Godzilla 2000: Millennium
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| Godzilla 2000: Millennium | |
|---|---|
 Godzilla 2000 Japanese Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Takao Okawara |
| Produced by | Shogo Tomiyama |
| Written by | Hiroshi Kashiwabara Wataru Mimura (US Version)Michael Schlesinger |
| Starring | Takehiro Murata Hiroshi Abe Naomi Nishida Mayu Suzuki Shirô Sano |
| Music by | Takayuki Hattori Akira Ifukube (US Version)J. Peter Robinson |
| Cinematography | Katsuhiro Kato |
| Editing by | Yoshiyuki Okuhara (US Version)Michael Mahoney |
| Distributed by | Toho |
| Release date(s) | 1999(Oliginal Japanese Version) (US Version)2000 |
| Running time | 107 min.(Japanese Version) 98 min.(US Version) |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | US $8,300,000 |
| Preceded by | Godzilla vs. Destoroyah |
| IMDb profile | |
Godzilla 2000: Millennium (ゴジラ2000 ミレニアム Gojira Nisen: Mireniamu?) was the first Godzilla film produced by Toho since the end of the VS Series with 1995's Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. Toho released the film in Japan in 1999, less than two years after the release of TriStar's Godzilla, supposedly in response to poor fan output. TriStar released the film in the United States in 2000 under the truncated title Godzilla 2000, the last in the Godzilla series to make a U.S. theatrical run. This film effectively begins and sets the tone for the Millennium Series: It ignores continuity established by any previous films, instead preserving only the original Godzilla (1954) and working other appearances into the intervening years.
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[edit] Synopsis
During a time when Godzilla is still attacking power plants for food and everything else, scientists find a 60,000,000 year old fossil in the ocean which draws its energy from the sun. As they attempt to raise this rock, it takes off into the sky on its own. While Godzilla battles the JSDF, the UFO searches for a strong type of DNA to replicate in order to create a physical body for itself.
Discovering the secret to Godzilla's regenerative properties (named Regenerator G-1 by the protagonists), the UFO stuns him long enough to extract some of his DNA resulting in the creation of a physical form dubbed Millennian. However the alien is unable to control Godzilla's DNA and further mutates into the hideous monster Orga. Godzilla destroys Orga by using his nuclear pulse or Atomic breath while in Orga's throat, destroying him from within.
[edit] Titles
- Godzilla 2000: Millennium
- Godzilla 2000
- G2K
[edit] Trivia
- It was said in Japan that a couple of hours of the film's production were shown on the internet. When the movie came to Japanese theaters, one could get a Movie Program (called a Theater Program at Godzilla stores) and/or a Mini Godzilla figure. Even though it marked the return of the original Godzilla, it did neither well nor poorly at the box office, possibly due to the popularity of the Heisei Gamera trilogy during the four-year absence of the Godzilla franchise.
- In Godzilla fandom, it is popularly held that much of the film was a parody or response to the American Godzilla, with obvious scenes being the tunnel scenes in both movies, the opening scene with Godzilla's eye, and Godzilla's swimming abilities. Some fans take this idea even further, citing the various shoots lifted from ID4 and the shape of Orga's head as being a direct reference to the creators and star of the American remake. While Toho has neither confirmed nor denied such themes, Zilla was more directly dealt with in Godzilla: Final Wars.
- Godzilla 2000 was changed somewhat in the process of Americanisation. Nine minutes were cut from the film, most of them minor edits done to improve the pacing. The sound effects and music were also improved- for example, Orga was given a deeper, feircer roar and two additional Ifukube scores were added. The dubbing has a somewhat humorous, tongue-in-cheek tone to it, apparently in homage to Godzilla dubs of the 60s and 70s, with lines such as "Great Caesar's Ghost!", "Bite me!" and "these missiles will go through Godzilla like crap through a goose!". Some have criticised the American version of G2K for "camping up" what they perceive as a "serious" movie- it must be noted, however, that Toho and Takao Okawara approved all the changes to the film in advance, and various gags sprinkled throughout the story (such as people comically surviving Godzilla's rampage early in the film) make it evident that it wasn't meant to be taken too seriously.
- King Caesar and Anguirus were said to originally considered to be included in Godzilla 2000, although it does not appear that the idea got very far. Also it is unknown whether Anguirus and King Caesar were going to somehow fit into the script for Godzilla Millennium (1999) that ended up being made, or if they were going to fit into a completely different story.
- Shortly after Toho finished filming the scene where Godzilla attacks Tokaimura, a real nuclear accident occurred. The scene was kept in the finished movie to warn of the dangers of nuclear energy.
[edit] Box Office
Godzilla 2000 was a moderate box office success during its Japanese theatrical run, earning $15 million. This figure was a far cry from the grosses of some of Godzilla's earlier films, but Godzilla 2000 was Japan's top-grossing domestic film of the holiday season.
[edit] U.S. Release
Tristar, a division of Sony Pictures, picked up Godzilla 2000 for theatrical distribution in North America. It would be the first Japanese Godzilla movie since Godzilla 1985 to be released in North American theatres. Mike Schlesinger, who supervised the North American release, said, "It [Godzilla 2000] was such a spectacular success in Japan, we decided it was worth taking a shot, maybe the time was right for Godzilla to come back to theaters."[1]
Sony spent approximately $1 million to re-edit and dub the movie, and an addition $10-12 million to market.[2]
[edit] Alterations
The U.S. version of the film runs 99 minutes - 8 minutes shorter than the 107-minute Japanese version. The American version was dubbed, with dialogue that sometimes strayed from the original Japanese script, but was relatively close to the spirit of the original film.
Among the other alterations:[3]
- Some new music and sound effects were added.
- Shortened: the scene where Yuki seeks membership for the Godzilla prediction unit.
- Added : A few more traditional Ifukube themes.
- Shortened: Godzilla's destruction of Tokaimura
- Orga was given a deeper, meaner and more menacing roar.
- Shortened: the scene where a bewildered taxi driver sees the UFO.
- Deleted: before escaping the building where the aliens are draining the information (just before the building is detonated), Shinoda sees the word "Millennium" on all the computer screens.
- Re-arranged: The scene where Shinoda goes down the elevator shaft while the building explodes.
In the North American theatrical version, the film ended with the words, "The End?", in very cartoonish lettering. On his DVD commentary, Michael Schlesinger said it looked too goofy, and Toho was equally underwhelmed. "The End?" was deleted from subsequent home video and television releases. (However, the Out of Print Spanish-subtitled VHS of the film still contains it.)
[edit] Critical Reception
The American release of Godzilla 2000 met with mixed critical reaction. It currently has a 57% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and 71% among the 'Cream of the Crop.'[4].
Owen Glieberman, who gave the film a B grade in Entertainment Weekly, said:
"Make all the cheesy-giant-monster-movie jokes you want. At a matinee of Godzilla 2000, I listened as the audience cheered the Toho Pictures logo, and the movie stays true, with a kind of demented affection, to the atomic age pop that inspired those cheers. Once again, the image of a man in a rubbery, barnacle-skinned dinosaur suit stomping an insanely detailed miniature Tokyo lands on an imaginative fault line somewhere between tackiness and awe."[5]
Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post was among the most negative reviewers:
"There are some indicators that Sony intended to release this literal monstrosity as a camp item. For one thing, when the Japanese actors--all trying very hard, no doubt--speak at around 340 mph (based on lip movements) the English soundtrack produces guttural utterances at about 7 mph. In other words, he's probably saying something like, "Sir, the space monster's genetic structure is changing owing to its absorption of Godzilla's rapid-regeneration DNA, which we have code-named 'G-1'!" which is translated, for our ears, as something like, "Sir, that monster is a crazy goofed-up idiot!" Somewhere around the 750th repetition, this irony-free deadpan loses its humorous content. Sony would have been better advised to hire some smart young American comics and let them riff into a mike for a soundtrack, after the fashion of Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily? of all those years back. Godzilla, go home."[6]
[edit] Box Office
Tristar Pictures released Godzilla 2000 in 2,111 North American theatres on August 18, 2000. It grossed a mild $4,407,720 ($2,088 per screen) in its opening weekend, on its way to a $10,037,390 final gross. Future Godzilla films would be released direct-to-DVD in North America.
[edit] DVD Releases
Sony Pictures
- Released: December 26, 2000
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.35:1) anamorphic
- Sound: English (5.1), English (2.0), French (2.0)
- Supplements: Commentary by the U.S. release crew; Biographies; Behind-the-Scenes footage; Liner notes; Theatrical trailers
- Region 1
- Note: Contains the U.S. release version
[edit] Manga Graphical Novel
It followed the basics of the plot with a few alterations...
- Both Godzilla and Orga resemble steroid-enhanced versions of themselves.
- The Millenians were a collective race who intended to use Godzilla's Regenerator G-1, only to be mutated/fused into Orga. One of the Millenians, whose own fate is not known, took on the form of Io.
