a generic monster movie, Tri-Star's Godzilla is not bad. As a movie with the name Godzilla in the title, however...different story. Campy or no, I'll take the rubber-suited icon who once propelled himself through the air on a jet of his own flame-breath and dished out body-slams to giant cockroaches controlled by bug-people wearing human skins over an oversized Jurassic Park refugee any day of the week. And yes, the cartoon was loads better than the movie.
Interesting. 'Cos I've always thought Godzilla being able to shrug off missiles was fucking ******ed.
Totally agree with you. While I find the US Gozilla's design unique, what I didn't like was the characterization and some of the newer plot elements such as Zilla being an asexual (reproduction by itself) creature. In the end, it felt like "Jurassic Park" (with the Raptors) especially with the little Zillas running loose in the building (Madison Square Garden?) part. Yes, the effects were good but it stil felt like a rip-off to me. Is it a good monster flick? I agree that it is decent but the characterization for mean, green is way off. Its kinda ironic that this show will be screened in my country on national TV over the next few days! That's the practically one of the most basic "plot devices" of the Godzilla franchise - conventional weapons such as guns, missles etc have no effect on him. Its akin to the "transformation" gimmick for transformers. The theme of Godzilla is about nature taking revenge on man for abusing technology.
I'm just not sure that "well... radiation" is a good enough explanation as to how lizard skin became tougher than tank armour.
I just always assumed it was the sheer sized compared to whatever biological nonsense was going on inside. His hand is bigger than a tank, and his skin has that crusty, plated look to it. But as was siad, it's kinda one of his traits. If we're to expect him being so large, shooting lasers from his mouth and such, being near-invulnerable is just one of the other little pills to swallow like the Transformation of TFs. If we can buy that they're sentient, alien robots, why can't they transform?
He's allowed to voice his objections. It's not like Godzilla movies are an exclusive right only for those who worship them. You can refute his opinion if you want, but don't say he shouldn't be watching them. I had the same reservations when I first started watching Godzilla movies, but I got over them and grew to enjoy them for the cheesy harmless fun that they are. Hell, the breathing fire/lasers thing bugged me up until a while ago. Now I think it's the best part, though.
Well yeah but if you cant get past a main point of a charcter or film series why bother watching? I dont like Harry potter books because I dont like wizards, so why would I bother reading them and complain about them being wizards?
Godzilla films are about a dude in a rubber suit smashing stuff. Ok, maybe the first film was about the horrors of nuclear weapons. If it makes people feel better, we'll accept that and move on. But the enduring success of Godzilla has been about a big lizard smashing stuff. By the time we get to Godzilla fighting an alien robot controlled by a device implanted in a girl so that when she gets angry the robot smashes stuff, I think we've left the anti-nuke message pretty far behind. So, was the '98 Godzilla film faithful to the Japanese films? Yes. It had a big lizard smashing stuff up. "Oh but Godzilla wasn't indestructible in it!" So fucking what? Oh no, they tried to introduce something vaguely plausible into a Godzilla film! By your own argument, you should shut up about it.
At least the offspring of the American Godzilla were kinda cool. Way better than Minya. I really hate that grey thing.
