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Godzilla (1998 film)

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Godzilla
Theatrical Poster
Directed byRoland Emmerich
Written byScreenplay:
Dean Devlin
Story:
Ted Elliott
Terry Rossio
Dean Devlin
Roland Emmerich
Based on the Character "Godzilla" Owned and Created by:
Toho Co., Ltd.
Produced byMitch Drain
StarringMatthew Broderick
Jean Reno
Maria Pitillo
Hank Azaria
Michael Lerner
Kevin Dunn
Harry Shearer
Vicki Lewis
Doug Savant
CinematographyUeli Steiger
Edited byPeter Amundson
David Siegel
Music byDavid Arnold
Distributed byTriStar Pictures
Release dates
May 19, 1998 (USA)
Running time
139 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$130,000,000 USD (estimated)
Box office$379,014,294 USD (Worldwide)

Godzilla is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Michael Lerner and Kevin Dunn. It is the American movie remake of the Japanese 1954 film of the same name which began the popular franchise of the same name.

Tagline:

  • Size does matter.

Development

TriStar Pictures secured rights from Toho to produce an American Godzilla film in 1992. One of the key players in this arrangement was Henry G. Saperstein, who had brought several Godzilla films to America with his United Productions of America. TriStar originally hoped to have the film released in 1994. However, it was not until May 1993 that Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott were asked to write a screenplay. The script was completed in November, but TriStar had yet to select a director for the film.

In July 1994, well after the originally announced release date, TriStar tapped Jan de Bont to direct the film. de Bont confessed to liking the older Godzilla films, although he stated that many of the later ones with their monster free-for-alls were a bit silly. Although he intended to keep humor in the picture, de Bont also pledged to deliver stunning effects and preserve the indomitable spirit of the Japanese Godzilla. de Bont assembled a team and had Rossio and Elliott rework the script to make it more to his liking. The revised script was ready in December 1994[1].

Godzilla was to look like his traditional Japanese counterpart with his Atomic Breath. Godzilla was created by an ancient Alien race to protect the Earth from a giant shape-shifting Alien monster, the Gryphon (originally planned to be King Ghidorah). The two behemoths finally met in New York City, taking out most of Manhattan in the fight.

After Industrial Light and Magic turned down working on the Godzilla project, in October 1994 it was announced that Stan Winston's Digital Domain would be doing the effects work for Godzilla, with a reported budget of around $50 million. The entire film was estimated to cost around $120 million. de Bont sent crews to construct a Japanese fishing village on the Oregon coast, filming Godzilla's attack on the Kuril Islands as the backbone for a teaser trailer. The sets were built, but filming did not occur. Sony, TriStar's parent company, panicked when they saw the massive price tag being affixed to de Bont's Godzilla project. In late December 1994, TriStar and Jan de Bont parted company after the director refused to accept the studio's new budget restrictions. Although the script was rewritten again, this time by Donald MacPherson in May 1995, the project was to all intents, dead. TriStar began to court Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the team who had just reaped huge profits with Independence Day in 1996. By May 1997, Devlin and Emmerich officially had the job. They agreed to bring the movie in for about half of what de Bont wanted, $65 million.

Besides, Jan de Bont, James Cameron, Tim Burton, Joe Johnston, and Paul Verhoeven were chosen directors for this movie before Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin came in and re-wrote the script, directing this movie instead.

Tomoyuki Tanaka,who had produced all of the Japanese Godzilla movies, was going to be the producer but he died only a month before this film began actual production.

Matthew Broderick's character's name is Dr. Niko Tatopoulos. Godzilla's designer and supervisor is Patrick Tatopoulos.

At one point, it was planned to use motion capture from a human to create the movements of the computer-generated Godzilla, but it ended up looking too much like a man in a suit.[2]

Plot

The film's opening credits play over a montage of French nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean (which are actually historical footages of American nuclear tests), observed by various species of lizard. Lizard nests are irradiated by the fallout.

Years later, a Japanese fishing ship is attacked by an unseen, giant monster that attacks from below the water: only one sailor survives. Traumatized, he is questioned in a hospital by a mysterious Frenchman (Jean Reno) leading a team of French scientists as to what he saw. His only reply is, "Gojira."

Another seaborne attack just by the Eastern Seaboard culminates in the eventual destruction of a fleet of fishing ships. The crew survive, after witnessing their boat sinking, but it shoots up from underneath and lands with a huge splash in the surface.

Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos (Matthew Broderick), an NRC scientist, who happened to be in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine) researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, is interrupted by the arrival of an agent of the U.S. State Department. He is sent to Panama, escorted by the military, to observe the wreckage of the recovered Japanese fishing ship (which had three gigantic claw marks 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 an animal "unknown to science." He dismisses the military's theory that the creature is a reawakened dinosaur, theorising its origins in French Polynesia make it a mutated hybrid created by nuclear testing.

The creature then heads to New York City, then creating havoc in the Fulton Fish Market, before rampaging through the city. The beast is revealed to be a gigantic, bipedal lizard, that towers over much of the New York skyline. Manhattan is evacuated and the military attempt to kill the monster, first luring it out with a huge pile of fish (having learned that was the creature's staple diet). It takes the bait, but is scared off by small arms fire and uses its wind breath to destroy two tanks.

It is chased by three AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. They fire Sidewinder missiles, only to knock the top two dozen stories off the Chrysler Building (the monster's cold-blooded physiology makes heat-seeking weapons redundant). The monster comes out form behind a building swats two of them down, and bites the rest, defeating its attackers and escaping. After this, Nick collects a blood sample and runs tests to reveal that the monster reproduces asexually, and is collecting food not only for itself, but also for its offspring. Nick is determined to find its nest.

However, a videotape from Panama is stolen by Nick's ex-girlfriend, Audrey Timmonds (Maria Pitillo), a would-be TV journalist for news channel "WIDF." Audrey originally intended to broadcast the tape herself, but her boss broadcasted it instead and mispronounced "Gojira" as "Godzilla." The military is outraged by the broadcasting of the classified tape and Nick is thrown off the team. Nick 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 help clear up the mess they feel responsible for, but cannot acknowledge.

The military lures out Godzilla again, trying to trap him in the open ground of Central Park. However, Godzilla does not take the bait, and flees when the military prematurely open fire. The creature dives into the waters of the Hudson River, where it is attacked by three U.S. Navy nuclear submarines. Two subs fire torpedoes at Godzilla. However, through some quick evasion, Godzilla manages to have the torpedoes hit the sub Anchorage instead. The other subs fire again, and this time, Godzilla is torpedoed, and seems to be dead. The military celebrate their seeming victory.

Meanwhile Nick and a French team, led by Roaché, surreptitiously followed by Audrey and cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti (Hank Azaria), track through the subway tunnels to Madison Square Garden, finding hundreds of eggs. They start to lay explosives, but the eggs start to hatch. The baby Godzillas begin to look for food, and since the team smell like fish, they become inevitable targets. After failing to contain the infants and losing several members of the team, the remaining four of them (Nick, Phillipe, Animal and Audrey) take refuge in a TV broadcast booth. Knowing that the infant Godzillas will eventually force humanity into extinction if they escape, Nick, Audrey, and Animal alert the authorities, who order an immediate strike by a trio of F/A-18 Hornets. The four escape just before the building is destroyed, and the infant Godzillas are killed.

However, seconds later, an extremely enraged Godzilla (who managed to survive the assault in the river) emerges from the wreckage. The four make a getaway in a taxicab, and alert the military to Godzilla's survival. The quartet lure Godzilla to the Brooklyn Bridge where it becomes entangled in the steel suspension cables, and is an easy target for the returning fighter planes. Godzilla is hit by twelve Harpoon missiles: mortally wounded, it screams in pain and falls to the ground, its heart beating slowly until it draws its last breath and dies.

The watching crowd and the military celebrates Godzilla's demise. As Nick, Audrey and Animal reconcile, Roaché quietly walks off with the videotape Animal had recorded, detailing the entire incident. Phillipe calls Nick to tell him he will return it after "certain information" has been removed, and disappears into the night, saying "Au revoir" and thanking Nick for his help.

However, while the population celebrate, in the smoking ruins of Madison Square Garden, it is revealed a single egg has survived the bombing. As the film concludes, the egg begins to shake and crack. A baby Godzilla hatches, roaring in fury.

Sequels and spin-offs

Main article: Godzilla: The Series

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 Nick as its parent. Subsequently, Nick and his associates form a research team, investigating strange occurrences and defending human kind from numerous other monsters.

Licensing issues with Toho led to the canceling of the planned sequel which would be a reboot of the American film. Roland Emmerich would go on to direct The Patriot.

Early in the film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, one of the main characters is giving a lecture to several Japanese military personnel and briefly mentions a monster attack on New York City, referring to the events in the 1998 film. Two of the soldiers say that American scientists believe Godzilla is the one who attacked New York, but the Japanese scientists have some doubts about that.

In Godzilla: Final Wars, the American Godzilla makes an appearance using the name "Zilla". It attacks Sydney, Australia and then briefly fights the Toho Godzilla, only to be killed by him. Ryuhei Kitamura, the director of Godzilla: Final Wars, who is fluent in English, chose this name because he thought the American film "Took the God out of Godzilla."

Marketing campaign

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

  • Crushed cars were dotted around London as a part of a guerrilla 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.
  • Prior to the release of the film, Godzilla was never shown in its entirety, only in bits and pieces. This was intended to add a bit of mystery to the creature's design, thereby prompting audiences to pay for a ticket because the only way to see Godzilla as a whole was in theaters. A similar marketing scheme was used in the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds, the 2007 Sci-Fi film Transformers, and the 2008 monster film Cloverfield. Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin insisted that extensive measures had been taken to keep the new look of Godzilla secret, prior to release. When images leaked out onto the internet, the Sony Pictures insisted it was part of a massive disinformation campaign designed to keep people guessing about what Godzilla looked like. Ultimately, however, the circulated drawings proved to be authentic.
  • 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 the classic line from Jaws, "We're gonna need a bigger boat" and the line in the film itself "Uh, we need bigger guns")
  • 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 one of the largest predators the world has ever seen. The lizard species that Godzilla mutated from can be seen in a display case.
  • Recently, the American Godzilla appeared in two Doritos commercials. Footage from the "fish trap" scenes was edited to replace the fish with large quantities of Doritos chips: one commercial depicted Godzilla consuming a whole semi trailer full of Doritos, while the other showed the creature eating a spicy variant of Doritos and jumping into the Hudson River.

Box office and critical reaction

Godzilla was initially projected to take in $90,000,000 in domestic sales during its opening weekend, to surpass the record set the year before by The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Actual opening weekend sales were a respectable $54,000,000, but clearly did not track with studio profit forecasts. Godzilla would "break even" in the U.S. market, taking in $136,314,294 at the domestic box office. Overseas sales would ultimately make the movie profitable, bringing the Worldwide total to $379,014,294.

Fans of the original film and franchise considered the film to be so apocryphal that Toho Studios officially named this film's title monster "Zilla" to differentiate it from the original Godzilla.

The mayor of New York City is named Ebert, and his top adviser is named Gene, a reference to the famous film critiquing duo from TV's Siskel & Ebert. Both bear a strong physical resemblance to the real-life critics. It was an attempt at expressing displeasure at the negative reviews Siskel and Ebert had given the producers' previous films. Although Roger Ebert was flattered at the parody, he gave Godzilla a bad review anyway. Gene Siskel, however, found the parody "petty", also giving the film a negative review.

Cameos and allusions to other films

References

  1. ^ Rodan's Roost: Kaiju Scrap-yard: Godzilla vs. the Gryphon
  2. ^ Rickitt, Richard (2000). Special Effects: The History and Technique. Billboard Books. p. 174. ISBN 0-8230-7733-0.

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