Godzilla (1998 film)

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Godzilla is an American science fiction film directed by Roland Emmerich and starred Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Michael Lerner and Kevin Dunn. It is the American movie remake of the popular Japanese Godzilla series.

Tagline:

• Size does matter.

[edit] Plot

The film's opening credits play over a montage of French nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean, observed by many iguanas. Then, in present days, a Japanese fishing ship is attacked by an unseen monster; only one survived (an old man). Traumatized, he is later questioned in a hospital by a mysterious Frenchman (Jean Reno) as to what he saw. But the man didn't answer until the Frenchman asks in English with a lit lighter moving left and right and repeatedly says only one word: "Gojira" (the name was later mistranslated as "Godzilla" by the U.S. media).

Another seaborne attack just by the Eastern Seaboard culminated in the eventual destruction of a fishing ship. The crew, however, survived, after witnessing their boat sinking, but it shot up from underneath and landed with a huge splash in the surface.

Niko "Nick" Tatapolous (Matthew Broderick), an NRC scientist, who happened to be in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Ukraine) researching the effects of radiation on wildlife, was interrupted by the arrival of an agent of the U.S. State Department. He was sent to Panama, escorted by the military, to observe the wreckage of the recovered Japanese fishing ship (which had three gigantic claw marks on one side) and a set of massive dinosaur-like footprints in the grassy soil. The Frenchman is also there, observing the scene and introduces himself as an insurance agent. Aboard a military aircraft, Tatapolous identifies skin samples he recovered as belonging to a creature "unknown to science".

Godzilla then heads to New York City, dragging three trawlers under the sea on the way, then creating havoc in the Fulton Fish Market, before rampaging through the city. Manhattan is evacuated and the military attempt to kill Godzilla, first luring it out with a huge pile of fish. Godzilla takes the bait, but then shrugs off small arms fire, and evades and destroys three pursuing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. It escapes, but not before Nick realises that the monster reproduces asexually, and is collecting food for its offspring. Nick is determined to find Godzilla's nest.

However, when a videotape from Panama is stolen by Nick's ex-girlfriend, Audrey Timmonds (Maria Pitillo), a would-be TV journalist for news channel "WIDF", he is thrown off the team. He is then kidnapped by the Frenchman who introduces himself as Philippe Roaché, an agent of the DGSE, the French Secret Service. He and his team have been keeping close watch on events, and are now ready to help clear up the mess they feel responsible for, but cannot acknowledge.

The military lure Godzilla out again, and after a fierce battle in the waters of the Hudson River with three U.S. Navy nuclear submarines, Godzilla is torpedoed and seems to be dead. Meanwhile Nick and a crack French team, led by Roaché, surreptitiously followed by Audrey and cameraman Victor "Animal" Palotti (Hank Azaria), track Godzilla through the subway tunnels to Madison Square Garden, finding hundreds of eggs. They start to lay explosives, but the eggs start to hatch. The Baby Godzillas begin to look for food, and since the team stink like fish, they become inevitable targets. After failing to contain the infants and losing several members of the team, the remaining four of them take refuge in a TV broadcast booth. From there, Nick, Audrey, and Animal alert the authorities, who order an immediate strike by a trio of F/A-18 Hornets. The four escape just before the building is destroyed, only for an extremely enraged Godzilla (who managed to survive the battle in the East River) to emerge from the wreckage. The four make a getaway in a taxicab, and lure Godzilla to the Brooklyn Bridge where it becomes entangled in the steel suspension cables, and is an easy target for the fighters. As the three F-18s close in, they each fire a pair of missiles that slam into Godzilla's side. As the jets pass it, Godzilla uselessly tries to attack by snapping at them with itsjaws, but fails, and the F-18s circle around and fire another wave of missiles that also slam into the creature's side. After many screams of pain, it finally falls to the ground. As Godzilla is left to die, it looks at Nick during its final moments as its heart slowly stops beating. After Godzilla's death, Nick and Audrey reconcile while Roaché disappears into the night after stealing their videotape footage of the incident. He promises to return the tape after "certain information" has been removed. All seems well until we see in smoking ruins of the Garden, a single egg has survived and hatches...

[edit] Music

The film's soundtrack featured songs by such artists as Puff Daddy and Jimmy Page ("Come with Me"), Jamiroquai ("Deeper Underground"), Rage Against the Machine ("No Shelter"), Foo Fighters ("A320"), Ben Folds Five ("Air"), and Green Day ("Brain Stew (Remix)" ). The David Bowie song "Heroes", covered by The Wallflowers, can be clearly heard in the background during a restaurant scene early in the movie. L'Arc-en-Ciel composed the theme song entitled "Shinsoku Lose Control" for the official Japanese release of the movie. David Arnold's orchestral score provided the music for the rest of the movie, and roughly four minutes of it is included on the album. A score-only release was cancelled due to the film's box office performance, and Arnold's complete score remained unreleased until 2007, when La-La Land Records released a limited edition (3,000 units) of the complete score on two discs.

[edit] Sequels and spin-offs

Main article: Godzilla: The Series

The film spawned an animated series which continued the storyline of the movie. In this series, Nick Tatapolous accidentally discovers the egg that survived the destruction of the nest. The creature hatches and imprints on Nick as its parent. Subsequently, Nick and a group of friends form an elite research team, investigating strange occurrences and defending human kind from numerous other monsters. The series was more well received than the film.

A sequel to the film was planned, and would have involved Godzilla battling a mutant insect creature. However these plans for a sequel were ultimately scrapped.

Early in the film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, one of the main characters is giving a lecture to several Japanese military personnel and briefly mentions a monster attack on New York City, referring to the events in the 1998 film. Two of the soldiers say that American scientists belief Godzilla is the one who attacked New York, but the Japanese scientists have some doubts about that. This, however, is simply a homage to the 1998 film and GMK is not connected to Roland Emmerich's movie in any sort of way.

In Godzilla: Final Wars, the American Godzilla makes an appearance using the name "Zilla". It attacks Sydney, Australia and then briefly fights the Toho Godzilla, only to be killed by it. Final Wars is not connected to the 1998 film in any way and naming the creature "Zilla" was simply Toho's way of differentiating it from the real Godzilla.

[edit] Marketing campaign

The marketing campaign for Godzilla was multi-pronged in its execution:

• Crushed cars were dotted around London as a part of a guerrilla advertising campaign.
• In the month or so before its release, ads on street corners made references to Godzilla's size in comparison to whatever medium of advertising the advertisement was on.
  • Examples: "His foot is bigger than this bus.", "His eye is bigger than this billboard.", etc.
• Prior to the release of the film, Godzilla was never shown in its entirety, only in bits and pieces. This was intended to add a bit of mystery to the creature's design, thereby prompting audiences to pay for a ticket because the only way to see Godzilla as a whole was in theaters. A similar marketing scheme was used in the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds and Cloverfield.
• Taco Bell had tie-ins such as cups and toys that promoted the film. The Taco Bell chihuahua was also at the height of its popularity in Taco Bell's television commercials. During the summer of 1998, several commercials pairing Godzilla with the Taco Bell mascot were produced and aired, including several with the chihuahua trying to catch Godzilla in a tiny box, whistling and calling, "Here, lizard, lizard, lizard." When Godzilla appears, the chihuahua says, "Uh-oh. I think I need a bigger box." (referring to Jaws, as well as the film's line "I think we're gonna need a bigger boat")
• The film's first teaser trailer began appearing in theaters a full year before the movie was released. The trailer featured a shot of Godzilla's foot coming through the roof of a museum and crushing a T. rex skeleton as a tour guide gives a lecture saying that the T. rex was one of the largest predators the world has ever seen.
• Recently, the American Godzilla appeared in two Doritos commercials, in which he consumed a whole semi trailer full of Doritos. In the other commercial, it eats a spicy variant of Doritos and jumps in the Hudson river.

[edit] Box office

Although the film received predominantly negative reviews and fan reaction ^[1], Godzilla grossed $136,314,294 domestically and $379,014,294 worldwide, bringing back its $130 million budget.

[edit] Trivia

• Sega Pinball released a pinball machine based on this movie.^[2]
• The opening sequence of the movie featuring the atomic bomb explosion is footage from the Baker Test (1946). It looks so dramatic because the explosion took place under water
• The mayor of New York City is named Ebert, and his top adviser is named Gene, a reference to the famous film critiquing duo from TV's Siskel & Ebert. It was an excellent attempt at expressing displeasure at the negative reviews Siskel and Ebert had given the producers' previous films, although Ebert was flattered at the parody... he gave Godzilla a bad review anyway. Gene Siskel, however, found the parody "hilarious". He also gave the film a negative review.
• The soundtrack was anchored by a song by Puff Daddy entitled Come With Me. The song had nothing to do with Godzilla.
• Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer and Nancy Cartwright had all worked on "The Simpsons" and supply their roles to the film. In some scenes with Hank in his role as Victor, the accent sounds similar to Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, and for Harry's character, Charles Caiman, his voice sounds similar to Kent Brockman (also a news anchor).
• When the F/A-18s attack Madison Square Garden, the pilot states "Selecting LGB", but the weapon display indicates an AGM-84C Harpoon anti-ship missile. The missile shown on-screen is also consistent with a Harpoon, rather than a laser-guided bomb.
• Godzilla from Toho and this Godzilla are displayed as completely different characters.

[edit] Cameos and allusions to other films

• Barney the Dinosaur from the TV series Barney & Friends can be seen in a TV set.
• An action figure toy of an alien from Independence Day (1996) (also directed by Roland Emmerich) is visible on top of a computer in the broadcast booth at Madison Square Garden.
• The Japanese freighter attacked and destroyed by Godzilla in the opening of the film is named Kobayashi Maru, in homage to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Coincidentally, Kobayashi is also the name of the pilot in Godzilla Raids Again who gives his life trying to destroy Godzilla by crashing his plane into the ice, causing an avalanche.
• The giant octopus from It Came from Beneath the Sea is seen in a TV set.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Barry's Temple of Godzilla
• Toho Kingdom
• Godzilla Stomp
• The Godzilla Shrine
• Godzilla at the Internet Movie Database
• Godzilla at Rotten Tomatoes
• Godzilla at Box Office Mojo
• The 1998 Taco Bell commercial used to promote the film.
• A recent Doritos commercial featuring the creature
• Godzilla vs. The Gryphon (the original Godzilla script)
• Godzilla 2
• Godzilla 2 in Sony's Plans?

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