GODZILLA: Tristar Godzilla Film (1998)

[American Godzilla]

I still wish that, what they ended up doing for the 1998 Godzilla cartoon series, was the type of kaiju we got in the movie. That would have been the 1st Godzilla to shoot an atomic breath and have the running + agility of a speed demon along with tough armor. Sadly we didn't get that.

Since Toho converted it to 'Zilla' now I await to see 40,000 fully Grown Zillas charging a Kaiju (we were promised 40k Zillas in the 1998 film after all).

[GigaBowserG]

Size DOES matter.



Kind of stunned to see some of this new merch for G98.

[_JNavs_]

Size DOES matter.



Kind of stunned to see some of this new merch for G98.

What is this? It's pretty cool, is it a vinyl?

[UltramanGoji]

Size DOES matter.



Kind of stunned to see some of this new merch for G98.

What is this? It's pretty cool, is it a vinyl?

It’s not a vinyl, at least not a typical one. It’s by CAST and they’re extremely limited and hard to get in America.

[King of the Monsters]

Cast is doing an event on the 26th focusing on the 1998 movie. They will be republishing and selling Patrick Tatapoulos The Art of GODZILLA book there, along with a collectible photo set and all those little ornaments. They're also going to be selling a keychain featuring the 1998 Godzilla and KureKure Takora, an anthropomorphic octopus character from one of Toho's old tokusatsu shows.

[American Godzilla]

Size DOES matter.



Kind of stunned to see some of this new merch for G98.

That is cool looking! I am shpckec that 98 Zilla is getting new merch. Where did you find this?

[King of the Monsters]

That is cool looking! I am shpckec that 98 Zilla is getting new merch. Where did you find this?

It's from Cast, a Japanese company that makes collectibles like ornaments for kaiju series and holds screenings and panels sometimes. They're holding an event today for the 1998 film where they're selling that along with a lot of other new Godzilla 1998 merchandise. That image was probably posted to Cast's Twitter.

[Omegazilla]

Ugh I hate GINO. Although I can't really add anymore that hasn't already been said about why this is bad. It was terrible in 98 and just as terrible now, maybe even more so with the archaic CG>

[Saansilt]

Hopefully there are some good toy vinyls made.

[KManX89]

Never bought the argument "if this movie wasn't called Godzilla it would be great!!!" No, it would still be a terrible movie.

Same. I mean, calling it Giant Iguana Thing or whatever the fuck wouldn't fix the gazillion plot holes (he can outrun choppers, but can't outrun a taxi? And he can fit in a sewer at 200+ feet tall, yet can't fit through a tunnel? A human pregnancy test working on an iguana from a pharmacy that's still open after said giant iguana was just running through the city? The military constantly losing sight of said 200+ foot tall iguana? And countless others), annoying characters, horrid pacing and dialog, shitty CGI (they constantly keep GINO in the dark/rain to cover up how bad the CGI was) and not that great of action scenes (again, he just runs away from shit while the military keeps missing all 200+ feet of him because they're idiots; tell me again how that's entertaining?), though it would sting less.

RLM are not wrong when they said this movie doesn't get anything right.

[BlankAccount]

You know what is sad is D&E literally had the easiest adaption on their hands. They already made a movie where big scary things blow up cities with blue death rays and are impossible to take down with our weapons including nukes, just replace them with a pissed off dinosaur. That computer virus that they used to take down the aliens force-fields? Change it to a biological man made virus that weakens Godzilla and forces him back into the ocean.

[Jetty_Jags]

As I’ve said in other threads upon a recent reviewing, I can’t find myself to hate this movie as much as I used to. Are the bad parts bad, yes. I can’t take Broderick seriously, and he is fairly miscast, the movie has no attempt in hiding the fact it wants to be Jurassic park (which is part of the reason it fails to be a Godzilla film, the score and tone want to create awe in the sense of wonder instead of terror), the dialogue and plot are beyond stupid at times, and the effects are quite dated. But somehow I just don’t hate this film. At most I’m mildly amused at it, and while it’s definitely misbranded as a Godzilla film, I do find some stupid enjoyment in it. And as far as quality goes it’s definitely no where near as good as some of the best legit Goji films, however it’s not much worse than some of the worst goji movies (in terms of quality of film). While I may enjoy final wars more just for its over the top ridiculousness, I can’t say this film is objectively worse as a movie, in fact it might be better (I think the first thirty minutes actually do a decent job to set up the film).

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

^ I dunno, man. I can think of maybe five movies that I hate more, and enjoy watching less, than Godzilla '98. I was too young to be part of the initial backlash when the movie came out, but I grew to hate it after having to explain to my friends and peers a thousand times that it's not a good representation of the Godzilla franchise. Do I hate it as much as I used to? No, I guess not, but I still hate it.

I do agree that Godzilla '98 isn't the worst movie in the Godzilla franchise by that much... but it's still the worst movie in the Godzilla franchise. It may only be marginally worse than Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla and the anime trilogy, but it's still worse.

I'm glad you brought up Final Wars, because there are plenty of comparisons to be drawn between the two. They're both overly long, both seem to derive more from American sci-fi films than the classic Godzilla films and both have convoluted plots and horrible acting. I don't know if I can really make an argument that GFW is an objectively better film; all I can say is that I loved Final Wars as a kid, so it holds nostalgia value for me, whereas I always hated Godzilla '98, even when I was six, so the movie holds no value for me whatsoever.

[Spuro]

A human pregnancy test working on an iguana from a pharmacy that's still open after said giant iguana was just running through the city?

To be fair, that pharmacy was outside Manhattan's limits.

[Jetty_Jags]

There's no denying that the '98 film is one of the worst Goji films. However I want to, for the sake of argument, distinguish being a good Goji film and being a good film. Now before I get ahead of myself, I don't think this is even a good film, even after stripping the expectations of a Goji film, but I also can't honestly say some of the worst heisei films are objectively better films. And in many instances they suffer in similar regards, goofy nonsensical plots, hammy dialogue, sub-par effects, etc.

So while I understand a lot of disgust for this film comes from the mis-branding, the flaws it has as a film alone, are not unique to this movie, and do permeate through the worst godzilla movies regardless. And from this point of view, removing any contempt for being a bad Goji film, I can find this film enjoyable as a caricature of 90s blockbusters, not that its a good film, but that it is so desperate in attempting to be a 90s blockbuster, it practically parodies itself.

On the other hand, I don't want to force anyone to not hate the movie, I more than understand the disgust for this movie's impact on the public perception of godzilla. And clearly the root of this problem stems from the filmmakers having no care or intent on understanding what the character represents. On an interesting note, when re watching the film, I truly saw how the desire to be a Jurassic park movie (or even just standard 90s american blockbuster) neuters this film.

When the film starts, I actually think it does a half decent job of at least imitating Japanese Kaiju films, especially regarding the build up of the monster. And while it could benefit from cutting down on the one liners, and recasting Broderick, it has a decent start. But where the movie really first misses the mark is the "that's a lot of fish scene", with the biggest offender being the score. Foreshadowing the entire second act, this scene cements the movie's desire to be Jurassic Park, starting with the music.

Unlike a majority of Godzilla's musical accompaniments the score is much less imposing, and much more whimsical, emulating the creation of awe in the likes of Jurassic Park. So instead of using the music to convey scale, destruction, and power, it asks the viewer to gaze in beauty much like the scene where the audience first witnesses the Brontosaurs in JP. It invites the audience to be amazed by the spectacle and gracefulness of the creature, which may work for other kaiju (Mothra fits this archetype quite well), it is the antithesis of what Godzilla represents. Thus long story short, while the movie gets off on a decent start, as soon as it shows its true colors in imitating Spielberg, it throws away any chance of doing the godzilla character justice, which can be seen all the way to the musical components of the film.

[scottzilla]

It's on Netflix right now. I put it on for my 3 and 5 year old to watch. 5 year old says "it kind of looks like Godzilla". 3 year old says "yeah but it's not".

It's not a bad movie and I actually quite enjoy it, but that CGI has not aged well.

[JAGzilla]

The CGI is a common complaint levelled at this movie, but let's not be hypocrites, here. Much as we love them, it's not like a lot of Showa-era practical effects hold up to this day. Some do, certainly, but not all. But we give them a pass because they were made in a different time. So was GINO: twenty-two years(!) is a long time ago by CGI standards; the technology was still in its infancy, and not every film could be Jurassic Park.

And at least some of it was quite impressive for its time, as compared to what was possible with traditional practical effects. For example, I remember when we got home from the theater, my dad (a lifelong casual G-Fan) was on the phone with his mom, telling her about the movie, and while he had some comments about the monster not looking like Godzilla, he did point out some cool things they did with the CGI. Small details like Godzilla's tail dragging across buildings as he goes around corners, tearing individual bricks out of the walls. And some of those shots were and are cool, but we just don't acknowledge them because of the movie they're in.

[UltramanGoji]

The CGI is a common complaint levelled at this movie, but let's not be hypocrites, here. Much as we love them, it's not like a lot of Showa-era practical effects hold up to this day. Some do, certainly, but not all. But we give them a pass because they were made in a different time.

No, we give them a pass because they're trying two completely different things.

The Showa special effects were not attempts at portraying realistic monsters in a realistic world. Tsuburaya and co. were much more interested in providing a fantasy escapism for audiences more than anything. For example, when asked why Tsuburaya did not just use a rear-projection or composite effect for the infamous horse in Frankenstein Conquers the World, he said that using a model "was more fun". The puppets, suits, etc. are not the result of the effects team trying and failing to realistically portray the stories, they are just using the means they know best.

G98, on the other hand, is trying to make it seem as if Godzilla is actually there. Same for its practical effects. There's an air of "realism" applied to the techniques. They're replicating, not presenting.

Both are trying to be two different things and to compare them is asinine.

[SoggyNoodles2016]

The CGI is a common complaint levelled at this movie, but let's not be hypocrites, here. Much as we love them, it's not like a lot of Showa-era practical effects hold up to this day. Some do, certainly, but not all. But we give them a pass because they were made in a different time.

No, we give them a pass because they're trying two completely different things.

The Showa special effects were not attempts at portraying realistic monsters in a realistic world. Tsuburaya and co. were much more interested in providing a fantasy escapism for audiences more than anything. For example, when asked why Tsuburaya did not just use a rear-projection or composite effect for the infamous horse in Frankenstein Conquers the World, he said that using a model "was more fun". The puppets, suits, etc. are not the result of the effects team trying and failing to realistically portray the stories, they are just using the means they know best.

G98, on the other hand, is trying to make it seem as if Godzilla is actually there. Same for its practical effects. There's an air of "realism" applied to the techniques. They're replicating, not presenting.

Both are trying to be two different things and to compare them is asinine.

Fucking thank you. I hate this argument so much and you broke down why it's bullshit perfectly.

Also, if I may add my $0.02, even by the standards of IT'S time, 1998 has underwhelming effects.

[Ryu]

However, in Japan, critics love the special effects that people hate so much. And the special effects of toho are obsolete. Not to mention people who were not fans, love the movie.
It has the video as proof.
https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm23808666