Legendary Pictures' 2014 Godzilla Reboot - Directed by Gareth Edwards - Part 1

[dodgers2213]

I think Independence Day is more enjoyable than Godzilla but just as cheesy.

ID is more exciting though.

Pretty much how I feel.

Also, ID4 has a great ost Imo

 

[BrollySupersj]

That's a nice... tail?

Looks more like the building is breaking apart. Someone should sneak in and snap photos of whatever is going on.

 

[Breaker]

I was wondering, for those who absolutely hate the 90s film -- is it because it is Godzilla and it's a really different Godzilla? Or is it the film in general? Basically just wondering what your guys thoughts would be if the monster in it was an entirely new creation without the name 'Godzilla' attached to it at all.

Toho wanted to do an American Godzilla film that was based off of the original Godzilla film, Tristar and Sony accepted, they sought out many directors and writers who would take up the chance in doing such a film. And no one wanted to do one, so they turned to Emmerich Roland, he refused multiple times over and over. Until one day, he agreed that he would do it, IF, he had complete creative control and could do whatever he wanted. Toho was against it, but didn't have much choice in the matter since they wanted an American Godzilla film to literally happen.

So they let the dice roll.

Roland admitted that he wasn't a Godzilla fan, nor did he understand the icon's concept or cultural background. All he knew was that he wanted to make a Godzilla film that was more realistic and looked "less visually cheesy than some of the Japanese films". So he contacted Dean Devlin to make a "Godzilla that should be able to run fast".

More flaws:

1. It was mutated iguana, Toho's Godzilla is not a mutated Igunana, but an unknown prehistoric species of dinosaur.

2. It ran away from the military or any kind of challenge in general, the real Godzilla never does that. The real Godzilla actually takes on any challenge and wipes everything out, whether he's a protector, a force of nature, or a destroyer.

3. It did not have the Atomic Breath, it just blew a high gusted roar which exploded a few vehicles to make it all simulate like it was Atomic Breath, but it wasn't. Because once more, Roland was trying to keep things realistic.

4. It was a he/she, was pregnant and had babies. The official source material of all Godzilla incarnations from the Showa series all the way to the Millennium series, Godzilla is officially declared and documented as a male, and one that reproduces sexually with others of its kind, not Asexually by itself.

5. It was killed by mere missiles! Godzilla has never been killed by man made missiles! Or any conventional man made weapons for that matter. The only man made device to ever kill a Godzilla was the Oxygen Destroyer crafted by the scientist Dr. Serizawa in the original 1954 classic.

6. It did not look like Godzilla at all, it did not have the traditional iconic structure of source material in general.

7. It was simply a mere animal in the film, Godzilla is the iconic symbolism of the destructive power of the Atomic Bomb, and the physical embodiment of the bomb itself. Toho's Godzilla isn't treated as a mere animal, he represents and embodies multiple aspects of mankind's ignorance and failures.

8. Felt like a Jurassic Park ripoff, it wasn't a monster movie at all, its tone was more closer to that of Jurassic park. Awe, shock, and some form of suspense. It wasn't amazing, serious, or any way respectful. That's not exactly a good thing as the film could have established its own identity.

9. The director and writer knew nothing about Godzilla, and Emmerich personally did not want to do a Godzilla movie unless he had absolute freedom and control over the movie and its creativity, and was paid a certain million bones. Toho had little to no involvement, and was too late to stop it all.

10. The movie in general was crap, when it hit theaters in Japan, the Godzilla Heisei suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma , upon seeing Godzilla stood up then left the theaters, stating, "It just doesn't have the spirit." It was badly panned despite being a box office hit. it was panned so badly by fans and movie critics alike, that the planned sequel was cancelled and everything was shut down for the 1998 American Godzilla.

Dean Devlin on the recently announced 'Godzilla' reboot: 'I know I screwed up my Godzilla'

One of the biggest surprises at Comic-Con earlier this month was Legendary Pictures’ splashy debut of its reboot of the Godzilla franchise, complete with a jaw-dropping concept reel and the introduction of the film’s director, Gareth Edwards. The British filmmaker, whose only previous feature directing credit is the indie thriller Monsters, wasted no time making clear his film would not be a retread of the 1998 big-budget remake of Godzilla. That movie, from writer-producer Dean Devlin and writer-director Roland Emmerich, was widely derided for being too silly and cheesy. “We’re going to take it seriously,” Edwards told the Comic-Con crowd of his version of the Japanese monster movie staple. “It’s very grounded [and] realistic.”

When EW caught up with Devlin at the Saturn Awards on Thursday night, we asked him what his thoughts were when he heard about Legendary’s new take on the venerable fire-breathing, city-demolishing giant lizard. And he wasted no time making clear he agrees that no one should be attempting to follow in his Godzilla‘s giant footsteps. ”I know I screwed up my Godzilla,” he said. “I’d be very happy if they pull it off and do a great one.”

That’s not to say Devlin isn’t harboring a twinge of professional jealousy. “I always wish I had another shot at it,” he added with a wistful grin. “But, listen, Godzilla is something that I grew up loving. We worked hard to go make one. We kind of blew it. I think everyone gets one.” He laughed. “I wish them nothing but the best. I would love it if the whole Godzilla franchise was revitalized for a new generation.”

Besides, when he isn’t overseeing the fifth season of his TNT series Leverage, Devlin is too busy working with Emmerich to revive a different sci-fi touchstone: Independence Day. Devlin confirmed earlier reports that he is back working with his old collaborator for the first time in 11 years on a sequel to their 1996 blockbuster, but cautions that there’s a long journey before it gets anywhere near a greenlight. “We want to make this happen,” he said. “I don’t know if we can. There’s a lot of moving parts. I will say from Roland’s position and my position, we feel like we finally cracked it. We’re excited about it and want to do it. Whether we can pull it off, I can’t tell you. But we are working hard to make it happen.”

GODZILLA 1998 for a fact was a complete failure. Its been widely accepted. But the thing is, you can't look at GODZILLA 1998 from a different lighting since it was a remake of the original 1954 classic. Atomic Bombs, the destruction of Japan, everyone tragically affected by it. None of those things were present. It was a remake that gotten everything wrong. You can't look at it as something else when its obviously trying to be a specific something in general. You can try but it won't work. Fans tried, saying "Well as a Godzilla movie its trash, but if it didn't use Godzilla's name, and was just a random monster movie, then it would be fairly durable." But unfortunately that did not happen. Again you can try to, but to understand the movie in general and what it is, while gauging its worth, then you have to see the material that was invested into it and built from. You can't make a movie retelling 911 and then just have the movie revolve around a plane crashing into a minor unknown building with some hints of people dying here, and having some explosions there and call it a movie. Same with Spiderman, if they made a Spiderman movie, and Peter is finally bitten by the spider that naturally gives rise to the beginning of Spiderman, but instead of Peter getting powers, a few minutes later he simply drops dead and that was it. What kind of category will that movie fall under in terms of worth? Do you think Spiderman fans will enjoy it? Or the general public? Will it be a good Spiderman movie since your looking at it from a separate entry despite knowing that the film has to follow the source material?

While Roland's concept was not welcomed, it was still a take on the source material. It was a different incarnation. Fans accepted that, even Toho accepted that, otherwise they wouldn't have take in the creature, name it 'Zilla' and make it one of their properties.

Hell, they even had Zilla fight the Real Godzilla in Final Wars, only for it to lose in under 10 seconds, making it the shortest Godzilla fight in the history of Toho's Franchise. While carrying a message that there are no pretenders to the throne, Toho was at least mature enough to accept Zilla and place him among its army of kaiju despite it being a disgrace to their property.

I'm not saying franchises and mediums shouldn't have alternate ideas, but when they don't respect the original source material. And drastically alter too much. Then it has to be scrapped before it damages the medium's franchise. Ninja Turtles was about to be greatly damaged due to the Alien Script, but the script was scrapped. While a good thing, still doesn't leave much of a optimistic taste in fan's mouths.

Anyway, people who absolutely hate GINO isn't because it's Godzilla, but a different Godzilla. They hate it because it WASN'T Godzilla, and wasn't the REAL Godzilla. The film also poorly handled the source material, and is pretty much the film that almost ended the long lasting franchise due to how much of a bomb it was critically, especially in the icon's home land. (Although the film did well in the Box Office in the US)

 

[Ultimatehero]

I didn't have time to read through all that. But you said "you can't look past it." Well, I see and do look past it because I'm not a die hard Godzilla fan. I'm a fan of big dinosaurs that look cool and big dinosaurs running through a city has always made me feel like a small child. I loved the T-Rex tearing it up in San Diego in The Lost World, and I loved Godzilla tearing it up in New York. So, yeah - you can look past it. Because regardless of a thesis paper I have and will continue to do so. I'm also sure others who liked it are able to look past it as well because either they don't care as much or they similarly don't have a connection to the originals.

I'm excited here. But, not really for Godzilla but to see Godzilla again - a giant monster that looks like a dinosaur tearing up in the cities and causing mayhem and destruction.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

So he gives you a detailed opinion of the answer you were looking for, and you pretty much just tell him "deal with it"?

That's low.

 

[Ultimatehero]

So he gives you a detailed opinion of the answer you were looking for, and you pretty much just tell him "deal with it"?

That's low.

It was so long I had to skim through it, here is the sentence and paragraph that really caught my attention and is basically a low blow to anyone who does like it.

It was a remake that gotten everything wrong. You can't look at it as something else when its obviously trying to be a specific something in general. You can try but it won't work.

The rest gave an accurate view from a fan's POV. But the approach in that singular paragraph, which is what I was responding, just sounded very off and more like the members around here saying "you're fooling yourself into liking it." And we've all met posters with that response - if you're not agreeing with them then you're fooling yourself. I'm not trying to like it, I just like it. And others who like it aren't fooling themselves either or 'trying' to make themselves like it, they just like it. You don't like it, and you're open to not liking it. But that doesn't make those who like it, like me and some others I've seen, wrong that just makes us subjectively different.

 

[Solidus]

So he gives you a detailed opinion of the answer you were looking for, and you pretty much just tell him "deal with it"?

That's low.

Agreed. Good answers Breaker, some of that I did not know.

Godzilla '98 just had horrible characterization, terrible side plots, and the mini-Godzilla's were terrible. There was some decent action sequences, but it really spit on Godzilla as a whole.

 

[Ultimatehero]

Agreed.

Just to get this straight, you agree with this sentence:

"If you like it, you're just fooling yourself into liking it."

Members throw that around all the time here.

So, subjectively if someone doesn't like something - others who do are forcing themselves to 'try' to like it?

Unless I read it wrong and that wasn't the intention and I'm just used to members saying that so many times around here in so many ways.

 

[ironwez20]

Not if your a true Godzilla fan you can't look past it.

 

[Ultimatehero]

Not if your a true Godzilla fan you can't look past it.

That I would have no problem with, but it didn't emphasize "if you're a fan." That part came afterwards. As said, if it isn't the usual "you can try to force yourself to like it, but you really don't" response - we've all seen on these threads - that at least I am so tired of seeing around here - then I apologize for the accusation. But, if it isn't? Those kinds of "you're just trying to" accusations just really irk me. Because we should acknowledge that we all have different subjective opinions and if you don't agree with someone - that doesn't make them wrong, and means they're fooling themselves or just trying to like it - that just means they see things differently and should have just as much right to see things differently.

 

[Solidus]

Just to get this straight, you agree with this sentence:

"If you like it, you're just fooling yourself into liking it."

Members throw that around all the time here. So, subjectively if someone doesn't like something - others who do are forcing themselves to 'try' to like it?

Yes because that's exactly what I said. You really need to work on your conversation skills. You come into every forum, say an opinion, and get pissed when someone does not agree with you then try to play martyr. Knock it off.

I agreed with some of his points, not all of them. You want to like Godzilla '98, then do it I'm sure I know people that do. If it really bugs you, that might be because your afraid of your opinion swaying. (which I know you claim it never does). People can like it, as much as people can hate it.

So to answer your little question what I agreed with was with what Parker said. (and to answer your edit yes you read it very wrong.) You come in and ask the question, someone answers it with a thought out response, and you just put your nose in the air and start screaming while reading just want you want to read.

 

[BrollySupersj]

We can at least agree that the cartoon "American" Godzilla was a better attempt right? As a kid, I was VERY disappointed with GINO. I was in third grade when it came out, and knew it was nothing like the real Godzilla. My first exposure of Godzilla came from Trendmasters, from there I found the movies, old and new (at the time). But the cartoon took out the sour taste the movie left. Here Godzilla had a proper breath attack, and fought other monsters. Just like the real one. Hell, he even had a cybernetic nemesis, just like the real one. Hell, I think...if there was no movie, and just the cartoon. GINO might have been better received.

 

[Ultimatehero]

Yes because that's exactly what I said. You really need to work on your conversation skills. You come into every forum, say an opinion, and get pissed when someone does not agree with you then try to play martyr. Knock it off.

I agreed with some of his points, not all of them. You want to like Godzilla '98, then do it I'm sure I know people that do. If it really bugs you, that might be because your afraid of your opinion swaying. (which I know you claim it never does). People can like it, as much as people can hate it.

So to answer your little question what I agreed with was with what Parker said. (and to answer your edit yes you read it very wrong.) You come in and ask the question, someone answers it with a thought out response, and you just put your nose in the air and start screaming while reading just want you want to read.

Oh, you're that guy. I remember you. No, my opinions in entertainment don't change - no matter how much you want to believe everyone is like you and they change all the time. I also just don't agree that opinions are factual - opinions are subjective. Life, really to be more controversial, is subjective. You were the guy trying to tell me you knew how my opinions worked - basically that you knew more about me than I know about me. I would also not stand up and say "I'm right, you're wrong." If it's one thing everyone knows I am very adamant that everyone's opinions count and have just as much merit even when they disagree with me. I loved Man of Steel, but I'm not going to go tell someone "you're just trying to make yourself hate it." But, that's just me and my own set of principals.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Yes because that's exactly what I said. You really need to work on your conversation skills. You come into every forum, say an opinion, and get pissed when someone does not agree with you then try to play martyr. Knock it off.

I agreed with some of his points, not all of them. You want to like Godzilla '98, then do it I'm sure I know people that do. If it really bugs you, that might be because your afraid of your opinion swaying. (which I know you claim it never does). People can like it, as much as people can hate it.

So to answer your little question what I agreed with was with what Parker said. (and to answer your edit yes you read it very wrong.) You come in and ask the question, someone answers it with a thought out response, and you just put your nose in the air and start screaming while reading just want you want to read.

Agreed. No one was attacking fans of the 90s movie, and no one said fans shouldn't like it. Breaker said all the reasons he didn't like it it and Ultimatehero ignored it, and threw it at his face, basically telling him he should get over it and look past it as a fan.

 

[Roose Bolton]

This....Ultimatehero is nothing of the sort.

 

[Ultimatehero]

Agreed. No one was attacking fans of the 90s movie, and no one said fans shouldn't like it. Breaker said all the reasons he didn't like it it and Ultimatehero ignored it, and threw it at his face, basically telling him he should get over it and look past it as a fan.

Um, find where I told him to ignore it and look past it as a fan...

If you mention 'so, yeah - you can look past it.' the you was more directed towards me and others who like it because he quite clearly said:

You can't look at it as something else when its obviously trying to be a specific something in general. You can try but it won't work.

NOWHERE in those two sentences. NOWHERE in the paragraph before that did he mention fans. He mentioned fans after the fact.

So yeah - I - can look past it. I never told him to. My whole paragraph was stating that as not-a-fan, I have looked past it. So yeah, I did look past it. I didn't need to 'try' to look past it. I just did. If I read it wrong and it just meant fans (although fans was only brought up afterwards) I apologize because I'm so used to members acting like their opinions are facts around here. If it was an opinion as fact paragraph - those just irk me because it's saying everyone who disagrees with a subjective likes and dislikes are wrong which says a lot. And that's all I can say. If I'm wrong, I apologize - I'm just so used to it. If not, opinions are subjective.

 

[jacobed]

I'm a big Godzilla fan and I love the 98 version.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I'm not a fan of Godzilla, I've never seen any of the Japanese films and I hated the 98 version. I thought the script, acting, direction and attempts to rip off JP were terrible. I was horribly disappointed when I went to see it I still think it's terrible. I was 14 when it came out and loved most everything at that age and yet I hated Godzilla.

 

[ThePhantasm]

Very helpful post up there from Breaker. Nice.

 

[Breaker]

I didn't have time to read through all that. But you said "you can't look past it." Well, I see and do look past it because I'm not a die hard Godzilla fan.

Perhaps you're confused, I'll clarify,

Since you are not a Godzilla fan, or a die hard Godzilla fan, then I honestly don't expect you to understand completely.

GODZILLA 1998 was suppose to be a faithful remake of the original 1954 classic, GOJIRA. The film was firmly scripted and designed to be just that.

I was providing justifiable reasons as to why Godzilla 1998 is in general a horribly bad movie, and a extremely bad Godzilla movie. I wasn't trying to change your view point or anything. If you enjoy it, I'm fine with that. Whether the reasons are significant to you or not does not change anything about the movie itself and how grimly unsatisfying and poor it truly is. It failed what it was trying to be. It failed what it was meant to be.

About the "can't look past it" part, if a movie is suppose to be a respectful remake of an original film classic. But get's everything wrong in it's entirety, and bombs everywhere else because of it's flaws, then the film is indeed a failure. I can't look at GINO as another monster movie, because the movie has already established what is (or trying to be). Thus I can not look at the cinematic material as a different medium because it's not a different medium.

That's why I put up examples to help explain my point:

Spiderman, if they made a Spiderman movie, and Peter is finally bitten by the spider that naturally gives rise to the beginning of Spiderman, but instead of Peter getting powers, a few minutes later he simply drops dead and that was it. What kind of category will that movie fall under in terms of worth? Do you think Spiderman fans will enjoy it? Or the general public? Will it be a good Spiderman movie since your looking at it from a separate entry despite knowing that the film has to follow the source material?


And as such, to me you can't look at GODZILLA 1998 as a different monster film because it's a modern remake of GOJIRA. And thus from observing how it was crafted, and how respectful it was, and how it treated the source material. It fails as a respectful Godzilla movie.

I'm not trying to change your view point, as I said before I don't expect you to understand. I'm just providing my justifiable reasons, the movie itself simply gives too many of them out.(GODZILLA 1998) And technically, point of views/opinions are as reasonable and as valuable as your own, even if you only consider your perspective to be the dominate medium. If a movie is poorly structured, has no effort invested into it, nothing is cared for at all. And its indeed a bad movie through and through, and has proven to be a bad movie despite trying to look at it from a different view point. And the majority agree that its a bad movie. Then the movie in general is indeed a bad movie. I know what your saying is on your behalf, I was never confused about that.

If you like and enjoy it, that's fine, but it doesn't change anything that its a bad movie none the less despite how much you enjoy it. Again, I'm not trying to change your view point, just proving that a bad movie (With logical reasoning) is still just a bad movie. And GODZILLA 1998 is factually, from the ground up, a bad movie. Especially, a bad Godzilla movie.

I'm thankful that any future emitting from it has been extinguished. And I'm thankful, that those responsible for this gruesome abomination accept that they screwed up and accept that they failed. With Legendary Pictures taking hold of the Franchise, and judging from Comic Con this year, and the constant interviews and updates, people can rest assured that Godzilla will be properly treated with the care and respect that it originally should have gotten back in 1998.

Although to be decently fair, I will give Jeff Kline my highest regard of respect for making extreme efforts in re-correcting the mistakes that Emmerich did by producing GODZILLA: The Series and giving Zilla (The creature's official name given by Toho since they forever own the rights of that particular Godzilla as its a incarnation based off their creation)the missing traits of the real Godzilla, and making Zilla behavior and act somewhat more similar to the icon.

While the hate for Godzilla 1998 was thick, Jeff Kline managed to turn crap into gold, pleasing fans and even Toho by making a sequel that truly respected the franchise to a decently noticeable degree. From adding the iconic Atomic Breath, to adding Monster Island itself. I respectfully tip my hat off to the good sir. Fans still hate GINO (Godzilla 1998, Godzilla in Name Only), but Zilla (The offspring within Godzilla:The Series), fans have warmed up too and accepted. Though while Zilla isn't the real Godzilla, he's a fairly welcomed addition to the Franchise. Unlike GINO.

(Please note that GINO and Zilla by copyright laws are two completely different properties/licenses/Monsters. Both are currently owned by Toho. )

 

[Ultimatehero]

And GODZILLA 1998 is factually, from the ground up, a bad movie. Especially, a bad Godzilla movie.

To me, and to clarify this is not an attack, I don't believe there is such a thing as a bad movie. I will say that there are movies that I hate and that the critics and a lot hate, but I still won't say it is a factually bad movie. I despise the spoof movies, but there's got to be others who love them for whatever reason that they do. And those who write and direct them probably saw something in them. It's just the majority don't agree. To make things less extreme - Twilight. I hate them, some love them, and they're generally made fun of. I won't say Twilight is a factually bad movie, it's just a subjectively bad move for a varying amount of people. It doesn't really make it a fact still, in my opinion, just the majority of opinions flow in one direction. People may see things in it that others do not.

Take 'Movie 43' for instance. Although people want to say all of the cast members were duped into being in it. In interviews and bringing it up they generally seemed to like it. Elizabeth Banks starred and directed it. Gerard Butler in an interview burst out laughing just talking about it. Most audiences hated and critics hated it. I think there it had more to do with an "in-joke" that some might get and have fun with and others will loathe whether they get the joke or not. It's that as a Hollywood reader and actor you metaphorically have a gun pointed to your head by higher-ups demanding that you read poop even when it makes you want to tear your eyes out. As a previous reader, I thought that was a hilarious put down on all those terrible scripts that we're forced to read and most of those skits stemmed from similar ideas I've read and flat out rejected. So I can get what the directors and cast saw in it and it did that. It was a giant put down to that. Granted most loathed it and they're open to loathing it. I won't say that they're wrong for doing so, I just don't agree because of a different experience of influence in my own life. I see it in a way that some don't see it because of a different experience. I see something in it that those involved did. So, there is something in it. It's just that the majority sphere of subjective beliefs didn't and I'm perfectly fine with that. I just see this as an example of trying to find a really odd film in which I can show how people may see something that other's either don't or do and hate.

My main point is this - I'm just of the strongest belief that there is no fact. Truth doesn't exist. There is majority opinion. But, there is no concrete fact on pretty much everything except the more ridiculous beliefs that stem from phobias (people choosing to be gay) and other such instances (jumping off a building won't kill you). Everything else I just see as subjective rather than factual.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

I remember being super excited for the 98 Godzilla growing up watching Godzilla films and being a huge fan of the JP films, the trailer made it look very promising. At that point Emmerich's only big hit was ID4 so his name being attached at the time made it look even better ( I know it's funny todays reaction is the exact opposite).

I remember while viewing it opening night in the theater something felt off, it just didn't feel like Godzilla after the first few impressive scenes of him walking through NYC streets and causing damage I lost that feeling I got growing up being excited watching Godzilla in his epic fashion destroy cityscapes. I recently bought the blu-ray after years of not watching it to give it another shot for fun, it's even worse than I had remembered.

 

[BrollySupersj]

Have any of you guys heard of the proposed Godzilla film Godzilla vs The Griffon? It was a project that came before the 1998 film. I saw a youtube video talking all about it. Personally, I think it would have been pretty neat.

 

[Ultimatehero]

I am unsure. But, I'm going to take a wild guess given the release date you mentioned. Around when Godzilla came out there was a Japanese Godzilla movie that quickly followed it, might have been released in the US after Japan but it was definitely around the same time if my mind is remembering things right.

 

[Breaker]

My main point is this - I'm just of the strongest belief that there is no fact. Truth doesn't exist. There is majority opinion. But, there is no concrete fact on pretty much everything except the more ridiculous beliefs that stem from phobias (people choosing to be gay) and other such instances (jumping off a building won't kill you). Everything else I just see as subjective rather than factual.

So let's say that...

A reasonably yet mentally healthy person shoots and kills an innocent person, the person knows right from wrong, and is at a mature age in knowing how to prevent and stop their actions. But without provocation or any troubled pass, still decides to kill someone without hesitation.

Would such a situation be deemed factually bad? Or is it subjective?

Would you agree that proven facts are indeed factually truths? Like air does exist? That there is gravity?