Godzilla (1998 film)

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Godzilla
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Roland Emmerich
Produced by	Dean Devlin
Written by	Roland Emmerich & Dean Devlin
Starring	Matthew Broderick Jean Reno Maria Pitillo Hank Azaria
Music by	David Arnold
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release date(s)	May 19, 1998
Running time	139 min.
Language	English
Budget	US $125,000,000 (according to The-Numbers.com)
IMDb profile

Godzilla is an American science fiction film directed by Roland Emmerich and starred Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Michael Lerner and Kevin Dunn. It was remake of the Japanese film Gojira (Godzilla).

Tagline:

• Size does matter.

[edit] Plot

The film's opening credits play over a montage of French nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean, observed by many marine iguanas. Then, in present days, a Japanese fishing ship is attacked by an unseen monster; only one survived (an old man). He, traumatized, is later questioned in hospital by a mysterious Frenchman (Jean Reno) and repeatedly says only one word- "Gojira".

Another seaborne attack just by the Eastern Seaboard culminated in the eventual destruction of a fishing ship. The crew, however, survived, after witnessing their boat sinking, but it shot up from underneath and landed with a huge splash in the surface.

Niko "Nick" Tatapolous (Matthew Broderick), an NRC scientist, who happened to be in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine) researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, was interrupted by the arrival of an agent of the U.S. State Department. He was sent to Panama, escorted by the military, to observe the wreckage of the recovered Japanese fishing ship (it had three gigantic clawmarks on one side) and a set of massive dinosaur-like footprints in the grassy soil. The Frenchman is also there, observing the scene and introduces himself as an insurance agent. Aboard a military aircraft Tatapolous identifies skin samples he recovered as belonging to a creature "unknown to science".

"Gojira" then heads to New York City, dragging three fishing boats under the sea on the way, then creating havoc in the Fulton Fish Market, before rampaging through the city. Manhattan is evacuated and the military attempt to kill Godzilla, first luring him out with a huge pile of fish. Godzilla takes the bait, but then shrugs off small arms fire, and evades helicopter gunships. He escapes, but not before Nick realises that "he" is pregnant and collecting food for his offspring. Nick is determined to find Godzilla's nest.

However, when a videotape from Panama is stolen by Nick's ex-girlfriend, Audrey Timmonds (Maria Pitillo), a would-be TV journalist for news channel "WIDF", he is thrown off the team. He is then kidnapped by the Frenchman who introduces himself as Philippe Roaché, an agent of the DGSE - the French Secret Service. He and his team have been keeping close watch on events and are now ready to do what they can to clear up the mess they feel responsible for, but cannot acknowledge.

The military lure Godzilla out again and after a fierce battle, seemingly destroy him in the East River. Meanwhile Nick and a crack French team, led by Roaché, surreptitiously followed by Audrey and cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti (Hank Azaria), track Godzilla through the subway tunnels to Madison Square Garden, finding hundreds of eggs. They start to lay explosives, but the eggs start to hatch. The babies were looking for food, and since the team stink like fish, they were inevitable targets. After failing to contain the creatures and losing several members of the team, the remaining 4 of them take refuge in a TV broadcast booth. From there Nick, Audrey and Animal alert the authorities, who order an immediate strike by a trio of F-18s. The four escape just before the building is destroyed, only for an extremely angry Godzilla (who managed to survive a submarine attack in the East River) to emerge from the wreckage. The four make a getaway in a taxicab, and lure Godzilla to Brooklyn Bridge where he becomes entangled in the steel suspension cables, and is an easy target for the fighters. Godzilla is finally killed. Nick and Audrey reconcile. Roaché disappears into the night. However, in the smoking ruins of the Garden, a single egg survives...

[edit] Music

The film's soundtrack featured songs by such artists as Puff Daddy and Jimmy Page ("Come with Me"), Jamiroquai ("Deeper Underground"), Rage Against the Machine ("No Shelter"), Foo Fighters ("A320"), Ben Folds Five ("Air"), and Green Day ("Brain Stew (Remix)" ). The David Bowie song "Heroes", covered by the Wallflowers, can be clearly heard in the background during a restaurant scene early in the movie. David Arnold's orchestral score provided the music for the rest of the movie, and roughly four minutes of it is included on the album.

[edit] Sequels and Spin-Offs

The film spawned an animated series which continued the storyline of the movie. In this series, Nick Tatapolous accidentally discovers the egg that survived the destruction of the nest. The creature hatches and imprints on him as its parent. Subsequently, Nick and a group of friends form an elite research team, investigating strange occurrences and defending human kind from numerous other monsters.

Main article: Godzilla: The Series

A sequel to the film was planned, and would have involved Godzilla battling a mutant insect creature, However these plans for a sequel were ultimately scrapped and Roland Emmerich made The Patriot (2000 film) insten . Recently there were rumors that a Godzilla 2 will be released in 2009 it depend on the success of Spider-Man 3 this summer. No other details are known at this time.[1]

[edit] Marketing campaign

Godzilla

The marketing campaign for Godzilla was multi-pronged in its execution:

• Crushed cars were dotted around London as a part of a guerilla advertising campaign.
• In the month or so before its release, ads on street corners made references to Godzilla's size in comparison to whatever medium of advertising the advertisement was on.
  • Examples: "His foot is bigger than this bus", "His eye is bigger than this billboard", etc.
• Bits and pieces of different body parts of Godzilla were shown on TV commercials and posters, but never the entire body; this was to add a bit of mystery as to the design of the creature, ideally prompting people to see the film because that was the only way to see the whole creature. The same style of advertising is used for Steven Spielberg's adaption of War of the Worlds, where the alien attackers were rarely seen in advertisements.
• Taco Bell had tie-ins such as cups and toys that promoted the film. The Taco Bell chihuahua was also at the height of its popularity in Taco Bell's television commercials. During the summer of 1998, several commercials pairing Godzilla with the Taco Bell mascot were produced and aired, including several with the chihuahua trying to catch Godzilla in a tiny box, whistling and calling, "Here, lizard, lizard, lizard." When Godzilla appears, the chihuahua says, "Uh-oh. I think I need a bigger box." (referring to Jaws)

[edit] Box office

Although film received mixed reviews (mostly negative from fans), Godzilla grossed $136,314,294 domestically and $379,014,294 worldwide, bringing back its $125 million budget.

[edit] Trivia

One of Godzilla's offspring hatching

• The creature from this film was officially dubbed "Zilla" by Toho Studios in the film Godzilla: Final Wars. According to Ryuhei Kitamura, the monster was given this name because the American movie had taken the "God" out of "Godzilla". Zilla was annihilated in literally about forty-five seconds by the "true" Godzilla (many Godzilla fans that expressed their opinions that the monster fight scenes were too quick remarked that this battle was the only "realistically short" fight in the movie) and the commander of the alien invasion remarks upon his destruction, "I knew that tuna-eating monster was useless"; this is Toho getting back at TriStar for their perceived mistreatment of Godzilla.

• Before Toho studios officially named the creature Zilla, many fans created several nicknames to differentiate it from the original Godzilla. These nicknames included "American Godzilla", "zilla", "Deanzilla" (because of writer/producer Dean Devlin), and "G.I.N.O.", an acronym for "Godzilla In Name Only.".

• Though supposedly meant to seem more realistic than its Japanese predecessor, the creatures speed and agility at such a colossal size is anatomically impossible, ironically making the original Godzillas sluggish movements more close to reality.

• In an episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, "Sabrina's Real World" (Season 3, Episode 22), Sabrina encounters a large dinosaur and speaks to it in Japanese. The dinosaur then tells her that he speaks French. This is a reference to Godzilla being from French Polynesia.

• The old cook from the ship refers to the monster as "Gojira" when he is in a semi-conscious state. Gojira is the name of Godzilla in his native Japan, but the name was changed in the process of translating the original film into the American Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. The name "Godzilla" is Toho Studios' official English name for the character. The name was used on English-language international promotional material for the original film in 1954.

The standard DVD cover for the film

• The characters of the mayor (Lerner) and his advisor are clearly caricatures of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. Reportedly, the less-than-flattering portrayal was because both had given negative reviews of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich's earlier film, Stargate. When the actual Siskel and Ebert reviewed Emmerich's Godzilla on their show, it received two thumbs down and Siskel commented on being spoofed in the film, saying it was "petty."
• Barney from Barney & Friends can be seen in a T.V set .
• The American version of Godzilla is shown in a 2006 Doritos commercial, which parodies the bait scene, replacing the tons of fish with a Doritos trailer.
• In the film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, it is mentioned that a creature had attacked New York City and that American officials thought it was Godzilla but the Japanese knew it was not the monster; it is obvious that they are referring to TriStar's remake of Godzilla.
• The Histeria! episode "More Explorers" opened up with a cold opener in which a gigantic Big Fat Baby rises from the sea and goes on a rampage. The film is directly referenced right at the end of the segment by way of the caption "Smell does matter."
• The Japanese freighter attacked and destroyed by Godzilla in the opening of the film is named Kobayashi Maru, in homage to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
• The extra killed in his car when Godzilla first arrives in Manhattan was cast as a look-alike for J.D. Lees, editor of G-Fan Magazine, because he said disparaging remarks about the information that leaked out about the film prior to its release.
• The music that plays on an elevator in a scene with Matthew Broderick is "Danke Schoen", which Broderick lip-synchs in a memorable scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
• The first sequence of the AH64-Apache gunships chasing after Godzilla through the streets references both Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back with the line, "Echo 4 to Echo Base", and Star Wars with "He's right on my tail! I can't shake him!" Both lines were spoken by Luke Skywalker.
• Matthew Broderick's character's last name is "Tatopoulos." Godzilla's designer and supervisor is Patrick Tatopoulos. A running gag in the movie is the characters mispronouncing his last name.
• The film is dedicated to Tomoyuki Tanaka, who produced all of the Japanese Godzilla movies and died only a month before this film began actual production.
• The film's first teaser trailer began appearing in theaters a full year before the movie was released. The trailer featured a shot of Godzilla's foot coming through the roof of a museum and crushing a T-Rex skeleton as a tour guide gives a lecture saying that the T-rex was the biggest predator the world has ever seen.
• Dean Devlin maintains that the tagline for this movie, "Size Does Matter", was meant simply to differentiate the movie from Jurassic Park, hence the original "museum" trailer, but that the advertisers for the studio took it too far with their overzealous campaign (e.g. "His foot is as long as this bus"). The ads became the biggest focus of the backlash against the movie, especially considering that size was what ultimately ended up killing the monster.
• A small statue of an alien from Independence Day (1996) (also directed by Roland Emmerich) is visible in the broadcast booth at Madison Square Garden.
• The policeman seen during Godzilla's arrival is the same policeman (both played by same actor) seen suddenly leaving his patrol car in the middle of an intersection in Independence Day (1996).
• Three voice actors from the comedy series The Simpsons appear in the film: Harry Shearer, Nancy Cartwright and Hank Azaria.
• The 2nd MST3K Summer Blockbuster review mentioned Godzilla in which Crow T. Robot called it "one of the crappier big movies of the summer". The focus of the joke, however is that they are forbidden from showing any clips to prevent a lawsuit. In fact, Crow claims he can't even say the name of the movie without getting sued, which causes his voice to be partially bleeped out every time he says "Godzilla". He then shows his own "giant lizard movie" "Goshzilla" made by simply filming him ramming a Godzilla doll into cardboard cutout buildings and plastic pedestrians. He then comments "And it's Matthew Broderick free! Oh, and Mike paid a quarter to see it, so it's already made more of a profit than *bleep*zilla."

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Barry's Temple of Godzilla
• Toho Kingdom
• Godzilla Stomp
• The Godzilla Shrine
• Godzilla at the Internet Movie Database
• The 1998 Taco Bell commercial used to promote the film.
• A recent Doritos commercial featuring the creature (Under "ads")
• Godzilla vs. The Gryphon (the original Godzilla script)