talking summarization





Splog Filter



newsplus summary

ping 歸納

reviewer













Internet   News   animation   retail sales   Sport   Movie   Video Game   Entertainment   Politics   Eats   Music   Drama   Hardware   Software   Health   japanese culture   Technology   automobile   Business   Fashion   Books   Manga   Broadcast   Cooking   electronics   Leisure   Science   Locality   Phrase   Beauty   Nature   Fancy   Comedy   Avocation   Education   Gamble   Art   Livelihood  

Godzilla




  • 032 4  Okay the film was called Godzilla . Which meant I expected to see Godzilla most of the movie instead I didn't see him but four times . This was the most hyped movie of 1998 and one of the most disappointing . Everywhere you looked it said SIZE DOES MATTER and with Godzilla being so huge , there should have been more scenes concentrated on the beast instead of the bad actors around it . The biggest mistake , casting Matthew Broderick as the star . You have blockbuster material from the crew of Independence Day yet you get someone as boring and bland as Broderick ? The last hit movie I remember him in was Ferris Bueller's Day Off . Since the early 90 ' s he hasn't done anything worth mentioning , so why would someone get him to star in this film ? Big name action figures like Wesley Snipes or Arnold S . would have helped this along but the film fizzled before it began . You have a blond woman no one knows and Hank Azaria ( a lame television actor ) to round out the cast . The movie needed more famous actors known for blockbusters . I would have preferred the older Harrison Ford to the sickening Broderick any day . Most of the characters were supporting and there were too many military shot scenes . Godzilla didn't even get a chance to roam around before the town was evacuated and we spend the next 90 minutes watching boring shooting scenes . Where's the fun in seeing Godzilla if he doesn't scare the hell out of people or stomp down buildings ? The film turned from Godzilla to Attack of the Baby Godzillas . The second half of the movie was an insult to anyone with an IQ over two . Baby Godzillas chasing people around in an empty building ? Oh yeah , that's interesting . . . YAWN . The plot was something I couldn't explain even today . . . because I don't know it ! The scenery was dark and drab simply to cover up the poor special effects . It rained throughout the entire film which seemed the only thing keeping me awake . I had to admit that this Godzilla monster rocked , but the movie didn't do him justice . I was hoping , praying that this movie would surpass the earnings of that sappy Titanic and become the biggest movie ever . So much for wishful thinking . Godzilla is a big boring mess and the only thing that will MATTER to you is when it's finally over . I suggest everyone watch it once , but anything more than that is suicide .
    • 090 4  This was one of the worst movies I have ever seen . Unless you are really bored , and all the other rentals are out , do not rent this . DO NOT BUY THIS TAPE ( unless you like to torture yourself ) . Bad plot , horrible acting , and you have to suspend more than just your disbelief .
    • 130 4  . . . For you readers who have any common sense or dignity left in their bodies , I highly reccomend this movie . The characters are funny , and VERY WELL ESTABLISHED . The acting is very good , so is the animation . And there is plot - a fairly detailed one ! If anyone doesn't like it , then I suggest you people stop watching movies and go get a life ! ! Sorry , but this is a great film . It features a very well written script and excellent character interaction . The music is also very , very well done . This beats the heck out of the old movies - although the old movies did introduce the concept . What I can't understand is why Godzilla 2000 came out . Ok , I know you like to stick to the classic stuff , but in today's day and age it looks like [ stuff ] ! By the way they are planning on a sequel , I don't know when filming is going to begin though .

  • 056 4  Ok so here goes nothing . I am a big fan of godzilla . most people love him or hate him , or think hes just a big pile of cheese . while yes the films can get cheesey and have over simple and over the top plots , godzilla has always been fun . Accept for Gojira witch to me is more of a tear jerking horror movie more like grave of the fire flies meets king kong . So loving the big G i made my dad take me to see this opening day at our local theatre . I was 9 years old and i was waiting to see him mess up tokyo , not seeing any preveiws . I was ok with it being new york , i love that town and it shocked me to see it get the S @ # T kicked out of it . Then we see godzilla , for me being nine i should have loved the t-rex look , but i wanted godzilla . I would watch this movie allot on video cause this is the only G movie my father liked . i hated it for years cause to me it was not godzilla . But looking back as i am no 20 , i have this in my dvd collection . It does take in allot of aspects of other g films . it is kind of close to the original american release of king of the monsters , and 1985 . and has aspects of other monster films the beast from 20,000 fathoms . But this is a good movie , its fun , its action packed . and it could have been godzilla , but its just zilla . its a good movie and fun . i love it and i love all the other godzilla films , i have em all on dvd , three of em i own on region 3 cause america hasnt released any copys yet . that being said this is a good movie and worth the price . the features are just good , better than others worse than others , but its sounds and looks great . get it and eat allot of popcorn cause thats what this is . its a popcorn movie .
    • 008 4  This movie is packed with special effects that will make most happy . But if that is taken away then it's no better than the old godzilla films .
    • 018 4  They should take every copy of this film , put it on a spaceship , and send it to the moon so no one can ever have to see this piece of absolute gargage ever again .
    • 020 4  For any young or ill-informed movie fan , let me say this : this movie has NOTHING to do with the traditional Godzilla . Do not waste even a moment of your time watching this movie . It is a colossal waste of time and money . . . the producers of this movie did not have even a remote clue about the magical world of kaiju eiga .
    • 100 4  THIS FILM SUCKED ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! I was insulted that anyone would expect me to enjoy this never-ending painfully depressing movie , that tries to appeal to fans by making second-rate acting , and a terrible story , but make it all up to it's fans with quality visual effects . Okay , so the techinical stuff was cool . But as far as visual effects and sound quality goes , there are plenty of movies out there with much better visual effects , and sound , that also have a decent story , and decent acting . The point of all this is Godzilla was a terrible film , with a boring story , and characters who could have been disembowled by Godzilla and I would have not cared one bit .
    • 101 4  The movie is horrible . Acting is crummy . Godzilla is all messed up . I would get something better like Godzilla Vs . KingGhidora or Godzilla Vs . Spacegodzilla .
    • 102 4  Gee , this movie sure was pitiful . Not only was the lizard unrealistic looking , it was the typical average unimaginative green thing with mega fingernails . Where's the creativity ? As usual , remakes of old masterpieces flop , and this is a prime example .
    • 117 4  Wow ! This movie just blew me away ! This movie is number two on my all time favorite movie list . People who say this movie is not any good need to have their brains examined for holes .
    • 127 4  I was only 8 when I first saw this and I loved it ever since . It has a better plot than the previous Godzilla movies , where this big dinosaur just appears out of nowhere and starts terrorizing everything . In this they explain that he was actually some type of lizard that was exposed to radiation during some nuclear bombs tests . The only problem that I had with this movie is that the ending was a cliffhanger but they didn't conclude it with another movie . But other than that it was very good .
    • 137 4  This movie is an insult to the original franchise of Gojiera movies . The characters are uninspired and lacking depth , the plot has more holes than Godzilla leaves in Manhattan , and the action is laughable . Its hard to enjoy an action movie when not even the fights and action sequences make little to no sense .

  • 059 4  And yet , I can't seem to really hate this ' Godzilla ' . Hell , if we were to rate the flick based merely on Godzilla's aesthetic , I'd give it at least four stars . Can you tell I've never cared [ enough to venture into ] the original Godzilla films ? I seem to be one of the only ones who genuinely thinks Godzilla's new look and movement is quite awesome ; so much of the hate I've read regarding this issue seems to come from an attachment to the original design , laid way in the East many years ago . ' Guess that works in my favor as far as opening up to this film . . . . . . . . if that's a good thing . The first half of the film is watchable , the second half isn't , by and large . As soon as they hit the baby Godzilla's in the stadium , it goes from decent to absolutely horrendous . At that point , it becomes so uncommonly absurd you can't help but wonder how they actually made it through filming the entire set piece without succumbing to their own criticisms . Same goes for most everything that follows . Personally , though , I found one good reason to watch this version of ' Godzilla ' was for a mere demonstration of the visual effects , and how they rank along the timeline with regards to the subject of CGI in cinema . Far as I recall , I remember walking out of the theater when first seeing ' Godzilla ' in 1998 and being pretty astonished , thinking that they were near perfect , and topped only by 1997 ' s ' Starship Troopers ' . It was actually pretty staggering , then , when Godzilla started to rampage through NYC as I watched this DVD the other day , because in that whole event inparticular , the CGI just doesn't hold up at all . It's interesting to note that , after witnessing this , the film from that point on lets Godzilla out of his cage only at night ; it seems that they're able to work much better with the lighting in this respect , and the result is some beautiful , stunning shots courtesy great cinematography and stellar CGI rendering . Still , though , the CGI is strangely inconsistent ; some well crafted and inspired ( Godzilla averting nuclear submarines ; Godzilla getting entangled amongst the Brooklyn Bridge ) , while some is so bad I couldn't help but focus on it throughout its appearance ( virtually all of the baby Godzilla renderings ) . Frustrating . I will say though that the technical virtue of ' Godzilla ' , when its in its own little zone , is near unmatched , and Devlin and Emmerich prove - - as they had before with ' Independence Day ' and since with ' The Day After Tomorrow ' ( abominable flick ) - - that they can compose some outrageously scoped action with great prowess . Problem is amongst these visual flairs comes absolutely no substance . There's no story here . The characters are asinine . Literally none of the comedy plays out . There is one scene , actually , which I find absolutely hysterical , involving Jean Reno and his crew , whom are trying to disguise themselves as Americans in Army uniforms . Reno's particular expressions and nuances are just priceless , and there's no real way I could translate that to words . Anyway , that aside , it's just pathetic . I mean , you've got like four brilliant actors from ' The Simpsons ' ( Hank Azaria the only one getting any real screen time ) , and you can't produce a laugh ? You've got problems . I really don't mind this film up to its mid-way point . I don't . And yet , it's strange , because I think the reason I do hold ' Godzilla ' somewhat closely is the overall detached feel it brings with it , not to mention a pretty confused identity . But it's got that little theme . . . you know - - Humans create huge monster with their own actions ( in this case nuclear workings ) , then must destroy the monster to ensure their own survival . Sure we've all seen it before , but whatever , it usually affects me a respectable amount , and on my viewing of this ' Godzilla ' almost a decade after I first saw it , I still found myself moved when the magnificent creature desperately roars , trapped helpless as our militant jets are swooping down with their loving missiles . It's bizarre , because not only does the film never consciously focus on this fatalistic theme , it acknowledges it with but a line or two from Broderick , telling the Army that Godzilla's just an animal , who's intent is far from destroying Humanity . Yet , because there is absolutely no drive or motivation from any of the characters in the film , and we're mostly just watching Godzilla run away in fear from Human weaponry , I don't know how there's any way else to feel by the end but saddened . It's not art , but it's still a tragedy , if you connect the dots . Well , at least I sympathized . And yet , the last three minutes of the film , after Godzilla's eyes have gone dim , provide closure to stupid characters courtesy inept resolutions and a heroic fanfare by composer David Arnold ( who's score is still phenomenal all around ) . The mood of this is supposed to be bright , hopeful , optimistic , but I just find it angering . It's this kind of schlock that overrides the potentially dark , dramatic elements of the film buried beneath its surface ; the kind of schlock that nightmares are made of - - Maria Pitillo doing a Joan Cusack impersonation .
    • 001 4  Okay , I know this is going to be a highly disputed opinion , but I think this movie is very , very good . Great , I'd even daresay . And I am a Godzilla fan . I love the Big Guy from his early masterworks to his campy mid-period to his new thrilling outings . Admittedly , this is not the same Godzilla . But Godzilla himself is a product of the 50s fascination with giant monsters , and this movie is really just an homage to all those old , great monster movies . Anyway , I don't see why the universe isn't big enough for two Godzillas . A lot of fans hated this just for the idea . But Tristar had to make a new version . The old version would've flopped in America . In fact , Godzilla 2000 came out about a year later , and it did terrible . So where were those so-called fans when he really needed them ? I submit that there really aren't that many Godzilla fans . There's plenty of people who claim to be , but do they really like him or these types of films ? Doesn't seem like it . Onto the movie . First there's Godzilla . He's a terrific special effect . Some people say he doesn't look real . He looks pretty darn impressive to me . Realism is a rather silly complaint when you're talking about a giant lizard running through New York . The story is deceptively simple . You could boil it down to Army vs . Monster , but there's a creativity here that gets overlooked . The characters ( all of whom are well-developed especially considering none are the real star ) are all likable . Their motivations are believable . And their story arcs are solidly connected to the central conflict in a way that doesn't seem forced . The action sequences are wonderful . I like to think of them as monstrous versions of great kung fu showdowns . Godzilla isn't invulnerable in this film , and so when he fights helicopters , rockets , and submarines , I actually felt suspense , even though I knew he wasn't going down until the end of the movie . The plot of Godzilla's young gives a nice excuse for some human-scaled action . The pacing is expertly handled . At two hours , there's still a lot crammed in here . The acting is good . Jean Reno's French military agent is beautifully understated . And the final end of Godzilla is both tragic and satisfying . I don't love the last little bit , but to me it's not so much an advertisement for a sequel as a wink to those THE END ? titles at the end of those great old movies . Boy , this is a long review . I guess I'm just trying to make a case for this underrated and much-maligned film . Personally , I think the original Big Guy would love it . Although I'm sure his version would end a little different .
    • 004 4  I am 29 years old and I have been watching Godzilla movies ever since I was a little boy . And I can tell you that despite the title of this 1998 Devlin-Emmerlich movie , Godzilla does not appear in this movie . Oh , there's a creature that we are supposed to believe is Godzilla , but trust me , it's not Godzilla . This is one of the five worst movies that I have ever seen in my life . Fortunately , several of the real Godzilla movies are curetnly available on DVD , and you can purchase them from amazon.com . Godzilla King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs . Mothra are both currently on DVD and I recommend them both . And I am hoping that Ghidrah the Three Headed Monster will be issued on DVD soon . But whatever you do , please , out of respect for the real Godzilla , keep away from this horrible 1998 film !
    • 005 4  Let's see , now . A giantic dinosaur travels from the Pacific to the Atlantic ( via walking through Panama with no one noticing it ) and goes to New York city for a secluded place to lay its eggs . It hides in Madison Square Garden and no one can find it . Yes , the movie makes that much sense throughout . I feel that I've been personally slapped in the face by the movie's makers . I hope Toho studios made a ton of money by selling the rights to Godzilla . Their creation has been shamed . Now send him back to Japan and Toho where he belongs ! That's where we love him !
    • 006 4  If I could give this movie a rating of 0 stars , I would . Boy was I dissapointed . The trailers were awesome , I thought this would be all the fun of the cheesy Japenese movies and all of the glittering special effects of Hollywood rolled into 1 fun package . Unfortunately , the writing wasn't so much a script as it was a collection of one-liners and cliches stolen from other movies , the love scenes and others were so strained it was clear even the actors weren't into it , and the effects seemed like someone had lifted all the footage from Jurassic park and ran it through a bumpy skin filter . If you are a godzilla fan like me , I recommend catching the trailer and passing on the actual movie .
    • 009 4  Godzilla ? Well , okay , your the boss ! Alright , first I'd just like to say , this movie rocked ! But , as I watched it for the first time at a special day-before screening , I thought of a movie I saw in summer of 1996 . I didn't remember the ( let's face it , complicated ) title of the film . I did remember Ray Harryhausen's amazing effects , and the basic plot . Later that summer , I went to Suncoast and picked up a copy of this effects classic . I watched it and liked it . And it warmely reminded me of my favorite movie of that summer . Let's look at some similarities : 1 . Both attack New York . 2 . Both are very similar in physical apperence , and both are related to true dinosaur species . 3 . Both the main characters are nuclear scientists . 4 . And finally ( only because I'm almost out of room ) , both main army attacks take place at night . The reason I liked Godzilla so much , was because all the good things about TBF20kF , were recreated with Jurassic Park style visual effects . Unlike TBF20kF , Godzilla's characters were waffer thin , though they were entertaining . All in all I give this film 4 stars . If you like creature features , check out the newer films Mimic , Starship Troopers , and Anaconda ( none of which I thought were as good as Godzilla ) . Or , check out some classics and cult favorites that inspired these modern efforts : The Deadly Mantis , Them ! , The Giant Behemoth , Gorgo , 20 Million Miles To Earth , and of corse , the movie Godzilla was SOPPOSED to be inspired by : Godzilla : King Of The Monsters !
    • 011 4  I saw the Godzilla renake when I was 9 and I loved it , I was looking around the sale DVD at Media Play the other day and I found this for $5 . I remembered how much I loved it and I picked it up . I am now 17 and I fell in love with this film all over again . This movie is so cool and yes it is very dumb but it is a popcorn flim what do you expect . Oh and by the way anyone expecting a good , deep , meaningful film is an idiot ! The movie is about a giant mutant lizard attacking New York City what do you expect ! ! ! Well overall this movie is a lot of fun and the best $5 I had ever spent !
    • 012 4  I'm sorry that all the people who love the Japanese Godzilla should dislike this movie so much . It's a good , fast-paced monster flick ; nothing particularly original , but it moves right along and has great special effects . It's nothing like the Japanese Godzilla and I have a suspicion that if the producers had called it something else the reviews would have been a lot more positive . Once you treat it as just a sci fi action pic , it works quite well .
    • 013 4  To me this film is a-ok . I like Godzilla's new appearance . Much better than his cornball , kiddy - appealing old one . Also , Godzilla in ths film exists independently of those in the old Japanese series . This is not a sequel to the Japanese Godzilla films , people . It is a self-contained movie . There's no inconsistency between this and previous Godzilla films . And this film has subplots ( one poster said it didn't ) .
    • 014 4  Frankly , it's called Godzilla , but it's really a remake of The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms .
    • 015 4  This is the worst . When I went to see this I was eagerly anticipating what Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich could do with the King of the Monsters , and afterwards I was so dissapointed I was in shock . The plot and acting were so checkered and badly formed that they couldn't come close to standing on their own , so only the lizard creature could hope to save the movie . Unfortunatley this creature is so weak that it can't even save itself from a few fighter jets . As the movie rolled to it's unsatisfying , pointless conclusion with an obvious hint at a sequel , I found myself constanlty checking my watch thinking when will this movie end ? I just want to put this abomination behind me and wait for Godzilla 2000 .
    • 016 4  The level of dialogue never rises above It's coming this way ! or Let's get outta here ! . The interaction between the guy and the girl is too simple and uninteresting . The one conflict between the two arose from an incident that was just begging to be predicted . The whole movie was just one cliche .
    • 017 4  An overgrown gecko runs through the glass steel canyons of New York with the U.S . military cast of goofs in pursuit . The first 5 minutes including the opening credits deserve my one star rating . This movie is just a bad mix of Jurrassic Park , Aliens , I'm Singing In The Rain and whatever else could be ripped off . The U.S . military whose weapons can knock out a jet fighter travelling at mach 2 , can't hit this giant sized clunker standing still . As far as Godzilla , where are the glowing dorsal fins , the radioactive fire breath ? See the first Godzilla movie ( 1954 ) with the late Raymond Burr and you'll see a great movie ( O.K . rubber monster suits aside ) about a mankind coming to grips with an ancient terror who is impervious to modern weapons . This new Godzilla held so much promise and delivered nothing but a joke a minute . . and bad jokes at that .
    • 019 4  There shall be no SEQUELS ! The rights to godzilla have gone back to Japan and the TOHO company.This was not Godzilla ! The two directors butchered him.There were a thosand things they could of done to raise Godzilla out of the pit that they put him in.Here are just a few : 1 . Keep the original sound track.The rap songs were out of place . 2 . Godzilla breathes fire ! He didn't not in this movie . 3 . The name Godzilla is not the director's toy to play with , nor is he the director's pet iguna , which upon this was the image done with . 4 . Most important ! Kept the original script ! There was a much better one before and it had godzilla breath fire , defend the earth , go to Japan , and fought an another monster ( a huge Gyphon ) . The script is on the web . One more thing : Was I expecting Shakphere ? No.just Godzilla , like the name implied.He wasn't in this moive .
    • 021 4  Ohhh , this is not the hero I raised with when I was young , this is an act of mockery ! Oh , yes , I forgot ! we have a hero ! Matthew , yes ! . . . a hero with the worst acting ever in his career with a cast even far behind ( except Jean Reno ) . Maria Pitillo , Hank and all the others truly deserved to be squished by the real hero ( although it looked like anything but G ) . Senseless , where's the lesson here ? that all we believed in should be destroyed because epecial effects command so ? that Godzilla's death should be accepted because this version has a greater budget ? Hmmmp , the guys in rubber suits knew best ! Now , let's see the reviews . . . hmmm , can't say nothing much but : everyone who expressed the movie was good say this based on the fact of how COOOL were the effects ; the ones who actually disliked it give reasons of weight , credible , convincing statements . Too bad , even though the profit turned out to be good for the directors , that only proves how many people of low intelect live in this world and how easily can they be used for profittable causes .
    • 023 4  The Big G becomes The Big Sissy in this mindless , annoying , and totally unredeemable pile of celluloid trash . After years of bashing the Japanese Godzilla , America responds with a big iguana ( Despite popular opinion , Godzilla is NOT a lizard ! ) that runs from the awesome military might of the U.S . Army's elite BoneHead Corps . To pad out the 936 hour running time , Devlin and Emmerich throw out every crass one-liner known to man and then some . Mankind threatened by annhilation ? Of course we have time for a tepid romance subplot and goofy jokes that children would scoff at . Why not just send the Three Stooges out after the creature ? The results would certainly be a lot funnier . Here's a hint Hollywood ; If you can't find a brain down in those deep pockets of yours , then just shut down and go home !
    • 024 4  Watching Godzilla , it doesn't take long to register the fact that this film is plainly stupid . Yes , Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich were the creators of this film . The intelligence in their movies seems to have gone from a high double digit ( Stargate ) to a medium double digit ( Independence Day ) to somewhere in the low twenties with Godzilla . This film is plainly dumb . Whether it's intentional , well . . . it feels like it is but that doesn't matters much even if it was trying to be a dumb , fun film . The reasons for this is the extremely unfunny humor injected in this film . Trust me , mispronouncing Tatopoulos is not my idea of funny . The acting itself is quite bad . Matthew Brodderick , who was good in Glory , is simply a miscast as the supposedly intelligent scientist Tatopoulos . Perhaps Emmerich should have cast Jeff Goldblum in the role of Niko Tatopoulos . Faring even worse are Maria Pitillo and Kevin Dunn . The only good performance in this film goes to Jean Reno , in the role of the tough guy soldier . You could watch much better trashy fun big budget films than Godzilla . Watch The Mummy ( 1999 ) and even Congo but don't bother with Godzilla .
    • 025 4  A series of nuclear weapons are tested in the South Pacific during the 1950 ' s , and the film Godzilla moves swiftly and uninterestingly into the present as a shocked Japanese man ( the only sign of Japanese involvement in this Americanized adaptation ) in a hospital deliriously repeats Gojira , Gojira , Gojira . As was the premise for the original film , nuke testing has spawned a huge Gojira ( Japanese for Sea Dragon ) . The name is later adapted in the film as it was in the filmgoing market , to Godzilla , a mere mispronunciation . Doctor Nick Tatopolous ( Matthew Broderick ) has been employed by the US military in order to help catch the ship-sinking , fire-breathing creature with the piercing roar and not so good looks . The lack of continuity is never more obvious than when Dr . Tatopolous explains the creature with great aptitude , even before it stomps into his life . From here , the film takes a by-the-numbers approach in that the last three-quarters of it yields nothing but explosions , fire and lots of stupid one-liners . And who could resist babies ! Discovered inside a now demolished Madison Square Garden , the nest with Godzilla's 200 eggs is a mere walk down memory lane to James Cameron's Aliens . Could there possibly be anything original to look forward to after that ? Don't hold your fiery breath . Slews of rip-offs ranging from Jurassic Park to King Kong fill the rest of this hype-vehicle of no-brain folly . Godzilla is at best , remotely entertaining during the its 15 minutes . After which this mammoth publicity stunt loses steam at record rates . You would think that after creating such turkeys as ID4 and Stargate , the team of director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin ( the awesome twosome ? ) would have had enough sense to try to put out something commendable this time around . But like in many things , there is simply no cure . Not since Starship Troopers have I seen such bad visual effects , gratuitous violence and paper-thin story lines . The characters in this film are so cardboard , they belong in a police shooting range . Take a classic film and put it in the hands of profiteers rather than filmmakers , and I give you the official mascot for the worst movie since Waterworld .
    • 026 4  I really don't know what these guys were thinking . Maybe their thought process went a little like this : Exec #1 : I have a great ( read : stupid ) idea ! Exec #2 : What is it ? Exec #1 : Remember those old Godzillla movies ? Exec #2 : The ones that were really cool and didn't feature Matthew Broderick ? Exec #1 : Yeah ! Let's make a movie that's the complete opposite of that ! So that's how we got H-bomb-proof lizards turning into asexual she-beasts rampaging about in Manhattan . There are documentaries about cardboard factories more interesting than this . And if that doesn't put the terror of this movie's idiocy in perspective , think about this : I've seen Ernest Goes To Camp SIX TIMES , and I still refuse to watch this trash again .
    • 027 4  I must be the only person who gave this 5 stars because i must say i genuinly loved this film . Matthew Broderick plays an excellent role in this movie as the scientist who is hell bent on finding out what made Gojira . It has been 12 years since this remake of the original 1954 legendary classic that first introduced us to Godzilla . For those who are not familiar with the monster in this movie then Godzilla is a lizard mutated by nuclear bomb testing and grew to 100 ' s of stories tall . For some reason Godzilla migrates to new york starting a huge amount of destruction in his path . This movie can get really silly and unrealistic at times , as if the 100 ft tall lizard wasn't unreal enough but at times we see Godzilla be the same height as the empire state building and then all of a sudden a monster that size disappears . It is undoubtedly a movie jam packed with action and amazing special effects and if that's all you're looking for in a movie then you will truly love it .
    • 028 4  I am a HUGE Godzilla fan . This movie is not all that bad . It does not have the charm of the early G-films but it is alot better that than Everything in between Destroy all Monsters - 1967 and Godzilla vs . Biolante 1989 . Have some fun and don't be overly critical - thats what Godzilla movies are all about .
    • 029 4  This review is from : Godzilla ( DVD ) You can probably come up with negatives about this movie , but actually , for $4.99 with super saver shipping , this movie delivers pretty good entertainment . It's worth it alone for the pier scene . I consider it a campy remake of the original , which is still the best , but at least the language and violence level are such that I can show it to my grandchildren .
    • 030 4  You can probably come up with negatives about this movie , but actually , for $4.99 with super saver shipping , this movie delivers pretty good entertainment . It's worth it alone for the pier scene . I consider it a campy remake of the original , which is still the best , but at least the language and violence level are such that I can show it to my grandchildren .
    • 031 4  This movie is certainly not what one would call good , but it certainly is entertaining . Finding the urban jungle of Manhattan a suitable environment , a creature deemed Godzilla after the popular character of B-movie fame , rampages through the island in search of food and sanctuary . Naturally the army is called in , but despite their advanced weaponry , Godzilla manages to make a mockery of their attempts to bring him down . But where the army fails , a motley assortment characters , a scientist , a French secret agent , and a couple of journalists succeed . Added to this is a lame love interest element and the occasional bit of slap-stick humour , and you have a suitable film for killing a couple hours on a cold winter's night .
    • 033 4  A big-budget American version of Japan's most beloved import ? How could it fail ? Well , whatever could go wrong did . This mega-hyped disaster of a monster movie was a thinly-disguised rip-off of Jurassic Park that pretty much used the name Godzilla to hide the fact that it was so blatanly unoriginal . The story follows Dr . Ferris Bueller ( Matthew Broderick ) as he is called into investigate a mysterious shipwreck off the coast of some Asian territory . As it turns out , these problems are actually being caused by a radioactive iguana on a collision course with New York City . When the creature arrive , all hell breaks loose and the army is called in to take it out . After several failed attempts , the monster ends up under the city as Broderick and a team of French special operatives head to the ruins of what was once Madison Sqaure Garden to hunt down the nest . Chaos ensues again and they end up getting chased through the city by the monster for one big predictable finale . The idea of making a Godzilla movie where Godzilla does not use his infamous radioactive breath is about as half-baked an idea as Sean Cunningham doing a Jason movie without using the hockey mask . Here in lies the biggest problem with major studios , these days . They are so consumed by the thought of making money that they never really stop and think about what the true fans of the movies want to see . I have always felt that if you are going to make a remake or a sequel or a big-budget movie based on a TV series , that it should at the very least offer some type of improvement or something new over the original . The Godzilla in this movie is esentially a giant one-dimenionsal lizard that seems more like the monster featured in Varan The Unbelivable than that of the classic Godzilla . Let's face it . The older Godzilla would stomp the life out of this one . Not to mention that the makers of this movie did a much better job at the sci-fi disaster angle with their last film , Independence Day and Godzilla was much more meaningful in Godzilla 1985 . This movie falls flat on its face .
    • 036 4  Enormously hyped , with an advertising campaign that ran for over a year , this follow-up to ' Independence Day ' had all the explosions and effects of that earlier film , but with none of the charm , or indeed anything else . At all . The absolute apotheosis of the ' big-budget effects movie ' , ' Godzilla ' is quite literally an excuse for a set of CGI / model shots of a big monster tramping around New York . Handled well , this might have been enough , but it isn't handled well - it borrows liberally from elsewhere , and tries for a post-modern , self-mocking tone that fails through a lack of wit . It all seems as if it has been processed through a big mincer , with all the flavour or interest washed-out , just like the gloomy skies in the film . Despite the omnipresent rain and gloom , the effects are well-done - they have to be , as there is absolutely no other reason to watch this film . None at all . There must be a script there somewhere , as I can remember that the story made sense , but I can't remember anything anybody said . The acting is superfluous - I felt sorry for poor Matthew Broderick , as he is quite obviously not supposed to be the star of the film , and I felt doubly sorry for Jean Reno , who is so effortlessly cool that this just falls off him like water off the back of a duck . Of special note is Maria Pitillo as the love interest / spunky heroine - as a shrieking , whining harridan you'll be wishing for her to be eaten from the moment you see her . The real star , Godzilla itself , is just a big blank slate - you neither feel sorry for the poor beast , nor hate him . Whereas the Japanese version of the monster was charming despite obviously being a man in a suit , here Godsie is just a big effect . As for the rest of it , what can be said ? It rumbles around for two hours , and when it's over you're left wondering what the heck you were just watching . It isn't inept enough to be truly awful , it's just horribly , totally competent . On DVD there are extra bits - you'll probably never watch them , as I should imagine you'll only get the DVD as a Birthday gift from an ill-informed parent ( for example ) .
    • 037 4  The movie itself wasn't that bad . . . . rather cliche'd but what movie isn't no days . I just think it should have had a differnt title . . . . . this wasn't godzilla as he should have been portrayed . Godzilla never ran from a fight , godzilla was more of a threat . . . . let's face it this creature was a wimp compared to the big G . Watch the movie for fun . . . . just don't expect GODZILLA .
    • 038 4  I actually enjoyed this movie quite a bit . 2 key things is to ( 1 ) forget about the original Godzilla which this is not and understandably has upset Godzilla fans - think of this as something entirely separate ( 2 ) view this movie in Dolby Digital Surround Sound . Its Amazing and significantly enhances the film . When seen in this light the movie is a lot of fun , with good acting killer special effects .
    • 039 4  The biggest problem with this film is the hopelesslyinappropriate title . As anyone who knows the Japanese classic willtell you , this movie has nothing to do with Godzilla . The creature involved seems a bizarre hybrid of a velociraptor and a T-Rex . It certainly has an identity problem , since it's apparently asexual and can't even decide how big it is . Regardless , this is a very enjoyable film to watch . Most of the damage done to the Big Apple is caused by the military . For most of the movie , the most secure being in the city WAS Godzilla , because they were shooting AT him . Everyone and everything else was in serious trouble . Matt Broderick does a competent job by not taking his character too seriously . Jean Reno is absolutely delightful as a French insurance investigator , nee secret service agent , hot on the trail of our overgrown lizard . Picking out problems with this film is like shooting fish in a barrell ; it's full of them and they're fairly obvious . Nonetheless , Godzilla is fun to watch and provides an entertaining diversion for an afternoon or evening . If you want a classic , go watch Shakespeare . If you want a few shivers , a few more chuckles and a lot of fun , take a peek at Godzilla .
    • 040 4  I think the movie was good , it had all sorts of feelings in it : suspence , sadness , action and , a little comedy here there . There are a few things that you say What the hell is your problem , RUN ! It had great graphics , good story it was physicaly possible ( in other words , not fake ) . All in all it was definatly a worth while movie .
    • 041 4  An homage to 50 ' s drive in schlock , with a dose of 90 ' s FX . See it again . If you come to expect a Merchant Ivory production , you have no business watching any monster flick . The DVD has brimming features including the museum trailer not in the movie . Jean Reno kickes arse !
    • 042 4  Brazen hacks that they are , Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich surpassed themselves in cluelessness this time : casting an outsized reject from Jurassic Park 3 , and a misunderstood mama to boot , in the role of a near-infinite power like the King of the Monsters . And it's the military ( not the hapless Godzilla ) who trash parts of Manhattan . Devlin and Emmerich are idiots ! Why did they think people would buy a ticket in the first place . . . to see Godzilla run away from helicopters and terrify us with a CAR CHASE ? ? ? Designer Patrick Tatopolous explained away Godzilla ' s weakness and lack of city-levelling flames thus : We were making an animal , not a monster . That's right , Pat . . . and that was your biggest mistake . Japanese Monsters 101 : Godzilla does not run away from people . People run away from Godzilla . Godzilla is not a raptor , E.T . with teeth , the Road Runner , or a born-pregnant tribble . Godzilla is an ancient power so vast as to redefine the term monster . Godzilla is something no power known to humanity can stop . Godzilla is Death Itself . ( If Emmerich and Devlin ever film the Book of Revelation , I can't wait to see how fast God runs . ) In the meantime , this mess stayed deliberately ignorant of what made Godzilla films special to start with , instead stealing cynically and shamelessly from other , inappropriately chosen ( but vastly superior ) sources . Don't spend any more money on this monument to Hollywood ineptitude . Buy the early - ' 60 ' s version of Godzilla vs . Mothra instead . Now THAT'S Godzilla .
    • 043 4  This is not a Godzilla movie , hey devlin , Godzilla breathes fire ! Attacks the army ! Is invulnerable ! get a clue ! , The monster looked like the Beast from 20,000 fathoms He's an iguanna ? He spent most of his time running away , instead of on the attack . This was a miserable monster movie
    • 044 4  This review is from : Godzilla [ Blu-ray ] ( Blu-ray ) THE MOVIE I will admit , THIS Godzilla is one of my favorite ' thoughtless entertainment ' movies . The kind I watch when I'm exhausted and all I want is to relax with a cocktail or a cup of cappuccino and not worry about world peace or possible cosmic disasters for a while . Sure , it's not the Japanese Godzilla - it's an American movie after all - but I can't see why we shouldn't have our own Godzilla the same way the Japanese can have their own baseball and rock and roll . I will not do a full critique of the movie - there are hundreds of excellent reviews published already so I am going to be brief . I will only state that I love Godzilla because : - it has Matthew Broderick ( Bueller ? ) - it has Jean Reno ( The Specialist , The DaVinci Code ) - it has ( a lot of ) humor - it has most excellent visual effects , quite impressive even by 2009 standards - it has one of the better sound tracks in a monster movie Sure , it's not the Japanese Godzilla but , come to think of it , the Japanese Godzilla has none of the above . THE BLU-RAY RELEASE Of course , it's 1080p and it's an easy to notice improvement over the DVD release - I've bought both the VHS and the DVD releases prior to this one . More impressive than the picture is the sound track . The DTS-HD Master Audio it's literally a blast . It will rock your house with the proper sub-woofer . The extras are mostly those found on the DVD edition but there are a couple of Blu-specific additions . The Godzilla trivia game is actually fun - multiple-choice where the time it takes to pick the answer is factored into the score . A multi-player option is available for players with an Internet connection . To my surprise , this actually worked and I could play Godzilla trivia online with someone who was trying out this exotic feature at the same time I was . The Movie-IQ option is another BD-Live powered option . It checks some online database and provides up-to-date information about the movie while watching the movie . I immediately learned , while watching the movie , that Godzilla grossed $350 million and it was released in 1998 and that , since its release in 1954 there have been 28 Godzilla / GOJIRA movies . BD-Live also facilitated the printing of a ticket for the ' 2012 ' movie ( up to $10 ) . Be VERY careful and do NOT throw away the wrapping . The back of the sticker has a code that , when typed in in a BD-Live session will have Sony email you a PDF that can be printed and becomes a ' ticket ' that's valid until Dec . 31 2009 . Finally , the disk - not a second disk - includes a digital copy for the PSP . You first copy it to your PS3 hard drive and then you download it from there to the PSP - it comes with full instructions on how to proceed . MY RATING 5 stars as a movie and 5 stars as a Blu-ray release . If you happen to own a PS3 and a PSP and you happen to want to watch ' 2012 ' before the end of 2009 this is an incredible bargain .
    • 045 4  THE MOVIE I will admit , THIS Godzilla is one of my favorite ' thoughtless entertainment ' movies . The kind I watch when I'm exhausted and all I want is to relax with a cocktail or a cup of cappuccino and not worry about world peace or possible cosmic disasters for a while . Sure , it's not the Japanese Godzilla - it's an American movie after all - but I can't see why we shouldn't have our own Godzilla the same way the Japanese can have their own baseball and rock and roll . I will not do a full critique of the movie - there are hundreds of excellent reviews published already so I am going to be brief . I will only state that I love Godzilla because : - it has Matthew Broderick ( Bueller ? ) - it has Jean Reno ( The Specialist , The DaVinci Code ) - it has ( a lot of ) humor - it has most excellent visual effects , quite impressive even by 2009 standards - it has one of the better sound tracks in a monster movie Sure , it's not the Japanese Godzilla but , come to think of it , the Japanese Godzilla has none of the above . THE BLU-RAY RELEASE Of course , it's 1080p and it's an easy to notice improvement over the DVD release - I've bought both the VHS and the DVD releases prior to this one . More impressive than the picture is the sound track . The DTS-HD Master Audio it's literally a blast . It will rock your house with the proper sub-woofer . The extras are mostly those found on the DVD edition but there are a couple of Blu-specific additions . The Godzilla trivia game is actually fun - multiple-choice where the time it takes to pick the answer is factored into the score . A multi-player option is available for players with an Internet connection . To my surprise , this actually worked and I could play Godzilla trivia online with someone who was trying out this exotic feature at the same time I was . The Movie-IQ option is another BD-Live powered option . It checks some online database and provides up-to-date information about the movie while watching the movie . I immediately learned , while watching the movie , that Godzilla grossed $350 million and it was released in 1998 and that , since its release in 1954 there have been 28 Godzilla / GOJIRA movies . BD-Live also facilitated the printing of a ticket for the ' 2012 ' movie ( up to $10 ) . Be VERY careful and do NOT throw away the wrapping . The back of the sticker has a code that , when typed in in a BD-Live session will have Sony email you a PDF that can be printed and becomes a ' ticket ' that's valid until Dec . 31 2009 . Finally , the disk - not a second disk - includes a digital copy for the PSP . You first copy it to your PS3 hard drive and then you download it from there to the PSP - it comes with full instructions on how to proceed . MY RATING 5 stars as a movie and 5 stars as a Blu-ray release . If you happen to own a PS3 and a PSP and you happen to want to watch ' 2012 ' before the end of 2009 this is an incredible bargain .
    • 046 4  I enjoyed this film when it first came out . The only problem is The monster isn't Godzilla . I've seen their first designs of the monster for this film and it totally looks like Godzilla , they should have stuck with those . Instead they made him into a giant weak lizard . What I did like about this monster is that it did move like a dinosaur . The crew said they tried to make it more like The Beast from 20,000 fantoms which was the Grandfather of Godzilla . If that was the case , they should have called it The Beast . But this film wasn't bad .
    • 047 4  This movie aint that bad , I mean I am a fan of the old godzilla and I think this is another great chapter to the series no matter what other people say , and I think the new appearance of godzilla is awesome and way bigger than the old movies . and I honetly think this movie had a pretty good storyline to it . I admit godzilla ending up getting killed at the end was pretty stupid , I mean what were they thinking when they did that I dont know but besides that the car chase at the end and the part where they lured godzilla out were pretty exciting , but the whole baby godzilla thing was stupid these things are just wanna be raptors off jarassic park . the dvd itself makes this movie better sound wise and picture wise , and I tell you what if you think godzilla 2000 is better than this you could not be wronger , because that movie stunk . I think the best part of the movie itself though is the parts where godzilla is not trying to get killed when he first comes to the city and all the buildings and stuff are falling down , and the old man on the pier is hilarious.One more thing please do not buy this movie even a little bit for the extra features because thet stink they are the worst extra features ever . well if you believe the other reviews that this movie stunk you should at least give it a try and go rent it at your local video store , and if you dont at least give it 3 stars come mark no that my review wasnt helpful to you , but if you do like it at least take the time to mark yes on my review , thanks . p.s the helicoptor chases are pretty exciting too , but once again the baby godzilla thing was really stupid .
    • 048 4  I heard this movie was really bad before I rented it , and so I said to myself , I said self . . . how bad could it actually be ? All those millions of people who warned me can't all be right . This is what I get for being hardheaded ! I actually found myself rooting for poor Godzilla . Think about it , all she wanted to do was find a place to lay an egg and raise and nuture her child . Is this any reason to persucute this creature ? With all the so called geniuses in the science lab , could they not have found a way to tame Godzilla , rather than attack her and annilate this presumably docile giant lizard ? This movie is a sad commentary on humanity . It portrays us as over-zealous human beings reacting to a situation with extreme violence rather than thinking it out and dealing with this encounter in an intelligent way . This was a very cruel movie .
    • 049 4  I enjoyed this movie very much . Not only did it deliver in the entertainment department , it had heart . By this , I mean that this Godzilla , like the original Gojira was a sympathetic character - a victem of humankind's thoughtless actions ( nuclear experiments ) . The original Gojira monster was based on what they thought dinosaurs looked like in the ' 50s , that is to say , Godzilla-like . Now , paleontologists imagine dinosaurs as lithe , fast , agile , smart , and advanced . So the new Godzilla has those traits as well . I found it a nice comparison of dinosaur-to-movie phenomena . Sure , there are weak points to this movie , and some very strong ones . Some of my favorite things about the movie are : empathy towards animals despite what they do to us , a nice jab at film critics in the two Siskel / Ebertine characters , is the military force that adept at anything besides killing other humans , and finaly , what is the affect of human arrogance / ignorance ( nuclear energy ? ) , on the planet ? Just my thoughts .
    • 052 4  I will admit that this is a cheesy popcorn movie . If you have a basic TV setup or are buying it on VHS , I agree with many of the other reviewers here that you should pass on this one . However , if you have invested in a home theater system , this DVD is * essential * for your collection . The sound transfer to Dolby Digital 5.1 will let you test the limits of your speaker system . The 6 - channel helicopter scenes literally chase throughout your living room , and the fantastic action sequences are explosive on a big-screen TV . The low-frequency effects from the sub-woofer channel ( the .1 in Dolby Digital 5.1 ) will make the pictures hanging on your walls tremble , when Godzilla is pounding his way through the New York City streets . Your neighbors will hate you , but you will love the entertainment value of this DVD .
    • 053 4  This is by no means a Godzilla movie per say . The film portrays itself as a Jurrasic Park Goes To New York . Has none of the flair that made those Cheesy Godzilla films so great . I was disappointed to see that Godzilla didn't have his radioactive fire breath . At no point did the creature go on the offensive , he / she just hid in the city . There wasn't even those 6 inch high japanese women from that Mothra movie . Some element of fantasy was missing from this film . Instead Devilin gave us a ' What if a giant iguana decided to nest in NY story . ' The film I thought was very pretentious . The bit with the Roger Ebert look-a-like mayor was un-needed in the movie , and struck me as the director was saying , This film is so great that no film critic will be able to say anything negative about it . Well you guys couldn't have been so wrong . Instead of portraying if Godzilla existed in the real world , it would have been better if we the movie go'er were taken to a world that world that doesn't exist . If Devilin and Co where to make a sequel ( which I've heard is in the works ) , then I'd suggest beefing up on a plot , and perhaps watching all those Godzilla films that have come before it .
    • 055 4  . . . I don't know what to say . I must not be the only one around noticing that America takes everything and makes it their own , am I ? And now they've taken Godzilla . . . . . Okay , first of all , putting the debate over whether or not the movie is Godzilla aside , this movie sucks . Period . An unthrilling , boring monster movie , about a stupid looking monster that attacks New York to lay its eggs . Boring to the end , it even rips off Jurassic Park with its bland ending involving tons of little Godzillas . Now , another thing , this movie is definately NOT Godzilla . It has absolutely nothing to do with Godzilla . For some reason , all of a sudden Japan is totally weeded out of the thing , and Godzilla this time around attacks ( surprise ) America . He doesn't look like Godzilla , or act like Godzilla ( he lays eggs ? ) , and he is computer animated , not a big guy in a suit . The guy-in-the-suit thing looks more real ( no , I'm serious ! ) , plus it was funner . The charm of Godzilla is gone with this lame movie . I own every Godzilla movie , some dubbed , some subtitled , and some in pure Japanese , but I don't own this . It is not a Godzilla movie . Period . P.S . I was outraged to discover that Dean Devline ( who wrote Independence Day too , proving how horrible he is ) and his gang asked Toho to not make Godzilla movies anymore . Is that the stupidest thing ever or what ? And even worse : They might be making a sequel to this , ruining the Godzilla trend even more . Come on people , it's going to be more of the same . This is pathetic
    • 057 4  My son and I just watched the original Gojira , and he insisted on watching this the next day . OK , it doesn't have the dark tragedy of the original , but it really is pretty fun and there is a lot more humor . In addition to the theme of science run amok - yes , Godzilla is a mutant due to French nuclear testing in the Pacific - there is a hilarious theme of silly bosses and their smarter underlings , who of course are the ones who solve the problem by sheer guts and practicality . With the New York characters , that makes this more original than most monsters-in-the-city films . The acting is indeed very good and the special effects are spectacular . It won't rock your world and it isn't faithful to the original , but this is just a monster flick , and it is definitely better than average . If you take it for what it is , you can enjoy it . Recommended .
    • 058 4  I really liked this movie , but probably because I've never been a Japanese-Godzilla fan . It was a decent moster-movie with some fun effects and a ( psuedo ) - scientific storyline . I think this movie may have been better reviewed if it weren't called Godzilla , but maybe that's just me .
    • 060 4  this was not what I expected . I mean my mom and I love the Japanese movies with Godzilla fighting different monsters . But in this one he just running around desroying everything in Manhattan , New York . The movie would have been better if Godzilla was fighting a monster . I added this movie one star because I like the effects on Godzilla and there are only three scenes on this movie I like . The one when Godzilla was just entering the city . Near the end when Godzilla's eggs were hatching and the babies were roaming the building chasing the four main characters.Godzilla got trapped on the Brooklyn bridge and he got shot four times ( I think ) . This movie had only a couple of good scenes but overall it wasn't that good throughout the movie .
    • 062 4  I remember growing up and watching Godzilla on Saturday and Sunday afternoon's on the local UHF station ( waaaaay back when ) . I remember the hype they put out for the American version , and the first 3 times I saw it at the theatre , I was only disappointed by the acting and the fact that Godzilla didnt face off against another monster . It IS a good movie if you keep in the mindset that you have never seen a Godzilla flick before , or that this could be an alternate timeline / universe story . I could have done without the bad humor or the Jurassic Park-esque baby Godzilla side story , but I kinda like this Godzilla . . . sleek , fast and cunning . Check the scene where he is swimming past the submarines , as he stares them down as he goes by . . . Devlin tried to make him an extremely intelligent monster and it almost worked . After the movie , Fox put out an animated series which did do the monster justice . . . fighting other Giant monsters . . . it went along the old Hanna Barbarra series line where they could call Godzilla when needed . The acting was a bit better in that series . Fans really dissed this movie , and some of the claims are justified . But really give it a fair shake . I think you'll agree it IS a descent flick worth a second look . Just keep an open mind while watching it .
    • 063 4  First of all , let me just say . . . this new godzilla doesn't cut it . I mean , he is nothing but a big giant wussy thing . He gets caught up in a suspension bridge , gets hit with about 6 to 10 missiles ( I don't have an exact count ) and THAT kills him ? COME ON ! What's up with that ? He's nothing compared to the old godzilla . I grew up watching old godzilla movies where the people were dubbed in , and those really entertained me . That godzilla is cool because he is unstoppable ! Out of all the hundreds and hundreds of missiles and rockets and bullets and bombs that have hit him , none have really killed him ! The reason that I gave the movie 2 stars is because it has a really cool nuclear test in the beginning . In conclusion , I don't believe that this thing deserves to be called godzilla .
    • 064 4  Initially , I was very hard on Godzilla . I couldn't see it as anything but cheesy and annoying , a true idiot's blockbuster of a film . However , that was before I'd seen what it was based on . The 70 ' s Godzilla movies were cheap and cheerful , oozing with cheese and aimed squarely at kids . So it's no real surprise this big-budget adaptation is a little daft , it's supposed to be . First , the niggly negative points . The story is pants : Godzilla goes to Manhattan , destroys a few things , is killed . The convoluted original movies had thicker plots than that , even if they were totally ludicrous . The cast are the film's biggest letdown , with a hideously poor lineup led by terminal-nice-guy Matthew Broderick , Hank Azaria and various B-List actors . Only Jean Reno is fun to watch , as a French secret agent trying to cover things up . The script is a waste of time . Oozing with cheesy lines and with it's a stiff breeze would break it plot , you'll end up not caring who dies or how . . . in fact , you're mostly likely to care about Godzilla himself . And instead of Godzilla fighting the good fight as once he did , he's merely King Kong here , beating up a few buildings , hiding here and there and getting killed on a landmark . When he dies , so does the movie's only spark . And boy , is Godzilla himself good . Looking awesomely better than he used to , he's a tower of special-effects perfection , complete with original roar and various interesting abilities , such as swimming and fire-breath . He's great fun to watch , but spends far too much of the film in the background . There is simply not enough of him , and we're not really placated with the Gosh , looks like there's a sequel on the cards ending . But what the Hell , the film passes the time provided you're in the right mood . Lots of roaring , lots of explosions , a few nifty effects and a few good lines courtesy of Reno . Just bear in mind it's meant to be cheesy , go along with it and it's quite fun .
    • 065 4  Godzilla is just like the creature after which it's named : big , loud , and without direction . The plot only serves as an excuse for the movie , and the special effects are PlayStation silly . Matthew Broderick looks blank and does little to spice things up , and the dialogue is choppy . Oh , the soundtrack has a single from P . Diddy , who annoys me to no end . I can't say Godzilla is a complete disaster , but for an effects-heavy summer popcorn flick , you can do way better than this .
    • 066 4  Ever since the first trailer for Godzilla came out in 1998 , I was so excited about the movie . I got every Godzilla book in the bookshores , watched all the old movies and practically researched the timeless monster . I pre-ordered tickets for the movie , invited some of my friends to see it but . . . the movie wasn't what I expected . I actually never knew that Matthew Broderick would be in the movie nor did I know about Jean Reno . In my opinion , both actors suck and what's the deal with Broderick ? Why would they cast him to play in this action movie ? I have no clue . Jean Reno was cool but his part in the movie was useless . Instead of having a French guy , they should've had a Japanese guy since Godzilla does come from Japan . The romance in the movie is dumb since the girl isn't pretty at all and her acting bites ! Godzilla looked cool but probably could've looked better . And that Godzilla first attackings with the fishman boats and that Japanese ship were corny . The fishing scene with that old man when Godzilla enters Manhattan was overly and greatly stupid since Godzilla is over twenty feet tall and that old man threw the hook five feet away from him . DUMB ! What they should've laided down on a little was on the humor . Every line and scene had too much humor and I didn't even laugh . The ending is too much like Jurassic Park where our main characters are stuck in a building with Baby Godzillas . I personally think they should've had a thing where the Baby Godzillas actually get unleashed and start attacking the city . Overall , Godzilla is cool , but in a stupid way . I just wish they could've gotten better directors , better writors and definately better actors !
    • 067 4  Heavily publicized as the event film of the year , Godzilla was expected to thunder into theaters in May 1998 . It arrived with more of a thud . While it did not lose money , it was no monster hit . The finished product failed to met the high expectations of the audience . In 1994 a movie was released which was directed by Roland Emmerich and produced by his brother Ute and by Dean Devlin . It was called Stargate . This sleek , high tech science fantasy became a surprise worldwide hit . Devlin and the Emmerich brothers parlayed that success into getting financial backing for Independence Day . This second success made a fortune for them and for 20th Century-Fox . These first two hits may have stretched the imagination of the group too far , since their third joint effort was this $125 million dollar remake of Godzilla , cheap but effective Japanese film , which was a metaphor for the horrors of nuclear war . Sometimes , there is a certain charm to the Emmerichs and Devlin's efforts . They seem full of boyish naiveté and energy . They employ an army of special effects wizards who happily use all their cameras and digital equipment like brilliant abstract painters gone mad . Unfortunately , all these visual and audio tricks never overcome weak plots that seem to have been written on the backs of cocktail napkins . As the sensory elements increase in each successive film , the story line gets increasingly lifeless . In Godzilla , a gigantic reptile that is the result of nuclear weapons testing , decides Manhattan is the perfect island on which to hatch a couple of hundred little monsters . Godzilla must be stopped before it is destroys the world's most expensive piece of real estate in the name of Motherhood . The plot is so poorly conceived that no one can decide what sex Godzilla is . While it's revealed early on that the beast is pregnant , it is constantly referred to as ' he ' in every scene in which it wreaks havoc . Later it is referred to as asexual . Towards the end we are told that its offspring are born already pregnant themselves . Is this pseudo science , or is it a comment on the sexual confusion of our times ? I think the answer is that it's bad writing . There are some very good performers , such Matthew Broderick , in the movie . They prove that , when the pay is good , even seasoned professionals can be enticed to be bad actors . Perhaps the cast budget should have been trimmed , so that more money could have been spent on settling the issue of Godzilla's gender . My favorite scene takes place in the remains of Madison Square Garden , which Godzilla has trashed while laying his or her eggs . Huge chunks of concrete and twisted metal are everywhere . The famous scoreboard has fallen to the floor . So that we might see all the giant eggs , one of the characters throws a switch on this tiny electric junction box . Every light in the building comes on . Not a bulb has been broken , Not a single wire has been cut . Ah ! The miracle of movie magic ! The scene just described is typical of Godzilla and other films that are too reliant on arsenals of digital special effects . Visual and audio overkill numbs the senses . The makers seem to burn out as well . They create an environment which causes them to become obsessed with manipulation . Scenes contradict other scenes . Since the special effects are added on later , actors have too many invisible events going on around them . As a result , when performers are supposed to look amazed or terrified , they appear to be dazed and confused . Instead of feeling empathy , the audience is nearer to laughter .
    • 068 4  This had some of the elements for a great movie : Godzilla and a big budget . But the bad elements , bad acting and no plot , ruined the film . What we got was a boring , stupid , overblown mess . I assume the makers of this dreck got bored too since that had to throw in that terrible love story subplot and the baby Godzillas . Even feeding Matthew Broderick to Godzilla at the film's start would not have saved this awful , awful movie .
    • 070 4  I don't care if this huge reptile is Godzilla or not . I admit some ideas - like missile dodging agility - were not bad . But the plot is incredibly unconvincing and could not keep suspense . For example , an army loads tons of fish to lure the lizard from subway tunnel . The lizard appears as they have planned and nobody reacts ! No attack , no panic , just watching the iguana groaning . Maybe good laughing stuff for cynical audience .
    • 071 4  Yeah , okay , this is a good , thrilling movie with cool special effects and a scary monster , but it is not Godzilla ! At least , it's not to me . It doesn't even look like Godzilla , it looks like a giant iguana ! If you want real Godzilla action , check out the old Japanese movies . They may be corny , but they're way better than this . Even Godzilla 1985 is better . As a movie , it's not too bad , but as a Godzilla movie , it's nothing . It probably wouldn't hurt to skip this , or at least go in not expecting greatness . In summation : old Godzilla good , new Godzilla bad !
    • 073 4  Godzilla , though not as thought provoking as the Japanese original ( sans Raymond Burr ) , it does deliver on basic entertainment . Decent special effects , some good scenes . Lots of the acting was pitiful , yeah they tried coasting this in on the coattails of ID4 . Yeah , seen the plot before . Glad I got a dollar off on the rental . Not as bad as some people make it out to be . The DVD was a good example of the tech . Though not a keeper . A decent beer-with-buddies-armed-with-rubber-tipped-dart-guns to shoot Matt play girlfriend flick , when nothing really matters what is going on the screen . Fun . And make sure you get it as a discount rental .
    • 075 4  Frankly , we were all better off when Godzilla was clearly some guy in a rubber suit stomping miniture sets . While the original and its sequals may have been decidedly low-tech , they possessed a certain fun-ness which made them entertaining at worst - - something which all the millions poured into this film's special effects couldn't buy .
    • 077 4  Here's a review of each movie in this package : Godzilla , King of Monsters - The first and second best G movie . Where can you go wrong ? Godzilla vs . Mothra - Very well done , spiffy effects , and GOOD DUBBING . Godzilla vs . Monster Zero - It's not the best , but very hard to find otherwise . It's pretty OK for some laughs . Godzilla's Revenge - Oh , this one's bad . The little kids will love it , though . Parents - Avoid at all costs . Terror of Mechagodzilla - Very good , kinda cheesy . But Mechagodzilla is cool , so not a bad deal . Overall , a good , worth your money deal . I like most of these movies , so go ahead . Buy them . Enjoy them with the kiddies .
    • 078 4  that if I ever get to Hollywood , I'm gonna redo GODZILLA and give the loyal fans what they want - - - the fire , threats , big feet , everything .
    • 080 4  I hated this so much I can hardly find words to express my utter contempt for all involved in this monstrous abortion.I hesitate to grace it with the word ' film ' . Truly wretched .
    • 081 4  This movie copies ideas from Jurassic Park ( Little Godzilla chases human ) and Aliens ( a lot of eggs ) . Disappointed ! The most stupid idea is that Godzilla is dead finally ? ? ? This is total unacceptable for a classical Godzilla fan , If you grew up with the real Godzilla . The director and porducer toatlly forgot what successful idea they made in Independence Day ( Alien can not be beaten by any human weapon , So is Godzilla ) , They makes people both in USA and Japan very disappointed !
    • 082 4  This film was terrrible ! Let's start with Godzilla himself or should I say herself . This unworthy Godzilla looked like a giant iguana who is a big chicken . When is the last time you saw Godzilla run from anything ? This one ran from the army people like a punk . I never once saw it breath fire . The so called acting was terrible . The whole movie was focused around that worm doctor and his roody pooh girlfriend .
    • 084 4  I don ` t know weather to laugh or cry , either way this movie was horrible . From the point where each charicter was introduced I waited patiently for them to die but no , they all live to shock and horrify once again if theres a sequal . I would have rather seen some guy in a rubber suit with paint chipping off the eye then this hemaphrodite iguana that is the size of a 4 story building in one scene then in the next he is stepping on a four story building.There are no redeming qualities to this movie the actors are as bad as the characters they play , Godzilla just shows up and the people ( seeing a new species ) decide to kill it . The moral if its different it must die .
    • 085 4  Plot stinks . Give anything to American movie producers and watch them just destroy a good thing . Godzilla is supposed to be our hero , but in this movie he is the bad guy , with no evil monster to fight with . Furthermore , the acting , directing and special effects are pretty weak . Godzilla definitely resembles the Tyrannasourous Rex ( how do you spell the T word ? ) from Jurassic Park also toward the end of the movie where they are at Madison Square Garden , it looks like a rip off from Alien with eggs ( pods ) scene . An absolute utter waste and dissappointment . . . . I can't believe they are going to make Godzilla 2 . . . . . if they do they need to call Mothra ! for help !
    • 086 4  I was prepared for a bad movie , and this one dissapointed me . It really is awful . The special effects are terrible , the plot is non-exsistant , the acting is miserable . I was even in the mood for a smash em-up monster movie ! Bad , Bad , Bad .
    • 087 4  Ugggghh ! What a waste of time and money.Hollywood thinks that all you have to do to update a movie is to add computer effects . There's no need for a script or actors who can act ( shame on you Mathew Broderick ) . This movie is particularly painful for any true Godzilla fan . Leave Godzilla movies to the Japanese , because Hollywood doesn't get it .
    • 088 4  Whether you view it as a re-make , an update or a film on its own with no connections to earlier movies , the 1998 Godzilla is a mess . Alright , let's face it , you don't associate monster films with complex plots , but this is just braindead material . The better of the Japanese Godzilla films always had some kind of a plot . This is no more than a rampage-through-city rehash of every done-to-death idea in the cliche book . It makes the 1997 Lost World look like it was written by Edger Rice Burroughs by comparison . The ' plot ' is also full of holes - namely the impossibly small one the big Godzilla beast disappears into right in the middle of a city . And why would it lay its eggs in the middle of a city in the first place ? Characterisation is non-existent . The big fella is just a T-Rex with longer arms whilst the human characters seem to be men in rubber suits , maybe with the exception of the ' evil foreigner ' who comes across as the only living being in the film . And those baby Godzillas ! I think the Japanese one looked more convincing ! After a lot of tedious wandering about our inspiring and charismatic heroes are attacked by pixelated Raptor lookalikes which have the power to walk on thin air just above the ground . No really . So size doesn't matter , eh ? Well , my little dinos , that's just as well seeing as you need an IQ of less than 12 to enjoy this film . At least the worst of the original Godzilla films were entertainingly bad . This is just bad period . And I hear a sequel is planned . Must we continue dragging the world of monster movies any lower ?
    • 089 4  Why do so many people claim that fans of the older Godzilla films dislike this outing because of the plot ? You don't expect multi-layered plots in monster movies , but the better of the original series ( Monster Zero / Destroy All Monsters etc ) at least had some kind of a storyboard . This new film is just one long chase scene , an obvious cash-in on the Lost World . It all seems like money is being made by trundling out the same old tired idea yet again - monster bred by bomb-testing goes on rampage . Ho hum . Back to the stone-age of monster movies we go . Certainly nobody expected a multi-layered story , but this is just mindless , and the characters seem no more than cardboard cut-outs . Why do they have to keep doing re-makes anyway ? Re-makes of this , re-makes of that . Is the movie industry so stuck for ideas ? Re-makes very rarely come out anything as good as the originals - just watch the 1960s Conan Doyle Lost World or the 1970s King Kong if you don't believe me . Special effects-wise things could have been better . The big monster is just a Jurassic Park T-Rex with humps and its offspring are nothing short of laughable . This could have been watchably bad ( like certain older Godzilla films ) but instead it's just a waste of time and effort , money for old rope , the industry still cashing in on a monster who should have been laid to rest years ago .
    • 091 4  I don't know quite why some people think Godzilla fans were annoyed about this film just because it didn't contain a man in a stupid-looking suit . The CGI Godzilla was a step in the right direction , especially after the awful effects in the Spacegodzilla and Destroyah ( sic ) films . I think what really upset Godzilla fans was the fact that the action is hardly visible through the grey skies and rain , the characters are no more than cut-outs , there are endless ideas ripped off from the Lost World film and it's all very boring and slow . There are a few good scenes containing Godzilla , but after he disappears into an impossibly small hole there's nothing but wandering around and being chased by video-game Rapto . . . sorry , Godzilla's offspring . Tedious , and the plot is down there with the likes of ' Godzilla Vs Megalon ' . You don't expect multilayered plots in these sort of films , but this is no more than one long chase scene . ' Size Doesn't Matter ' . Hmm . That's just as well since you need an IQ of less than 5 to enjoy this .
    • 092 4  Why bother paying for a licence if you're not even going to make good use of it ? At last Godzilla is no longer a man in a rubber suit , but the new version resembles a cross between a Jurassic Park T-Rex and the Rancor Monster from Return of the Jedi . The characters are all lifeless and dull and the ' action ' is barely visible through the grey skies and bucketting rain . There's no real feeling that Godzilla is actually in the city doing the damage . And originality is non-existent . The plot is just another atomic-age ' monster runs riot ' piece of boredom filled with one idea ripped straight out of the Lost World after another . It would be okay if this film was fun , but it's just boring most of the time , not to mention filled the very wearisome xenophobia . And the Raptor-inspired Godzilla babies ! The biggest unintentional laugh of the film ! They seem to be walking just above the ground and up-close look like Raptors out of an old and rather feeble Amiga 500 computer adaptation of Jurassic Park . If the remake of King Kong is going to be as shabby and lifeless as this then perhaps they would be better off leaving old films alone .
    • 093 4  I think it was a mockery of the first godzilla . If they make another one I know a few people who will not see it .
    • 094 4  I've seen Godzilla movies in Japanese version since I was 6 and they're very nice.It's BETTER than what Hollywood try to polish but fail .
    • 095 4  Yes , the original Godzilla was the best , and yes , the story and dialogue of this film is bottom of the barrel , but its a big dumb summer movie . It was exciting enough to make me forget about how pissed off I was that the old G design was tossed to the wayside , and what we are left with is essentialy a giant iguana . I agree with some that it shouldn't have been called Godzilla , but you cant deny the power of scenes like the one where the beast jumps from Manhattan Island into the Hudson , or the climatic scene on the bridge . A great special effects ride , dont expect anything more . The DVD version is great , with tons of extras , including some Japanese trailers for the real Godzilla . It makes you realize the true value of your DVD player . A great price for such a packed disc .
    • 098 4  Godzilla was the worst film of 1998 and is one of the worst in the past nine years . I could go on and on with the problems , the main ones being : This film really tried to copy the Jurassic Park films and it failed miserably . I have no idea how come so many critics predicted this movie would gross over 250 million dollars . Audiences have already gotten their fill with giant lizards in the past summers . Another problem was that the characters were too corny and they act stupid . Only Jean Reno seemed realistic as the French CIA agent . The humor in this movie is horrid . Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich think people who mispronounce Tatopoulos is funny ? There were a lot of illogical scenes in the movie . Sometimes Godzilla is huge , but then he also manages fit into a small tunnel . He can breathe fire somehow but rarely , rarely uses it and he had many opportunities to use it . Devlin and Emmerich have sorely failed in their sci-fi attempts . The only decent film they made was Stargate . The two of them should make more adventurous films like that with a mind-boggling puzzle . I've already read that they are going to make a sequel to Godzilla . I seriously doubt many people will want to see it , only fans of special effects .
    • 103 4  I have always been a big fan of Godzilla , so when I learned that a big budget , Americanized Godzilla movie was being released , I was overjoyed . However , reality soon dashed any hopes I had for this movie . First off , the acting is terrible . I have no idea who that blonde girl was ( Broderick's girlfriend ) but she gave one of the worst performances I've ever seen . Broderick himself gave a lackluster effort that at times was painful to watch . All of that could be forgiven if the story were up to par . However , Godzilla manages to screw up in about every way . First of all , why is Godzilla treking across America , from the Pacific Ocean to New York ? Why not just nest in LA ? It boggles the mind . Other goofy plot points include : Godzilla as an asexual organism , no atomic fire , the whole cough . . . cough . . Jurassic Park . . . baby Godzilla attack scene . This movie is simply terrible . If you are lookng for a current Godzilla movie , go find Godzilla 1985 or Godzilla vs . Biollante . This over-hyped , over-blown mish-mash is not worth the effort to see .
    • 104 4  Change the title and I'll give it three stars . This is NOT Godzilla . This is a movie about a giant iguana that is about half the size of the King of Monsters , and has none of his strengths or powers . I saw this in the theater . . . only the money I spent kept me from walking out . Search for Godzilla again and purchase the new Gojira / Godzilla Deluxe Collector's Edition DVD . Use this DVD for skeet practice only .
    • 106 4  As Shojo Tomiyama ( the producer of the Big Guy's flicks for the past few decades ) put it , the Tristar Godzilla film removed whatever spiritual power the original monster had , a turned it into a giant iguana-raptor hybrid . Instead of an allegory for the atomic bomb , or even a giant badass who plows through the military and blows up whole city blocks with his heat-ray , this becomes a completely different animal , and THAT is where ' Godzilla's problem lies . . . that it simply ISN'T Godzilla . As a DvD , this one isn't too bad . The flick is there , the extras are nice ( the trailers for 2 actual Godzilla flicks included are a nice treat ) , but I really don't recommend this DvD for , well , ANYONE . I mean , it's not a ' bad ' film , per-say , it simply doesn't stand out , even amoung action films , and it represents a sense of arrogance that comes from disrespect of a world-renowned franchise , and ignorance of what people truly want . It's safe to say that because of this film , every other remake and ' movie version ' film to date , following this , have been relatively more loyal to its source material ( Spiderman , etc . ) So , perhaps a little good came out of it .
    • 107 4  This was a pretty good movie . I like when the old man is fishing in the Hudson river , and Godzilla comes out , it's cool ! I bought the dvd about 5 years ago , and I'm happy I did . The special FX are very good , and so is the sound quality . If you like the old Godzilla movies , you'll love this updated version ! Enjoy !
    • 108 4  Sometimes you can view a flick that is just so godawful that it suddenly becomes funny and entertaining . But this is not the case here . The writers - and man are they in need of some remedial script classes - attempt to take the whole stupid thing seriously but what can one say when the star of the movie walks like a drunk T-Rex and has no lines ? Hokiest science around - radiation caused something to happen to Godzilla . There's baby zillas lurking around the edges . Anyway , skip all the scientific explanation ( LOL ) and let's get to the attack on New York City . A befuddled Matthew Broderick is paired with other actors who look as embarrassed as the rest of us who have paid $7.50 to get insulted . Needless to say , he did not break a leg hyping this particular little flick and it appears he is trying to hide . It is just so bad - the CGI fight scenes are pure boredom , the dialogue so bad it's good ( I contradict myself there ) and the conclusion so lame you wish once again that Godzilla had won and destroyed Gotham . THis is a catastrophe that will somehow make a lot of people a lot of money - Go figure .
    • 109 4  Here it is , what every Godzilla fan wanted . Hollywood and a big budget , and this is all we got ? First off , the French ? The French saves the day ? Please , my mother can beat the French . Second , a lame storyline , it is like Jurassic Park in NYC . Babyzilla's that look like raptors . The king of all movie mistakes , you have a product that fans all around the world know , and YOU CHANGE IT ? Give me a man in a rubber suit that looks like a T-Rex than a CGI iguana on steroids ? No radioactive fire-breath , no one running thru the streets of NYC screaming Godzilla ! Thank God , Toho came out with Godzilla 2000 and basically said Forgive us for letting Hollywood make that horrible movie ! Here is what you wanted !
    • 110 4  This is the only film I have ever felt totally ashamed to have contributed to their theater take . Honestly , folks , this is one stinker of a movie whose excellent DVD features cannot ever fully atone for . We all grew up watching the badly-dubbed Godzilla films from Japan , and many of us actually liked the campy , poorly translated flicks with a guy in a rubber suit stomping on model tanks and buildings ( and then later protecting the Earth from all manner of evil mega-monsters ) . Unfortunately , this film is everything that the Japanese films are not . Produced in the middle of a series of intentionally-made blockbuster movies ( following such fine fare as Independence Day and anticpating the awful Armageddon and Wild Wild West ) , this movie intentionally tries to go in too many directions to succeed - - is it a campy monster movie of the 60 ' s presenting ecological warnings , or perhaps an action / science thriller a la Jurassic Park , or even a special effects extravaganza ? Godzilla never seems to make up its mind . The action sequences fail to thrill as they come across as contrived and artificial , many looking to be made for prompt conversion to video games . The acting , too , leaves much to be desired ; Godzilla will stand always as a blemish on Matthew Broderick's career . The movie goes on about an hour longer than it should , forcing audiences to endure the death of Godzilla only to face her ( ! ) babies , CG near-clones of velociraptors from Jurassic Park that chase our heroes around Madison Square Garden . Godzilla has the distinction of being one of less than a handful of films I've shouted at in the theater - - here , when said title monster chases a helicopter through downtown NYC , I literally shouted , GO UP ! . . . but apparently helicopters can only fly horizontally and get run down by a hungry monster . I would like to recommend this film for a bad movie night or for inclusion on any future episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 , but then I'd be indirectly contributing to the film's financial gains . Watch this for a laugh or a groan if someone else has it on hand , but don't waste your own money .
    • 112 4  This Has to be the only movie I ever saw that when I was in the Theater the only thing I could think of was damn when the hell is this movie going to finish . This Movie just Plain Sucks ! Trust me dont waste your money .
    • 113 4  I like monster movies , I like Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno and I love seeing things go BOOM but Godzilla was so dumb and derivative that all the fun was . . . . . . . out . It felt more like a really long preview than an actual movie . Some of the effects were very well executed but like Independence Day I just didn't get excited by the havoc . I guess my biggest complaint is the utterly shameless ripoff of the end of King Kong with poor Godzilla's final heartbeats pounding loudly for all to hear . Geez , couldn't they have ripped off stuff from a GOOD movie ? ; ) P.S . I know I shouldn't be looking for technical accuracy in a movie about a giant lizard rampaging through New York but . . . a Sidewinder missile blowing the top ten stories off of the Chrysler building ?
    • 114 4  I have always been what you might call an average fan of the Godzilla movies . Most of them I could sit through and enjoy , two or three of them I could not . I was really looking forward to this new american version because I really enjoy big budget summer blockbusters ( for the most part ) . I never would have dreamed that Hollywood could have failed to this extent ! I knew we were in trouble when I first heard that Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich were hired to make this film . It has become apparent to me that each time this duo makes a film , they put less and less effort into it ! Stargate was really great . When everybody said it would flop , they suprised thier critics with a hit . So , while enjoying their success , they went down to Mexico to write the script for ID4 . I believe the too few weeks that were spent on this script has to be the quickest writing feat since Ed Wood Jr . ' s no brain efforts ! Hollywood was all to quick to accept this lame duck . Luckily for them , they had a huge hit ( credit goes to the marketing campaign more than anyone else ) . I don't know who was responsible for going after this duo for Godzilla , but I suspect that they are kicking themselves to this day . That descision has single-handedly ruined the opportunity for a very successful franchise . The script must have been written over night . I suspect that the casting didn't take that much longer ! The acting is horrible and the special effects were un-inspired . They took everything which made Godzilla so cool and scrapped it in favor of a stupidly designed , giant iguana with no special powers other than size ( which ironically turned out not to matter ) . This version of Godzilla has sent me running back to the originals . I then discovered the new 1990 ' s Godzilla movies . These are everything that the Tri-Star movie should have been . Don't count on a sequel to this utter garbage because the rights have went back to Toho Studios in Japan ! Godzilla 2000 will blow this bad memory away ! By the way , has anyone noticed that there is no way that Godzilla ( due to his size ) could have been carrying around that many giant eggs ? All of them simply would'nt fit ! Hmmm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
    • 115 4  I have been a die hard fan of the old fashioned TOHO Godzilla movies for a long time . This could not even begin to compare with the worst of the old Godzilla series when they were in rubber suits jumping on popsicle stick trees and buildings . Apparently Jean Reno [ from the professional and Ronin ] must have been a die hard Godzilla fan as well becuase that is the only reason i can think of why he put his great acting abilities in such an ultimate B-movie . The old story of how Godzilla was born from A-bomb tests is much more convincing than this . The story was very very weak and lame . The special effects were alright but they made godzilla look like a big fleshy cartoon . He looked totally unrealistic , with that enormous chin he looked like the batman on the animated series . Give me a few million dollars and i could make a better movie with my old Godzilla collectible figures , some legos and an 8mm camcorder . An absolute must not see .
    • 118 4  The American Godzilla looks like Dennis Rodman in a lizard suit , despite the much-vaunted CGI trimmings . Jean Reno and Matthew Broderick are totally wasted with this vacuous plot . Maria Pitalo , as Broderick's girlfriend , is irritating beyond words to say . I kept hoping she would end up getting eaten , or stomped or something . The thing that destroyed this movie for me was the ham-handed , brain-dead , typically American reconstruction of the Godzilla legend . They cheated him out of his fire breath , and they gave him a sex change . The addition of Jurassic Park / Aliens style little Godzillas that chase everyone all over the place was . . . well , just dumb . Independence Day was fun and stupid . In that movie , Emmerich and Co . took all the biggest cliches of UFO attack movies and created a loving , loud and ridiculous tribute . Here , they miscalculate . There's too much stolen material ( particularly from Alien and Jurassic Park ) , and they obviously don't get the Godzilla legend , nor can they figure out what to do with it . They failed to understand the truth that in every Godzilla movie , Godzilla is the hero and the main point of interest . Here , Godzilla is just a monster , and the movie tries to distract us with subplots and people . Emmerich Co . didn't understand that nobody really cares about the humans in a Godzilla movie ; they're secondary , only there to react to Godzilla himself . I was totally disappointed and irritated by this poor attempt at a Godzilla film . Fortunately , after this movie's disappointing box office performance and critical reviews , the studio dropped Godzilla like a radioactive rock . Toho quietly revived the fallen and disgraced King of Monsters , and brought him back in fine style with Godzilla 2000 , which I would recommend wholeheartedly over this terrible , boring , annoying movie .
    • 120 4  Godzilla Godzilla came out during a splurge of epic titles began appearing . The creators of Independence Day had so much success with that movie , they decided that Epic was the way to go . So , taking the extremely cheesy Godzilla and turning it into a high-budget epic movie seemed like a good move right ? Sadly , no it is not . There are some good things about this film , but there is also a lot that I dislike . If you have ever heard of Godzilla before , you know the premise of this story . Godzilla is a giant dinosaur-like creature that has been created due to radiation mutation . This is all explained very well in this movie . A French territory in the Pacific has been used for Nuclear weapon testing for a long time . This caused a certain Lizard to evolve into the empire state building-size Godzilla . The creature has been swimming around the ocean terrorizing ships and people along the way . Eventually , Godzilla finds his way to New York City . The United States Military and French Secret Service are trying to stop Godzilla . Our main characters are Nick , a nuclear radiation specialist , and Audrey , a girl looking to become a reporter . Nick soon discovers that Godzilla could possibly be reproducing asexually . This could create over 40,000 Godzillas in just a year if they do not stop the single Godzilla they have now . Audrey tries to get information from Nick in order to better her career . This is not a bad group of characters . The problems with this movie come in the script . The actors are constantly making corny jokes about what is going on . It seems like the characters are not fearful of the monstrous Godzilla . In addition , there is a complete lack of screaming in this film . The characters are too busy making corny jokes about there death defying experiences . Therefore , Godzilla comes off as a goofy character that people make fun of ; this ruins any mood that the film could possibly set up . Godzilla himself is animated well at time and poorly at other times . Considering when this movie was made , the animation is good . Sometimes lighting does not work correctly with the background . Other times Godzilla comes off as just too fake looking . I like the idea that Godzilla can swim and burrow in the ground . It makes him feel more lizard like . Some of the animations of Godzilla swimming or crawling through a subway are the best in the movie . One animation I hate seeing in this movie is Godzilla dodging missiles constantly in this movie . Godzilla seems to dodge every single attack that comes at him . Then when he finally is hit with a missile , he drops down dead . It makes him feel like he was never a threat at all ; the pilots just had bad aiming . No one who is a fan of the cheesy Japanese flicks should expect that type of movie . I have never seen them , but I know they are nothing like this movie . This movie is an epic , high-budget American film . Unless you are a Godzilla freak , this is a waste of time . I would also like to point out that the ending leads into a cartoon series that aired on Fox Kids . There will be no sequel , and that is a good thing .
    • 121 4  Get real , this is a very entertaining movie that was very well done with special effects and character developement.Sure I loved the old Godzilla movies too , but face it they are weak in effects and character.Enjoy the oldies but don't get so caught up in them that you can't accept change.If they tried to keep Godzilla the same as the past films he would be the laughing stock of hollywood.Appreciate the fact that somebody loved the old monster enough to update him or her , to keep the classic monster going .
    • 122 4  I loved this movie so much , I watched it about 8 - 9 times ( had nothing to do ) and rented it about 3 times and watched it in the threatre once . Why are so many people complaining about this so much ? How much acting do you want ? Are you looking for an actor that acts like a know it all and does everything right ? I mean the movie has action from beginning to end and oh what a fantastic , dramatic , and exciting ending . I even cried when Godzilla died , I even told my gf and yes even though she wants to have nothing to do with me now , fact still stands that people should die and make way for a new more superior species on this planet . This movie was great , I thought the actors were pretty well suited to this movie , you don't need really famous actors to make a good movie , I'm getting fad up with seeing actors like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise etc on the tv anyways . Its nice having a nervous , clumsy , nerdy , dorky sorta guy as the main character , its sort of refreshing and renewing . Anyhow , Godzilla , I think , is a mutated iguana . Why ? Well , it looks like an iguana in many ways and in the beginning , during the nuke testings , you see iguanas running around , therefore giving it an assumption that it was one of the iguana eggs that mutated . However , of course this thing is far from the truth and there are many things that shows that its not exactly an iguana . Iguanas don't eat meat by the way , nor do they lay so many eggs , nor do they run on their hind legs , nor do they like to burrow so much , and many other things . I guess as it shows , in the end , it is your opinion that counts and not others . I've watched movies that I liked that many others say are bad and I've watched movies that I hate that many others say was great . I love this movie and who cares what the rest of you think . Its the 21st century , don't expect the old godzilla to succeed any further than it has already . I'm tired of seeing Japanese folks run for their lives and screaming in horror , I think its time to give the Americans and its great nation a chance to do it now .
    • 123 4  This movie starts off well enough , and I actually thought the premise for Godzilla's creation was fairly clever . I was beginning to think that the negative reviews I'd heard were a bit exaggerated . Unfortunately , the film makers decided special effects were more important than originality and story line . It's really too bad as this could have been a great movie instead of just another special effects tour de force lacking subtance . The U.S . Army's attempts to stop Godzilla are reminiscent of the Keystone Cops ; they have the most advanced weapons in the world but can't hit the broad side of a barn ( just large skyscrapers ) . And just how do you loose a 60 - story monster on Manhatten Island ? Several of the scenes appeared to have been lifted right out of Jurassic Park and leave you with a been-there-done-that feeling . What's worse , you're made to endure the mandatory tired romance formula so many movies think they can't live without . Godzilla is worth renting if you like special effects , but not one I'd shell out my hard-earned bucks to own .
    • 125 4  I think that this movie could have been OK if it had not been called Godzilla ! It should have been called Jurrasic Park III or whatever it would have been at the time . I have always loved Godzilla , and I mean the real Godzilla . The sad part is , I can see that this movie was trying to give a modern view of the old Godzilla films , but to no effect . A budget does not make a movie . It was not the actors , it was the plot ! Nothing else needs to be said .
    • 128 4  1 . godzilla is not that WEAK ! 2 . godzilla looks nothing like that ! 3 . this movie make's godzilla look bad ! all in all . . . horrible movie ! godzilla can't even breath fire !
    • 129 4  This movie is a disgrace to the Godzilla name . I was so stoked when I saw the first preview of it . but it turned out the preview was the best thing about the movie . Essentially , the filmmakers took all that was appealing about Godzilla in the first place ( i.e . near-indestructibility , godlike-fearsomeness , radioactive breath ) and chucked it out the window in favor of a more modern approach . Which may have looked great on paper , and even in film clips , but all the special effects in the world can't disguise the fact that the filmmakers TURNED GODZILLA INTO A GIANT CHICKEN ! ! ! ! ! ! ! I mean , for crying out loud , he does nothing but run away for most of the time he's on camera . He is not threatening , he is not fearsome , and he certainly does not evoke the spirit of the Godzilla of old . I sure didn't give a damn about what happened to any of the characters in the film , as their reactions were more like riding a roller coaster that if a fearsome monster were about to devour them . The filmmakers had to attempt to inject a little more menace by introducing a ludicrous plot about the big-G being an egg-producing machine , I suppose to bring the horror to a more personal level , but all they ended up doing was ripping off Jurassic Park . And the ending was a travesty . C'mon , the Godzilla I know would have knocked those jet fighters right out of the sky and dared the millitary to send more ! Sadly , this isn't the Godzilla I knew and loved , but a coporate lackey whom was altered in an attempt to please the majority of the movie-going public . This could have easily been the G-movie to end all G-movies . Sadly , Godzilla will have to work long and hard to erase those images of him running pell-mell through the city to escape the threat of helicopters a fraction of his size . A giant chicken indeed .
    • 132 4  Godzilla is popular all over the world . But this is not Godzilla . This is Hollywood's attempt at making a movie in a franchise they didn't understand . As a dinosaur movie , it is a big budget movie with a low b plot , but might be acceptable if they didn't claim it was Godzilla . If you either don't like the original Godzilla or have never seen it , you might enjoy this movie . But if you know the real Godzilla , this movie can make you wince whenever you even see the cover art . It is not faithful to the original . The original Japanese Godzilla was a force of nature that was unstoppable and outside man's power , unless unthinkably terrible means were used to end that force of nature . Means so terrible that the creator must destroy himself so that others less wise would not destroy the world using them . Later , Godzilla transformed into a force of nature humans struggled against but failed , and were left wondering if they should have ever tried fighting it in the first place . Godzilla is an earthquake , a volcano and a typhoon ; something you simply can't defeat no matter how powerful you think you are . This Godzilla is a stupid animal that man overcomes through intellect . It reminds me of the 1950 ' s Hollywood monster movies where radiation creates an army of giant insects which end up being wiped out by human power . That was b material back then , and it is low b material now .
    • 133 4  This review is from : Godzilla [ Blu-ray ] ( Blu-ray ) What's with all the bad reviews ? I would have seen it in its theatrical run if not for all the tepid reviews by the professionals . Saw it first on VHS , then DVD ( which I bought ) . The fakes in the Japanese movies , well , let's just say , not my cup of tea . Roland Emmerich does nice work and this one is real fun , complete with a dynamite sound track ! Oh well , to each his own , I have pre-ordered by BD copy , and look forward to more fun !
    • 134 4  What's with all the bad reviews ? I would have seen it in its theatrical run if not for all the tepid reviews by the professionals . Saw it first on VHS , then DVD ( which I bought ) . The fakes in the Japanese movies , well , let's just say , not my cup of tea . Roland Emmerich does nice work and this one is real fun , complete with a dynamite sound track ! Oh well , to each his own , I have pre-ordered by BD copy , and look forward to more fun !
    • 135 4  The American Godzilla movie seems to be a very divisive film . There is no middle ground , some either like it or they hate it . I am one who actually really enjoys this film despite its flaws . Having grown up on the Toho Godzilla films of the 60s and the 70s it seems that the majority of the complaints about this movie are in how far Rolland Emmerich and Dean Devlin deviated from Godzilla's original design . I think those who were upset with the design changes do have a valid point . When you change the design of a cultural icon it is bound to upset the core fan base . However , despite the monster being Godzilla in name only , the movie does have many qualities to redeem it . Pros : Taking the design of the monster on its own merit , Godzilla , or Zilla , as he is renamed by Toho studios , is a very creatively designed creature . Even if one doesn't consider this creature Godzilla , on his own he is a well designed monster and a welcome addition to the panoply of Toho's Kaiju creatures . He is more animal like than his Japanese counterpart ( and less indestructible ) and this has been the source of many of the criticisms levied at this incarnation of Godzilla . But from my perspective the CGI effects are much more superior to a guy walking around in a latex suit and that adds to the sense of realism . Rolland Emmerich and Dean Devlin have unapologetically stated that they make fun lighthearted popcorn movies . That is exemplary with this movie and that is where the enjoyment comes . All of the Toho Godzilla movies are covered with a healthy slice of cheese or two and the American version is no exception . This is a light hearted movie which doesn't take itself too seriously and is enjoyable despite its flaws . Cons : Sure the movie does have its cheesy moments but in my opinion all of Toho's Godzilla movies ( with the exception of the 1954 Japanese original ) are covered with more Velveeta than this American version . I believe Matthew Broderick does an excellent job in the lead role as well as much of the supporting cast . My only major complaint and big flaw as far as the characters are concerned is with Mayor Ebert . He spends the majority of the movie just whining and complaining and worried how this will affect his popularity . Even when the military is doing things to protect the city Mayor Ebert really doesn't seem to care about the welfare of the citizens at all . The other complaint is that the time spent in Madison Square Gardens with the baby Zilla's is the part of the movie which seems to slow down and drag a bit too much . Other than that I really do enjoy this movie and wished Zilla could get another chance to star in his own feature length movie .
    • 136 4  It's one of my son's favorite movies . We've worn out the video tape , destroyed a disc and absolutely had to have another one . We've already watched it 5 times since it arrived a month ago . I'm more of The Hours type of movie watcher , but I love watching this one with my son . Action , monsters , chases , and pyrotechnics - - it has it all . Oh yeah - - - it's also a love story . Like I said , it has it all .
    • 138 4  This review is from : Godzilla ( DVD ) Good action picture . Godzilla is a cross between the old Godzilla and Alien . Enjoyed very much .
    • 139 4  Good action picture . Godzilla is a cross between the old Godzilla and Alien . Enjoyed very much .
    • 140 4  Well I enjoyed this film , it was a fun night out , when I firsts aw it theatrically and to this day I still pop it in for good entertainment . Is it the old Godzilla , no not by far . I love old Godzilla I really do , but I'm no crazed fanatic . I have all of the movies featuring Godzilla , and they are all fun , some not so fun like SOn of Godzilla-really bad film . BUt they all have they're charm . I know that Godzilla fans hate the remake or revision . But lets be realistic , if your going to remake Godzilla go all out and make it different . The special effects were great , still are as well as they hold up even today . While I consider Gojira a full blown classic , I'm glad they went somewhere different with it here in the remake . There are some good laughs and cool action scenes . The overall story is weak but not bad , and the new look for Godzilla and lets be realistic fits , while I wanted a full blown fire breathing monster , at least we got a giant monster . I wish this would get a sequel . But I know most people will hate me for giving this a good review but yknow so what . A man in a rubber suit doesn't cut it anymore people , I'm sorry . Thats probably why I don't like any of the modern films that came after this remake . They are just sad movies .
    • 141 4  The look and flow of this American film is very disappointing . Don't bother . Try some of the 1990 ' s - 2000 ' s Japanese versions .
    • 142 4  This version of the well known Godzilla story has one advantage over many of its predecessors ; its special effects . Godzilla looks like a living creature as opposed to a puppet , and the look of the movie makes a lot of difference . However , other than its digital Godzilla , this movie has little to recommend it . The characters are not especially likable ; Nick Tatopolous ( Matthew Broderick ) is unrealistic as the scientist that saves the world ; the love interest , Audrey , adds nothing to the movie . Other characters ( the head of the army , the mayor of NYC , Animal the cameraman ) are also badly cast , played , and / or written . Perhaps the biggest failing of Godzilla , though , is its length . First Godzilla must be defeated ; doing so takes at least an hour and a half . After which , Godzilla's hundreds of raptor like offspring must be blown up and lastly , the resurrected Godzilla must be destroyed once again . After each victory viewers are cheering for the end of the movie ; twice they are let down before the movie finally , after over two and a half hours , comes to an unsatisfying close . Filled with rain , explosions , lizards , and the destruction of NYC , Godzilla is a good flick for hard-core action fans who love the Great Green Reptile , aka Godzilla himself . But for the rest of us , its a poorly made take on an overused idea .
    • 143 4  Ok Ok Most people who saw this Gozilla thought it sucked . I think it didn't though . The reason most people don't like this Godzilla is because Godzilla doesn't have an enemy to face plus the raptors and there being 2 Godzilla's ( or at least that's what I think ) . But I loved it because it took place in New York instead of always being in Japan , Godzilla just being himself , the mouths of the people actually going with the words , and a good cast .
    • 144 4  I see this movie is not a favorite to others but it is a favorite with me . They did not show Godzilla too early into the movie because they were building up the suspense , instead showing hints of his size and the damage he could inflict ( The first boat attack , claw marks , foot prints , the 3 tug boats , big waves , loud groans ) . They showed how he became Godzilla , great characters , action , the humor was a little dry , nice ending hinting to a sequel that probably never will be ( with these producers anyway ) . Overall I really liked it , I thought it flowed well and it kept my attention . I think everyone was expecting something more , bigger or maybe more violence - who knows , but if you want more , I suggest renting the older more boring Godzilla movies .
    • 145 4  I have honestly never seen another Godzilla movie , so it is a possibility that Gojira was underrated in this film . I however , very much enjoyed this movie and felt that Matthew Broderick had an excellent performance . The special effects were awesome , and the storyline superb .
    • 146 4  I once read in an interview with Dean Devlin that himself and Roland Emmerich were not pleased with the final edit of this film because of time contraints . Would it have really mattered ? Although they gave a nod to Gojira's real name not the bastardized Americanized version , it didn't really help and neither would another edit . This movie seemed to try to cash in on the raptor & T-rex popularity of Jurassic Park . Godzilla movies were and still are many things , going from all out camp to grim cautionary tale , but when the old ( and new ) Kaiju movies take themselves seriously , they succeed in their goals with heart and substance , and when they go for camp even those work on some level . This movie never figured out what it wanted to be and seems all the more shallow for it . If art is honesty then the old Godzilla is a masterpiece and the American version is just a [ inexpensive ] copy . Note : Godzilla movies are still being made in Japan and if you have the means and are a fan , try to see them . The last US release was Godzilla 2000 , three have came out since , two of which I've seen and they are far better than most . Also see the Gamera 90 ' s trilogy , in many ways they are superior . Added note as of Jun 2006 : I watched an episode of the Director's with Roland Emmirich and what he had said about this movie was that it would be neat to see a large monster run around New York and that's why he made it . Well that certainly explains quite a bit about this pile of . . . Roland never got Gojira to begin with , the cards were already stacked against him before he even started . Gojira recently enjoyed his 50th anniversary with one last movie ( yeah right ) and it stunk almost as bad as this . If you are a Don Frye fan , he is in it quite a bit , though only as a novelty .
    • 147 4  This is not Godziila , perhaps a giant lizard attacking NYC , but those are two different things . I love the campiness , bad dubbing , and low tech effects of the early ( real ) Godzilla flicks but most of all I love the SPIRIT that those films were made with . This high-tech 1998 mis-named Godzilla movie is just a long string of computer effects , corporate sponsors and overall emptiness . No spirit or purpose ( other than $ $ $ ) whatsoever . A product for the indiscriminate masses .
    • 148 4  . . . except this guy can MOVE ! There's no use comparing it to the Japanese Godzilla movies , even Godzilla 2000 , because it's not anyways near the same . People get hung up on comparing things to the original ( or the book , if there was one ) , and that seems to color their judgement way too much . This lizard was CGI slick , smart , funny and could actually make facial expressions . Most of the destruction was done by the Air Force jets trying to kill it , which I personally thought was the most hilarious part . Love it or not , this movie remains the most realistic ' giant monster run amok in a big city ' movie ever made .
    • 149 4  This is Godzilla here , Not Jurassic Park . I wasn't expecting some Award winning movie with great acting and a amazing plot . This is Godzilla ! He's a big Lizard . All I wanted was to see a giant reptile destroying a city and that's what i got . The director ( Roland Emmerich ) who directed Independence Day , and the Patriot is my favorite director and he did a great job of this movie . He gave me what I , and my friends wanted when we went to see it , and we applaud him , and Dean Devlin .
    • 150 4  No , this overblown epic from Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin ( the masterminds who made Universal Soldier ) have come up with the most disappointing monster movie of all time . Go-chila was never seen and when he finally appeared on screen , everybody watching this trash had fallen asleep . Matthew Broderick plays a scientist who discovers the new breed which is a cross between an alligator , a lizard and Andre the Giant . An ugly piece of cinema . Helicopters and jets can't stop the thing because they just blow up monumental buildings in New York instead . No aim ! The creature chases the scientist and his friends and it's not funny . Little Godzilla babies run around making a mess of consession stands in Madison Square Garden . Bad mother for not teaching your children manners . Bad director for making a slow boring movie that is just another The Lost World : Jurassic Park done worse . Japanese people should be ashamed of this movie that doesn't contain people running around waving their arms like maniacs screaming , Godzilla ! But , I was doing that running out of the theaters with popcorn spewing out of my mouth .
    • 151 4  This 1998 version is so [ bad ] I can't even begin to tell you ; but let me try . . . This highly touted , highly flouted modern remake of an old classic has done a great disservice to its original prototype . In fact , this monster ( and movie ) should not even be called ' Godzilla ' , because it lacks all of the elements which made the origials so great . . . This 1998 version of ' Godzilla ' is like some over-teched video game mixed with a terrible plot and [ bad ] acting . I'm sorry but Gozilla is more than big chunk of pixels and graphics that destroys New Yrok City . Godzilla , the original , Japanese Godzilla at least , is a creature whose very clumsiness makes it more realistic , and is a monster who attacks , not to be the next biggest blockbuster hit , but due to a tragic bout with radiation poisoning . Its such a shame when movies are remade into modern flops , and when great , almost mythical entitites such as Godzilla are molded into mere graphic toys for overly-confident , technocratic filmmakers and their money-making attemps . This film flopped . Get it ? Godzilla is not merely a computer-generated toy , but a saga that is supposed to have a plot , a purpose , and at least a decent screenplay . You will not find any of those qualities with this flashy 1998 ' attempted ' remake . Get the original Japanese version instead , or you will really be missing out . . . .
    • 153 4  Well , call me crazy , but I always like this movie for some reason . Maybe it's the cool new CGI Godzilla , or its the crazy Apache helicopter chase scenes through the concrete jungle which causes more damage than the creature itself does . Like taking the top off of the Chrysler Building with 2 Sidewinder missiles that miss the beast as it ducks away from them . Being made in 1997 ( 8 ) , I found one line in the film quite ironic . I think it was the boss at the news office that said that the initial Godzilla attack on NYC was the worst attack since the WTC bombing ( of 1993 ! ) . Little would they know , now would they ? Now as for the DVD features , the sound is very loud . Lots of bass even on my little 80W SRS stereo . The aforementioned helicopter chase scene is really engaging . The picture quality is top notch also . Setting your DVD player and TV to 16 : 9 mode , you get a really clear picture . ( Anamorphic mode ) . Well anyway , I've only looked through the trailers , I haven't checked out the couple other special features yet .

  • 069 4  Godzilla is not as good as it could have , and really SHOULD have been . Truth be told , this is more of a remake of THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS than the original GODZILLA from 1954 / 56 . That having been said , this is still and entertaining movie in the recent summer movie tradition . The plot may be easy to pick apart , but the movie still comes across like a roller coaster ride . The effects in GODZILLA are quite impressive in spots , but there are a few shots that don't look as convicing . The DVD picture and sound quality are fantastic , and there are some nice extras as well , so at least the DVD package exceeds expectations . The main gripe for many fans is that this is just NOT Godzilla . This monster , compared to the unstoppable Japanese version , is a wimp . It doesn't LOOK like Godzilla , and it doesn't ACT like Godzilla . However , if you watch this movie with realistic expectations you just might enjoy it .
    • 124 4  confused by the title ? when you watch this movie , you won't be . Godzilla ISN'T Godzilla . IT'S A FREAKIN ' MUTANT RADIOACTIVE IGUANA , THE CHARACTERS ARE AS DUMB AS ROCKS , AND THE WHOLE STORY IS POINTLESS ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! want good advice ? GET SOMETHING ELSE WITH YOUR MONEY ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

  • 072 4  This film doesn't even reach the cheesy entertainment retro B popcorn genre , you'll enjoy this one only if you are mind-retarded , ID4 was a hit one is a punch out . And probably a sequel which promise to be worse than this one will be released .

    • 111 4  Yeah , Godzilla is a cheese pie the director throws in our faces . . . The special effects were not that good ( and even before seeing the movie , I knew it would be the only interest in this one ) and the girl who plays Matthew Broderick's wife is even worse than Rose McGowan and all the stupid ' ' actresses ' ' in Jawbreaker . She didn't have a lot of things to say and she got nominated for the worst actress at the Rizzies ' fest . And what about Matthew Broderick ? He played in ' ' MASTERPIECES ' ' like Inspector Gadget and Godzilla . . . what an annoying career ! I am kidding when I am saying he had a good career . Jean Reno deceived me a lot , even when I think about the fact that he had not a big role . But when I think about the fact that the biggest role in this film was the dinosaur made by computer , I tell myself ; let's skip this one in Jean Reno's career . He was excellent in The Professional and in other movies . . . The film is completely ridiculous , and doesn't follow the steps of the old Japanese series , in which he was fighting other monsters to save the city . In this thing , he is the big enemy . . . and the last twenty minutes were supposed to be the most suspenseful part of the movie . . . nobody saw it , because everyone was asleep after the FIRST twenty minutes . Even The Lost World was better than this all the way ( and The Lost World was a BIG FAT HUGE disapointment ) ! I just want to imagine what directors as good as Martin Scorcese , Stanley Kubrick ( he was alive when Godzilla released ) could have done with a near budget . . . this was a nightmare from the awful beginning to the awful ending . . . I don't think any other mistakes like this one should be done in the future . . . well . . . . I hope so !
      • 051 4  Picture with me if you will you're going to a movie : it's called The GodFather 1998 but instead of being about the mafia it's about a family of chefs . Fed up you switch theaters Star Trek XIV is playing it's about the USS Pacific Princess Enterprise with the Love Boat cast at its best . Enraged you go to the final movie showing Godzilla ( 1998 ) . Everything seems fine . There he is in all his glory Godzilla . . . he looks a little different . That's Ok . The special effects are good . He dodged a missile cool . Hey when's he gonna breath fire ? There he did it - - no it wasn't fire . How can you call it Godzilla if he isn't breathing fire ? You can't my friends , this was Lost World meets Aliens and it was good as far as that went . The acting was poor , but that's to be expected this isn't a period-piece . It is after all a monster movie . But it isn't Godzilla . The answer was MORE FIRE not less . Bottom Line : You can make whatever movie you want , but if it really isn't Godzilla , call it something else .
      • 076 4  Godzilla ( 1998 ) is the worst godzilla movie ever and is a disgrace to the real godzilla . One of the worst remakes of all time . Lacks the fun colorful campiness of some Godzilla flicks and the heart and true seriousness of others in the series . Also Godzilla doesn't look like godzilla he looks like regular Computer Geneated Crap ! THE WORST REMAKE EVER MADE ! ! ! Skip this and watch the rest .

    • 119 4  It's been almost six years since this film came out back in 1998 . I can remember the very first TV Spot on television around New Years . As a HUGE Godzilla fan I was excited to say the least . And I must tell you , when it finally came out I wasn't dissapointed , and to this day I still feel the same way . It's a darn shame that this film gets blasted like it does . There are a couple of main issues critics and Godzilla fans have with the film . The story and the monster itself , ' Godzilla ' . If you look back at all of the original Japanese Godzilla flicks , you aren't going to find a great ( not to mention BELIEVABLE ) story or plot . I realize this , even being a fan of all things Godzilla . Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich's ' Godzilla ' atleast , in my opinion , had the audience believing what was going on up on the screen . The story may not be ' The Godfather ' , but c'mon , this is a giant monster movie ! And what was wrong with the new Godzilla look ? Nothing . If you get two action figures , one being a model of the original Godzilla from the Japanese series and a model of the new American Godzilla and put them side by side you will find differences but both are remarkably alike in alot of ways . They both have the spikes , gigantic size , and have that famous roar . The major differences being the skin color , face , and longer legs . I loath it when people bring up how they shouldn't have changed Godzilla's look . I mean , I love the old Godzilla look , it may be silly to some , but to me it's still cool . But it would NOT have worked for this film at ALL . If they had made the American version with a man in a suit and had him flying around on his tail kicking monsters , it would have ended up being viewed as something to laugh at here in the U.S . What the American ' Godzilla ' brings us is a believable monster that has the spirit and characteristics of the original . It's just more realistic . Shouldn't we have expected that ? It's something the creators of the original attempted at doing but were limited to rubber suits . It's something the Japanese audience and G-Fans accept , but the majority of the American audience will not . It's sad that most Godzilla fans and critics do not understand this . I personally believe that the majority of the general audience ENJOYED this film . It's just the critical lambasting from G Fans and Critics that got alot of attention and therefore this gets labeled as a ' bad ' film . It's sad really . This is one of my favorite DVD's to plug in . It's Big , Loud , and Fun . And although we've had lots of great films with tons of Special Effects since this film came out , there's nothing quite like it . The direction and cinematography are superb and the score by David Arnold is highly memorable . There are lots of special features including all of the trailers . So take a look at it , be open and I'm sure you will enjoy the fantastic pop-corn entertainment known as GODZILLA .
      • 002 4  I've been a fan of Godzilla since age 4 , and I've always loved a good monster mash . So naturally , when this new big budget movie hit theaters , I was thrilled ! I thought that Godzilla would be able to rise above the limitations that he's always faced in the Japanese movies ( namely low budgets and bad dubbing ) and get to show America what he can REALLY do ! I saw this movie and I was in shock . This movie mocks the Japanese Godzilla . Devlin and Emmerich turned the powerful , striding fire-storm of a beast into a pregnant , terrified jackrabbit . It's a totally new monster who just uses Godzilla's name to generate interest . Where's the atomic breath , the threat of radiation ? These things are Godzilla's trademarks ! Instead this lizard has the power to reprodouce like a tribble and run so fast it looks rediculous ( a 200 foot tall animal shouldn't be able to haul it faster than a drag racer , whether its stride was huge or not . ) I realize that they couldn't have kept the original Godzilla , which the American public is too narrow-minded to accept as a great monster , but this creature quite simply is NOT Godzilla , no matter what anybody says . It didn't look or act like Godzilla , and therefor is NOT Godzilla . This leezard wasn't even a threat , it was only dangerous because a 200 foot tall lizard is eventually going to knock some stuff over if it's in the middle of a big city . Once its babies were killed it became a threat , but since it spent so much time tripping up while chasing the taxi it's anger was comical , not frightening . The plot is just another re-hashing of THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS ( great movie , BTW , a lot better than this 90 ' s trash . ) D E have claimed that they were going for non-cheesy , which is what really killed them . The acting is lame , I was expecting more from this all-star cast ( harsh to rip on a giant monster movie for dialouge , sure , but people sure don't hesitate to cut down Toho's flicks for their dubbing . ) The childish blacklisting humor ( Mayor Ebert and his sidekick Siskel , killing off JD Lees because he dares to defy this movie ) just proves that D E can't take critisism ( and if they keep on cranking out garbage like this they fully deserve it . ) Even the FX were pretty cheesy . This CGI cartoon doesn't look any more realistic than the rubber suit did , and there were virtually NO pyros to speak of . The taxi-cab scene was so utterly rediculous and lame that not even Toho would try it . It's the kind of thing that makes me ashamed of American movies . The monster was a wuss . I'd much rather see it fight the military and destroy the city : it makes for a more exciting ride and it makes the monster look like a true threat . Instead we get chase scenes . Bah , humbug . And lastly : WHAT'S WITH ALL THE RAIN ? ! You can hardly see a friggen ' thing ! Sure , you're saying the Japanese Godzilla bent the rules of science and had some weird plots . But Toho's plots were always entertaining , their FX were great considering all their budget limitations , and as for the science : well , who cares ? Toho's always been aiming for escapism , not realism . D E should have done their homework and maybe G98 would have been a watchable movie . For the huge budget spent on this movie , I was expecting much , much more . Don't waste your money on this .
      • 007 4  I simply don't get it . . . Why on earth everyone hates this movie so much ? Is it because it's like a million times better than all those cheesy old movies ? With all the lights and things that asians love ? If you like Jiban , Ultraman , Dragon Ball and all of that asian crap then go and get the old Godzilla movies . If you are in for a good popcorn flick with very good special FX and a funny ALA ID4 tone , then this is your movie . I for one loved it and I keep watching it from time to time even after all these years . I'm just waiting for it to make it's way to BluRay so I can enjoy it even more . I certainly hope they are planning to do a sequel sometime in the future although its not likely . BTW . I thought CLOVERFIELD was its sequel . I was wrong , and that movie did SUCKED .
      • 010 4  You've read the reviews , this movie stinks , but rent the DVD at your local video store . It's chock full of neat features : animated scene selections , a huge lizard foot that stomps down your screen every time you make a menu selection , trailers , documentary film , trailers for the original REAL Godzilla films . As for the movie itself , where the heck was Godzilla ? Every time the going got good and Godzilla was getting it on with the New York skyline and swatting down pesky helicopters , boom , the story cuts back to the dull , dull humans and their dull , dull relationships . You watch a Godzilla movie , you want to see Big Green kick some Aishe , you don't want to see some dumb scientist pine over his dipsy-doodle girlfriend . And the end of the movie was a crime , utter and absolute . It didn't make me sad , it made me angry . A great classic movie monster like Godzilla humiliated by the U.S . Army , I mean , come on ! It was a crime , an absolute crime . END
      • 022 4  I've always loved Godzilla . Ever since I was a kid , I would put the tapes in my VCR , fast-forward to the monster scenes ( I didn't want to take the time to understand the storyline ) , and watch the big G stomp Tokyo , beat up on other monsters , and sometimes even save the day . Godzilla , the radioactive monster who has terrorized Japan for decades . If something could ever be called a classic , then Godzilla is most definitely it . Then in 1998 , I went to see the newer Godzilla ( which is the one this review is based on . Plain and simple , I LOVED IT . I can understand why die-hard fans of the original wouldn't like this , I mean come on , he's not even in Tokyo . But there's a bright side to that , no more bad dubbing . And . . . what ? He's not even in a rubber suit ? You mean that now he actually looks real with some the most superb CG animation ever seen ? Dear me , how horrible . I really don't understand why people hate it so much . What do they expect ? It's not done by the Japanese , so why shoot it in Japan when you could shoot it in New York , which the Americans can relate much easier too than Tokyo . And why not , with all of the amazing special effects out there , WHY NOT ACTUALLY MAKE HIM LOOK REAL ? ! And that is exactly what TriStar has done . They've taken a classic , ripped it apart , thrown out some old pieces , worked in some new ones , and put it back together , in my opinion just as good , if not better , than the orginal . Sure he looks different , sure it's a different story , but it's still EXTREMELY fun . It's got action , humor , twists , turns , and a couple of characters that you will never forget . So take a chance . If you can forgive to see a new kind of Godzilla , certainly not a replacement for the original , but just a down right FUN remake , then buy this movie . You won't be disappointed .
      • 035 4  Ok , let's get one thing down before this review goes any further : this movie is a two-star movie on the basis of its storyline . There are some elements of the film which will give viewers a few surprises , but overall , it is an example of a lack of intelligent filmmaking . However , on the basis of sound design , this movie is one of the best films ever . From the very beginning of the film , the soundtrack exhibits excellent qualities when it comes to utilizing the .1 LFE , from the vintage footage of H-bomb testing to the giant lizard thundering through the streets of New York City . Almost every scene , whether it has to do with the musical score or the sound effects of the scene , the surround sound is fully enveloping . There is no other way to describe this DVD : the sound design alone makes it a must for anyone into sound effects design .
      • 050 4  Even if you like this the Tri-Star Godzilla this disc is a rip-off . Its exactly the same as the previous release . They just left off the trailers , which were good . Added a long trailer for Sony's other Godzilla releases which is awful and in some places deceptively shows scenes from the wrong movies ( EX . The teaser for GODZILLA VS . KING GHIDORAH shows the Godzilla Ghodorah battle from GMK : Giant Monsters All Out Attack and the one for GODZILLA FINAL WARS suspiciously shows a lot clips of there own American version of Godzilla while omitting clips of the real one . ) and also added three episodes of the animated series . bUt they are three of the same episodes available on the Animated series discs . Youd be better off buing one of the previous releases from the used discs . They go for about $1 . ( and no one is taking )
      • 061 4  If you enjoy the somewhat generic giant monster movies from the 1950s , you might find something here to like . There is very little character development . It's more like the people exist , but we have no reason to really care about what happens to them . Because of this , the action scenes don't have the tension they could . There are some decent humorous moments . All of the Emmerich / Devlin productions are like this - somewhat empty but looks nice on the big screen . ( Yes , I'm knocking Independence Day too . ) I was truly annoyed the first time I saw this in the theater . Not because of the changes . Images of this version of Godzilla had been leaked and appeared in G-Fan magazine . The producers said the image was not the Godzilla from the movie . When the movie was finally released , only the coloring was different . Some fans felt they were lied to even though technically we weren't because of the coloring differences . That got to me some . I was a little more objective on my second viewing . TriStar changes the Godzilla legend . The original Godzilla was a metaphor for the Americans ' bombing of Japan - an unstoppable force . The producers of the original got the idea after seeing all of the victims of the blast . Here , Godzilla gets mutated from a different scource - not American nuclear testing which was also established in other Godzilla movies such as Godzilla vs . King Ghidorah ( 1991 ) . However , the newer Japanese films at least acknowledge this one . In Godzilla , Mothra , King Ghidorah : Giant Monster All Out Attack ! ! ( 2001 ) , it does make reference to a monster appearing in New York , but the Japanese military doesn't think it was a Godzilla . TriStar's Godzilla is also defeated too easily - despite it's wonderful agility . Although the Godzilla CGI is nice , I don't feel the shading always matches the surrounding set - making the overall effect less impressive . There are also times when the monster may not be lined up properly such as the smaller baby Godzillas chasing humans . Among the extras , I have always loved the first teaser for this movie - the one that takes place in the museum . There are also original Japanese trailers for Godzilla vs . King Ghidorah ( 1991 ) and Godzilla vs . Mothra ( 1992 ) . Surprisingly , these trailers are in Japanese with subtitles when TriStar doesn't offer them that way in any video format . As a giant monster movie , TriStar's Godzilla is OK but not great . It's not easy for me to recommend this one expect to true , die-hard fans of giant monster movies . I truly wish TriStar had stuck with Jan de Bont's version before scrapping it for the Emmerich / Devlin version .
      • 096 4  WHAT ? ! That was Godzilla , the king of the monsters ? HA ! I'm a 11 year old Godzilla Expert . I've been waching Godzilla movies since I was in preschool , and I think I know what Godzilla is . One of the worst things about the film is that Godzilla didn't look like Godzilla at all ! Emmerich made Godzilla look like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park ( 1993 ) with small mountains coming out of his back . He couldn't even shoot Godzilla's trademark blue death ray . And he was killed by JETS ! The Japanese hit him with everything and still couldn't kill him ! If Toho's Godzilla and Tristar's Godzilla fought , Toho's would kill Tristar's in 20 seconds ! Only two Godzilla films are worse than this : Godzilla's Revenge ( 1969 ) and Godzilla vs . Megalon ( 1973 ) . But there's an animated T.V series on FoxKids called Godzilla : The Series on Saturday Mornings which is way better than this . When Tristar makes the sequel , pray it's better than this . When you wanna watch the REAL GODZILLA just pop a Toho Godzilla movie into your VCR or D.V.D Player . If you wish to comment on my review E.Mail me at spankys @ Earthlink.net .
      • 105 4  I like this movie . No , this is not Godzilla , but it is a good kaiju ( means giant monster in Japanese ) movie . It is later explained in the movie Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah Giant Monsters All Out Attack , that came out after this movie , that it was not Godzilla that attacked New York , it was another monster and the Americans had mistaken it for Godzilla , not knowing any better . So if you watch the movie in that light , this is a good movie . The computer effects are incredible ; the story is very well done as well . This Godzilla , a.k.a G.I.N.O . ( Godzilla In Name Only ) to us Godzilla fans looked real and was very intelligent . GINO is smart , he out smarted the choppers chasing him twice . I think it is underrated for no good reason , this is NOT GODZILLA , like I said , it is explained in a later Godzilla movie that it wasn't . So now that you know it's not really Godzilla , enjoy this movie , because this is a new monster , and there are a lot more movies that are worse
      • 116 4  I can understand the hatred for this film , giving that they took one of the most powerful monsters to ever grace the big screens and turned him into a giant bag of lizardy cowardice . Ok , the wuss factor was upped from 0 - 10 on Godzilla's part . That was a mistake . We all agree . Or have we also considered that after decades of films starring a grossly UN-dinosaurian lump of scales ( rather a guy in a rubber suit ) stomping rather un-convincingly around miniature sets , all the while reminding us of how unrealistic he is , especially as no theropod dinosaurs had plates on their back , and none stood fully erect and dragged their tail , or had dumpy fat legs and a pot belly . . . HAVE we considered . . . that it was inevitable that Godzilla be re-envisioned for the modern audience ? No , he shouldn't be a big Iguana - but the design WAS , you have to admit , superior to the lumbering , jiggling mass of latex in the japanese films who for some reason couldn't stop wiggling his arms and making movements that no animal would ever find it necessary to make ( who stands there and flails their arms for three minutes and roars while swaying from side to side ? ) . The HEART of the symbolism was still intact , with him being the product of nuclear technology , but lost it's way before the first act was through . I think most of us can agree that an exploration of a more realistic godzilla WAS something that needed to be done - though we may not LIKE the outcome , someone somewhere along the line was going to pose the question : What if Godzilla were real ? How would a theropod build look in movement ? If a 300 foot lizard were stomping around , why would it be immune to powerful military weaponry ? If Godzilla were a real creature , what would it DO , stomp around and breath fire , or look for what we all do - food and shelter ? Size alone wont save you from missiles , nor will thick skin . That's not to say that they couldn't have at least made him more imposing and given him his regeneration abilities , which would GREATLY increase the amount of missile strikes he could sustain , even as a ' real ' animal . On the bright side , the egg that hatched at the end , in the animated series , turns out to become a much stronger Godzilla who CAN use his nuclear breath ( which , by the way , he DID use in the movie , just wasn't nearly as powerful OR explained as to how it functions biologically , but then if Godzilla were chasing me , I don't think I'd be asking questions ) . So , in summary : Pros : * * A servicable cast , better actors than most Toho films save the original 1954 Gojira . Jean reno is always a good thing . * * FAR more convincing as a creature than a man in a rubber suit will ever be thanks to great special effects - some of the best CG creature work of the 90 ' s next to Jurassic park / Dragonheart , not to mention behaviorally and locomotion for a large biped . * * Has the guts to re-imagine Godzilla while at least TRYING to pay homage to the originals at times . * * A memorable entrance , though I wish he had the grand walking-out-of-the-ocean entrance * * Cons : * * Though he LOOKs a heck of a lot better than the Japanese suits ( no offense to the classics , love them , but by better I mean more REAL and functional as a life form ) , this Godzilla is a pale imitation of the power of the original , who would often walk into a hail of missiles and bombs to virtually no effect - this one is killed by two rounds of missiles . * * Nobody outside of the entrance scene seems remotely intimidated by Godzilla . There should be mass panic and chaos throughout the film with the military's best efforts being in vain . A little odd , a Godzilla that RUNS AWAY FROM THE ARMY . * * Sort of insults Japan by ignoring Godzilla's relationship with the country for the most part ( sinking a japanese fishing ship aside ) and his origins FROM there ( he should have landed at Tokyo first THEN maybe New York ) . Kudos for throwing in ' It's GOJIRA you moron ' , though ! Overall , a pretty good MONSTER movie . As a GODZILLA movie , it drops a load of bricks on it's own foot . BUT , if you are WILLING to ALLOW Godzilla to be re-imagined as a real animal grounded in physics ( ignoring the one problem , being that we don't think a 300 foot tall biped would be structurally possible , but then 50 years ago we didn't think a 190 foot , 200 ton Dinosaur like Amphicoelias was possible either ) . . . IF you are willing to let it be it's OWN Godzilla , it's own VERSION of it , it's actually enjoyable .
      • 126 4  Okay , so I actually really like this movie . I have been a fan of the Japanese Godzilla for years . I was first introduced when the ' 98 Godzilla came out , and my parents told me about some of the older ones ( mainly about King Kong vs . Godzilla ) . I wasn't allowed to watch the movie when it came out because it had a rating of PG - 13 ( I am now 14 ) . I finally got to watch it some years later on TV , and LOVED it ! A few years later , I got the movie for a VERY cheap price , while on a quest to collect EVERY Godzilla film made on DVD . And I watched it for the first time in years : The movie was OK for a Godzilla movie ( there are worse ones ) , but just downright wonderful for a modern-day CGI monster movie ( there aren't very many of those ) . Now , this movie stands out proudly in my DVD collection , and REALLY wish the two originally-planned sequels would have been made . The only reason I only give it a 4 - star rating , is because it pails in comparison to the Japanese Godzilla . Great film .
      • 152 4  This film is probably the best example of where movies are heading nowadays : big special effects , little or no plot . The acting was terrible , as was the script . It was meant to be funny and clever , I suppose , and it achieves the funny part , though it falls short of clever . As for the special effects , yeah , they were good , but they completely butchered Godzilla . So the Godzilla in the original movie was a guy in a suit , but I can just imagine what the directors of that one could have done with some CGI ! In the new version , Godilla is just an overgrown T-Rex . How does an iguana go from being a lizard to a bipedal , bird hipped dinosaur anyway , even through extreme mutation ? It's just cheesy . Also , the baby zilla remind me WAY too much of velociraptors . Even if this film was meant to be a parody , as some have argued , it shouldn't have been . They should have let some TALENTED directors recreate this story for all it's glory .

    Global Market ( in english )

    midi, music score     livejournal taktak0 blog