Released
by Toho back during the movie's release, this book
is dedicated to covering the making of the 1998
American production of GODZILLA.
The publication is fairly big in terms of dimensions,
and makes use of this by containing some large reproductions
of production stills inside. There are also numerous
photos dedicated the design of the title creature
and the creation of the large scale prop used in
the movie. As for a rundown of the total content,
the book covers: the story, background of the producer/director,
actors/characters, designing the creatures, building
the props, city destruction, actual production,
visual effects, and the movie post premiere, each
of which is given its own chapter. The publication
does include several other graphic elements to supplement
these, such as concept art (although this is often
annoyingly small on the page for whatever reason)
and story boards. Primarily, though, it's a pretty
text heavy read, especially near the latter half
of the book where pictures become more scarce. It
closes out the book with a rundown of the movie's
credits... in English, which was probably unhelpful
to the publication's native Japanese speaking audience.
Overall, it's a good if far from remarkable look
at the creation of GODZILLA
(1998). Due to the nature of the release, and it's
general emphasis more on text than photos, it's
not a very suggestible import item for those who
might be unfamiliar with the Japanese language.
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