Godzilla (1998)

Godzilla is a 1998 Science fiction Monster movie co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich. It is a reimagining of the movie monster Godzilla. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Emmerich and Dean Devlin. The film relates to a fictional tale involving a nuclear incident in the South Pacific which causes an abnormal mutation to occur in a reptile. The beast migrates to North America and wreaks havoc on Manhattan. Incorporated in the plot is the character of Dr. Niko Tatopoulos, played by actor Matthew Broderick. Tatopoulos, an American scientist whose work involves the effects of exposed nuclear radiation on species, is recruited by the military to help contain and subdue the creature referred to as "Godzilla". The ensemble cast also features Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn, along with French actor Jean Reno in principal supporting roles.

The film was a co-production between the motion picture studios of Centropolis Entertainment and TriStar Pictures. It was commercially distributed by TriStar Pictures theatrically, and by Sony Pictures Entertainment for home media. TriStar Pictures. Following its wide release in theaters, the film won and was nominated for multiple Razzie Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Remake or Sequel but received recognition in the field of Computer-generated imagery by winning the Saturn Award for Best Special Effects. On May 19, 1998, the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released by the Epic Records label. It features songs written by several recording artists including The Wallflowers, Rage Against the Machine, Silverchair, and the Foo Fighters. The film score was composed and orchestrated by musicians David Arnold.

Godzilla premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on May 20, 1998 grossing $136,314,294 in domestic ticket receipts. It earned an additional $242,700,000 in business through international release to top out at a combined $379,014,294 in gross revenue; but despite this it was considered a disappointment at the box office. The film was met with a negative reception from critics and fans of the franchise. Due to this, planned sequels were abandoned and an animated television sequel, Godzilla: The Series, was produced instead. It premiered September 12, 1998 on the Fox Kids network.

Plot
Following a nuclear incident in French Polynesia, a lizard's nest is irradiated by the fallout of subsequent radiation. Decades later, a Japanese fishing vessel is suddenly attacked by an enormous sea creature in the South Pacific ocean; only one seaman survives. Traumatized, he is questioned by a mysterious Frenchman in a hospital regarding what he saw, to which he replies, "Gojira".

Dr. Niko Tatopoulos (Broderick), an NRC scientist, is in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, but is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of an official from the U.S. State Department. He is sent to Tahiti and Jamaica, escorted by the military, to observe the wreckage of the recovered Japanese fishing trawler with massive claw marks on it. The Frenchman is also present, observing the scene, and introduces himself as Philippe Roaché (Reno), an insurance agent. Aboard a military aircraft, Dr. Tatopoulos identifies skin samples he discovered in the shipwreck as belonging to an unknown species. He dismisses the military's theory that the creature is a living dinosaur, instead deducing that it is a mutant created by nuclear testing. The large reptilian creature dubbed as "Godzilla" by the media, travels to New York City leaving a path of destruction in its wake. The city is evacuated as the military attempts to kill it but fails in an initial attempt. Dr. Tatopoulos later collects a blood sample and learns that Godzilla reproduces asexually and is collecting food for its offspring. Aspiring journalist and ex-girlfriend of Dr. Tatopoulos, Audrey Timmonds (Pitillo), uncovers a classified tape in his provisional military tent which concerns the origins of the lizard. Her superior Charles Caiman (Shearer) however, declares the tape as his own media discovery. The tape is broadcast on television embarrassing the military on the sensitive nature of the situation. Dr. Tatopoulos is thrown off the team but is kidnapped by Roaché, who reveals himself to be an agent of the DGSE, the French foreign intelligence agency. He and his colleagues have been keeping close watch on the events and are planning to cover up their role in the nuclear accident that spawned the creature. Suspecting a nest somewhere in the city, they cooperate with Dr. Tatopoulos to trace and destroy it.

Following a chase with Godzilla, the creature dives into the Hudson River where it is attacked by a Navy submarine. After sustaining head-on collisions with torpedoes, the beast sinks after being rendered incapacitated. Believing it is finally dead, the authorities celebrate. Dr. Tatopoulos and Roaché's special operations team, covertly followed by Timmonds and her cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti (Azaria), make their way through underground subway tunnels to Madison Square Garden. There, they locate numerous eggs, having finally found the nest. As they attempt to destroy them by planting explosives, the eggs suddenly hatch. Sensing the human intruders as food, they begin attacking them. Dr. Tatopoulos, Palotti, Timmonds and Roaché take refuge in the coliseum's broadcast booth and send a live news report to alert the military of what will happen if the lizards escape. A prompt response involving an airstrike is initiated as the four escape moments before the arena is bombed. Godzilla however, survived the torpedo attack earlier underwater and emerges from the venue's ruins. Discovering all of its offspring dead, it roars in anger and chases Dr. Tatopoulos, Roaché, Timmonds and Palotti through the streets of Manhattan. In pursuit of the quartet, Godzilla eventually makes its way to the Brooklyn Bridge. The creature becomes trapped in its steel suspension cables, making it an easy target. After being attacked by military aircraft, it falls to the ground and slowly dies. Meanwhile, amidst the Garden's ruins, a lone egg has survived the aerial bombardment and begins to hatch.

Cast
{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"
 * Matthew Broderick as Dr. Niko "Nick" Tatopoulos
 * Jean Reno as Philippe Roaché
 * Maria Pitillo as Audrey Timmonds
 * Hank Azaria as Victor "Animal" Palotti
 * Kevin Dunn as Colonel Hicks
 * Michael Lerner as Mayor Ebert
 * Harry Shearer as Charles Caiman
 * Arabella Field as Lucy Palotti
 * Vicki Lewis as Dr. Elsie Chapman
 * Doug Savant as Sergeant O'Neal
 * Malcolm Danare as Dr. Mendel Craven
 * Frank Welker as Creature Vocals

Development
The first talk of an American produced Godzilla film started in the early 80's when director Steve Miner received special permission from Toho to produce an American Godzilla 3D feature film. Miner tried to find backers to finance the project, presenting concept art and storyboards from artist William Stout and a full screenplay written by Fred Dekker. Despite igniting some interest in Hollywood, studios were unwilling to gamble on Miner's proposed $30 million budget and the film rights died in 1983.

In 1992, TriStar Pictures acquired the rights to Godzilla from Toho to produce a trilogy of American Godzilla films, with the promise of "remaining true to the original series – cautioning against nuclear weapons and runaway technology." Screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were tapped to write the script and submitted their final draft in late 1994. Several months earlier, Jan de Bont was attached to direct and began pre-production on the film with a planned summer 1996 release date.

De Bont's Godzilla would have had the character's atomic origins discarded and replaced as an artificial creation constructed by Atlantians to fend humanity against a shape shifting extraterrestrial monster called "The Gryphon" and having the final showdown in New York City. Despite the radical change of the character's origins, the film would have stayed faithful to the spirit of the original Godzilla films while at the same time revitalizing the franchise for Western audiences.

Stan Winston and his company were employed to do the effects for the film. Winston crafted two sculpture of Godzilla, in vein of the original classic design, and the rival monster, The Gryphon. De Bont later left the project after TriStar refused to approve his budget of $100-120 million.

Prior to the release of Independence Day, director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin signed on to do Godzilla under the condition they would be able to handle the film "their way". Emmerich and Devlin discarded Elliott and Rossio's script and provided a new script where the Godzilla character in general was rewritten as a whole.

Patrick Tatopoulos was contacted early on by Emmerich and asked to design the new Godzilla. According to Tatopoulos, the only specific instructions Emmerich gave him was that it should be able to run incredibly fast. Godzilla's traditional look was changed from an erect bipedal dinosaur to a hunched bent-over marine iguana. Godzilla's color scheme was designed to reflect and blend in with the urban environment. At one point, it was planned to use motion capture from a human to create the movements of the computer-generated Godzilla, but it ended up looking too much like a human in a suit.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack featuring alternative rock music was released on May 19, 1998 by Epic Records. It was a success on the music charts, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum on June 22, 1998. The original score was composed by David Arnold. The film's score was not released on CD until 9 years later, when it went on sale as a complete original film score in 2007 by La La Land Records.

Theatrical run
In interviews promoting The Day After Tomorrow, Emmerich admitted regretting the production of Godzilla, particularly due to the rushed shooting schedule that was required for a Memorial Day weekend release and the studio's insistence on not test-screening the film. However, he defended the film as better than critics gave it credit for, as it was financially successful, and out of all the films he directed, it was the one which parents told him their children enjoyed the most. At its release, the film was much criticized by Godzilla fans the world over. Kenpachiro Satsuma, the actor who portrayed Godzilla in the second series of films (1984–1995) walked out of a Tokyo screening and told reporters that, "It's not Godzilla, it does not have the spirit". Godzilla was initially projected to break the four-day Memorial Day long weekend opening record of $90,161,880 set by The Lost World: Jurassic Park a year earlier. Instead, Godzilla ' s four-day opening weekend gross returned $55,726,951 in ticket sales.

Home media
Following its cinematic release in theaters, the Region 1 Code widescreen edition of the film was released on DVD in the United States on November 3, 1998. Special features for the DVD include; Photo Galleries, Visual Effects Commentary, "Heroes" Music Video by The Wallflowers, Behind the Scenes of Godzilla with Charles Caiman, Theatrical Trailers, Scene Selections, Featurette, Special FX Supervisor Commentary, Director/Producer Biographies, Cast Filmographies, Photo Gallery, Music Video, and Godzilla Takes New York (before and after shots). Additionally, a Special Edition DVD was also released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on March 28, 2006. Special features include; "Heroes" Music Video by The Wallflowers, Behind the Scenes of Godzilla with Charles Caiman, Photo Galleries, Visual Effects Commentary, Featurette, Music Video ("Heroes" by the Wallflowers), "All-Time Best of Godzilla Fight Scenes" featurette, 3 Episodes from Godzilla: The Animated Series, Never-Before-Seen Production Art Gallery, Photo Gallery: Godzilla Takes New York (before and after shots), and Special FX Supervisor Commentary.

The widescreen hi-definition Blu-ray Disc version of the film was released on November 10, 2009. Special features include; Visual Effects Commentary, a Behind the Scenes of Godzilla feature with Charles Caiman, All Time Best of Godzilla Fight Scenes, and the "Heroes" Music Video by The Wallflowers. A supplemental viewing option for the film in the media format of Video on demand is available as well.

Box office
Godzilla premiered in cinemas on May 20, 1998 in wide release throughout the United States for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. During that 4-Day period, the film opened in 1st place grossing $55,726,951 in business showing at 3,310 locations. The film Deep Impact opened in 2nd place during that weekend with $19,381,788 in revenue. The film's revenue dropped by 59% in its second week of release, earning $18,020,444. For that particular weekend, the film remained in 1st place as the romantic drama Hope Floats overtook Deep Impact for 2nd place with $14,210,464 in box office business. During its final week in release, Godzilla opened in 19th place grossing $202,157. For that weekend, Lethal Weapon 4 starring Mel Gibson made its debut, opening in 1st place with $34,048,124 in revenue. Godzilla went on to top out domestically at $136,314,294 in total ticket sales through an 8-week theatrical run. Internationally, the film took in an additional $242,700,000 in business for a combined worldwide total of $379,014,294. For 1998 as a whole, the film was the 9th highest grossing film domestically and the 3rd highest grossing film Worldwide.

Critical response
Among mainstream critics in the U.S., the film received generally negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 26% of 61 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 4.7 out of 10. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average out of 100 to critics' reviews, the film received a score of 32 based on 23 reviews. In 1999 at the Huntley Hotel Garden Room in Santa Monica, California, the film won Golden Raspberry Awards in the categories of "Worst Supporting Actress" for Pitillo and "Worst Re-Make or Sequel". The film was also nominated for Razzies in the categories of "The Joe Eszterhas Dis-Honorarial Worst Screenplay Award" for Emmerich and Devlin, "Worst Picture", and "Worst Director" for Emmerich.

Barbara Shulgasser, writing in The San Francisco Examiner, said in a one star review, "OK. Maybe the special effects are slightly more sophisticated than they were in Jurassic Park, but the techno-stuff is all getting a bit boring. When a movie is nothing but relentless action, there's little chance for dramatic tension to develop." She wrote that the film was, "devoid of any discernible plot logic." Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote that the film was "an overblown action monstrosity with no surprises, no exhilaration and no thrills... What passes for thrills is a succession of scenes lifted and extended from Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Godzilla, shot mostly from the waist down, steps on cars and strafes the sides of buildings with his tail." Rita Kempley of The Washington Post, said the film "neither draws upon our fears nor revels in the original's camp charms. The picture really isn't about anything unless it is the deep pockets and shallow minds of the honchos who begat this colossal bore." She wrote further, "Size vanquishes both substance and subtlety in the overhyped, half-cocked and humorless resurrection of dear old 'Godzilla.' It might well be titled  'Iguana Get You Sucka.' " The film however, was not without its supporters. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times, wrote that the film was an "An expertly designed theme park ride of a movie that packs nonstop thrills." In a slightly positive fashion, Gary Kamiya of Salon.com commented that "The plot is about as ridiculous as you'd expect, but for the most part its absurdities are tolerable." Joe Leydon of Variety, contributed mildy to the positive sentiment by saying "Throughout "Godzilla," New York endures the most sustained rainfall in all of movie history. Most of the action takes place at night, but even the daytime scenes unfold under darkly overcast skies, which, of course, makes it all the easier for Emmerich to obscure Godzilla's features for the maximum amount of time to generate the maximum amount of suspense."

Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four, bluntly noting that "One must carefully repress intelligent thought while watching such a film. The movie makes no sense at all except as a careless pastiche of its betters (and, yes, the Japanese Godzilla movies are, in their way, better - if only because they embrace dreck instead of condescending to it). You have to absorb such a film, not consider it. But my brain rebelled, and insisted on applying logic where it was not welcome." In an entirely negative review, James Berardinelli writing for ReelViews, called the film "one of the most idiotic blockbuster movies of all time, it's like spitting into the wind. Emmerich and Devlin are master illusionists, waving their wands and mesmerizing audiences with their smoke and mirrors. It's probably too much to hope that some day, movie- goers will wake up and realize that they've been had." Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote that the film "is so clumsily structured it feels as if it's two different movies stuck together with an absurd stomping finale glued onto the end. The only question worth asking about this $120 million wad of popcorn is a commercial one. How much further will the dumbing down of the event movie have to go before the audience stops buying tickets?"

Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post queried, "The question is this: Are the awe-inspiring creature effects and roaring battle scenes impressive enough to make you forget the stupid story, inaccurate science and basic implausibility?" Thoughtfully disillusioned, he wrote, "The cut-rate cast seems to have been plucked from the pages of TV Guide. There's Doug Savant from "Melrose Place" as O'Neal, a scaredy-cat military man who looks like Sgt. Rock and acts like Barney Fife. There's Maria Pitillo ("House Rules") as Nick's soporific love interest, Audrey; "The Simpsons'‚" Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer as a wise-cracking news cameraman and superficial reporter; Vicki Lewis of "NewsRadio" as a lusty scientist. Shall I continue?" However, in a more upbeat tone, Owen Gleiberman writing for Entertainment Weekly thought "There's no resonance to the new Godzilla, and no built-in cheese value, either. For a while, the filmmakers honor the sentimental paradox that seeped into the later Godzilla films: that this primitive destroyer, like King Kong, doesn't actually mean any harm." He opined that the film contained "some clever and exciting sequences", but ultimately came to the conclusion that, "It says much about today's blockbuster filmmakers that they could spend so much money on Godzilla and still fail to do justice to something that was fairy-tale destructo schlock to begin with." Film critic Aladino Debert of Variety was consumed with the nature of the special effects exclaiming, "the title creature is wonderfully designed and the animation is excellent." Complimenting the technical aspects of the film, he summarized, "The integration of the lizard into its surroundings is for the most part very well accomplished, with rigged cars collapsing under the massive weight of Godzilla, and buildings either demolished or partially damaged. The compositing of the debris and pyrotechnics is generally good, especially when the monster runs or walks on the streets: The asphalt gives way convincingly every time the massive feet touch the ground, and a variety of CGI elements are seamlessly composited. Debris flies off buildings with every touch of the monster."

Accolades
The film was nominated and won several awards in 1998–99. Furthermore, Godzilla was screened out of competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. The film also won and was nominated for several Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Remake or Sequel.

Cancelled sequels
Sony planned to produce a trilogy of American Godzilla films upon acquiring the license for Godzilla in 1992. Sony went as far as tapping Tab Murphy to write a treatment for a sequel however, due to the overwhelming negative reception the first film received and a lack of enthusiasm from fans, audiences, theater owners, and licensees, the planned sequels were abandoned and the rights to Godzilla sat on Sony's shelve until they expired in 2003.

Animated series
An animated series called Godzilla: The Series was produced as a continuation of the storyline of the film. In the series, Dr. Tatopoulos accidentally discovers the egg that survived the aerial bombardment before it hatches, in a minor change from the ending in the 1998 film. The creature hatches after Dr. Tatopoulos stumbles onto it as it assumes him as its parent. Subsequently, Dr. Tatopoulos and his associates form a research team, investigating strange occurrences and defending mankind from dangerous mutations. Actor Ian Ziering voiced the character of Dr. Tatopoulos throughout the series.

Reboot
Legendary Pictures, in conjunction with Warner Bros., planned to release a Godzilla reboot in 2012. According to Thomas Tull, Chairman and CEO of Legendary, he commented "Godzilla is one of the world's most powerful pop culture icons, and we at Legendary are thrilled to be able to create a modern epic based on this long-loved Toho franchise". The press release indicated Legendary plans to focus more on the Japanese source material with the reboot, ignoring the prior 1998 incarnation. Tull added, "Our plans are to produce the Godzilla that we, as fans, would want to see. We intend to do justice to those essential elements that have allowed this character to remain as pop-culturally relevant for as long as it has." The reboot has now been pushed ahead, scheduled for a May 16, 2014 release date.