MikeSTZillak wrote:
Any different from the other drafts?
Yeah, this seems to be the draft that Ryfle based his article in
Japan's Favorite Mon-Star on. I reccomend reading them both to compare and contrast. So far there have mostly been minor differences
- the satellite-launched nuclear missile in the film's opening scene is not intercepted like in the other draft, but instead crashes in the ocean on it's own accord
- Daxton picks his son Kevin up from school instead of his ex-wife picking him up and dropping him off and the bullying against the son is more severe (they actually try to kill his pet lizard before Daxton shows up)
- Godzilla gets a chance to look a bit more curious during the oil rig scene
- The main difference so far that the film begins with something that Steve Ryfle's write-up described but was absent from other drafts: a damaged freighter washes up on the California shore. The young reporter character Dana Martin sneaks past Coast Guardsmen to get on board and is startled by a severely burned and mutated Japanese crewman who mutters "Gojira" before dying.
I'll write more as I go on. IIRC though in the other draft the paleontologist Balinger is the one who kills Godzilla by firing the Russian missile down his throat, and if this is the one Ryfle described the kid, Kevin, is actually the one who is made to fire the missile and kill Godzilla
EDIT:
- The Soviet anti-fission missiles are not called "Dragons" anymore; in this draft they are referred to as "SAGARs."
- Daxton's ex-wife/Kevin's mom is not a character in this draft and is apparently dead. Daxton is raising Kevin as a single father.
- There is some conflict between Daxton and Kevin. Kevin wants to tag along with Daxton on missions and "not be treated like such a kid" while Daxton just wants to keep him safe. The root source of their conflict seems to be the fact that Daxton is often not home due to his being a Badass CIA Covert Operator as well as both dealing with the death of Kevin's mom.
- there's a new scene where Kevin flirts with a pretty girl from class in an arcade that he had previously been unable to approach. The bullies from before show up and try to humiliate them but he one-ups them and winds up humiliating the head bully instead, impressing the pretty girl. With the exception
- the helicopter pilot from the earlier draft is also excised. Daxton takes over his role; he used to fly helicopters for the CIA before Kryuchkov took his eye in Berlin. He still works as a badass CIA covert operator, but his only having one eye precludes him from flying until the climax, when he pilots the S-78 against Godzilla
- As a result of neither Kevin's mom nor helicopter guy the weird double love triangle from the earlier draft (Balinger/Dana/Helicopter guy, Daxton/ex-wife/Balinger) is also cut. There is still a romantic air to Balinger and Dana's relationship, and they ultimately have a big smooching scene
- there's a running joke where Dana uses the same trick three times to sneak into secured locations - she tears her blouse, musses her hair, and acts like she was just mugged and that the attacker has run off with her purse. The guard then runs off to catch the "mugger" while she sneaks in. The final time she tries doing it to a black guard (who she had previously tried to do it on) who laughs and asks "do I look like a sucker?" - only for Balinger to sneak up behind him and steal his sidearm, which he uses to threaten the guard into let them in
- maybe it's just me but it seems like the Soviet spy subplot is somewhat toned down from the previous draft. Kryuchkov and his KGB goons are all still there, but it seems as if they have a tad fewer scenes/screentime
- Godzilla still incinerates Kryuchkov but does not eat his skeleton; my guess is this is after Toho read the first draft and told Dekker and Miner that Godzilla could not be shown eating people
- yep, Kevin is the one who kills Godzilla this time. He takes advantage of some confusion after Godzilla's breath causes an explosion and causes the first gunner to fall out; Kevin promptly jumps in just as the helicopter takes off, leaving the original gunner standing on the ground with nothing to do
- Kevin's "friendship" with Godzilla seems toned down from the first draft; while he does show some sympathy for Godzilla he seems much more eager to kill him than in the first draft. For his part, the part where Godzilla and Kevin share a brief face to face scene is retained and he is described as looking "concerned" when he sees Kryuchkov threatening Kevin.
- A brief note: the scene where Kevin actually fires the missile down Godzilla's throat is absent from the script - the script is be missing page 101, where the scene seems to have taken place.
- Kevin is knocked from the helicopter after firing the SAGAR missile down Godzilla's throat, but is caught by Godzilla. It's not entirely clear if Godzilla was trying to save the boy, if he is trying to kill him, or if he is merely spasming in his death throes, but given some of the earlier details I would guess the implication is that he is saving him.
Ultimately this version seems as if it was an attempt to "trim the fat" of the first draft and put a greater focus on Godzilla and his rampage, and I think that they succeeded to an extent. There are still a number of flaws, but it's an improvement over the first draft in some regards.
King of The Monsters /
Godzilla vs Kong spoilers (I'm not just trying to spam them across the board, I have a point here):
