Godzilla

[sdp]

Just watched Godzilla 1998 since I thought I'd post my thoughts on it. I've always liked this movie. I always loved dinosaurs and I knew of Godzilla but I was never able to see any of the movies. The closest I would ever get is see a few clips on TV. I still was a huge fan and knew all the monsters names and histories based off the bios on the back of the Trendmaster toys. I remember thinking Space Godzilla was the coolest thing ever. I didn't like the Hannah Barbera cartoon too much but would watch it since it was the only Godzilla thing I had access too. I would've been such a happy kid if I'd had broadband internet and were able to check out all the movies as a kid.

When I saw the teaser for Godzilla 1998, I was so happy I'd finally be able to see Godzilla. I liked the movie a lot even if I wasn't crazy for it, but it's because I was getting older and I think DBZ, Pokemon and video games had most of my attention at the time and not dinosaurs. I was excited for more. I watched the cartoon and also loved it. So yeah, you can say I am biased towards my opinion about the film since I saw it as a kid but I was indeed a fan of the original for far many years before.

The marketing for the movie was great, much better than the one for Godzilla 2014. It really felt like Godzilla was finally coming to the US, and it was everywhere, and most were all cryptic, never showing the full design of Godzilla. The soundtrack was pretty good as well. While the marketing for the 2014 movie wasn't bad it didn't reach the levels of the 1998 film.

Now the movie gets crapped by pretty much everyone, which is unfair and the new movie has plenty of flaws that people can nitpick apart like they have this movie. You can read more about that here. First the design; this is a reboot and while I loved the classic design more as a kid and now the 1998 design is still very much Godzilla. The original was inspired by a T-Rex and the at the time "Tripod" look he had, so it's only natural that the reboot would incorporate what we now know about the T-Rex. It's like those who go crazy about the dinosaurs in the new Jurassic Park movie having feathers even though ironically it was JP that first changed the perception of how the public in general viewed dinosaurs. Great design and I love that he is actually fast and agile and not necessarily slow and clunky. You actually feel bad for the guy when his babies are killed. As for him going out so easily, it never bothered me too much but looking at it now it is indeed a little anti-climatic, but you do have to take into consideration he got straight hits from a submarine and then not one but two rounds of missiles. Today I noticed something though, Godzilla is never confirmed dead, he is left ambiguously dead. Whether it was because they wanted to use him in a sequel either as the hero or a bad guy, leaving two possibilities of who Godzilla was going to be in the second movie this one or the baby that survives in the ending. We know the cartoon used the baby with the mother coming back to life as well.

Something I had read and knew about but it never hit me until this viewing is how it is indeed a lot like JP, some of the baby Godzilla scenes and the Taxi chasing scene are straight out of the first movie only done so much worse. The human story while not amazing is rather decent by monster movie standards, it's not good by any chance but when compared to others in the genre it's actually decent, this includes the acting. Now many of these parts can be picked apart but it's also a product of it's time, the mid to late 90s. I can already see the new Godzilla movie being made fun of by how gritty it's trying to be. The film is not perfect by any means but the amount of hate it gets is just silly, especially with how hard it can be to sit through many of the Toho Godzilla films.

I'll be watching the animated cartoon, which is generally well liked by the internet and it really is a cool show and shows what a sequel could've been if it had been given a chance.

Originally Posted by electric_sheep

Godzilla '98 is an awful, awful Godzilla movie but it's ok Zilla movie...

what the hell does that even mean?

jeeze, the Godzilla 1998 hate has always been ridiculous, especially after this movie. The name of the movie is Godzilla, so he is Godzilla whether you like it or not. Hell if people are such purists on what he should look like then they should call him "Gojira", they even mention that in the movie "It's Gojira, you morons". Toho approved the designs of the movie afterall.

[electric_sheep]

Originally Posted by sdp

Just watched Godzilla 1998 since I thought I'd post my thoughts on it. I've always liked this movie. I always loved dinosaurs and I knew of Godzilla but I was never able to see any of the movies. The closest I would ever get is see a few clips on TV. I still was a huge fan and knew all the monsters names and histories based off the bios on the back of the Trendmaster toys. I remember thinking Space Godzilla was the coolest thing ever. I didn't like the Hannah Barbera cartoon too much but would watch it since it was the only Godzilla thing I had access too. I would've been such a happy kid if I'd had broadband internet and were able to check out all the movies as a kid.

When I saw the teaser for Godzilla 1998, I was so happy I'd finally be able to see Godzilla. I liked the movie a lot even if I wasn't crazy for it, but it's because I was getting older and I think DBZ, Pokemon and video games had most of my attention at the time and not dinosaurs. I was excited for more. I watched the cartoon and also loved it. So yeah, you can say I am biased towards my opinion about the film since I saw it as a kid but I was indeed a fan of the original for far many years before.

The marketing for the movie was great, much better than the one for Godzilla 2014. It really felt like Godzilla was finally coming to the US, and it was everywhere, and most were all cryptic, never showing the full design of Godzilla. The soundtrack was pretty good as well. While the marketing for the 2014 movie wasn't bad it didn't reach the levels of the 1998 film.

Now the movie gets crapped by pretty much everyone, which is unfair and the new movie has plenty of flaws that people can nitpick apart like they have this movie. You can read more about that here. First the design; this is a reboot and while I loved the classic design more as a kid and now the 1998 design is still very much Godzilla. The original was inspired by a T-Rex and the at the time "Tripod" look he had, so it's only natural that the reboot would incorporate what we now know about the T-Rex. It's like those who go crazy about the dinosaurs in the new Jurassic Park movie having feathers even though ironically it was JP that first changed the perception of how the public in general viewed dinosaurs. Great design and I love that he is actually fast and agile and not necessarily slow and clunky. You actually feel bad for the guy when his babies are killed. As for him going out so easily, it never bothered me too much but looking at it now it is indeed a little anti-climatic, but you do have to take into consideration he got straight hits from a submarine and then not one but two rounds of missiles. Today I noticed something though, Godzilla is never confirmed dead, he is left ambiguously dead. Whether it was because they wanted to use him in a sequel either as the hero or a bad guy, leaving two possibilities of who Godzilla was going to be in the second movie this one or the baby that survives in the ending. We know the cartoon used the baby with the mother coming back to life as well.

Something I had read and knew about but it never hit me until this viewing is how it is indeed a lot like JP, some of the baby Godzilla scenes and the Taxi chasing scene are straight out of the first movie only done so much worse. The human story while not amazing is rather decent by monster movie standards, it's not good by any chance but when compared to others in the genre it's actually decent, this includes the acting. Now many of these parts can be picked apart but it's also a product of it's time, the mid to late 90s. I can already see the new Godzilla movie being made fun of by how gritty it's trying to be. The film is not perfect by any means but the amount of hate it gets is just silly, especially with how hard it can be to sit through many of the Toho Godzilla films.

I'll be watching the animated cartoon, which is generally well liked by the internet and it really is a cool show and shows what a sequel could've been if it had been given a chance.



what the hell does that even mean?

jeeze, the Godzilla 1998 hate has always been ridiculous, especially after this movie. The name of the movie is Godzilla, so he is Godzilla whether you like it or not. Hell if people are such purists on what he should look like then they should call him "Gojira", they even mention that in the movie "It's Gojira, you morons". Toho approved the designs of the movie afterall.

Well not anymore, Toho oficialy renamed the monster Zilla, they even used it in some of their movies and comics...

[Candy Kappa]

The way Zilla was owned in Final Wars makes me chuckle every time

[ZariusTwo]

The Godzilla animated series from the 90s is one of my favourites from my teen years, so I can't be too fussed about Zilla.

[FlawedCoil82]

In case anyone didn't know, the Complete Animated Series is now available for purchase on dvd. I was able to get all 40 episodes for $9.99 at K-Mart, which is a steal because this series was much closer to how Godzilla should have behaved. So definitely pick this set up! http://www.amazon.com/Godzilla-Compl...zilla+animated

Leo656, yes King Ghidorah is pretty much Godzilla's arch enemy. In GMK, he is much smaller and weaker than Godzilla (he doesn't even have has gravity lightning beams until he is "brought back to life" for a 3rd time, and even then they just empower Godzilla even more so he can literally blow King Ghidorah into dust). Godzilla was too powerful in that film and every monster that fought him would only appear to be slaughtered.

[sdp]

Anyone here watched the Mothra Heisei trilogy? It's meant for kids so I'm guessing it's cheesier than normal Godzilla movies but the monsters it battles are cool looking. I've seen the Showa Mothra movie which is pretty decent and the story was recycled in Godzilla vs Mothra only adding Godzilla.

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

The way Zilla was owned in Final Wars makes me chuckle every time

Well, Godzilla pretty much owns every monster in that movie.

Originally Posted by electric_sheep

Well not anymore, Toho oficialy renamed the monster Zilla, they even used it in some of their movies and comics...

used in some of their movies and comics? Really? I think you mean "He has a glorified cameo in Final Wars". Nerds need to get over that, it's a quick gag because of how hated the movie was, nothing else. Toho approved of the story and design. They named him "Zilla" as a reference to its origins they obviously couldn't name him Godzilla since they already had the japanese one there.

I hate defending so much Godzilla 1998 but people get so passionate about hating this fictional character that they start making **** up, "He is named "zilla" because Hollyweood American GAIJIN TOOK THE GOD OUT OF GODZILLA" geeze, really? As if Toho cared about anything but money or give two ***** about it, the Japanese would've been far happier if Sony had done the Trilogy as they would've gotten more money.

[Allio]

Originally Posted by sdp

Anyone here watched the Gamera Heisei trilogy? It's meant for kids so I'm guessing it's cheesier than normal Godzilla movies but the monsters it battles are cool looking. I've seen the Showa Mothra movie which is pretty decent and the story was recycled in Godzilla vs Mothra only adding Godzilla.

The heisei Gamera movie is pretty much considered probably some of the best Kaiju movies out there, easily beating out 80-90% of the Godzilla movies

my favorite of the 3 is the legion movie

[sdp]

Oh no, I meant the Mothra Heisei trilogy, accidentally typed Gamera instead.

[Allio]

Originally Posted by sdp

Oh no, I meant the Mothra Heisei trilogy, accidentally typed Gamera instead.

I've only watched 1 of the rebirth of Mothra movie... it is alright, I really want to watch the movies in japanese - but can't find subs anywhere

I do hope that some one does indeed release a quadrilogy with the original and the rebirth series

[FlawedCoil82]

@ sdp I think electric_sheep was referring to the IDW Godzilla comic books where Godzilla fought GINO. But they are not published by Toho.

I saw all the Heisei Mothra movies once. I liked the first one. The second one had a cool enemy monster but yea, it is very childish. Also, there is some furball critter in it that pees on things in order to heal them. ROM 3 was ok....Grand King Ghidorah was awesome looking but I dont remember the fights being anything major. I never felt Mothra could have stood any chance against any of the enemy monsters she faced in the trilogy without gaining insanely stupid extra powers (which she did). So that, along with the extra "childishness" thrown in didn't make them anything worthwhile to me.

[electric_sheep]

Originally Posted by FlawedCoil82

@ sdp I think electric_sheep was referring to the IDW Godzilla comic books where Godzilla fought GINO. But they are not published by Toho.

I saw all the Heisei Mothra movies once. I liked the first one. The second one had a cool enemy monster but yea, it is very childish. Also, there is some furball critter in it that pees on things in order to heal them. ROM 3 was ok....Grand King Ghidorah was awesome looking but I dont remember the fights being anything major. I never felt Mothra could have stood any chance against any of the enemy monsters she faced in the trilogy without gaining insanely stupid extra powers (which she did). So that, along with the extra "childishness" thrown in didn't make them anything worthwhile to me.

Yeah that's it, my bad...

[Wildcat]

I liked Godzilla '98. Its an entertaining, cheesy monster movie that should have been its own thing with another name. Ive always liked Zilla's design too. I still have my action figure from back then. Never saw the cartoon but glad to see its on DVD cause Ive been wanting to see it.

If only that movie was called Monster in Manhattan or something similar, people wouldn't trash it so much. It would have been seen as just another dinosaur/monster movie.

[electric_sheep]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

I liked Godzilla '98. Its an entertaining, cheesy monster movie that should have been its own thing with another name. Ive always liked Zilla's design too. I still have my action figure from back then. Never saw the cartoon but glad to see its on DVD cause Ive been wanting to see it.

If only that movie was called Monster in Manhattan or something similar, people wouldn't trash it so much. It would have been seen as just another dinosaur/monster movie.

jap, people are kinda unfair to it. It's shot good, cg hasn't aged that much and design is cool it isn't boring and it has a lot of cool destruction, it's biggest crime is that it's called Godzilla...

[Wildcat]

Originally Posted by electric_sheep

jap, people are kinda unfair to it. It's shot good, cg hasn't aged that much and design is cool it isn't boring and it has a lot of cool destruction,it's biggest crime is that it's called Godzilla...

Yup, thats right.

Although some of the CG doesn't look that good in some parts.

[electric_sheep]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

Yup, thats right.

Although some of the CG doesn't look that good in some parts.

it was '98 all cg was crap but it looks better than some of the prequels stuff which came later and had a bigger budget.

[Wildcat]

Originally Posted by electric_sheep

it was '98 all cg was crap but it looks better than some of the prequels stuff which came later and had a bigger budget.

Well parts of it looked better than others.

Ya some of the Toho movies have terrible CG. Even for a Godzilla movie.

[electric_sheep]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

Well parts of it looked better than others.

Ya some of the Toho movies have terrible CG. Even for a Godzilla movie.

I don't remmeber what movie it was but there was underwater shot of godzilla and it was atrocious it's possibly the worst cg i ever saw plus when you put the guy in the suit in the same movie it contrast it and makes it 10 times worse...

[Allio]

oh, there is plenty wrong with the movie...the whole "godzilla in name only" is just the surface


also, that one scene, I would make a 9/11 joke...but I fear that it may of been "too soon"

[electric_sheep]

Destroyah has probably one of the coolest godzilla villain desings and he kinda looks like Balrog...
Also a crazy thought, what if they bring Jet Jaguar for the sequel, military can make him and he can be like a Jaeger from Pacific Rim...

[Peanut]

I watched Godzilla Final Wars for the first time last night and really enjoyed Zilla 98 eating atomic breath like a b*tch.