Fixing Godzilla 1998

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Omegazilla
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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

Post by Omegazilla »

There is no fixing GINO without a complete ground-up overhaul. The original 1994 idea sounded so much better. Something different that would have essentially beat Heisei Gamera to the punch with the whole genetically engineering kaiju concept. I am going to have to say no to a female Godzilla though. Everything has been feminized enough in fiction and Mothra is plenty.

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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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Omegazilla wrote:Something different that would have essentially beat Heisei Gamera to the punch with the whole genetically engineering kaiju concept.
GOTU was completed in 1994 and was released in March 1995; De Bont hoped to start filming Godzilla that month. It never, ever was going to beat the Gamera movie to the screen.
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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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Timing aside, always was funny to me how the DeBont film and GOTU have a lot of parallels. It's not a direct 1 to 1, but similarities none the less.
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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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Desghidorah wrote:Timing aside, always was funny to me how the DeBont film and GOTU have a lot of parallels. It's not a direct 1 to 1, but similarities none the less.
Are they coincidental?

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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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Timelines as they are, it be hard for either to have known much about the other.
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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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Terasawa wrote:
Omegazilla wrote:Something different that would have essentially beat Heisei Gamera to the punch with the whole genetically engineering kaiju concept.
GOTU was completed in 1994 and was released in March 1995; De Bont hoped to start filming Godzilla that month. It never, ever was going to beat the Gamera movie to the screen.
Interesting. So I guess only the original script for Godzilla was completed in 1994 then? I wonder how it would have compared to Gamera if done instead of GINO.

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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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Omegazilla wrote:
Terasawa wrote:
Omegazilla wrote:Something different that would have essentially beat Heisei Gamera to the punch with the whole genetically engineering kaiju concept.
GOTU was completed in 1994 and was released in March 1995; De Bont hoped to start filming Godzilla that month. It never, ever was going to beat the Gamera movie to the screen.
Interesting. So I guess only the original script for Godzilla was completed in 1994 then? I wonder how it would have compared to Gamera if done instead of GINO.
Rossio & Elliott’s first draft was submitted November 10, 1993. The final draft was December 9, 1994.
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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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I have noticed that there's surprisingly a ton of naysayers as to whether or not it would've truly been for the better if we had gotten the Debont film instead of the Emmerich one. For starters, I've seen people who've actually read the script point out that the human angle was not much better than what we actually got. Others around here have nitpicked the unused Godzilla design, with one person around here comparing his muzzle to a hadrosaur's and there's even been ire towards his origins involving him being some sort of ancient alien and/or Atlantean bioweapon.

As for the latter why do you consider it too far-out for the character? Almost all of you have welcomed a ton of other weird and unusual creative choices with Godzilla over the years, whether it be in GMK where he was made into a vessel for lost souls from WWII and Shin where they re-imagined him as a constantly mutating, laser spouting clump of beef jerky. Why is The Debont script any more far-fetched than what he did get in reality?
Last edited by LegendZilla on Mon Mar 01, 2021 8:19 pm, edited 6 times in total.

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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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LegendZilla wrote: Sat Feb 27, 2021 12:03 am As for the latter why do you consider it too far-out for the character? Almost all of you have welcomed a ton of other weird and unusual creative choices with Godzilla over the years, whether it be in GMK where he was made into a vessel for lost souls from WWII and Shin where they re-imagined him as a constantly mutating, laser spouting clump of beef jerky. Why is The Debont script any more far-fetched than what he did get in reality?
The immediate, obvious difference to me is that both the GMK and Shin explanations retains the idea that humans culpable in a direct and significant way for the destruction wrought by Godzilla.
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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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Posted this in another thread but thought I'd put it here too -

For me it's not so much was what Godzilla is in terms of pseudoscientific backstory, but how he looks and behaves, his powers and abilities. They can throw out any kind of explanation (prehistoric amphibious reptile, Godzillasaurus, iguana*, controlled by spirits of WWII, prehistoric deep-sea organism, hyper-evolved plant-based organism, etc.), but as long as he's Godzilla in form and function I'm fine.

*Or genetically-engineered guardian.

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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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funny this thread is a thing, as part of my "making of Godzilla 1998" project due release 2023 I'm going to make a custom B/W cut of the movie that fixes some of the real narrative problems... such as the habit of "telling things twice" (visually THEN through dialogue... or vice versa) which is typical of 1st draft movies (and G98 is a first draft both scriptwise AND cutwise!)

also going to reduce the romance loads (has very little to do with the overall plot and themes) and the humour... all in all I'm (probably) looking at an overall 30, maybe even 40-minute excision from the movie. Tighter movie overall... can't wait to get to work on it!
Platypus Prime wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 1:21 pm I realized today that thanks to a few animations and manga she's appeared in, Biollante is an anime girl.
miguelnuva wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 5:47 pm With this being an Oscar for best visual effects you can also joke and say Godzilla really did win the oscar.

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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

Post by GodzillaBurgh »

Put some meat on Zilla's bones, making him a bit fatter. Fix his head to resemble more like a modified T-rex. And actually have him USE his atomic breath.
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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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tbeasley wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 5:46 pm Posted this in another thread but thought I'd put it here too -

For me it's not so much was what Godzilla is in terms of pseudoscientific backstory, but how he looks and behaves, his powers and abilities. They can throw out any kind of explanation (prehistoric amphibious reptile, Godzillasaurus, iguana*, controlled by spirits of WWII, prehistoric deep-sea organism, hyper-evolved plant-based organism, etc.), but as long as he's Godzilla in form and function I'm fine.

*Or genetically-engineered guardian.
Does the same logic apply to other fictional characters? For example, let's say they re-imagined Batman's origins. Instead of a orphaned wealthy philanthropist who trains in all sorts of physical discipline and martial arts, he starts out as a down on his luck male prostitute who gets bitten by a radioactive bat. Despite such a radically different backstory, he still ends up retaining his familiar form and function in the end. Would fans at large welcome such a change with open arms?
Last edited by LegendZilla on Thu Mar 04, 2021 9:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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LegendZilla wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:41 amLet's say they re-imagined Batman's origins. Instead of a orphaned wealthy philanthropist who trains in all sorts of physical discipline and martial arts, he starts out as a down on his luck male prostitute who gets bitten by a radioactive bat.
This is sig worthy. I don't know how you think of this stuff.

I'd say it's all up to personal preference weather they accept different origins or not. Some are more about the journey rather than the destination with their characters.
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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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Maritonic wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 12:04 pm
LegendZilla wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:41 amLet's say they re-imagined Batman's origins. Instead of a orphaned wealthy philanthropist who trains in all sorts of physical discipline and martial arts, he starts out as a down on his luck male prostitute who gets bitten by a radioactive bat.
This is sig worthy. I don't know how you think of this stuff.
Okay, I'll be honest. I was inspired by a video on Youtube I saw several years ago and someone described GINO to if they did what I said with Batman.

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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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You know what, I really don’t hate this film. It’s a product of its time and plays for laughs in a very 90’s way. In terms of creature design and abilities, I used to hate it as Godzilla but always said it was fine as a different creature. Now, however, since America got the new Godzilla so damn right, I accept the 98 Godzilla as it’s own thing, it was different, wildly different but that ok with me now. Like many others here, I agree that the main issue is the human element needing some heavy tweaking. I found it fine as a younger fella but now... Audrey is unbearable and the love story... who cares? Hell, just recast her and have them as exes but rid the whole getting back together thing, simply have them learn to respect and trust each other and have that important to the plot of finding out what the hell Godzilla is, his origins etc. I found the whole investigative element, however small, a very interesting plot point and would have wanted that played out further. The score was fine, the setting and premise was fine, boost the human element and maybe don’t make the military such bumbling idiots. In terms of atomic breath, have it more like it was but more powerful and an eerie blue/green. So his power breath but it ignites and literally spews atomic flames. On another note, I’m kind of sad that this movie used the design because I think as a creature, it would fit the monsterverse amazingly as a sub-species of the true Godzilla.

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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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^Would you people argue that Godzilla's origins being tied to the folly of human beings is just important as retaining the familiar form and function that we all know?
Last edited by LegendZilla on Fri Mar 05, 2021 9:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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LegendZilla wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:09 pm ^Would you people argue that Godzilla's origins being tied to the folly of human beings is just important as retaining the familiar form and function that we al know?
I wouldn't say that, exactly. What I would say is that if Godzilla's origin is being addressed, then it should be tied to human folly.
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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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Long post incoming...
LegendZilla wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:41 amDoes the same logic apply to other fictional characters? For example, let's say they re-imagined Batman's origins. Instead of a orphaned wealthy philanthropist who trains in all sorts of physical discipline and martial arts, he starts out as a down on his luck male prostitute who gets bitten by a radioactive bat. Despite such a radically different backstory, he still ends up retaining his familiar form and function in the end. Would fans at large welcome such a change with open arms?
I don't think there's anyone dumb enough to write that story. (Except maybe Zack Snyder.)

But there have been some weird takes on Batman and other heroes before (Gotham by Gaslight, Elseworlds, What If), which is not far off from Toho’s approach to Godzilla since the Millennium era, and it's definitely paid off for them with the first ever ‘concurrent’ MonsterVerse/Reiwa era.

Best way I’ve seen it put is that Toho considers its monsters ‘actors’ than can fill whatever ‘role’ written or decided for them – that’s how you get something like Ghidorah as a guardian monster in GMK. (That doesn't mean everyone is going to like it, but still.)
eabaker wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 8:13 pm
LegendZilla wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:09 pm ^Would you people argue that Godzilla's origins being tied to the folly of human beings is just important as retaining the familiar form and function that we al know?
I wouldn't say that, exactly. What I would say is that if Godzilla's origin is being addressed, then it should be tied to human folly.
Rambling at this point but yeah it depends on the tone/story, what they're going for, what they want to emphasize, what Toho demands from them. For example, Godzilla usually has to be attached to a 'nuclear incident' of some type, and we've seen this addressed in different ways...

94 script - Reactor cores are dumped outside Godzilla's lair, leading to his premature release and setting the story in motion. Godzilla is later described as a 'living nuclear reactor' himself.

2014 film - Nuclear weapons/energy lure the MUTOs out from hiding, which in turn lures Godzilla, leading to mass destruction. Godzilla is first brought to the surface by a nuclear submarine, and the unfortunately named 'Operation: Lucky Dragon' is an attempt to kill him.

Shin - First a highly destructive, nightmarish Godzilla, then the threat of outright thermonuclear annihilation. Godzilla can rapidly evolve/mutate from feeding on nuclear waste dumped in the ocean.

Anime trilogy - Is what it is but Godzilla Earth is supposedly hit with 150 nuclear warheads, leading to what remains of humanity abandoning the planet, allowing Godzilla to fully take over.

KOTM - Most problematic of the bunch, a big well-intentioned can of worms, the 'Castle Bravo' base having another tone-deaf name.

And who knows what they'll come up with in Singular Point but I'm assuming the nuclear/folly of man themes will be there in some capacity.
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Re: Fixing Godzilla 1998

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Godzilla's origins (as in, he is mutated or scarred by a nuclear disaster) ARE essential no doubt (which is why the MV is kinda 'eh' in that regard: Godzilla is represented as a "restorer of balance" and in the second movie everyone is saved BECAUSE a nuclear bomb is detonated...)

the interesting thing is that G98's origins are tied to the nuclear tests in the French Polynesia, which are a real life series of events that lasted 30 good years from 1966 to 1996. Several scandals were associated to those. Emmerich and Devlin retired to Mexico in Fall 1996 to write their script... so no doubt that they chose those in an attempt to bring the story to contemporary times. The footage used, however, belongs to American tests (incl. Bikini Atoll tests)
Last edited by Omegamorph on Tue Mar 09, 2021 4:25 am, edited 2 times in total.
Platypus Prime wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 1:21 pm I realized today that thanks to a few animations and manga she's appeared in, Biollante is an anime girl.
miguelnuva wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2024 5:47 pm With this being an Oscar for best visual effects you can also joke and say Godzilla really did win the oscar.

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