GODZILLA: Tristar Godzilla Film (1998)

[HayesAJones]

Horrible as a Godzilla movie. GINO just can't take Godzilla's place.

[FlawedCoil82]

#1. It helped get a lot of Toho Godzilla items released. Books, new movies, shirts, etc.

#2. The soundtrack featured a new song by Silverchair (back when they were still awesome, unlike now).

#3. The special effects were (obviously) much better than any of the Toho Godzilla films.

I can't think of any others...
Jack

[GodzillaDude]

1. Zilla's design

2. Good special effects

3. Jean Reno

[DrKaiju1954]

Things i liked about the 98 Godzilla:
1.It was the thing that got me intrested in kaiju.That alone is a big reason for me and many other kaiju fans
2.The monster was pretty damn cool looking
3.Jean Reno is a badass
4.Special Effects are great

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

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.

Just a thought... A male reptile can't reproduce asexually. That still requires female parts. So I don't think that's any more realistic than the Japanese Godzilla. Also... U.S missiles or not, they still wouldn't hurt the original Goji. Not trying to start anything... just thought I would point that out.

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

Well... the effects are pretty good. The story is good... just not for Godzilla.

[Arrow]

#1. It helped get a lot of Toho Godzilla items released. Books, new movies, shirts, etc.

#2. The soundtrack featured a new song by Silverchair (back when they were still awesome, unlike now).

#3. The special effects were (obviously) much better than any of the Toho Godzilla films.

I can't think of any others...
Jack

This is pretty much my opinion of GINO's positives.

[ZigraDude]

1. All the Godzilla merchandise that was around in '98, even though a lot of tie-ins with this movie tanked after its release.
2. I kinda like those scenes with the tuna fish ship being attacked and landing on the beach. I also liked the scene where we see GINO's footprint with Matthew Broaderick standing in it. It kinda mimicks the Odo Island footprint scene in Gojira.

And that's it.

[Mini-Godzilla]

It has great atmosphere, something that is lacking in most (but not all) of the Toho films.

It plays off of the Toho monster movie conventions rather well.

It has solid acting and even features actors from The Simpsons.

[Mini-Godzilla]

The offspring subplot drags the movie out for no good reason, thus undermining the film as a whole. Audiences are best-off walking out of the theater once the characters arrive at Madison Square Garden.

[JVM]

Just a thought... A male reptile can't reproduce asexually. That still requires female parts. So I don't think that's any more realistic than the Japanese Godzilla.

Well in this case I'm going off the information given. My guess is Zilla's a hermaphrodite, but that's speculation. According to the novelization, which in many cases is based on a script, Zilla is male - so the idea of him being a female is a slightly contrived flaw.

Also... U.S missiles or not, they still wouldn't hurt the original Goji. Not trying to start anything... just thought I would point that out.

Not the original Goji. But I still feel it's a poor excuse for a flaw within the film itself - these days it's the most often discussed "issue" with the movie. And really, there's bigger problems - the design and Matthew Broderick's performance, to name two.

[HeiseiGodzilla117]

I've always thought Zilla was hermaphroditic or reproduced through Parthenogenesis like the whiptail lizard (which I think would be more fitting since they actually are asexual).
I would agree that it's not necessarily a flaw in the movie as much as making the monster weaker, which is merely a problem to fans of the original.

[G1 Startruck Jonez]

#1. It helped get a lot of Toho Godzilla items released. Books, new movies, shirts, etc.

This is the only positive I can think of.

I concur.

I tried watching this the other day and instead changed the channel to Billy the Exterminator.
"AHHH SNAKE!"

[godzilla1996]

This movie gave us the rebirth of Godzilla, Zilla is pretty cool, and it was an enjoyable monster movie. Maybe of they wanted to remake Rhedosaurus's movie, it would have been better

[Goji]

#3. The special effects were (obviously) much better than any of the Toho Godzilla films.

Why? Because they did everything digitally? "Better" isn't the word. It was just done American style (very, very, VERY little suit and miniature work).

[Legionmaster]

#3. The special effects were (obviously) much better than any of the Toho Godzilla films.

Why? Because they did everything digitally? "Better" isn't the word. It was just done American style (very, very, VERY little suit and miniature work).

It's still better than any of Toho's digital work.

[Goji]

#3. The special effects were (obviously) much better than any of the Toho Godzilla films.

Why? Because they did everything digitally? "Better" isn't the word. It was just done American style (very, very, VERY little suit and miniature work).

It's still better than any of Toho's digital work.

Indeed. This is true.



Too bad the film's SPX scenes are still yawn worthy anyway

[G1 Startruck Jonez]

There was nothing in GINO that looked anything near as good as in Gamera 3.

[Legionmaster]

There was nothing in GINO that looked anything near as good as in Gamera 3.

G3 has some excellent shots, but it can't compete in terms of detail. Most of the excellent work is long shots or filled with motion blur. They can't compare to the quality in Godzilla.

[Leunames]

Yeah, this is true..for all the bereavement GINO caused the Godzilla fanbase, there are several positive things (some more positive than others, depending who you are).

1. For the fandom in general, GINO brought in more fans and introduced more people in general to Godzilla than all the Japanese Hesei films combined...in a single weekend's worth of viewing. I'm sure there's a lot of fans here on Toho Kingdom who are around 18 years old or so. That would mean you were around 6 when GINO came out and this will mostly likely have been the first Godzilla movie you saw, which then piqued your interest in the franchise, etc. That's what happened to me in (i'm guessing) 1986. At the time I was only 5 years old and I believe Godzilla 1985 was my first movie...can't remember.

2. Along with introducing more kids/etc. to the fandom, GINO galvanized Sony to acquire the rights to heisei (and later showa) films on DVD. Other companies started following suit.

3. Merchandise, etc. Personally I only ever bought Ultimate Godzilla and Thundertail Godzilla, but it was great seeing Godzilla merchandise widly available everywhere for much less than their Bandai counterparts (and far easier to get).

4. Godzilla the Animated Series. I enjoyed this series far more than the actual movie and the animation was pretty good. Had some pretty good stories too...it's too bad the entire series isn't on DVD. It's a worthy addition to the Godzilla franchise.

5. As for the actual movie itself...I do like how Godzilla was portrayed as a little cunning and clever.