Roland Emmerich (Director);
Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich (Screenwriters);
Dean Devlin (Producer);
Ute Emmerich, Roland Emmerich, William Fay (Executive Producers);
Rob Fried, Cary Woods (Co-Executive Producers);
Patrick Tatopoulous Design, Inc. (Creature Design);
Centropolis FX (Digital Special Effects);
Fiona Bull (Digital Effect Supervisor);
David Arnold (Musical Score);
based upon the Godzilla character created by the Toho Film Company.

GODZILLA DISAPOINTING
REVIEW BY CRIS BRUCE

GOOD MOVIE
Subject: Godzilla_98
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002
From: Dawn

THE 1998 GODZILLA
Subject: Godzilla_98
Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2001
From: Guy Mariner Tucker

Well, Mr. Bruce,
try as you might to find "chaos monster" parallels in this dismal film, you did have to admit they're unintentional. As for your son's comments about Toho, he may not know the half of it: Toho is historically a greedy, unprincipled and corrupt organization, which cares far more about money than product; examples of this are far too numerous to name. They charged Tri-Star upwards of $10 million a year simply to lease the character, and never seemed to understand that the American movie process is usually (if not usefully) slower. I'm sure they greenlighted the final American version because they smelled even more money in the air, and were tired of waiting for it, and indeed, although the picture will almost universally be remembered as a failure, it WAS an international hit. But reactions in Japan were so negative that Toho rescinded its earlier promise not to make any more of their own Godzilla pictures, and at least in this regard, we are fortunate, as even the dullest scenes in GODZILLA MILLENNIUM are preferable to any given second in GODZILLA 1998. GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRAS is supposed to be even better, and advance buzz on GOJIRA DAIKAIJU SOKOGEKI, which premiered at the Tokyo Film Festival in October 2001, is phenomenal.

Toho's usurous licensing fees also led to the premature demise of the successful American comic books based on the character (the first issued by Marvel in the 70s, the second bunch from Dark Horse in the 1980s and 1990s). For that matter, their bizarre business practices also contributed to the scuttling of potentially mutually lucrative partnerships with major Hollywood studios such as Columbia, Warner Bros. and Universal; by the mid-60s, only American-International, UPA and even less principled, fly-by-night organizations like Brenco and Bob Conn Enterprises were willing to entertain their nonsense at all. I've dealt with Toho myself, at many different levels, and know whereof I speak. Even their own career company men are fond of deriding their practices, although some will point out that some other Japanese studios are even worse, but I'm not sure whether that's not just reflexive pride in the home they decided to choose.

A much better, though not terrific, script had been written before Devlin and Emmerich got their paws on the project, by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio of ALADDIN fame. That one nearly went ahead under director Jan DeBont, but the plug was pulled by Tri-Star at the very last second, because Tri-Star determined it would have cost too much. Ironically, all the money spent preparing that film, and on Toho's licensing fees, was simply lost; and the final Devlin/Emmerich version was at least as expensive as DeBont's would have been. (Elliott and Rossio wanted to have Godzilla fight his old enemy Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster, but had to change it to a more generic monster character of their own devising, because Toho wanted even more money to authorize the use of Ghidrah. Same reason the other Toho characters never appeared in the US comics or cartoon series.)
best, Guy Mariner Tucker

STUPIDEST MOVIE EVER
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001
From: Matthew H. Johnson

I have been watching the old Godzilla movies since I was 3 and when I went to go see the new York Godzilla I thought it was the stupidest movie ever, and it should have been called There is a Giant lizard in New York, and Godzilla being, biblical is the biggest load of croc I ever herd, and I do not think of Godzilla as the devil, in fact I kind of like Godzilla. When I went to go see the newest Godzilla movie (Godzilla 2000) I was so glad that the original Godzilla is back, so in short the New York Godzilla stinks.
Matthew H. Johnson

DID NOT LIKE US GODZILLA
Subject: sorry excuse for a Godzilla
Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000
From: Xan

The US would have done well nto to make this movie..I liked it but I think that it should have been called something else. The US really screwed up the original Godzilla is the best and always will.

SORRY EXCUSE FOR A GODZILLA
July 8, 1999.

This was the worst Godzilla movie of all time, it had the sorriest excuse for a Godzilla. Now, if they were to call it something else I would have liked it more. I'm actualy glad they shot up the new Godzilla.–James

BEST MOVIE
March 31, 1999.

I'm Devin Muraski i'm 14 and I thought this movie is the Best MOVIE I HAVE EVER seen.

MAN CREATED THE "EVIL" IN GODZILLA
Feb 27, 1999.

Godzilla is not purely evil. He did not intentionally set forth to wreak havoc upon New York or any of his "rest stops" from his origination to his destination. He was created through the ignorance of man. There was no premeditated plan to harm man. Mankind to him was no more than normal ants are to us as we go about our business. He was merely going about his business. The only time his malice was intended was when man posed a direct threat to him. (Those ants turned out to be Fire Ants) So it was that man created this "evil" through ignorance, and then provoked it and then had to irradicate it or the world "as we know it" would end. What I'd like to know is where that thing grew up that nobody had seen it until then. The Godzilla design was good. I thought he looked appropriate for a mutated iguana. Ha. Ha .--Johanna

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