GODZILLA: Tristar Godzilla Film (1998)

[JVM]

IMO one thing I find really stupid of them was that when the final design was leaked, Dean Devlin himself sent out e-mails and went out his way to outright lie and say it was fake. He didn't use special wording or anything, there was no loophole - he plain, flat-out lied.

[Xx_The_Masquerade_xX]

It's not an will never be considered Godzilla that's obvious but if i was to judge the film on it's own here's what id say.

- Crappy Actor's, Jean Reno should have been the Star if anything
- Typical shitty Hollywood Love Story which wasn't needed
- I didn't know i paid 10$ to see a Monster's foot for half the film?
- The Design was weak, Looked like an Iguana with Jay Leno's chin
- When the Military cause's more damage then your monster, then it's obviously not a good monster movie.
- The Baby Raptors were just as stupid as the talking Raptors in ''Jurassic park 3''
- To much 1 liner comedy an not enough action
- The entire Cab-Chase scene was boring, Cab's barely run on there own much-less with a 200 foot lizard chasing it.
- A 200 foot Lizard can disappear in NY esp for long periods of time? ''Is this a Joke''
The only thing that made this film worse was it being titled ''Godzilla'' an introducing itself to western audience's an will always be people's image of Godzilla.

This film was Crap by itself an Tri-Star should have been sued for allowing such a piece of garbage to be released in theaters. As a monster movie id give it a 1 out of 10, as a Godzilla movie id give it a -5 out of 10. Sorry but this an Godzilla's Revenge are 2 films i will never watch again.

[Astacius]

If a Godzilla 2 was made back in 2000 or 2001 based off Tab Murphy's screenplay treatment then the movie would have better then the first movie which is not saying much.

Was that the treatment about the giant wasps or something like that? And this 'godzilla' in that treatment was the baby that Broderick's character let escape near the end of the first film? If so, IMO, that should have been the first one, it would have been a lot more tolerable, but still not Godzilla.

[Zillaowner]

I really didn't understand why they couldn't have put Godzilla's trademakr abilties in. GTS did a perfect job with that, if they have done it like GTS then the movie would have been better.

[JVM]

GTS is awesome, but really, it's not THAT much more accurate to the series than

The real reason people hate the 98 movie is the design - it's got plenty of other flaws, and we all still talk about them, but the design is what pissed everyone off most. The real problem with G98 is that Emmerich and Devlin wanted it to be realistic - thus the lack of a thermonuclear ray, the asexuality, being killed by the military. In addition, they also corrupted it with their attempts to appeal to the mainstream - picking actors for star power over performance, throwing in a hackneyed human plot. Not to mention, they strongly anticipated a winning series with sequels where they could have Godzilla fight more monsters, instead of trying to make him fight in the first film. They also refused to delay the film and rushed the crap out of shooting, and never tested it.

And really, G98 bears barely a passing resemblance to an Iguana.

[cloverfan98]

GTS is awesome, but really, it's not THAT much more accurate to the series than

The real reason people hate the 98 movie is the design - it's got plenty of other flaws, and we all still talk about them, but the design is what pissed everyone off most. The real problem with G98 is that Emmerich and Devlin wanted it to be realistic - thus the lack of a thermonuclear ray, the asexuality, being killed by the military. In addition, they also corrupted it with their attempts to appeal to the mainstream - picking actors for star power over performance, throwing in a hackneyed human plot. Not to mention, they strongly anticipated a winning series with sequels where they could have Godzilla fight more monsters, instead of trying to make him fight in the first film. They also refused to delay the film and rushed the crap out of shooting, and never tested it.

And really, G98 bears barely a passing resemblance to an Iguana.

I believe it was the studio who kept them from testing it, and forced them to rush the film.

[JVM]

Emmerich said in an article the Studio did offer once to push the movie and they said no out of respect. While the studio was definitely rushing a lot, I think towards the end of the process, post-shooting, they changed their minds.

The movie would've changed a bit. I think the acting would've probably improved a little if shooting wasn't rushed - more time to remember lines and practice. Not saying it'd be that good, just saying it would've sucked a little less. And they probably would've ended up changing the ending, I think. They did reshoot the ending of Independence Day.

[Zillaowner]

if they weren't rushed then maybe they would have changed the ending

[JVM]

I don't see what changes to the ending would have been better.

The biggest complaint these days is that Zilla was defeated by military weapons instead of another monster - personally find it a shit reason.

I actually rewatched the film today, and it's grown on me more actually. My main note was that while Matthew Broderick's performance still sucks ass, pretty much every other performance was pretty damn good.

[Xx_The_Masquerade_xX]

if they weren't rushed then maybe they would have changed the ending

Changing the ending completely wouldn't have saved this movie, They'd have to re-cast more then half the cast except Jean Reno, Remove the baby Raptors, Remove the Cab chase sequence, an Re-design Godzilla an give him his atomic-breath.
There was no saving this film once Emmerich an Devlin got on board.

[cloverfan98]

if they weren't rushed then maybe they would have changed the ending

Changing the ending completely wouldn't have saved this movie, They'd have to re-cast more then half the cast except Jean Reno, Remove the baby Raptors, Remove the Cab chase sequence, an Re-design Godzilla an give him his atomic-breath.
There was no saving this film once Emmerich an Devlin got on board.

To be honest, if they hadn't gotten to do this movie it wouldn't have happened at all. The reason they cgot to do it is because every other director Tristart tried to get would not do the movie.

[Xx_The_Masquerade_xX]

if they weren't rushed then maybe they would have changed the ending

Changing the ending completely wouldn't have saved this movie, They'd have to re-cast more then half the cast except Jean Reno, Remove the baby Raptors, Remove the Cab chase sequence, an Re-design Godzilla an give him his atomic-breath.
There was no saving this film once Emmerich an Devlin got on board.

To be honest, if they hadn't gotten to do this movie it wouldn't have happened at all. The reason they cgot to do it is because every other director Tristart tried to get would not do the movie.

That was the problem though, they didn't give a crap about who directed it or what direction it took as long as it got done. Maybe i stand alone in this but id much rather the movie not happen at all then how it ended up. Godzilla was quite popular in the 90's all the way up to the release of Zilla 1998, After the movie was considered a failure aside from ''The Series'' Cartoon Godzilla films were hardly shown on T.V.

If anything the movie hurt the franchise more then it benefited it in the long run.

[GodzillaDude]

I think Zilla has a decent design. If they wouldn't have slapped the Godzilla name on it I think he would be better to most of us. My main pick with this film though is how Zilla is killed by the military. They should've at least given him Godzilla's durability.

[JVM]

^ I really don't buy these kinda posts at all.

The film would still be as hated as it was when it came out - maybe if he acted like Godzilla, our hate would have subsided, but people need to stop acting like the design was a non-issue. The design looks only vaguely like Godzilla at all.

And this is from someone who likes the damn movie, mind you.

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

My opinion is gonna sound like the same old thing everyone has heard time and time again. Godzilla '98 fails at being a Godzilla film. Zilla looked nothing like the big G, lacked his powers, and got killed far too easily by the military, and Godzilla as a hermaphroditic creature is... disturbing. Not to mention the acting and dialogue was on the poor side. However, I will say I like the movie as its' own standalone thing, not as a Godzilla film.

[Hellblaze]

My opinion is gonna sound like the same old thing everyone has heard time and time again. Godzilla '98 fails at being a Godzilla film. Zilla looked nothing like the big G, lacked his powers, and got killed far too easily by the military, and Godzilla as a hermaphroditic creature is... disturbing. Not to mention the acting and dialogue was on the poor side. However, I will say I like the movie as its' own standalone thing, not as a Godzilla film.

I agree he's not Godzilla at all he's just a mutated T.Rex that looks like coming from Jurassic Park. I guess the directors and producers never saw a Godzilla movie. Reason why he's not Godzilla:

1. Godzilla shoots Nuclear Pulse not fire!
2. Godzilla can not be stopped by missiles but Zilla dies by them! Pathetic!
3. Godzilla isn't agile like Zilla and yet Zilla in FW gets his butt kicked by Godzilla. GO GODZILLA!
4. Zilla is way smaller than Godzilla. They call this a Godzilla movie but it's not. Godzilla is suppose to be taller than buildings yet Zilla is small for some odd reason.
5. Godzilla does NOT asexual reproduce. Only lizards can hence why Zilla was mutated by some lizard.
6. Godzilla does not have multiple eggs in any Godzilla movie yet Zilla does like from JP when raptors come out to attack people to eat them! Seriously the directors and producers watched too much JP and no Godzilla movies! Godzilla always had only one offspring his son Godzilla Jr. or Minya!
7. Godzilla does not eat fish! He eats bigger animals, some plants(hence Baby Godzilla in GxMII) and eggs. Zilla does get alot of fish but it's for the eggs.
8. Godzilla is not a girl no confirmation on that in any movie he is always male yet Zilla is a female for a reason to have little Zillas run around NY.

To me these people never saw a Godzilla movie and Zilla is a poor excuse for a monster he's weak. All the fire breath Zilla has is gonna burn the monster's tooshie and get them angry plus in the movie his spikes never glowed! He's not Godzilla he should not be named that instead name him Zilla!

[Killswitch]

Godzilla or not Godzilla, I think its a terrible movie. Over the weekend, the film was on ABC Family? I couldn't watch more than 5 minutes of it. Just don't care for it.

[JVM]

Still a shitty movie, but I have to correct these excuses...

1. Thermonuclear breath, not nuclear pulse. IMO it's a fairly minor complaint
2. It's not as if he was hit by one missile and died. He was hit by several over the course of the film, Not to mention these are U. S. missiles, not Japanese.
3. Big damn whoop. Godzilla should be agile instead of bulky, IMO. That's the LEAST of my problems with Zilla's design in comparison to Godzilla.

4. Godzilla's size ranges a LOT if you've actually looked at the main site - he's been 50, 80 and 100 meters. Zilla's size is a bit larger than 50 meters, which is Godzilla's size in the entire Showa series and most of the Millennium series. Not to mention Godzilla is in New York City, not Tokyo.

5, 6 & 8. Zilla is male. He reproduces asexually because many reptiles are capable of that in reality, including the Komodo Dragon. One of the biggest goals of the 1998 film was to be realistic and truthfully, an asexual Godzilla is more realistic than the big G as we know. As for your JP comparison, people need to shut the hell up about it being too JP-like. The babies were needed for biological realism, and if they DIDN'T utilize them, just as many people would complain they were a missed opportunity.

7. We've never really seen Godzilla eat - Baby Godzilla in GvM is mentioned as being a separate species. Godzilla is based on a theropod (sp?) dinosaur, all of which are carniverous or omniverous.

[JVM]

Simple - a thread to discuss what you DO like about the 1998 film. As I've said in the other film - it IS a truly awful film. But I figured we could use a topic to discuss the positive aspects. Anyway...

* Most performances besides Broderick's are actual fairly average, or even above average.

* Although it's definitely inferior to the Japanese Godzilla design, I still feel Zilla's design is pretty awesome.

* The destruction scenes are pretty well-done.

* I'm aware most people consider this a flaw actually, but I do think it's good to have Godzilla destroyed by man for once.

* It's much more accurate to reality, including the baby 'zillas, even though doing so destroyed a lot of what made Godzilla so good.

It's an interesting film for taking a different look at the big G - that doesn't redeem it, or make it a good movie. But between that and the Godzilla-mania that ensued, I feel the film's existence is worth it.

Unlike Final Wars...

[HayesAJones]

I like this as a monster movie in general. And GINO is an okay monster when not looked at as Godzilla. I like the way he's fast and smart, surprising the helicopters and having the submarines take each other out.